2022 NBA Draft Thread – (June 23rd, 8PM, ESPN)

[Hal14]

Hell yeah!

Read on Twitter

Cool interview with McCullar here:

Watch on YouTube

Some things to make note of from the interview:

1:04 he says that he just got measured and he's 6'7" in shoes. This is significant because up until now he had been listed at 6'6". Obviously not a huge difference but if you're a wing trying to make it in the NBA, it helps to be 6'7" and not 6'6"
1:09 he's jacked!
4:00 Celtics fans (especially fans of Marcus Smart) will like his answer to this question

So far the Celtics have already worked out:
-Gabe Brown
-Julian Champagnie
-Lucas Williamson
-Kevin McCullar

Good group! I really like all 4 of these players. All 4 could be good fits here and all 4 have good chance of being there at pick 53. Brad knows what he's doing. Next we'll have either Mobley, Barlow or Jabari Walker brought in for a workout..

[playa-hater]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

[djFan71]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

Buy! Buy! Buy! I'd love to grab another one higher as well, and OKC just seems so obvious.

I do think we have room to develop a BIG wing, though. 6'8" or more. But, really we can kinda take any position.

[Hal14]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

I hear ya man. I just think that:

-Nesmith is in his 2nd season, has been out of the rotation most of the year, has shot poorly
-Begarin has played 0 NBA games and didn't shoot great overseas this year
-Hauser played non garbage time mins in like 1 game all year. He's 24, will be 25 in december so lower upside

Not to mention:

-Brodric thomas didn't do anything for us. good for the maine team though
-Matt ryan was good in g league, didn't do anything in maine
-fitts was good in g league, didn't do anything for boston
-kornet didn't do anything for boston. was good in g league
-stauskus was good in g league, didn't do anything for boston

I just don't really think any of these guys will play much of a factor in who we draft and sign as UDFA. all of them will have to play in summer league and show what they have their, or they'll compete in training camp for a spot, or they will be let go before training camp.

Brad is looking for talent. if he can find someone with pick 53 / UDFA who he thinks can be better than these guys, he'll do it. Look at how much the bottom of the roster has turned over since Brad took over. Brad got rid of Waters, Ojeleye, Edwards, Bruno Fernando, Kris Dunn, Moses Brown, Kornet, Jabari Parker, Hernangomez, etc. He traded Romeo. He doesn't really care about the end of the bench guys..

Also, you can have 2 wings in a game at a time (or even 3 if 1 of them is bigger) but you can only have 1 big in at a time (maybe 2 if it's al and rob) so wings are more valuable.

But if you want a big, check out the clips i posted of leonardo okeke. also, orlando robinson, marcus bingham will probably be there. christian koloko, walker kessler might fall to us..

[165bows]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

I hear ya man. I just think that:

-Nesmith is in his 2nd season, has been out of the rotation most of the year, has shot poorly
-Begarin has played 0 NBA games and didn't shoot great overseas this year
-Hauser played non garbage time mins in like 1 game all year. He's 24, will be 25 in december so lower upside

Not to mention:

-Brodric thomas didn't do anything for us. good for the maine team though
-Matt ryan was good in g league, didn't do anything in maine
-fitts was good in g league, didn't do anything for boston
-kornet didn't do anything for boston. was good in g league
-stauskus was good in g league, didn't do anything for boston

I just don't really think any of these guys will play much of a factor in who we draft and sign as UDFA. all of them will have to play in summer league and show what they have their, or they'll compete in training camp for a spot, or they will be let go before training camp.

Brad is looking for talent. if he can find someone with pick 53 / UDFA who he thinks can be better than these guys, he'll do it. Look at how much the bottom of the roster has turned over since Brad took over. Brad got rid of Waters, Ojeleye, Edwards, Bruno Fernando, Kris Dunn, Moses Brown, Kornet, Jabari Parker, Hernangomez, etc. He traded Romeo. He doesn't really care about the end of the bench guys..

I actually like his current use of the deep bench on 24-26 year old dudes that can develop a bit, as opposed to the old retread route. I mean, he’s not going to be sentimental about these guys - but it seems like an attempt to use those spaces to build value rather than just keep some old ‘break glass in case of emergency” guys.

[LewisnotMiller]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

I think looking overseas for an free agent signing or two makes sense, particularly when talking big men. At least bring in some Summer League flyers. There are some interesting ones around.

[Hal14]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

I think looking overseas for an free agent signing or two makes sense, particularly when talking big men. At least bring in some Summer League flyers. There are some interesting ones around.

Yes. Duop Reath and Jo Lual-Acuil are bigs playing in Australia's pro league who absolutely belong on an NBA roster. Both 6'11", long athletic, skilled. 26 and 28 yrs old, respectively so we don't need to really develop them - they're plug and play.

