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

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

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

Ainge had been trying to trade for KG for 3 years. It's not impossible that Ainge has called the Pelicans up to let them know that if they ever think about dealing him, to call up the Celtics first. However, AD will only be on his 1st year of his 5 yr contract extension this season. That's a lot of time for the Pelicans to tank and add other studs before they think about having to trade him. It'll be awhile.

[Bluewhale]

The contract of Anthony Davis is up to 2021, I really don't think the NOP will consider to trade AD before summer 2020.

[greenmachine_2849]

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?

I have no idea to be honest, but I am pretty sure that Ainge could have found a pretty good contributor for next season with a late lottery pick. I have my criticisms of Ainge, but I do have faith in his drafting ability. And who knows, maybe he genuinely felt that Yabusele and Zizic were the best two possible picks at 16 and 23, and the fact that he could hold them overseas for a couple of seasons was just a nice bonus. But to me it reads more like Ainge knew he could stash them overseas while he swung for the fences with Durant, and, if they come over in a couple of years and be productive rotation players, that is the bonus. We won't have any real evidence for at least a year or two, but in the meantime the former theory doesn't pass the smell test for me.

Again, though, my main point is that Ainge knew that we had room for one MAYBE two rookies at most on the roster this year, and the fact that he headed into the night with eight draft picks is just baffling to me. I would have almost preferred that he trade the 16 and 23 for the 13 pick and just pick Zizic with the 13th pick instead. Even if he still wound up having to stash Zizic overseas, at least it would have looked like he had a definite target in mind. As is, it looks like he was just scrambling at the last minute to find two candidates that he wouldn't have to find room on the roster for in the immediate future. Even if Yabusele and Zizic ultimately turn out to be absolute studs, the optics just look bad.

[ddb]

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?

I have no idea to be honest, but I am pretty sure that Ainge could have found a pretty good contributor for next season with a late lottery pick. I have my criticisms of Ainge, but I do have faith in his drafting ability. And who knows, maybe he genuinely felt that Yabusele and Zizic were the best two possible picks at 16 and 23, and the fact that he could hold them overseas for a couple of seasons was just a nice bonus. But to me it reads more like Ainge knew he could stash them overseas while he swung for the fences with Durant, and, if they come over in a couple of years and be productive rotation players, that is the bonus. We won't have any real evidence for at least a year or two, but in the meantime the former theory doesn't pass the smell test for me.

Again, though, my main point is that Ainge knew that we had room for one MAYBE two rookies at most on the roster this year, and the fact that he headed into the night with eight draft picks is just baffling to me. I would have almost preferred that he trade the 16 and 23 for the 13 pick and just pick Zizic with the 13th pick instead. Even if he still wound up having to stash Zizic overseas, at least it would have looked like he had a definite target in mind. As is, it looks like he was just scrambling at the last minute to find two candidates that he wouldn't have to find room on the roster for in the immediate future. Even if Yabusele and Zizic ultimately turn out to be absolute studs, the optics just look bad.

I, for one, am thrilled that Danny finally drafted a couple high potential Euro stash players in the first round. He was in the perfect situation to do so with the amount of picks he had. Both Yabusele and Zizic have bright futures.

[ajones9219]

My read of the article is that drafting Brown allows them to trade Crowder if need be.

Didn't read that at all. They knew Turner was gone and the C's had nobody behind Crowder in case of injury all year even with Turner. The most immediate area to get minutes & help the team was at the 3/4 combo forward spot. The way Crowder plays, he's likely to get banged up and miss 10-20 games a year or be less than 100% for long stretches, so having another versatile wing defender is very important.

Everywhere else on the roster had basically a massive glut in players. If Crowder is traded, your wing depth is Jaylen Brown and...James Young? That's not a tenable situation. Crowder is probably the hardest to replace player on the team.

That's the only way I can read it and have it make sense. Dunn had more trade value. If that was the type of "flexibility" Ainge was looking for.

I don't believe it was regarding Jaylen. It was regarding the stashes. 1st round picks lock a roster spot and eat your cap. No such restrictions for Euro stashes.

[sully00]

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?

I have no idea to be honest, but I am pretty sure that Ainge could have found a pretty good contributor for next season with a late lottery pick.

Those are the only guys that came off the board from 12-15. Yabu was the guy he took at 16 there is no point in consolidating all of your assets to trade up to a position to take the same guy. This was just not that deep a draft it became pretty flat after 7. If you believe in Ainge's ability to manage the draft then you have to accept how he did it.

When your in his position you have to factor in your roster, you have a lot of young developing players on your roster, the fact that you still have a pretty substantial stockpile of draft picks going forward, and your trying to win now so your looking to maximize cap space.

