| Year | Player | Pick | School | Years | G | FG% | FT% | Reb | Ast | Pts |
| 1947 | Eddie Ehlers | 3 | Purdue | 47/48-48/49 | 99 | .286 | .618 | 0 | 177 | 800 |
| 1948 | George Hauptfuehrer | 3 | Harvard | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1949 | Tony Lavelli | 4 | Yale | 49/50 | 56 | .372 | .853 | 0 | 40 | 492 |
| 1950 | Charlie Share | 1 | Bowling Green | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1951 | Ernie Barrett | 7 | Kansas State | 53/54, 55/56 | 131 | .369 | .748 | 343 | 229 | 641 |
| 1952 | Bill Stauffer | 6 | Missouri | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1953 | Frank Ramsey | 6 | Kentucky | 54/55, 56/57-63/64 | 623 | .399 | .804 | 3,410 | 1,134 | 8,378 |
| 1954 | Togo Palazzi | 5 | Holy Cross | 54/55-55/56 | 116 | .393 | .707 | 328 | 72 | 622 |
| 1955 | Jim Loscutoff | 4 | Oregon | 55/56-63/64 | 511 | .345 | .653 | 2,848 | 353 | 3,156 |
| 1956 | Tom Heinsohn | 6 | Holy Cross | 56/57-64/65 | 654 | .405 | .790 | 5,749 | 1,318 | 12,194 |
| 1957 | Sam Jones | 8 | North Carolina Central | 57/58-68/69 | 871 | .456 | .803 | 4,305 | 2,209 | 15,411 |
| 1958 | Bennie Swain | 8 | Texas Southern | 58/59 | 58 | .406 | .609 | 262 | 29 | 265 |
| 1959 | John Richter | 8 | North Carolina State | 59/60 | 66 | .340 | .504 | 312 | 27 | 285 |
| 1960 | Tom Sanders | 8 | NYU | 60/61-72/73 | 916 | .428 | .767 | 5,798 | 1,026 | 8,766 |
| 1961 | Gary Phillips | 9 | Houston | 61/62 | 67 | .355 | .581 | 107 | 64 | 270 |
| 1962 | John Havlicek | 9 | Ohio State | 62/63-77/78 | 1,270 | .439 | .815 | 8,007 | 6,114 | 26,395 |
| 1963 | Bill Green | 9 | Colorado State | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1964 | Mel Counts | 9 | Oregon State | 64/65-65/66 | 121 | .391 | .813 | 697 | 69 | 820 |
| 1965 | Ollie Johnson | 11 | San Francisco | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1966 | Jim Barnett | 8 | Oregon | 66/67 | 48 | .370 | .677 | 53 | 41 | 198 |
| 1967 | Mal Graham | 11 | New York University | 67/68-68/69 | 100 | .398 | .657 | 118 | 75 | 327 |
| 1968 | Don Chaney | 12 | Houston | 68/69-74/75, 77/78-79/80 | 652 | .442 | .778 | 2,572 | 1,268 | 5,689 |
| 1969 | JoJo White | 9 | Kansas | 69/70-78/79 | 717 | .442 | .833 | 3,071 | 3,686 | 13,188 |
| 1970 | Dave Cowens | 4 | Florida State | 70/71-79/80 | 726 | .460 | .782 | 10,170 | 2,828 | 13,192 |
| 1971 | Clarence Glover | 10 | Western Kentucky | 71/72 | 25 | .455 | .469 | 46 | 4 | 65 |
| 1972 | Paul Westphal | 10 | USC | 72/73-74/75 | 224 | .493 | .754 | 373 | 475 | 1,636 |
| 1973 | Steve Downing | 17 | Indiana | 73/74-74/75 | 27 | .318 | .550 | 41 | 11 | 64 |
| 1974 | Glenn McDonald | 17 | Long Beach State | 74/75-75/76 | 137 | .409 | .731 | 203 | 92 | 590 |
| 1975 | Tom Boswell | 17 | USC | 75/76-77/78 | 170 | .508 | .720 | 665 | 172 | 1,005 |
| 1976 | Norm Cook | 16 | Kansas | 76/77 | 25 | .375 | .529 | 27 | 5 | 63 |
| 1977 | Cedric Maxwell | 12 | UNC-Charlotte | 77/78-84/85 | 607 | .559 | .783 | 4,023 | 1,390 | 8,311 |
| 1978 | Larry Bird | 6 | Indiana State | 79/80-91/92 | 897 | .496 | .886 | 8,974 | 5,695 | 21,791 |
| 1978 | Freeman Williams | 8 | Portland State | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1979 | None | | | |
| 1980 | Kevin McHale | 3 | Minnesota | 80/81-92/93 | 971 | .554 | .798 | 7,122 | 1,670 | 17,335 |
| 1981 | Charles Bradley | 23 | Wyoming | 81/82-82/83 | 102 | .416 | .579 | 116 | 50 | 336 |