[Scoonie]

Yes. Duop Reath and Jo Lual-Acuil are bigs playing in Australia's pro league who absolutely belong on an NBA roster. Both 6'11", long athletic, skilled. 26 and 28 yrs old, respectively so we don't need to really develop them - they're plug and play.

I like that idea a lot. Easy way to get a quality backup for TimeLord. And really, Luke Kornet is not bad if we end up keeping him.

[playa-hater]

Yes. Duop Reath and Jo Lual-Acuil are bigs playing in Australia's pro league who absolutely belong on an NBA roster. Both 6'11", long athletic, skilled. 26 and 28 yrs old, respectively so we don't need to really develop them - they're plug and play.

I like that idea a lot. Easy way to get a quality backup for TimeLord. And really, Luke Kornet is not bad if we end up keeping him.

I like Kornet and Theis as well. But as backups.. if Horford does not return, and RW gets hurt, starting Theis or Kornet may happen way too often..

We need help at center...

[Hal14]

Yes. Duop Reath and Jo Lual-Acuil are bigs playing in Australia's pro league who absolutely belong on an NBA roster. Both 6'11", long athletic, skilled. 26 and 28 yrs old, respectively so we don't need to really develop them - they're plug and play.

I like that idea a lot. Easy way to get a quality backup for TimeLord. And really, Luke Kornet is not bad if we end up keeping him.

I like Kornet and Theis as well. But as backups.. if Horford does not return, and RW gets hurt, starting Theis or Kornet may happen way too often..

We need help at center...

I don't think it's that big of a deal. Time Lord is our center of the future. He's under contract through 2026. We've got Horford for 1 more year. Theis is signed through 2025.

Theis is great as a backup as well as being a spot starter who can fill in here and there if rob or al is out. Remember, Theis was our starting center when we went to the conference finals (and would have gone to NBA finals if hayward and kemba were healthy) in 2020.

So we're talking about a 4th string center. Most teams only carry 2 or 3 centers. Your 4th string center is not typically a high priority for a GM. Kornet is fine in that role. Or we draft a guy or sign someone from overseas like Reath or Lual-Acuil. I think Reath and Lual-Acuil are both good enough that I would bring them in for a workout this offseason and then get 1 of them on the summer league team, at the very least.

[jfs1000d]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

If we are going big at 53, they should go foreginer for 2 years as a stash.

I would go with the best and most athletic wing out there.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Wings are my favorite position and I think they are the best/most important position in the league. But with all of that said, we have Nesmith, J Bergarin and Hauser who all may be very good backups and almost no one to develop at Big. Horford is great but very old and may not be there next year. RW is bigtime BUT not reliable with injuries. Theis and Kornet are not starting material. So barring some sort of trade, the need for a young talented BIG to develop is paramount.

So hopefully Boston has a few quality choices at Big come the 53rd pick.

I also keep promoting the idea of buying a higher 2nd rder. OKC does NOT need all 30 draft picks they have. Make a move Brad!!

If we are going big at 53, they should go foreginer for 2 years as a stash.

I would go with the best and most athletic wing out there.

It's such a steep learning curve on the defensive end for bigs in the NBA. By the time they are ready to contribute on that end they are usually done with their rookie contract. Even a guy like Timelord with all the athletic gifts in the world and well above average basketball IQ and work ethic didn't have a consistent impact on that end until year three. Even now he can probably still clean up some stuff when guarding on the perimeter. Needless to say nobody available at 53 is going to have anywhere near the potential of Williams on that end. So yeah if we can outsource the painful years on some euroleague team I would be all over that.

[playa-hater]

I like that idea a lot. Easy way to get a quality backup for TimeLord. And really, Luke Kornet is not bad if we end up keeping him.

I like Kornet and Theis as well. But as backups.. if Horford does not return, and RW gets hurt, starting Theis or Kornet may happen way too often..

We need help at center...

I don't think it's that big of a deal. Time Lord is our center of the future. He's under contract through 2026. We've got Horford for 1 more year. Theis is signed through 2025.

Theis is great as a backup as well as being a spot starter who can fill in here and there if rob or al is out. Remember, Theis was our starting center when we went to the conference finals (and would have gone to NBA finals if hayward and kemba were healthy) in 2020.

So we're talking about a 4th string center. Most teams only carry 2 or 3 centers. Your 4th string center is not typically a high priority for a GM. Kornet is fine in that role. Or we draft a guy or sign someone from overseas like Reath or Lual-Acuil. I think Reath and Lual-Acuil are both good enough that I would bring them in for a workout this offseason and then get 1 of them on the summer league team, at the very least.