For the sake of the argument lets say Ainge wanted to move up to 8 and lost out to PHX because of Bagdonovich. An extablished pro with a 5 year rookie deal. Ainge just acquired 2 of that type of asset. Guys who can continue to develop but with a much different clock ticking and that can be traded with 5 years of control on their rookie deal. The reality is Ainge is already facing a roster crunch that is going to likely force him to cut a former first round pick because they have not developed enough even though ideally you would be able to give them more time and opportunity before having to do that.

[greenmachine_2849]

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?

I have no idea to be honest, but I am pretty sure that Ainge could have found a pretty good contributor for next season with a late lottery pick.

Those are the only guys that came off the board from 12-15. Yabu was the guy he took at 16 there is no point in consolidating all of your assets to trade up to a position to take the same guy. This was just not that deep a draft it became pretty flat after 7. If you believe in Ainge's ability to manage the draft then you have to accept how he did it.

a) It doesn't matter who ultimately came off the board at 12 - 15; only that you have more options available to you picking 12 versus picking 16. Unless Ainge can see the future, he had no way of knowing who would still be on the board at 16. If he was truly that enamored with Yabusele, he could have consolidated picks to move up and guarantee his selection. The fact that he didn't makes me think his selection had far more to do with his stashability than his talent, but I will be happy to be proven wrong. Same with Zizic.

b) I said I was happy with his drafting ability, not his ability to manage the draft. Big difference. I think, had Ainge kept the 7th pick in the 2006 draft, he would have likely found the best player available with that pick. Doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with his decision to trade that pick to get rid of Raef Lafrentz's contract.

The reality is Ainge is already facing a roster crunch that is going to likely force him to cut a former first round pick because they have not developed enough even though ideally you would be able to give them more time and opportunity before having to do that.

Again, this is exactly my point. Ainge got way too carried away with acquiring late first round/second round picks his first two years and evidently did not realize that he would need to start consolidating some of these picks at some point. So he wound up on draft night actively looking for players to use these picks on that wouldn't be a threat to make the roster next season. Until Yabusele and Zizic come over and start proving they were truly the best choices at 16 and 23, I will classify this as bad asset management.

[Tiny ball]

I have no idea to be honest, but I am pretty sure that Ainge could have found a pretty good contributor for next season with a late lottery pick.

Those are the only guys that came off the board from 12-15. Yabu was the guy he took at 16 there is no point in consolidating all of your assets to trade up to a position to take the same guy. This was just not that deep a draft it became pretty flat after 7. If you believe in Ainge's ability to manage the draft then you have to accept how he did it.

a) It doesn't matter who ultimately came off the board at 12 - 15; only that you have more options available to you picking 12 versus picking 16. Unless Ainge can see the future, he had no way of knowing who would still be on the board at 16. If he was truly that enamored with Yabusele, he could have consolidated picks to move up and guarantee his selection. The fact that he didn't makes me think his selection had far more to do with his stashability than his talent, but I will be happy to be proven wrong. Same with Zizic.

b) I said I was happy with his drafting ability, not his ability to manage the draft. Big difference. I think, had Ainge kept the 7th pick in the 2006 draft, he would have likely found the best player available with that pick. Doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with his decision to trade that pick to get rid of Raef Lafrentz's contract.

The reality is Ainge is already facing a roster crunch that is going to likely force him to cut a former first round pick because they have not developed enough even though ideally you would be able to give them more time and opportunity before having to do that.

Again, this is exactly my point. Ainge got way too carried away with acquiring late first round/second round picks his first two years and evidently did not realize that he would need to start consolidating some of these picks at some point. So he wound up on draft night actively looking for players to use these picks on that wouldn't be a threat to make the roster next season. Until Yabusele and Zizic come over and start proving they were truly the best choices at 16 and 23, I will classify this as bad asset management.

I think it was Brad that was in love with Yabusele. Boy would I love to see him sucker punch JR Smith and slam D Wade to the floor with all his power. Little pay back would be so nice.

[greenmachine_2849]

I, for one, am thrilled that Danny finally drafted a couple high potential Euro stash players in the first round. He was in the perfect situation to do so with the amount of picks he had. Both Yabusele and Zizic have bright futures.

Sure hope so. But from the outside, it sure looks like Ainge's plan A was to trade most of these picks (including the 3rd) for an all-star, and plan B (actually using the picks) wasn't that well thought out. I guess we won't have a better idea for several years, unfortunately...

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

IMO, Zizic looks like the better prospect, and based on all the mock drafts, Yabusele was going to be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd round pick. I was a bit shocked when Ainge took him at 16, ahead of Zizic. I wonder what kind of intel convinced the Celtics to take Yabusele at 16 and still have Zizic around at 23? Was there another team at 17-22 who was interested in taking Yabusele, or were the Celtics 100% sure that Zizic would be around at 23?

