2023 NBA Draft – Thurs, 8PM, June 22

[Hal14]

I think tankathon messed up the protections on some of the picks, according to https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/detailed, the Celtics have the following picks in the upcoming draft:
Blazers 2nd round pick
Orlando 2nd round pick if it's 55-60 (lol not happening)
the more favorable of (i) Houston's 2023 2nd round pick protected for selections 31-32 and (ii) the less favorable of the Dallas pick and the Miami pick
FYI, our own pick is due either to Charlotte or Washington depending on where Boston ends up.

Also it's pretty harsh to say that Stevens hasn't drafted a decent prospect yet considering he's only had two late second rounders to use and neither of the guys he selected has played a NBA game yet. Maybe let's wait until we see them play NBA competition before passing judgement.

The signs of being good at judging talent are there. Brad and organization seemed to have interest in Scottie Barnes and Tari Eason - 2 of the best picks in last 2 drafts and their second round picks and undrafted pickups have shown promise. Their ability to target the right players as free agents or trade targets has also been spot on.

He’s def done a good job with trades and free agency, the draft is still a mystery though. There was no way they were getting a pick high enough to get Barnes and if they were so enamored with Eason they could have moved up to get him. I mean they work out a ton of players, I dont really think that reflects their talent evaluation capabilities too much. And its not like Brad didnt have a say in the previous drafts during the Ainge regime, they had some big misses towards the end there. Brad continued Ainge’s love for undersized point guards

Davison isn't undersized. He's 6'3".

Average height of a PG in today's NBA is 6'2.5".

And with his near 40" vertical leap, Davison plays bigger than 6'3". At pretty much every level he's played at, he's rebounded and blocked shots at a very high level for a guard.

[Kalela]

Read on Twitter

[Hal14]

Read on Twitter

Yeah. Def a guy worth keeping an eye on. Especially if his shooting comes along.

I watched some of his HS tape and his shooting looked good, but it didn't really translate last season as a freshman at Washington St.

He's raw. But the tools are there. 6'11", moves well for that size. Athletic. Flashes of shooting and driving.

His defense from what I've seen is average at best.

Lots of guys make a big leap their sophomore season in college. Will be interesting to see what type of leap Gueye makes.

[jmr07019]

Anyone worry about Victor's knees ala Porzingis or am I off base? Just seeing a guy that tall and lanky move that suddenly worries me a bit. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to go #1 just throwing it out there

[Hal14]

Anyone worry about Victor's knees ala Porzingis or am I off base? Just seeing a guy that tall and lanky move that suddenly worries me a bit. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to go #1 just throwing it out there

Anybody who's 7'3" or taller will always carry injury risk.

You go down the line. Porzingis, Ralph Sampson, Arvydas Sabonis, Manute Bol, Yao Ming, etc. Most guys 7'3" or taller battled quite a bit of injury.

Many of them are also hall of famers though.

And many of them played a long time ago - before the various advancements in sports therapy, strength and conditioning, sports science that we have today.

Plus, Victor does move insanely fluid for a dude of that size, especially for someone who's only 18.

Still, the risk is there.

It is ironic, though. The 2 game series we had a couple weeks ago with Victor's european team vs Scoot henderson's g league ignite team. Victor played a ton of mins in both games. Meanwhile, Scoot (the guy who is 6'2" and built rock solid, like a running back) left only a few mins into the 2nd game with an injury.

He suffered the injury when him and Victor banged knees. That's right - the 2 of them banged knees. Scoot left the game and did not return. Victor stayed in and played like 37 mins that game, putting up monster numbers.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Beside Wembanyama, there are probably two other prospects from France that might go in the first round. Sidy Cissokho I don't know much about because he played in Spain in recent seasons but I guess he'll get plenty of exposure sharing a backcourt with Scoot Henderson in the G-League Ignite team.

I do think that Rayan Rupert might be a little underrated right now. He is a 6'7 shooting guard with a 7'2 wingspan so there's the foundation for a solid 3&D guy there. The outside shot needs to start falling more consistently to be fair but I trust he'll put the work in, he knows what it means to be a pro basketball player. His father was one for almost two decades in France and his sister just won a WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces. Also while at INSEP (basically the school where all elite teenage french prospects go) he would get in trouble for sneaking out to the gym after the curfew to work on his jumper. He'll be playing in the NBL for the New Zealand Breakers so our aussie Celtic fans might catch a glimpse this season.

