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"Jonathan Givony: After thoroughly exploring his options the past few weeks, I'm now hearing North Texas' Tony Mitchell has 100% decided to stay in school."

That's that. It looks like Mitchell's off the board. Quincy Miller opted into the draft yesterday though.


The Celtics pick looks like it will most likely land at #21. That's figuring Dallas will sit some guys and lose to Atlanta in the last game, giving the Hawks homecourt, but keeping Atlanta's pick behind Boston.

It's still possible Milwaukee will beat Boston in the meaningless finale though. Then Denver and Orlando each have two left; each would have to win them both, and lose a coin flip for the C's to gain a spot or two.

That's a lot of things to happen. #21 is most likely.


Meanwhile the Clippers are currently tied for #23/24 with Memphis. LAC plays the Knicks in NY tonight in their finale. A loss there combined with an Atlanta win (see Dallas above) and a Memphis win against Orlando could drop the Clips to #22.

So, the best guess is the Celtics will end up with #21 (a little better is possible, but unlikely). The Clippers will end up somewhere around #22 to #24.

Let's say the Cs end up at 21 and 23. This is a deep draft, and I sense there is not a huge drop off from 12-16 to 21-25. More than most years, this is an "eye of the beholder" draft after the top 5-10 picks. It has a pile of athletic 3s who should be hanging around in the early 20s.

Were Danny to make a list of his top 23 players in the draft, I suspect we would end up getting players he'd rank between 12-17.

There is an excellent chance that the Cs will get at least one guy who can be a good NBA player, and, with luck, maybe two.

Go, Danny, Go.

Here's the relevant part of draftexpress' latest mock with Mitchell out and Miller in (team needs NOT taken into consideration):

18 Quincy Miller SF
19 years old; 6'9"; 200 lbs. Baylor, Freshman

19 Marquis Teague PG
19 years old; 6'2"; 179 lbs. Kentucky, Freshman

20 Jeff Taylor SF
22 years old; 6'7"; 226 lbs. Vanderbilt, Senior

21 Tony Wroten PG/SG
19 years old; 6'5"; 180 lbs.Washington, Freshman

22 Moe Harkless SF
18 years old; 6'8"; 208 lbs. St. John's, Freshman

23 Dion Waiters SG
20 years old; 6'4"; 210 lbs. Syracuse, Sophomore

24 Evan Fournier SG/SF
19 years old; 6'7"; 206 lbs. Poitiers, International

25 Arnett Moultrie PF/C
21 years old; 6'11"; 220 lbs.Mississippi St., Junior

26 Royce White PF
21 years old; 6'8"; 270 lbs. Iowa State, Sophomore

27 Tyshawn Taylor PG
22 years old; 6'3"; 180 lbs. Kansas, Senior

28 Fab Melo C
21 years old; 7'0"; 250 lbs. Syracuse, Sophomore


I believe Ezeli will rise into this area as well due to size and potential.

To me, the draft looks about 20 deep. Can we count on other GM's to make three mistakes in the top 20 picks?

Gant wrote:Here's the relevant part of draftexpress' latest mock with Mitchell out and Miller in (team needs NOT taken into consideration):

18 Quincy Miller SF
19 years old; 6'9"; 200 lbs. Baylor, Freshman

19 Marquis Teague PG
19 years old; 6'2"; 179 lbs. Kentucky, Freshman

20 Jeff Taylor SF
22 years old; 6'7"; 226 lbs. Vanderbilt, Senior

21 Tony Wroten PG/SG
19 years old; 6'5"; 180 lbs.Washington, Freshman

22 Moe Harkless SF
18 years old; 6'8"; 208 lbs. St. John's, Freshman

23 Dion Waiters SG
20 years old; 6'4"; 210 lbs. Syracuse, Sophomore

24 Evan Fournier SG/SF
19 years old; 6'7"; 206 lbs. Poitiers, International

25 Arnett Moultrie PF/C
21 years old; 6'11"; 220 lbs.Mississippi St., Junior

26 Royce White PF
21 years old; 6'8"; 270 lbs. Iowa State, Sophomore

27 Tyshawn Taylor PG
22 years old; 6'3"; 180 lbs. Kansas, Senior

28 Fab Melo C
21 years old; 7'0"; 250 lbs. Syracuse, Sophomore


I believe Ezeli will rise into this area as well due to size and potential.

I'd be happy with one of Miller, Harkless or Fournier and Moultrie.

[quote="cloverleaf"]To me, the draft looks about 20 deep. Can we count on other GM's to make three mistakes in the top 20 picks?[/quote]

I think we can count on starters to all stars being there at 20. Rondo for example:

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Ef ... ll%20Teams

And role players at 25, Allen & West for example:

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Ef ... ll%20Teams

I'm gunning for Royce White and Fab Melo or trading those two picks for something in the 9-13 range and going after Henson, Zeller or Leonard. I'm usually for drafting BPA but we desperately need impact size from this draft.