We may have horford for one more year but I'm willing to bet it's 5050 at best he is even there next year I expect him to be used in Bradley Beal trade ...no real information other than my gut feeling

[165bows]

I like Kornet and Theis as well. But as backups.. if Horford does not return, and RW gets hurt, starting Theis or Kornet may happen way too often..

We need help at center...

I don't think it's that big of a deal. Time Lord is our center of the future. He's under contract through 2026. We've got Horford for 1 more year. Theis is signed through 2025.

Theis is great as a backup as well as being a spot starter who can fill in here and there if rob or al is out. Remember, Theis was our starting center when we went to the conference finals (and would have gone to NBA finals if hayward and kemba were healthy) in 2020.

So we're talking about a 4th string center. Most teams only carry 2 or 3 centers. Your 4th string center is not typically a high priority for a GM. Kornet is fine in that role. Or we draft a guy or sign someone from overseas like Reath or Lual-Acuil. I think Reath and Lual-Acuil are both good enough that I would bring them in for a workout this offseason and then get 1 of them on the summer league team, at the very least.

We may have horford for one more year but I'm willing to bet it's 5050 at best he is even there next year I expect him to be used in Bradley Beal trade ...no real information other than my gut feeling

White/Theis/Nesmith/Fitts/Newman/.75.

I’d take that bet.

I do think this draft is decent in bigs but prob pretty weak overall. Too bad Tshiebwe went back to school he’s the guy I was hoping for.

[Hal14]

we've now worked out these prospects:

Julian Champagnie - 6'8" wing
Kevin McCullar Jr - 6'7" wing
Lucas Williamson - 6'4.25" wing
Gabe Brown - 6'7" wing
Jared Rhoden 6'5.25" wing

All wings, all are either juniors or seniors in college..

[Hal14]

Sleeper draft and stash candidate?

Watch on YouTube

7'2" wingspan, only 19 yrs old..

[165bows]

Read on Twitter

This guy would be a decent pick really. Strong and versatile and has a chance to shoot it.

[Kalela]

Ron Harper Jr. plays like Scottie Barnes. He will be a good NBA player in my opinion. Celtics already have Grant Williams who does a lot of the same things though. Anyway, Ryan Rollins is a player who doesn't fit the profile of the type of player I want the Celtics to draft but he is a really good player who is being underrated in all mock drafts. He will probably move the draft boards fast very soon.

Watch on YouTube

Yannick Nzosa is a player who could be available where the Celtics draft and maybe a good player in a few years. Good size and athleticism/agility, good shot blocker.

[165bows]

Ron Harper Jr. plays like Scottie Barnes. He will be a good NBA player in my opinion. Celtics already have Grant Williams who does a lot of the same things though. Anyway, Ryan Rollins is a player who doesn't fit the profile of the type of player I want the Celtics to draft but he is a really good player who is being underrated in all mock drafts. He will probably move the draft boards fast very soon.

Watch on YouTube

Yannick Nzosa is a player who could be available where the Celtics draft and maybe a good player in a few years. Good size and athleticism/agility, good shot blocker.

Agree Harper overlaps positionally with Grant quite a bit. Probably a good thing as they are going to need some big, mobile dudes to throw at Giannis for the next several years.

Interesting clip - thing about a guy like that, taking all those off-the-dribble jumpers, his percentages don't look as good as they should since he looks like he takes a lot of harder shots. The only guys on the C's who take any shots like that are Brown/Tatum. Everyone else gets assisted on 90%+ of their three point shots so they are way easier attempts than pulling the trigger off the dribble.

[Hal14]

Ron Harper Jr. plays like Scottie Barnes. He will be a good NBA player in my opinion. Celtics already have Grant Williams who does a lot of the same things though. Anyway, Ryan Rollins is a player who doesn't fit the profile of the type of player I want the Celtics to draft but he is a really good player who is being underrated in all mock drafts. He will probably move the draft boards fast very soon.

Watch on YouTube

Yannick Nzosa is a player who could be available where the Celtics draft and maybe a good player in a few years. Good size and athleticism/agility, good shot blocker.

Agree Harper overlaps positionally with Grant quite a bit. Probably a good thing as they are going to need some big, mobile dudes to throw at Giannis for the next several years.

Interesting clip - thing about a guy like that, taking all those off-the-dribble jumpers, his percentages don't look as good as they should since he looks like he takes a lot of harder shots. The only guys on the C's who take any shots like that are Brown/Tatum. Everyone else gets assisted on 90%+ of their three point shots so they are way easier attempts than pulling the trigger off the dribble.

Rollins is definitely an intriguing sleeper. The way he plays is actually kind of like Bradley Beal. Even if Rollins ends up being a slightly worse version of Beal, that's still unreal value with the 53rd pick..