Austin Ainge: Celtics Draft was about keeping flexibility, not taking best player, so Celts could hold out for home run

[sully00]

I dont think Yabu can defend in the NBA. IMO Danny Ainge messed up when he didnt try to combine the 16 and 23 picks with some good second rounders to move up to get another lottery pick. Then the draft wouldnt be about just Jaylen Brown.

I don't know how you can make any conclusions on Yabu at this point it just has to play out, it is a gamble but unless you watch a lot of French Basketball I am not sure you can really conclude anything on him yet he is only 20.

What makes you think that trade was there to be made? It took Bagdonovic and #28 and a second to get from 13 to 8.

Beyond the ability to even make the trade who is the player your trading up for? Who is the guy between 16 and 8 you are trading up for?

Any pick 14 or better is considered in the lottery. I don't think it would have been all that difficult to package the 16 and 23, along with a couple of second rounders, and convince one of the teams at 12, 13, or 14 to trade their late lottery pick for that package.

But for what player? Prince, Papagianias or Valentine? I like Valentine but I liked him at 16 or 23 not a trade up candidate he has some very shaky knees. I actually like Zizic as much anyone at that point in the draft and we got him at 23 he is more highly regarded prospect than Papagianias he just was a clear stash player because of his contract.

Prince was a late riser who is 22 years old he seems like kind of a reach he was expected to go 22 by DE. The only other player that was off the board at 16 was Juan Hernangomez who I just didn't pay any attention to.

So who are you trading up for?

[Bluewhale]

I agree with Sully. It is too early to say Yabu could not defend in NBA. IMHO, Yabu's ceiling is Millisap who was a bad defender in Jazz but now he is a good defender in Hawks.

[Homerclease]

What are you going to top it with? You have to make up for the difference between 16 and 13 and Badonovic. You offer Hunter and\or Young and the answer is no. Rozier is probably a no. That assumes Ainge really wants Chriss which he probably doesn't.

16/23/31 Memphis pick is a far superior offer than what they took

I guess but why would Boston include that pick? The Memphis pick has pretty limited protection and has more value than anything else Boston is offering in this trade, no need to consolidate long term assets. The other issue is that SAC likely wanted Bagdonovic because he contribute right away.

I think you are overvaluing Chriss and this draft significantly, a draft is as good as the players in it My expectations for Chriss are simliar to Noah Vonleh your going to have to wait on him for 3 or 4 years and then make an investment to keep him at that point.

If 16/23/31/35 would have gotten it done I think Ainge would have been all for that.

I think you are underrating Chriss especially given the state of our front court and the Celtics lack of big men who play above the rim. Given Stevens desire for a pace and space style, Chriss is a perfect fit here.

I would hope Ainge would've been all for it, however it's become painfully obvious given these comments that they didn't even try and had no plan B after Durant. As I've said before I can live with the Zizic pick but walking away from the rest of the draft with Yabs, a future late first (or two seconds) and a bunch of late round scrubs is a piss poor job IMO given how things played out. I'd have rather rolled the dice on a guy like Chriss who I view to be a superior prospect to anyone the Celtics drafted than what they did. They need stars and guys with star potential. None of the guys they drafted after Brown fit that bill, Chriss has a chance to.

[Bluewhale]

Stevens wants pace and space, but he also want player who committed in defense and I am not sure about Chriss in this important part.

And I have no clue why someone keeps saying Ainge have no plan B? What he did EXACTLY is the PLAN B. We are in the PLAN B path NOW.

Finally, there is no way to know Kings will take pick 16 instead of 13, you can keep saying Our package is better but it's the Kings to make the decision, not any of us. The proposed trade to get pick 8 may not be available at all. How could Ainge do a trade Kings refuse to do?

[Homerclease]

Stevens wants pace and space, but he also want player who committed in defense and I am not sure about Chriss in this important part.

And I have no clue why someone keeps saying Ainge have no plan B? What he did EXACTLY is the PLAN B. We are in the PLAN B path NOW.

Finally, there is no way to know Kings will take pick 16 instead of 13, you can keep saying Our package is better but it's the Kings to make the decision, not any of us. The proposed trade to get pick 8 may not be available at all. How could Ainge do a trade Kings refuse to do?

1. Chriss is no less committed to defense than Yabusele who can't guard a chair with wheels at this point. At least he can block some shots though.