Watch on YouTube

[Hal14]

long way till draft night. but as of now, this looks like the #3 pick, after Wembanyama and Scoot.

Read on Twitter

[sam_I_am]

long way till draft night. but as of now, this looks like the #3 pick, after Wembanyama and Scoot.

Read on Twitter

In addition to the bounce and flexibility, he looks powerful finishing through contact. Defenders bounce off his chest. Intriguing.

[Hal14]

This guy is a freak lol

Read on Twitter

[Fencer reregistered]

Anyone worry about Victor's knees ala Porzingis or am I off base? Just seeing a guy that tall and lanky move that suddenly worries me a bit. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to go #1 just throwing it out there

Of course.

It may be that, like a running QB in football, there are certain abilities he has but shouldn't emphasize for the sake of his health.

[31to6]

I'm not saying he's definitely going to translate to a superstar who wins games, but what team(s) do you want Wembanyama to go to?

For me:
YES = CHA (fun with Melo), SAC (can this useless franchise get on the map, ever again?), OKC (kilometers of length!), PDX (deserves a break -- oh **** nm he'd get hurt:(, NOP (would be fun)
INDIFFERENT = HOU, WAS, IND, DET (don't care at all about these franchises)
NO = ORL (would get too good too fast?)
HELL NO = LAL (**** THE LAKERS!)

[Feed Your Head]

I'm not saying he's definitely going to translate to a superstar who wins games, but what team(s) do you want Wembanyama to go to?

For me:
YES = CHA (fun with Melo), SAC (can this useless franchise get on the map, ever again?), OKC (kilometers of length!), PDX (deserves a break -- oh **** nm he'd get hurt:(, NOP (would be fun)
INDIFFERENT = HOU, WAS, IND, DET (don't care at all about these franchises)
NO = ORL (would get too good too fast?)
HELL NO = LAL (**** THE LAKERS!)

NO going to win like 50 games, but don’t they have the lakers unprotected pick this year? I’m not sure, and too lazy lol.

[Hal14]

I'm not saying he's definitely going to translate to a superstar who wins games, but what team(s) do you want Wembanyama to go to?

For me:
YES = CHA (fun with Melo), SAC (can this useless franchise get on the map, ever again?), OKC (kilometers of length!), PDX (deserves a break -- oh **** nm he'd get hurt:(, NOP (would be fun)
INDIFFERENT = HOU, WAS, IND, DET (don't care at all about these franchises)
NO = ORL (would get too good too fast?)
HELL NO = LAL (**** THE LAKERS!)

NO going to win like 50 games, but don’t they have the lakers unprotected pick this year? I’m not sure, and too lazy lol.

Yeah. NO gets the Lakers 1st round pick this year. I think it's unprotected too, but not totally sure.

I doubt a team with LeBron on it is bad enough to get 1st pick though..

[djFan71]

I'm not saying he's definitely going to translate to a superstar who wins games, but what team(s) do you want Wembanyama to go to?

For me:
YES = CHA (fun with Melo), SAC (can this useless franchise get on the map, ever again?), OKC (kilometers of length!), PDX (deserves a break -- oh **** nm he'd get hurt:(, NOP (would be fun)
INDIFFERENT = HOU, WAS, IND, DET (don't care at all about these franchises)
NO = ORL (would get too good too fast?)
HELL NO = LAL (**** THE LAKERS!)

NO going to win like 50 games, but don’t they have the lakers unprotected pick this year? I’m not sure, and too lazy lol.

Yeah. NO gets the Lakers 1st round pick this year. I think it's unprotected too, but not totally sure.

I doubt a team with LeBron on it is bad enough to get 1st pick though..

Russ:

[Hal14]

woah:

Read on Twitter

Woah:

Read on Twitter

[Hal14]

Beside Wembanyama, there are probably two other prospects from France that might go in the first round. Sidy Cissokho I don't know much about because he played in Spain in recent seasons but I guess he'll get plenty of exposure sharing a backcourt with Scoot Henderson in the G-League Ignite team.

