djFan71 wrote:redslastlaugh wrote:Maxime Raynaud for the Kings tonight 29pts - 11reb ... dang, he's been looking good
I think passing on Fleming for Hugo is looking smart... but trading down for 32... I would, with hindsight, probably have taken Raynaud ... A Queta/Raynaud center lineup would be pretty interesting... I know some other posters would have gone Kalkbrenner or Penda... But even though Celtics didn't draft him, Im still happy for Max Raynaud, a 29-11 is a nice night for a mid-second round picked rookie
Another thing to consider is that beyond Amari and Shulga, we have the best of MIL, DET and ORL's 2nd this year in a pretty good draft. Right now, that's pick 38. And who knows what happens with Giannis. So, we traded (known) 32 last year for 38ish this year plus Amari, Shulga and a 2027 2nd.
Yea, that Milwaukee pick could be in the 30s, if they do trade Giannis and Milwaukee collapses that pick could get as high as 35 or something. So that's a good 2nd we picked up.
I think the 2027 pick is already sent out though -- to Utah for them taking Georges Niang.
I am not ready to write Max Shulga off, but the team doesn't seem too excited with his prospects so far. Amari Williams looks really interesting to me so I hope we sign him to a full roster contract but also I am not sure about his fit, so I dont know that we are going to sign him.
I was not pleased when we took Hugo Gonzalez on draft night, but he's played great... but generally we've hardly rostered rookies since Brad Stevens took over from Danny Ainge.
When Brad traded the #41st pick for Jaden Springer, a reason given was that Springer was further in his development, which didn't make a ton of sense to me. Springer was 2.5 yrs into his development and Philly didn't think he was worth extending. I'd rather just pick a player at #41 than trade for a Jaden Springer type.
I wish a Celtics reporter had asked Brad, did you trade down from #32 primarily to get future 2nds to dump Niang or primarily because you prefer to roster 1 rookie per year and #46 will take a 2-way and #32 won't? I don't know why nobody asks that, lol
but anyway, I prefer Ainge's approach of making lots of selections in the draft... you will end up with more stiffs but you will also land some overlooked talent that you won't be able to realistically acquire at a comparable cost... so maybe if we have our 2026 1st rnd pick, the Pels 2nd, & the Bucks 2nd, I hope Brad decides (after seeing Walsh & Hugo) that we should draft two whole players and sign them, lol
edit: quick edit, Ainge's 2004 draft, taking Al Jeff, Delonte, Tony Allen, & Justin Reed and signing 4 rookies was one of the most important moments in recent Celtics history. Al Jefferson became the main piece that faciliated KG's acquisition, Delonte was a sweetener in Ray Allen's acquisition, and Tony Allen was a contributor on 2 teams that went to the Finals... and then Justin Reed didn't pan out.. but this was just a hugely important draft and if Ainge had instead been unwilling to allot four roster spots to four rookies from one draft, we would have been a lot worse off as a franchise... so drafting players for the roster is pretty important imo