2. Exactly. IMO his plan B was poor or non existent. Throwing stuff up against a wall and hoping it sticks isn't a good plan. They drafted stash guys, punted their high seconds and drafted a bunch of late round guys in the hope of preserving their roster for Durant. When they didn't get Durant they were left with overpaying Zeller, signing Green off the scrap heap and letting scrubs like Bentil, Young, Holland, Nader and Jackson round out their roster instead of maximizing their assets for better talent. If you are happy with that then fine, I'm not.

3. Same arguement works both ways, you don't know what the Kings would've taken either. What I DO know is that the Celtics had the ammunition to make an equal if not superior offer than what the Kings did take and I've not seen one shread of evidence that they even bothered to try.

[Bluewhale]

1. Yabu is at pick 16 only and it's a low risk investment. And don't forget we have Zizic now. While you propose to give up Zizic and other asset to gamble on Chriss who has a very low floor. In addition, you don't know if Kings will take your package.

2. You can say you don't like the current Plan B. You can say it's not a good plan and that's fine. But how can you say there is no Plan B while the whole Plan B is just the big elephant in the room, and you keep attacking it.

3. No! You don't know if Celtics could beat the Suns package. You just have no idea at all. How could you know what in Kings mind? You don't.

[Homerclease]

1. Yabu is at pick 16 only and it's a low risk investment. And don't forget we have Zizic now. While you propose to give up Zizic and other asset to gamble on Chriss who has a very low floor. In addition, you don't know if Kings will take your package.

2. You can say you don't like the current Plan B. You can say it's not a good plan and that's fine. But how can you say there is no Plan B while the whole Plan B is just the big elephant in the room, and you keep attacking it.

3. No! You don't know if Celtics could beat the Suns package. You just have no idea at all. How could you know what in Kings mind? You don't.

1. The Celtics can afford to gamble on higher upside guys with the amount of picks they have and the lack of star power on the current team. It's why they took Jaylen Brown at 3 over the likes of Dunn and Hield. What's Yabuseles upside? A slightly better Jared Sullinger?

2. What they did now was their Plan A, maintain flexibility and hope to sign Durant. They failed to sign Durant and instead signed Gerald Green. I'd have rather selected superior players with the draft picks given the outcome. Hell I'd rather have Deyonta Davis who they had fall into their laps at 31 instead of Yabusele.

3. Of course they could. They could've offered a nets pick if they wanted to, it would've been asinine but certainly an option. I know what the Celtics had for assets, I know what the Suns offered for the pick and in my opinion our assets made for a better package. Now if it had come out somewhere that the Celtics tried to move up and the Kings opted for the Suns package over ours id tend to agree with you. But Boston didn't even try to move up and it's a major blunder to me

[Bluewhale]

1. The Celtics can afford to gamble on higher upside guys with the amount of picks they have and the lack of star power on the current team. It's why they took Jaylen Brown at 3 over the likes of Dunn and Hield. What's Yabuseles upside? A slightly better Jared Sullinger?

2. What they did now was their Plan A, maintain flexibility and hope to sign Durant. They failed to sign Durant and instead signed Gerald Green. I'd have rather selected superior players with the draft picks given the outcome. Hell I'd rather have Deyonta Davis who they had fall into their laps at 31 instead of Yabusele.

3. Of course they could. They could've offered a nets pick if they wanted to, it would've been asinine but certainly an option. I know what the Celtics had for assets, I know what the Suns offered for the pick and in my opinion our assets made for a better package. Now if it had come out somewhere that the Celtics tried to move up and the Kings opted for the Suns package over ours id tend to agree with you. But Boston didn't even try to move up and it's a major blunder to me

1. Yabu's ceiling is Millsap. It is not easy to reach the ceiling but Yabu is very different to Sullinger. (By the way, Sullinger's ceiling is pretty good but he could not control his weight)

Ainge took Jaylen Brown because they believe he is a good gamble due to high RSCI, hard working attitude and impressive physical attribute. What do you have in Chriss? Just even more impressive physical attributes, small sample 3 point shooting and nothing else. You do the gamble after calculating the risk and it looks like they like Brown more than Chriss (and Dunn and Hield).

2. The plan A is to sign Durant and Hoford. The Plan B is IF Plan A not working, then do what they do NOW. I think it is very clear. How do you select superior players with the draft picks GIVEN the outcome Durant not coming? Do you already know where Durant go at draft day? Could you please tell me where to buy the crystal ball?

