Re: 2024 NBA Draft Thread
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 6:39 pm
FWIW..
My takeaways?
1) The guys on this list who hit are good shooters. Grant, Pritchard, Hauser, Strus, Nesmith. Those are the only guys here who have done anything in the NBA and they can ALL shoot. All were really good shooters in college, except Grant who worked his butt off to become a better shooter in the NBA but earned minutes from the jump due to just being a tough, strong, physical glue guy who knew how to play, worked hard, set good screens and was really versatile defensively. He was also a backup PF and that is a position we had a need for and have tried lots of different guys in that spot over the past few years..
Grant wasn't a shooter in college so it's a little unfair to put him in that bucket. The guys who were good shooters when we drafted/signed them have worked out well except for Edwards (too small at 5'11" and was 21 when we drafted him so not developed enough..or they were too old (Funk) or they were playing in a lower level overseas league (by age 22 if you're overseas you should be in a better pro league by then..or if you're in Hungary you better be the league MVP lol
The shooters who have worked out have been a little more developed/older than that - Hauser, Pritchard, Strus..
Nesmith (a shooter) has worked out in the NBA but he's playing very well for his 2nd NBA team..wasn't so good for Boston, probably because he wasn't ready yet, was only 20 when we drafted him and most of his college career was during COVID so just wasn't developed enough to be ready for mins on a playoff team
We should've kept Strus. Keeping Tacko over him was pretty bad, in hindsight..
2) The overseas guys (Valerio-Bodon, Madar, Begarin) haven't worked out. It's also worth noting that when we drafted/signed these 3 guys, they were all playing in lower level overseas leagues. Valerio-Bodon was 22 but was still playing in just the Hungary league, which is not one of the better international leagues. Madar was playing in the Israeili league - not a top 5 international league..and his numbers were pretty meh during the season before we drafted him (only like 10 PPG, 28% from 3..) Begarin was playing in the France B league and his numbers were also kind of meh, considering the league he was in
A good rule of thumb moving forward should be, if we take an international player, try and take someone who is showing some decent production in one of the better pro leagues (Spain, France, Australia, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Adriatic League are probably the top ones) or if in a lower league like Israel or Hungary they better be dominating..
3) The Celtics don't seem to like drafting centers. No centers drafted by the team since Rob in 2018. And neither of the UDFA bigs we have signed since that time (Trevion, Tako) worked out well.
4) The really young guys (like younger than 20.5 on draft night) haven't worked out very well for us - yet.
My takeaways?
1) The guys on this list who hit are good shooters. Grant, Pritchard, Hauser, Strus, Nesmith. Those are the only guys here who have done anything in the NBA and they can ALL shoot. All were really good shooters in college, except Grant who worked his butt off to become a better shooter in the NBA but earned minutes from the jump due to just being a tough, strong, physical glue guy who knew how to play, worked hard, set good screens and was really versatile defensively. He was also a backup PF and that is a position we had a need for and have tried lots of different guys in that spot over the past few years..
Grant wasn't a shooter in college so it's a little unfair to put him in that bucket. The guys who were good shooters when we drafted/signed them have worked out well except for Edwards (too small at 5'11" and was 21 when we drafted him so not developed enough..or they were too old (Funk) or they were playing in a lower level overseas league (by age 22 if you're overseas you should be in a better pro league by then..or if you're in Hungary you better be the league MVP lol
The shooters who have worked out have been a little more developed/older than that - Hauser, Pritchard, Strus..
Nesmith (a shooter) has worked out in the NBA but he's playing very well for his 2nd NBA team..wasn't so good for Boston, probably because he wasn't ready yet, was only 20 when we drafted him and most of his college career was during COVID so just wasn't developed enough to be ready for mins on a playoff team
We should've kept Strus. Keeping Tacko over him was pretty bad, in hindsight..
2) The overseas guys (Valerio-Bodon, Madar, Begarin) haven't worked out. It's also worth noting that when we drafted/signed these 3 guys, they were all playing in lower level overseas leagues. Valerio-Bodon was 22 but was still playing in just the Hungary league, which is not one of the better international leagues. Madar was playing in the Israeili league - not a top 5 international league..and his numbers were pretty meh during the season before we drafted him (only like 10 PPG, 28% from 3..) Begarin was playing in the France B league and his numbers were also kind of meh, considering the league he was in
A good rule of thumb moving forward should be, if we take an international player, try and take someone who is showing some decent production in one of the better pro leagues (Spain, France, Australia, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Adriatic League are probably the top ones) or if in a lower league like Israel or Hungary they better be dominating..
3) The Celtics don't seem to like drafting centers. No centers drafted by the team since Rob in 2018. And neither of the UDFA bigs we have signed since that time (Trevion, Tako) worked out well.
4) The really young guys (like younger than 20.5 on draft night) haven't worked out very well for us - yet.