Celtics Draft Blog Recap: Who Predicted Sullinger and Melo?

Who called that one? Oh yea, ME. Nailed it:

No big deal. Part time blogger, most of the time slacker Seany-Mo has got a lot to learn. Kid thinks because he watched Vanderbilt a few times this year he knows what's going on. Get out of the sandbox little boy and let the big kids play.

I assume I just sit back and let the ESPN insider offers roll in now? Like Chad Ford is out, and you'll be seeing CW Mock Draft 15.2 next year? Because Chad either has horrid sources or couldn't have been more wrong. All week I wondered why no one was talking about the Bobcats taking MKG, all week he talked about how they were taking Beal, Robinson or Trading. All week he talked about Houston not using any of their 3 picks and trading them all away...they took all three picks. He flat out couldn't have been more wrong. I couldn't have been more right. Get at me ESPN. I want the Rick Reilly package.

The Alt-Tabs Official Celtics Draft Preview, For Real This Time

All right, lets do it. I've been meaning to get to this for a week after Seany-Mo's return, 2-part post (1 , 2, ) breaking down the Celtics two first round draft picks. As one of the 3 or 4 people who truly enjoys the NBA draft (apparently with Sean being one of the others, who knew?), it's one of my favorite sports nights of the year, I'd feel remiss if I didn't break down one of the more important drafts for the home town Celtics in a long time.

First lets look back at a few of the past Celts draft picks to get a sense of their history:

What do Marshon Brooks, Luke Harangody, Lester Hudson, J.R. Giddens, Semih Erden, Gabe Pruitt, and Randy Foye, all have in common? A few things actually. 1) They were all Celtics Draft picks from 2006 to 2011, 2) None of them are presently on the Celtics roster, and 3) They weren't on a Celtics roster for more than one season and in some cases none.

Now, to be fair, 2006 also brought the C's Rondo via a draft day trade, so there was some level of success. But beyond that? Nada. This isn't to fault the Celts front office though. Far from it. Basically since 2007 the Celtics haven't looked to use the draft to build. 2007 brought numerous draft day trades that brought together the Big 3 and kicked off 5 years of fantastic basketball. Subsequent draft picks were either really late in the first round, and in some years they didn't even have first rounders. There's not a ton of success anywhere in the league drafting late first-early 2nd rounders (unless of course you're the San Antonio Spurs). It just doesn't happen.

This year? It has to happen. Picking 21st and 22nd isn't ideal for a team looking, if not to rebuild, then to re-tool, on the fly. They need to make these pics count, either with value picks, or via trade. NO PROJECTS. The time for projects would have been the past few seasons when you could have afforded to develop a raw young talent over a few seasons. That time has passed. They realistically need to get a guy or two in this draft who will give real contributions, basically from year two on.

With that in mind, CW's thoughts: 

Wish List: I wish the Celts would package both picks together and move up. Portland and New Orleans and Houston all have two picks prior to the Celts first, Philadelphia and the T-Wolves both have gluts of young talent they'll need to focus on for the next few season and maybe looking to move back. These are the teams I'd contact first, looking to move up. That should be option A. Who would I target? Well I have three absolute man crushes in this draft, Anthony Davis, MKG, and Bradley Beal. All should be in the top 5, which the Celts have no shot in hell at.

Realistically, I'd  love for them to be looking at,

A) Austin Rivers - Yes Doc is his father. Yes Doc is notoriously hard on young guards (see Rondo, Rajon). But you know what? Wing players who can shoot in space and can create their own shot, basically at will, don't come along that often, and rarely are they talked about as dropping outside the top 10, which is where Rivers is consistently projected. Blame it on an overly deep draft, on some maturity questions, whatever, Austin is legit and every team outside the top 4 or so that pass on him will live to regret it. If the Celts can reasonably swing a deal into the 10-12 pick range knowing they'll get Rivers, they need to do it.

B) John Henson - A middle class mans Anthony Davis. Someone who looks like he'll be just as much of a defensive force, with maybe a bit less of an offensive game (and less room to develop). For analogies sake if Anthony Davis is Tim Duncan, John Henson is going to be Marcus Camby. (I realize both of these comparisons are lofty, Duncan is one of the best ever, Camby has quietly had a really successful 15-16 year career, but its just an analogy). Recent projections show Henson sliding somewhere in the 10-15 range, if that happens, he's a solid second in my book to Rivers as far as trade targets.

If Trading is out of the Question:

If trading is out of the question, I'll stress again, they need to draft guys who they think can reasonably develop in the next 2 seasons into contributors, again, NO PROJECTS.

My ideal outcome: Two of Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo, Draymond Green

Sullinger is in FREE FALL. Teams are concerned about his back, and the potential for it to shorten his career...but once you get past the 14th or so pick, what's the worry? The average career for an NBA player is what, 4 years or so? Less? Are we talking about even shorter for Sullinger? I doubt it. If you're picking outside the lottery why not roll the dice and a guy who's inside game is as good as anyone's in this draft? If he starts being a real option around picks 18,19, I really hope Ainge works the phones to find out if he's going to make it to 21, if not I'd pull the trigger on a minor deal maybe the 22nd and next years first rounder for a shot at Sullinger.