I do think that Rayan Rupert might be a little underrated right now. He is a 6'7 shooting guard with a 7'2 wingspan so there's the foundation for a solid 3&D guy there. The outside shot needs to start falling more consistently to be fair but I trust he'll put the work in, he knows what it means to be a pro basketball player. His father was one for almost two decades in France and his sister just won a WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces. Also while at INSEP (basically the school where all elite teenage french prospects go) he would get in trouble for sneaking out to the gym after the curfew to work on his jumper. He'll be playing in the NBL for the New Zealand Breakers so our aussie Celtic fans might catch a glimpse this season.

Watch on YouTube

I like Rupert. Seems like he's off to a strong start for the Breakers this season. But I think he goes 1st round so we won't be able to get him. We'll see though..

[TSmith0197]

I'm not saying he's definitely going to translate to a superstar who wins games, but what team(s) do you want Wembanyama to go to?

For me:
YES = CHA (fun with Melo), SAC (can this useless franchise get on the map, ever again?), OKC (kilometers of length!), PDX (deserves a break -- oh **** nm he'd get hurt:(, NOP (would be fun)
INDIFFERENT = HOU, WAS, IND, DET (don't care at all about these franchises)
NO = ORL (would get too good too fast?)
HELL NO = LAL (**** THE LAKERS!)

NO going to win like 50 games, but don’t they have the lakers unprotected pick this year? I’m not sure, and too lazy lol.

Yeah. NO gets the Lakers 1st round pick this year. I think it's unprotected too, but not totally sure.

I doubt a team with LeBron on it is bad enough to get 1st pick though..

NO owns the right to pick swap with the Lakers this year.

[Hal14]

2nd round sleeper:

Watch on YouTube

Read on Twitter

He literally JUST turned 19 too, so still young with upside.

His defense is a little bit iffy, but Zugic projects as a microwave scorer off the bench type of guy. Legit 3 level scorer who can come in off the bench and put some points up. I can see him being a solid double digit scorer off the bench while holding his own defensively.

[Hal14]

Reece Beekman is a guy to keep an eye on this season:

Watch on YouTube

Keep in mind, these are last season's highlights so he'll almost definitely be even better this season.

He's a combo-guard. What I like most about him:

-The defense. Averaged over 2 steals per game last season. Dude is a ball hawk, aggressively going after those steals, but not too aggressive where he gambles for steals and gets burned. Turns defense into offense. Decent enough size at 6'3" (with good quickness and athleticism) so should be able to switch pretty good too

-Good passer, ball mover

-High energy guy who plays HARD, makes winning plays, makes plays on both ends of the floor, makes his teammates better

-Decent off the dribble at creating offense, with some shiftiness, and quick change of direction moves

Might not make sense to take him, given how crowded our back court is, and there's some overlap with Beekman and Davison (Davison a year younger, but Beekman a better defender). But what the hell, we have 3 2nd round picks. If we are picking late 2nd round, we already picked a bigger guy earlier in the draft and Beekman is still there, why not take a flier on him?

[Hal14]

With college basketball season about to tip off, figured I'd throw 2 names out there to watch out for this season.

Yohan Traore (Auburn)
Mark Mitchell (Duke)

Look, people on here keep saying how we need a Horford succession plan. Well, I have both Traore and Mitchell currently ranked in the top 20 on my big board. They're both PF's. Traore is a little bigger - he can slide up to play some C moreso than Mitchell can.

But Mitchell is quicker. Mitchell reminds me of Siakam A LOT. Mitchell is 1" shorter (6'8", whereas Siakam is 6'9") but Mitchell plays big (basically played C for his team in HS but was very much a face up big who flashed plenty of perimeter skills). If he plays really well and reminds people of Siakam a lot this season, he'll definitely go 1st round and we won't get him.

I mean, there's a chance both of these guys will go 1st round. After all, I have them ranked top 20 on my big board.

BUT as of now, neither of them are in the top 36 on Tankathon. Meaning if we pick in the top 36, we could get 1 of them.

Again, I think there's a good chance they rise up the rankings and go 1st round. But just saying, as of now, they're not projected to go in the top 36. And IMO, both of them could be legit options to be our PF of the future.

Edit: woah, I just checked and according to tankathon, we have 3 2nd round picks, but as of now, the 1st pick wouldn't be till 48. Hmm, that's funny - I feel like the last time I checked a couple weeks ago we were projected to pick at like 35. .