By the way, do you know how many teams Deyonta Davis worked out for? As far as I know, Deyonta Davis didn't work out for Celtics so I believe it is a bad fit. His agent is Bill Duffy so his agent is also experienced to know what he is doing.

3. Of course you don't know what Kings want. Again you are not Divac. (Wait or you are?)
You don't know if they tried to move up or something. Maybe Ainge valued Chriss much lower than you? Maybe they tried but failed? There are so many trade proposal discussed and we don't know at all.

And you even mention the Nets pick to Kings? Ok! That's your choice.

[Homerclease]

1. The Celtics can afford to gamble on higher upside guys with the amount of picks they have and the lack of star power on the current team. It's why they took Jaylen Brown at 3 over the likes of Dunn and Hield. What's Yabuseles upside? A slightly better Jared Sullinger?

2. What they did now was their Plan A, maintain flexibility and hope to sign Durant. They failed to sign Durant and instead signed Gerald Green. I'd have rather selected superior players with the draft picks given the outcome. Hell I'd rather have Deyonta Davis who they had fall into their laps at 31 instead of Yabusele.

3. Of course they could. They could've offered a nets pick if they wanted to, it would've been asinine but certainly an option. I know what the Celtics had for assets, I know what the Suns offered for the pick and in my opinion our assets made for a better package. Now if it had come out somewhere that the Celtics tried to move up and the Kings opted for the Suns package over ours id tend to agree with you. But Boston didn't even try to move up and it's a major blunder to me

1. Yabu's ceiling is Millsap. It is not easy to reach the ceiling but Yabu is very different to Sullinger. (By the way, Sullinger's ceiling is pretty good but he could not control his weight)

Ainge took Jaylen Brown because they believe he is a good gamble due to high RSCI, hard working attitude and impressive physical attribute. What do you have in Chriss? Just even more impressive physical attributes, small sample 3 point shooting and nothing else. You do the gamble after calculating the risk and it looks like they like Brown more than Chriss (and Dunn and Hield).

2. The plan A is to sign Durant and Hoford. The Plan B is IF Plan A not working, then do what they do NOW. I think it is very clear. How do you select superior players with the draft picks GIVEN the outcome Durant not coming? Do you already know where Durant go at draft day? Could you please tell me where to buy the crystal ball?

By the way, do you know how many teams Deyonta Davis worked out for? As far as I know, Deyonta Davis didn't work out for Celtics so I believe it is a bad fit. His agent is Bill Duffy so his agent is also experienced to know what he is doing.

3. Of course you don't know what Kings want. Again you are not Divac. (Wait or you are?)
You don't know if they tried to move up or something. Maybe Ainge valued Chriss much lower than you? Maybe they tried but failed? There are so many trade proposal discussed and we don't know at all.

And you even mention the Nets pick to Kings? Ok! That's your choice.

I don't see Yabu and Sullinger as being very different at all. Short jump shooting power forwards that play below the rim. If you think Yabusele is a better prospect than Chriss than we can agree to disagree on that, but I can't fathom how you'd justify that stance.

2. Yeah their plan now is suboptimal and could've been done much more effectively in my opinion. Did you read the article? They opted for roster flexabilty over BPA, THEY admitted to not even following their own draft boards. How do you devise an entire offseason strategy around a guy that may not come here? There has to be some kind of fallback option in case he signs somewhere else. You're telling me that what they did was the best possible outcome?

3. Sure maybe Ainge didn't value Chriss at all, they did work him out and after they did he shot up the draft boards. Either way we don't know. What I do know is he's a superior prospect to anyone the Celtics got not named Brown and they had an oppertunity to move up to acquire him. There has been absolutely zero reports at all of any talks between Boston and the Kings, our own front office is saying that Durant was their primary goal and maintaining roster flexibility.

[Bluewhale]

I don't see Yabu and Sullinger as being very different at all. Short jump shooting power forwards that play below the rim. If you think Yabusele is a better prospect than Chriss than we can agree to disagree on that, but I can't fathom how you'd justify that stance.

2. Yeah their plan now is suboptimal and could've been done much more effectively in my opinion. Did you read the article? They opted for roster flexabilty over BPA, THEY admitted to not even following their own draft boards. How do you devise an entire offseason strategy around a guy that may not come here? There has to be some kind of fallback option in case he signs somewhere else. You're telling me that what they did was the best possible outcome?