| 1982 | Darren Tillis | 23 | Cleveland State | 82/83 | 15 | .304 | .333 | 9 | 2 | 16 |
| 1983 | Greg Kite | 21 | Brigham Young | 83/84-87/88 | 241 | .405 | .426 | 472 | 70 | 378 |
| 1984 | Michael Young | 24 | Houston | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1985 | Sam Vincent | 20 | Michigan State | 85/86-86/87 | 103 | .399 | .928 | 75 | 128 | 355 |
| 1986 | Len Bias | 2 | Maryland | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1987 | Reggie Lewis | 22 | Northeastern | 87/88-92/93 | 450 | .488 | .824 | 1,938 | 1,153 | 7,902 |
| 1988 | Brian Shaw | 24 | California-Santa Barbara | 88/89, 90/91-91/92 | 178 | .451 | .827 | 815 | 1,163 | 1,969 |
| 1989 | Michael Smith | 13 | Brigham Young | 89/90-90/91 | 112 | .475 | .824 | 156 | 122 | 545 |
| 1990 | Dee Brown | 19 | Jacksonville | 90/91-97/98 | 476 | .448 | .829 | 1,302 | 1,883 | 5,512 |
| 1991 | Rick Fox | 24 | North Carolina | 91/92-96/97 | 444 | .463 | .772 | 1,733 | 1,250 | 4,759 |
| 1992 | Jon Barry | 21 | Georgia Tech | Never played with the Celtics |
| 1993 | Acie Earl | 19 | Iowa | 93/94-94/95 | 104 | .402 | .646 | 292 | 14 | 476 |
| 1994 | Eric Montross | 9 | North Carolina | 94/95-95/96 | 139 | .546 | .548 | 918 | 79 | 1,223 |
| 1995 | Eric Williams | 14 | Providence | 95/96-96/97, 99/00-03/04 | 462 | .425 | .732 | 1,607 | 678 | 4,248 |
| 1996 | Antoine Walker | 6 | Kentucky | 96/97-02/03, 04/05 | 552 | .413 | .663 | 4,782 | 2,266 | 11,386 |
| 1997 | Chauncey Billups | 3 | Colorado | 97/98 | 51 | .390 | .817 | 113 | 217 | 565 |
| 1997 | Ron Mercer | 6 | Kentucky | 97/98-98/99 | 121 | .443 | .824 | 435 | 280 | 1,919 |
| 1998 | Paul Pierce | 10 | Kansas | 98/99-present | 1,102 | .447 | .806 | 6,651 | 4,306 | 24,021 |
| 1999 | None | | | |
| 2000 | Jerome Moiso | 11 | UCLA | 00/01 | 24 | .400 | .423 | 42 | 3 | 35 |
| 2001 | Joe Johnson | 10 | Arkansas | 01/02 | 48 | .439 | .769 | 139 | 74 | 304 |
| 2001 | Kedrick Brown | 11 | Okaloosa-Walton CC FL (JC) | 01/02-03/04 | 101 | .379 | .615 | 258 | 60 | 318 |
| 2001 | Joseph Forte | 21 | North Carolina | 01/02 | 8 | .083 | 1.000 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 2002 | None | | | |
| 2003 | Troy Bell | 16 | Boston College | Never played with the Celtics |
| 2003 | Dahntay Jones | 20 | Duke | Never played with the Celtics |
| 2004 | Al Jefferson | 15 | Prentiss (MS) | 04/05-06/07 | 199 | .513 | .660 | 1,367 | 142 | 2,046 |
| 2004 | Delonte West | 24 | St. Joseph's (PA) | 04/05-06/07, 10/11 | 203 | .453 | .841 | 600 | 750 | 1,991 |
| 2004 | Tony Allen | 25 | Oklahoma State | 04/05-09/10 | 336 | .477 | .731 | 873 | 439 | 2,423 |
| 2005 | Gerald Green | 18 | Gulf Shores Academy (TX) | 05/06-06/07 | 113 | .429 | .801 | 249 | 101 | 1,010 |
| 2006 | Randy Foye | 7 | Villanova | Never played with the Celtics |
| 2007 | Jeff Green | 5 | Georgetown | 10/11, 12/13 | 107 | .470 | .805 | 404 | 147 | 1,290 |
| 2008 | JR Giddens | 30 | New Mexico | 08/09-09/10 | 27 | .458 | .500 | 23 | 6 | 28 |
| 2009 | None | | | |
| 2010 | Avery Bradley | 19 | Texas | 10/11-present | 145 | .438 | .755 | 243 | 203 | 997 |
| 2011 | Marshon Brooks | 25 | Providence | Never played with the Celtics |
| 2012 | Jared Sullinger | 21 | Ohio State | 12/13 | 45 | .493 | .746 | 264 | 35 | 270 |
| 2012 | Fab Melo | 22 | Syracuse | 12/13 | 6 | .500 | .250 | 3 | 0 | 7 |