Did Boston blow their draft?

[Snakebites]

Surely Dunn & Brooklyn pick in 2018 gets them Noel?

Noel
Crowder
?
Bradley
IT
Smart

That's a nice core to sell to free agents

Not even sure Noel represents a consolidation of assets though. They already have enough power forwards and centers that are only good at one aspect of the game. Olynyk, Amir, Jonas, Sullinger....

Its almost as though they think if they collect enough of them they'll be able to meld them into one player that has all of the positive attributes.

He's definitely not worth TWO of the Brooklyn picks. I'd hesitate on one.

He was certainly worth more than the #3 in this past Draft IMO

And I'm one of the few that don't believe Ainge is dealing from a position of strength.

Yes, there's a lot of assets to combine.

Yes, there's a handful of capable players to combine

But if he doesn't strike a deal he's depending on the Draft to take that team from treadmill to contender.

That might work but a bird in the hand and all that.

At some point he needs to bite the bullet & make a good deal if there's no great deals available.

Noel, Crowder, Badley, IT, Smart is better than what they have now...and he could have the Memphis pick next year AND the swap with Brooklyn!

Okay, I'll grant the number 3 isn't worth as much as Noel, but the difference is NOT one of the other Brooklyn picks. Those picks are extremely valuable. Their 2 most valuable assets are 2017 and 2018 Brooklyn picks.

[theBigLip]

Regardless of whether or not Ainge blew it, I'm happy they got #3 in a weak draft. And I sure as hell hope they don't get a top 3 again with one of the Brooklyn picks.

[theBigLip]

I'll just say it up front - I don't like Boston. Never have, never will.

That being said, they have done a great job of rebuilding and are certainly ahead of us in trying to knock off the Cavs to be champs of the East. They have a great coach, a young team, tons of draft picks, cap space, and seems like they would make the leap next year into real contenders. A summary of their stockpile of draft picks:

2016: Receives Brooklyn Nets’ 2016 first-round pick via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/12/13. Receives Dallas Mavericks’ 2016 first-round pick (protected for 1-7 in 2016, 1-7 in 2017, 1-7 in 2018, 1-7 in 2019, 1-7 in 2020 and unprotected in 2021) via Rajon Rondo trade. Receives Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2016 first-round pick (protected for 1-12) via Phoenix.
2017: Have rights to swap 2017 first-round picks with the Brooklyn Nets via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/10/13.
2018: Receives Brooklyn Nets 2018 first-round pick via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/10/13.

So I was totally worried about them this summer. So what did they do in the draft? Jaylen Brown? Potential star but far from guaranteed. And certainly not next year or two. I seriously thought they would put a package together and get a star and we would be chasing them for the next 5 years. But it didn't happen. A bit of a relief. I'm still a little nervous about the next two drafts (hopefully Brooklyn gets better quickly), but for now, it seems like we didn't really lose any ground to them this summer.

Thoughts?

I couldn't disagree more with the bolded. Boston is not, by any measure better then the Pistons, or in a better place.

I don't care that Thomas was an all-star he barely made it over Jackson, and because of Jacksons crunch time play I would absolutely take him over Thomas every single time.

Drummond is the best player between both teams by a wide margin, then it goes Jackson, then maybe Thomas, but goes back to Harris.

My steadfast hatred for Boston aside, I disagree, and in my opinion, it's not even close.

Not even close? Wow. They have made the playoffs the last two years, and we just got an 8th seed this year. I do think we finally got the right pieces in place and would like to think we pass them up this year, but it certainly isn't guaranteed. They also have more cap space than we do.

Vegas odds for Boston to win it all - 25 to 1. Pistons - 125 to 1.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

[Spider156]

I'll just say it up front - I don't like Boston. Never have, never will.