Fab Melo can be a force inside in this league. I say "can be," because he can also be a disaster who spends his career in the D-League. But you know what? If KG is back, this is exactly the kind of guy Garnett can pass on his work ethic, intensity, and techniques too. Seany-Mo is all concerned about his rebound rates in college...Syracuse plays the zone, bro. They don't rebound well by design. It's often one on two or two on three under the hoop in favor of the offensive team due to the Cuse's defensive scheme. That won't be the case in the NBA. He's a big, athletic 7 footer with serious size, he'll rebound, he'll block shots, and with any luck, he'll develop a post game. I want him on this team, I need him on this team.

Draymond Green - Does everything. Won't be a star, will have a decent career. A point forward type player, not the most athletically gifted or biggest guy, but a guy who's proven he knows how to play. He's smart, plays within himself, and causes matchup problems. His defense would be the big questions mark, but then again these Celts got Ray Allen to be a reasonable defender, so I'd think they could teach a smart player like Draymond the basics of good footwork. 

The "I don't like it, but I can live with it," outcome:  Two of Royce White, Jeff Taylor, Arnett Moultrie:

Royce White - By all accounts he's a top 10 talent. Also by all accounts he's a serious head case, with fairly severe anxiety issues. Never spent more than one year a high school or college. But again, by all accounts as talented as just about anyone in the top 10. I didn't see much of him, I do know he dominated Uconn in the tournament, for whatever that's worth.

Jeff Taylor - A little redundant with Avery Bradley on the roster, but then again he gives a little bit more size than Bradley and lock down defenders fit the Celtics profile perfectly. If you can hold your own on defense, you'll get a shot early in the NBA, and that's how Jeff Taylor is going to make his mark. By all acounts he's a good shooter from space, but can't create his own shot...so think of him as a defensive Ray Allen...obviously not as good of a shooter as Ray, but a better defender on the otherside.

Arnett Moultrie - I don't know how to peg this guy, he's been projected all over the place. I've never seen him play either. But I do know the Celts need help up front, and a 6-11 athletic big man fits the need. Maybe he'll be a Tony Battie, who knows.

The "Goddamnit, We're Headed for Years of 7th and 8th seeds," Outcome: Royce White and Andrew Nicholson.

Royce White: Again? Yes. Because I broke my rule about projects earlier. He's  a project. He has issues. He's also extremely talented. That's why I broke my own rule. But I did so in hoping that we'd pair him with a ready to go player like Jeff Taylor. We can't afford to whiff twice, which is exactly what we'd be doing if we selected Royce with...

Andrew Nicholson: Project. That's what his scouting reports scream. Rise with workouts is always a huge red flag for me. I don't need a workout warrior, I need a gamer. Who cares if he's good at the Mikan drill and shuttle runs? Why wasn't he good enough in games to be ranked this highly. Andrew Nicholson, you might be a nice guy, you might run the three man weave better than any big man in the draft, but I don't want you on the Celtics, I just don't.

There you have it, CW's exhaustive, delayed, and long winded break down of the Celtics Thursday night draft. 

The Road Ahead: The Celtics Road to Recovery Part 1

The fact that Doc's quest for perfection from his guards probably means he'd kill his own son in the lockerroom doesn't deter me at all from salivating over this picture.

ED NOTE: This is part one of Seany-Mo's two part Celtics draft preview (part two later today). These opinions in no way represent CW's vast basketball knowledge. I'll have a retort to these cockamamie breakdowns later this week. 


Despite having our hearts ripped from our chests in yet another Game 7 meltdown, this past season just served to reinforce how much I love the Celtics. They could have packed it in about 50 times during the year for a number of valid reasons, but they kept on battling to the very last second. Kevin Garnett somehow found the Fountain of Youth and was putting up 20+ and 10+ with regularity while playing almost 40 minutes a night during the post season. Most encouraging, the team had started to come together at the right time despite a number of key players going down at some point this season with injury, which would make you think chemistry on the court would suffer (I don’t consider Jermaine O’ Neal one of these people. He is a malignant degenerative disease feasting upon the Celtics cap space.) I focus on the road to recovery because as gutsy and resilient as the Celtics stretch run was this past season, this team needs to focus on rebuilding for the future sooner rather than later. With the free agent pool drying up due to in season extensions (Kevin Love) and Dwight Howard keeping everyone hostage at the trade deadline, it seems apparent to me that the most immediate way to make this team better is to nail the draft this coming June. Usually being in this draft position (21, 22) it would be difficult to find an impact NBA player, but due to the lockout, this draft is extremely loaded and full of talent that can help this squad immediately. Additionally, these prospects are selected on what I perceive as a NEED for the Celtics, as well as how well they complement Rajon Rondo, as he is the cornerstone we should be building around. Here’s who I’d like in green next year at both picks ranked from “unless every other GM is whacked out on black tar heroin, it won’t happen even though I’d love it” to “Danny, If you have any affection for us at all as fans, STAY AWAY!”


