redslastlaugh wrote:Celts17Pride wrote:Cricket23 wrote:I can't fathom how paying a center an average of 18 mil over the next 3 years who's no better than Queta would be a good thing.
Because all the ones that are better cost $25-30 million which is out of the Celtics price tag. Celtics may very well use the draft to get center depth.
Last year's draft was extremely deep in centers (and PF/C). Twelve centers (inc PF/C) were taken in the draft and we got the 12th taken, in Amari Williams.
Obviously we had #32 before we traded down and 4 bigs (Kalkbrenner, Broome, Raynaud, Zikarsky) came off the board before we took Amari at #46. It seems we traded down to get extra 2nds to use to dump Georges Niang or that Brad only wanted to roster one rookie and later in the draft we could draft a center who would accept the lesser money of a two-way...
But there is another option, which is that Brad had Amari Williams as the best center on the board at #32 and through intel, the front office realized they could trade down, add assets, and still get their guy ... I hope this is what happened, and Amari Williams is just a 1st round talent type of big and Brad played it perfectly
After Brad surprised us with the Hugo pick at 28, and Fleming was snagged at 31, I was ready for either Penda or best big available at #32. So I was happy that Kalk was there, and Raynaud too.
The trade back threw a wrench into the works, and the only thing I could surmise was that those two bigs were not happy to play for a team that would have them on a 2 Way. This all happened before the departure of Porzingis, Horford, and Kornet, of course, so even though we knew not everyone would be back, we didn't know that the front court would be so depleted.
So who knows what might have been. I have been following Amari in Maine a bit. I wouldn't count him out just yet. Maybe he's a notch below Kalkbrenner, and doesn't have much of an offensive game to speak of yet, but his outlier qualities are exceptional, with legit size. That passing ability from the high post could really work in a Celtic system with shooters and cutters at the other 4 spots. If Amari can develop a decent mid-range shot, it will really increase his value.
I do hope they bring him in to the big club a few times this year. With Queta out, it might be a good opportunity for Amari, even if he can give just 5-10 minutes a game.