3. Sure maybe Ainge didn't value Chriss at all, they did work him out and after they did he shot up the draft boards. Either way we don't know. What I do know is he's a superior prospect to anyone the Celtics got not named Brown and they had an oppertunity to move up to acquire him. There has been absolutely zero reports at all of any talks between Boston and the Kings, our own front office is saying that Durant was their primary goal and maintaining roster flexibility.

1. Yabu is good in speed while Sullinger is not. Yabu shows good 3 point range in limited sample size and you know how Sullinger shoots three. Yabu is good in pace and space and Sullinger is not.
Sullinger is a FANTASTIC rebounder while Yabu is just decent or you can say mediocre.
So they are very different player.

I didn't say Yabu is a better prospect than Chriss who has a monster physical attributes. (And I don't know what's Ainge's evaluation)
Just IMHO, I think Yabu+Zizic+picks > Chriss.

2. Any plan without Durant is sub-optimal. Of course you devised an entire offseason strategy around Durant, who is a MVP caliber player at his prime.

What you see now is the fallback option in case Durant signs somewhere else. Yes, I am telling you that what they did was the fallback outcome, if you want Durant as the primal goal.

If you think thing better could be done, its your freedom but it's just your own belief. (And please don't tell me you will do something at draft day GIVEN you know Durant is not coming)

3. Yes, draftexpress put Chriss at 3 in a short period. But soon draftexpress moved Chriss away from 3 and never move back. I don't know how do you know the evaluation of Ainge on Chriss based on these limited (and even sometimes manipulated information. It is well-known draftexpress has good relationship to agents).

You don't know if Ainge want Chriss. You don't know if Ainge had opportunity to move up to pick Chriss. Don't pretend to know something you don't know.

There is nothing wrong to say Durant is the primal goal. You don't want Durant as the primal goal?

[Homerclease]

I don't see Yabu and Sullinger as being very different at all. Short jump shooting power forwards that play below the rim. If you think Yabusele is a better prospect than Chriss than we can agree to disagree on that, but I can't fathom how you'd justify that stance.

2. Yeah their plan now is suboptimal and could've been done much more effectively in my opinion. Did you read the article? They opted for roster flexabilty over BPA, THEY admitted to not even following their own draft boards. How do you devise an entire offseason strategy around a guy that may not come here? There has to be some kind of fallback option in case he signs somewhere else. You're telling me that what they did was the best possible outcome?

3. Sure maybe Ainge didn't value Chriss at all, they did work him out and after they did he shot up the draft boards. Either way we don't know. What I do know is he's a superior prospect to anyone the Celtics got not named Brown and they had an oppertunity to move up to acquire him. There has been absolutely zero reports at all of any talks between Boston and the Kings, our own front office is saying that Durant was their primary goal and maintaining roster flexibility.

1. Yabu is good in speed while Sullinger is not. Yabu shows good 3 point range in limited sample size and you know how Sullinger shoots three. Yabu is good in pace and space and Sullinger is not.
Sullinger is a FANTASTIC rebounder while Yabu is just decent or you can say mediocre.
So they are very different player.

I didn't say Yabu is a better prospect than Chriss who has a monster physical attributes. (And I don't know what's Ainge's evaluation)
Just IMHO, I think Yabu+Zizic+picks > Chriss.

2. Any plan without Durant is sub-optimal. Of course you devised an entire offseason strategy around Durant, who is a MVP caliber player at his prime.

What you see now is the fallback option in case Durant signs somewhere else. Yes, I am telling you that what they did was the fallback outcome, if you want Durant as the primal goal.

If you think thing better could be done, its your freedom but it's just your own belief. (And please don't tell me you will do something at draft day GIVEN you know Durant is not coming)

3. Yes, draftexpress put Chriss at 3 in a short period. But soon draftexpress moved Chriss away from 3 and never move back. I don't know how do you know the evaluation of Ainge on Chriss based on these limited (and even sometimes manipulated information. It is well-known draftexpress has good relationship to agents).

You don't know if Ainge want Chriss. You don't know if Ainge had opportunity to move up to pick Chriss. Don't pretend to know something you don't know.

There is nothing wrong to say Durant is the primal goal. You don't want Durant as the primal goal?

If Yabu has good speed then I'm Usain Bolt. I would much rather have Chriss given the Celtics lack of star power.

The point was that they could've done things different and still been flexable enough for Durant. They did a poor job on draft night maximizing their assets.

Not sure what a primal goal is, but I know I want my GM to be looking at all aspects of the team, not just having Tunnel vision for one guy and then making it up on the fly when he whiffs

[GregB]

I know Homerclease is still selling the narrative that we didn't even attempt to trade up for 8 and I don't buy it. We could have easily dumped enough salary through other deals to be able to afford Durant.