That being said, they have done a great job of rebuilding and are certainly ahead of us in trying to knock off the Cavs to be champs of the East. They have a great coach, a young team, tons of draft picks, cap space, and seems like they would make the leap next year into real contenders. A summary of their stockpile of draft picks:

2016: Receives Brooklyn Nets’ 2016 first-round pick via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/12/13. Receives Dallas Mavericks’ 2016 first-round pick (protected for 1-7 in 2016, 1-7 in 2017, 1-7 in 2018, 1-7 in 2019, 1-7 in 2020 and unprotected in 2021) via Rajon Rondo trade. Receives Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2016 first-round pick (protected for 1-12) via Phoenix.
2017: Have rights to swap 2017 first-round picks with the Brooklyn Nets via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/10/13.
2018: Receives Brooklyn Nets 2018 first-round pick via Kevin Garnett trade on 7/10/13.

So I was totally worried about them this summer. So what did they do in the draft? Jaylen Brown? Potential star but far from guaranteed. And certainly not next year or two. I seriously thought they would put a package together and get a star and we would be chasing them for the next 5 years. But it didn't happen. A bit of a relief. I'm still a little nervous about the next two drafts (hopefully Brooklyn gets better quickly), but for now, it seems like we didn't really lose any ground to them this summer.

Thoughts?

I couldn't disagree more with the bolded. Boston is not, by any measure better then the Pistons, or in a better place.

I don't care that Thomas was an all-star he barely made it over Jackson, and because of Jacksons crunch time play I would absolutely take him over Thomas every single time.

Drummond is the best player between both teams by a wide margin, then it goes Jackson, then maybe Thomas, but goes back to Harris.

My steadfast hatred for Boston aside, I disagree, and in my opinion, it's not even close.

Not even close? Wow. They have made the playoffs the last two years, and we just got an 8th seed this year. I do think we finally got the right pieces in place and would like to think we pass them up this year, but it certainly isn't guaranteed. They also have more cap space than we do.

Vegas odds for Boston to win it all - 25 to 1. Pistons - 125 to 1.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/futures/

Boston are basically a year ahead of us in experience, no doubt. But their potential is nowhere close to ours. There's a good chance we'll have a better record than them this season. They really do need to make something out of those picks. Thing is they have a great front office so I wouldn't be surprised if they made a quick big move. They have a great coach but so do we. Right now I'd say we're a better team simply because we have better players starting and bench. We have more potential, they're just more experienced. Problem is with those picks, at any point they can get a star or two and dominate the East more than Lebron. Other than that though, Boston as of right now is nobody to fear but they do have potential, definitely.

[MrBigShot]

I hope the Bulls were the ones to reject the rumored Pick 3/Pick 16/Crowder for Butler trade if true. Otherwise the Celtics made a huge mistake.

[In SVG We Trust]

I hope the Bulls were the ones to reject the rumored Pick 3/Pick 16/Crowder for Butler trade if true. Otherwise the Celtics made a huge mistake.

Great for us Ainge is turning into Joe Dumars.

[Billl]

Boston didn't "blow it". I wish they did, but they didn't. The problem for them is that they need to do more with their stockpile of picks than just "not blow it". They have a boatload of good, young players and even more picks in their pocket. They need to make a move with them. They know it. We know it. Everyone knows it. When that finally happens, then we will be able to say if the Celtics "blew it".

[In SVG We Trust]

They're not getting what they want in return, and everyday those player are losing more and more value to the other teams. Stevens can't put on the court everybody and can create a solid rotation without a clear step into the future.

[Blkbrd671]

I honestly think Ainge is just a low baller and over values his assets. You look at the deals he's made, Boston always seems to get the better end of the stick. However, what we don't ever see are the deals he turns down. With all those assets i am sure he had a ability to go out and get a franchise player, however low balling Ainge didn't want to pull the trigger. I also think it has to do with GM's getting smarter, Ainge's strategy only works if the GM on the other line is desperate or stupid.

I liken him to Joe D, in that he caught lighting in a bottle with the big 3 and rondo, however it more to do with luck than ability to build a team. Anyone not named IT should be on the table

[StunnaStan]

Idk about the other picks, but as far as Jayen brown, i think hes a 6'7-6'8 Dwayne wade type. Like sj though, he'll end up having to play sf instead of sg because the team hes on.