[Murta]

IMO, Zizic looks like the better prospect, and based on all the mock drafts, Yabusele was going to be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd round pick. I was a bit shocked when Ainge took him at 16, ahead of Zizic. I wonder what kind of intel convinced the Celtics to take Yabusele at 16 and still have Zizic around at 23? Was there another team at 17-22 who was interested in taking Yabusele, or were the Celtics 100% sure that Zizic would be around at 23?

ATZ probably rejected the opportunity to be stashed at 16, but since no one picked him before 23, he accepted it at that spot not to fall down lower.

[Bluewhale]

IMO, Zizic looks like the better prospect, and based on all the mock drafts, Yabusele was going to be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd round pick. I was a bit shocked when Ainge took him at 16, ahead of Zizic. I wonder what kind of intel convinced the Celtics to take Yabusele at 16 and still have Zizic around at 23? Was there another team at 17-22 who was interested in taking Yabusele, or were the Celtics 100% sure that Zizic would be around at 23?

IMHO, we should not read the MOCK Drafts as the golden standard. No one know what's the final draft board for the teams. It is very likely YABU was picked before 23, but it is just my guess. Look at pick 16/18 as YABU/Ellenson. Both are forward who can shoot 3. YABU could be picked at 18 if we passed him at 16. But again it is just my guess.

In addition, in 2016 draft, ALL mock draft pointed that it is a very FLAT draft from about 10 to 40+, it is VERY HARD TO RANK from 10 to 40+ because the talent is so close. If someone believed in the MOCK Draft, he should also believe this draft is FLAT there is NOTHING WRONG to pick YABU at 16.

[sully00]

IMO, Zizic looks like the better prospect, and based on all the mock drafts, Yabusele was going to be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd round pick. I was a bit shocked when Ainge took him at 16, ahead of Zizic. I wonder what kind of intel convinced the Celtics to take Yabusele at 16 and still have Zizic around at 23? Was there another team at 17-22 who was interested in taking Yabusele, or were the Celtics 100% sure that Zizic would be around at 23?

I agree I liked Zizic better than Yabu and thought he was the pick at 16. My guess is yes Ainge felt that another team was going to be in on Yabusele before 23 probably DET. It seemed like Ainge had an arrangement with Zizic so they probably knew who he had worked out with and a couple of the teams between 17 and 22 were not going to be into a player like Zizic based on their roster make up.

You can disagree with the picks Ainge makes but he does seem to have a very good understanding about who is going where in the draft. The mock drafts all shift to the rumor mill by the time draft comes around it isn't based on their player evaluation this year they just got it very wrong some of that may not have been their fault but that the draft order was thrown off by some of the picks made including Ainge taking Yabu.

[ddb]

I, for one, am thrilled that Danny finally drafted a couple high potential Euro stash players in the first round. He was in the perfect situation to do so with the amount of picks he had. Both Yabusele and Zizic have bright futures.

Sure hope so. But from the outside, it sure looks like Ainge's plan A was to trade most of these picks (including the 3rd) for an all-star, and plan B (actually using the picks) wasn't that well thought out. I guess we won't have a better idea for several years, unfortunately...

yes, their Plan A B and C was to trade the picks in some sort of trade. Didn't work out. Horford, JBrown and Stashes it is.

[Jingles]

LOL at the suggestion of Ainge doing anything that wasn't well thought out beforehand.

[greenmachine_2849]

LOL at the suggestion of Ainge doing anything that wasn't well thought out beforehand.

I'm sorry, but when you know, based on how your coach has handled rookies in past seasons, that there is very limited room to add first year players and you still wind up using all eight draft picks on draft night, you messed up somewhere. Maybe it was in the planning, or maybe it was in the execution. Take your pick, I guess, but the end result is the same. However, in the scheme of things, most of the success/failure of this draft rides on Jaylen Brown's shoulders. As long as he pans out in a big way, what happens with the other seven picks is secondary.

[tlee324]

It's been downhill since he got rid of Antoine!!!

[Curmudgeon]

Zizic is going to be a stud. He was the best center in the Adriatic league at age 19. Who knows about Yabusele? He did some good things in Summer league, and some not so good things.

My problem was giving up those picks in the 30's for a future first rounder that isn't likely to be that good because it is a Clippers pick. He could have picked Zubac at #31 ans stashed him too, and then taken Brogdon at #35 for immediate help. And if he couldn't trade the three late second rounders, I would have had no problem with simply renouncing the picks. Ainge looked as though he was more interested in filling out the Red Claws roster than in taking better players early in the second round. I see no point to it.

[Bluewhale]

The problem is, you cannot force second rounder to stash.