Phoenix had a better primary asset as a pick and I truly feel that Divac was enamoured with Bogdanovic because they are both Serbian. Obviously that's just my opinion but assuming we didn't even attempt to move up to 8 is also an opinion.

[Homerclease]

I know Homerclease is still selling the narrative that we didn't even attempt to trade up for 8 and I don't buy it. We could have easily dumped enough salary through other deals to be able to afford Durant.

Phoenix had a better primary asset as a pick and I truly feel that Divac was enamoured with Bogdanovic because they are both Serbian. Obviously that's just my opinion but assuming we didn't even attempt to move up to 8 is also an opinion.

Given this article I don't see how it can be viewed any other way. They felt stashing and punting was a better option than a consolidation move. I wholeheartedly disagree.

[Bluewhale]

If Yabu has good speed then I'm Usain Bolt. I would much rather have Chriss given the Celtics lack of star power.

The point was that they could've done things different and still been flexable enough for Durant. They did a poor job on draft night maximizing their assets.

Not sure what a primal goal is, but I know I want my GM to be looking at all aspects of the team, not just having Tunnel vision for one guy and then making it up on the fly when he whiffs

1. I don't know if you are Usain Bolt but Yabu is much faster than Sullinger and has better accuracy than Sullinger from the arc. I don't know how people can say they are similar.

You prefer Chriss but I saw too many red flags on Chriss profile. (No defense, no commitment, no rebounds)

2. The point is how do you know they could have don't things different and still for Durant? How? Just show us your master plan.

3. Durant is not the "one guy", he is top 5 player in NBA who hit the FA market, it is very rare. What is the "looking at all aspects for the team"? It is much easier to say than done.

And you don't know your primal goal? That is not a good sign for strategy planning. Not good at all.

[Homerclease]

If Yabu has good speed then I'm Usain Bolt. I would much rather have Chriss given the Celtics lack of star power.

The point was that they could've done things different and still been flexable enough for Durant. They did a poor job on draft night maximizing their assets.

Not sure what a primal goal is, but I know I want my GM to be looking at all aspects of the team, not just having Tunnel vision for one guy and then making it up on the fly when he whiffs

1. I don't know if you are Usain Bolt but Yabu is much faster than Sullinger and has better accuracy than Sullinger from the arc. I don't know how people can say they are similar.

You prefer Chriss but I saw too many red flags on Chriss profile. (No defense, no commitment, no rebounds)

2. The point is how do you know they could have don't things different and still for Durant? How? Just show us your master plan.

3. Durant is not the "one guy", he is top 5 player in NBA who hit the FA market, it is very rare. What is the "looking at all aspects for the team?" It is much easier to say than done.

Yabu is a better outside shooter than Sullinger? How do you know that? Talk to me when Yabu actually hits a 3 in a real NBA game.

Yabusele has all those same flags, rebounding commitment and defense so not sure what your point is. Chriss is younger, bigger and 10x the athlete of Yabusele.

As GregB already said, we could've easily cleared salary room and roster space for Durant. They could've selected whoever they want at 16/23/31/35 and sold off their late seconds to anyone who wanted them. Instead they opted to take lesser players by their own account, punt 2 high second round picks and draft a bunch of scrubs at the back end. It was a poor, poor job.

The Celtics from last year had glaring needs. Interior defense, shot blocking, scoring, shooting. The Celtics addressed none of those needs after the third pick in the draft. So they didn't draft for value and they didn't draft for need. It was a botch job pure and simple.

[Bluewhale]

1. Yabu is a better three point shooter than Sullinger and faster than Sullinger.
Using your logic you are going to say none of the player who drafted in 2016 is a better three point shooter than Sullinger in NBA?
Yes, Yabu has red flags but Yabu was picked at 16 and we also have Zizic who I liked a lot. I said this more than once.

2. Agian, please show us your master plan in detail.

3. Al Horford not addressing interior defense, shot blocking, scoring, shooting? This is a weak draft and you want to address the weakness by picking Chriss who is YEARS away to contribute at best? Zizic is not a good player for shot blocking and interior defense? And many poster including you like Zizic a lot! This is VALUE!
Yabusele is good in shooting and has the speed and strength potential to be a decent player in defense system.
How do you say they don't draft for need nor value?