At # 21…

PIPE DREAM

Austin Rivers, SG, Duke- Yes, this is partly because I think the dynamic of having Austin Rivers being coached by his dad would be really friggin’ cool. But on a more practical level, the Celtics, pure and simple, need people who can put the ball in the basket without being completely dependent on someone else. Rivers is a TREMENDOUS athlete at age 19 and has a nose for the basket. The dual threat of slashing to the bucket and having the ability to knock down threes makes me salivate at the prospect of seeing Rivers and Rondo run the break for years to come. Sadly, I believe Austin will be gone long before the Celtics pick comes along. Additionally, the emergence of Avery Bradley would make the acquisition of Rivers somewhat redundant. Still, it’s fun to think about.

HEY, IT COULD HAPPEN…RIGHT?


John Henson, PF/C, UNC- Yes, I understand he looks like Jujuan Johnson 2.0 with his impressive length yet wiry build, but let it be known Henson is a much more complete defensive player than Johnson at this point. Not to mention he comes from an absolute NBA player mill in North Carolina, where he has greatly benefitted under Roy Williams tutelage. Look no further than the progress he made in just one year from his freshman to sophomore season; More than doubled his points per game average and rebounds per game, as well as raising a good 1.6 blocks per game to a sterling 3.2 blocks per game. He may not possess the best offensive game quite yet, as he strictly relies on a left handed hook shot and his mid range shooting is still a major work in progress, but his nose for the ball both on the glass and in altering opponents shots makes him a tantalizing prospect for addressing the Celtics length, rebounding, and shot blocking issues. I’d look for Henson to initially step in as an interior defender who could contribute offensively by cutting off of back screens and looking for alley oops from Rondo while continuing to round out the rest of his game. Sadly, even with his less than impressive combine workout (in the bottom 5 in bench bress reps and vertical leap,) he will still likely be snatched up before we can picture him swatting shots into the first row at TD Garden.


BLEND OF LIKELY AND SENSIBLE


Arnett Moultrie PF/C, Mississippi State- A big man who excels at creating his offense off of cuts and back screens would be a perfect complement to Rajon Rondo on the fast break or even in the half court, which is exactly what Moultrie brings to the table. Not to mention the guy rebounds like an absolute boss on both the offensive, (5.3 offensive rebounds per game, pace adjusted for 40 minutes) and defensive glass (8.2 defensive rebounds per game, pace adjusted for 40 minutes.) which is impressive given some of the big men he was competing against in the SEC, like Anthony Davis, Festus Azeli, and Bradley Beal. While the lack of shot blocking ability is concerning for a guy who is listed as 6’11, consensus seems to be this is more so due more to lack of effort rather than talent. The defense malaise is a questions mark, but with given his rebound prowess, the Celtics should jump at this guy should he be available.


THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE


-Royce White, F, Iowa State- Given Danny’s propensity to select extremely athletic players that have significant questions marks (Gerald Green and J.R Giddens come to mind) this is a high risk/high reward pick that makes me extremely nervous. Don’t get me wrong, White has proven that he can score with the best of them, putting up impressive numbers against both Kansas and Baylor when they played this year (I believe he had an 18 point 10 rebound game when matched up with Thomas Robinson, but I could be making that up and am too lazy to check/my boss is prowling the hallways.) Despite this, the guy has been labeled as having significant character issues in addition to having a phobia of flying/ anxiety disorder. Given the amount of travel involved in an NBA season and the intensity of Rajon Rondo, I just don’t see White fitting in well with the Celtics. Kevin Garnett’s fiery passion alone may cause White to check himself into an asylum day one of training camp. Not to mention he’s a “tweener” forward who can’t naturally play either small or power forward, which we already have in Jeff Green, as well as a criminal accused of theft in the past. Pass on this guy.

Investment Advice from Two NBA Draft Lottery Hopefuls

So...Good luck to whoever drafts Thomas Robinson...I'm sure he won't be asking for advances on his contract after a couple of months, seems like a real fiscally sound young man. 

Look, I'm not gonna hate on him too much, he's a kid about to come into a LOT of money. But when you got one guy saying he's gonna buy his mom a house, right after you just told the fellas at TMZ that you're gonna buy an ice'd out rolex, maybe you wanna come back with something a little different than "gonna buy my sister some gucci's." Not good looks homie. 

Maybe consider hiring a financial planner...like a real one. Someone with proper licenses, who wears a suit and tie to work, drives to a  real office and has real co-workers...What I'm saying is not one of your childhood friends. Just a thought.