[Captain_Caveman]

I don't know that we could have moved up from 16 that easily, as last summer proved.

With that said, there were plenty of desirable move-up targets in guys like Sabonis, Chriss and Poetl.

And plenty of other worthy guys to take at 16, including Luwawu, Beasley and Richardson.

Guess we will see.

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

I'd be shocked if Luwawu doesn't stay in the league. He needs his shot to grow though, like everyone.

[ddb]

With the Durant dream likely done (unless things implode in Golden State this year), I'm turning my attention to Anthony Davis & Gordan Hayward

Let's just say we end up with the #1 or #2 pick in the 2017 draft. And let's just say the top of the draft is really strong. Let's also say that New Orleans misses the playoffs again and Anthony Davis grows frustrated with the organization. Finally, let's assume the Celtics have a really good season with development from their young core.

These are all items that have a good chance of being true.

Draft night deal for Anthony Davis involving the #1 or #2 pick, a couple young players and a vet. Probably the 18 BK pick as well.

Jaylen Brown, #2 pick, Zeller (contract flexibility to help match dollars), BK18 as a core to the deal.

Sign Hayward as a free agent.

Thomas-Hayward-Crowder-Davis-Horford
Rozier-Bradley-Smart-Olynyk-Vet

That team can beat Cleveland if this years team can't! Man.....I just got WAY AHEAD.

Everyone dreams of Anthony Davis, but the team that might try for him first is Minnesota. Rubio is expendable now thatTyus Jones won Summer League MVP and Kris Dunn is on board as well. Anthony Davis is a Kentucky alum, just like Karl Anthony Towns. I can see Minny making a play for Davis.

Minny is likely to improve therefor their picks will not be as valuable moving forward. Ricky Rubio is overrated and not very good. Outside of that the only pieces NOP would want in return for Davis would be KAT's or Wiggins/Dunn. So I guess Im not following your logic here. Minny has no shot at Davis unless they sent KAT's to NOP or some combination starting with Wiggins/Dunn.

Why this is possible for Boston, but still a longshot is because of the BK picks, a improving young talent. Sure, Minny has the better young talent with KAT/Wiggins, but those are also the building blocks for them. Situation is much different in Boston. We have vets like IT/Horford plus top notch role players in AB, Jae in place already. So if Boston were to trade Smart/Brown/BK picks then NOP needs to start paying attention. Especially if Smart/Brown improve like I think they can. And especially if BK is as bad as I think they will be

[ddb]

With the Durant dream likely done (unless things implode in Golden State this year), I'm turning my attention to Anthony Davis & Gordan Hayward

Let's just say we end up with the #1 or #2 pick in the 2017 draft. And let's just say the top of the draft is really strong. Let's also say that New Orleans misses the playoffs again and Anthony Davis grows frustrated with the organization. Finally, let's assume the Celtics have a really good season with development from their young core.

These are all items that have a good chance of being true.

Draft night deal for Anthony Davis involving the #1 or #2 pick, a couple young players and a vet. Probably the 18 BK pick as well.

Jaylen Brown, #2 pick, Zeller (contract flexibility to help match dollars), BK18 as a core to the deal.

Sign Hayward as a free agent.

Thomas-Hayward-Crowder-Davis-Horford
Rozier-Bradley-Smart-Olynyk-Vet

That team can beat Cleveland if this years team can't! Man.....I just got WAY AHEAD.

Everyone dreams of Anthony Davis, but the team that might try for him first is Minnesota. Rubio is expendable now thatTyus Jones won Summer League MVP and Kris Dunn is on board as well. Anthony Davis is a Kentucky alum, just like Karl Anthony Towns. I can see Minny making a play for Davis.

Minny is likely to improve therefor their picks will not be as valuable moving forward. Ricky Rubio is overrated and not very good. Outside of that the only pieces NOP would want in return for Davis would be KAT's or Wiggins/Dunn. So I guess Im not following your logic here. Minny has no shot at Davis unless they sent KAT's to NOP or some combination starting with Wiggins/Dunn.

Why this is possible for Boston, but still a longshot is because of the BK picks, a improving young talent. Sure, Minny has the better young talent with KAT/Wiggins, but those are also the building blocks for them. Situation is much different in Boston. We have vets like IT/Horford plus top notch role players in AB, Jae in place already. So if Boston were to trade Smart/Brown/BK picks then NOP needs to start paying attention. Especially if Smart/Brown improve like I think they can. And especially if BK is as bad as I think they will be