I don't see as many college games as many of you, and even if I did, I would not necessarily trust my instincts. I do trust Danny. He has blown his share at the end of the first and and top of the second round--Gerald Green, Giddens, Pruitt, yccchhh-- but that is unavoidable. Even Red laid eggs in the draft every now and then. But the scout who saw Rondo, Allen, West, Bradley and, yes, Jujuan Johnson in the 20s clearly can locate talent. We can all speculate all we want--I think about this stuff, too--but in the end: trust in Danny. And be prepared to be surprised. Guys we all blather about will go much higher or lower and lots of names we barely discuss will jump up the boards. Hell, Danny may even draft one for two players none of us on this board will even talk about over the next eight weeks.

I'm inclined to trade a bunch of picks to move up and grab the guy we want. assuming we decide to bring back a bunch of guys that are already on the roster( Bass, pietrus, steamer etc) and that we can a couple of guys we already like ( green, wilcox) there may not be that many open roster spots ie. it may not be what we thought it was going to be so maybe we only need 1-2 rookies and not 4.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Celtics moving up and getting Quincy Miller. It appears Minnesota has Utah's pick @ 17, and Kahn's always willing to make deals to get more assets. Perhaps #21 and JJJ gets the C's up to 17. I'd much rather deal JJJ than the Clippers' pick.

Gant, glad to see that there is someone else preoccupied with draft positioning right now. Anyways, with as many players coming out early this year, I can see getting 2 guys that have a really high upside. With as many free agents as the Cs have, I think they can basically take the best player avaliable.

Lastly, I agree with Elrod. I dont think there is much difference between the guy you will get at 10 vs the guy that you get at 20. With that being said I wouldnt consider trading up unless you are trading Johnson or Moore as the piece to help you move up.

cloverleaf wrote:To me, the draft looks about 20 deep. Can we count on other GM's to make three mistakes in the top 20 picks?

I agree completely... for me, there are (in no order):

Davis
Robinson
MKG
Drummond
Barnes
Beal
Lamb
Rivers
Sullinger
Zeller
Jones 3
Moultrie
Leonard
Jones
Ross
Henson
Harkless
Q.Miller

As guys the Celtics would be great coming out of the draft with, list doesnt include the PG's that will be taken higher than our pick in lillard and marshall, possibly Waiters also..
The bolded guys are the ones most likely to drop to our picks

If we could get Moultrie/Q.Miller or something like that with our picks we will have done very well for ourselves

Let's trade up? We don't need another 2 role players who will be solid role players. Let's try to get a top 15 & pick a future start. With Rondo, & Green we need 3 other starters. Let's get Terrence Ross or Austin Rivers & have our backcourt set for a decade of Rivers, Rondo, Bradley & they can all get their 30 mins a game.

Sign Ray for another year & let Rivers ease his transition into the L.

21 & 23 to Philly for 15? Or PHX for 14? Phi can use 2 more rotation players while PHX needs a star. Who knows?

OR we can just trade them straight up for OJ Mayo?

I think back to back 21 and 22 picks is a darn good scenario.

2Mas wrote:Let's trade up? We don't need another 2 role players who will be solid role players. Let's try to get a top 15 & pick a future start. With Rondo, & Green we need 3 other starters. Let's get Terrence Ross or Austin Rivers & have our backcourt set for a decade of Rivers, Rondo, Bradley & they can all get their 30 mins a game.

Sign Ray for another year & let Rivers ease his transition into the L.

21 & 23 to Philly for 15? Or PHX for 14? Phi can use 2 more rotation players while PHX needs a star. Who knows?

OR we can just trade them straight up for OJ Mayo?

Honestly, our picks combined wont get us into the top 8 or so, and thats probably the only other 'tier' of prospects

Davis
-
MKG
Robinson
Drummond
-
Barnes
Beal
Lamb
Sullinger (depending on measurements)
-

Everyone else I listed in my previous post I think has star potential depending on where they land, the coaching, the opportunities, and obviously a lot of variables...

I would keep the picks, take any 2 guys out of the list as long as at least one was a big man, with Rondo running the offense, gaps in the roster and hopefully a couple of great veteran mentors at least one will pan out... look at AB

DA drafting two in the low twenties means about 2 future NBA starters added to the team.

The thing is he drafts players that will develop. This is no fluke. Being an LDS bishop means he devotes almost his entire free time to thinking about how to turn young men and young women into adults. This allows him to spot kids like Bradley and Rondo that will work on their game year in and year out. (Rondo is still getting better.)

It isn't just a matter of seeing the talent now. It is seeing where they'll be in five years.

The quality of player at 15 is virtually the same as the player at 20. The main difference is the fact that you might not find bigs at 20

I take full blame and responsibility for Mitchell staying in school.

After his coach took the LSU job, I put Mitchell as my avatar. And now this. I feel like I lost a little piece of myself today.

Tony Mitchell and Andre Roberson in 2013!

I would absolutely love if Ainge brought in Dion Waiters, Trevor Mbakwe and Orlando Johnson this draft. I wouldn't be upset with Kyle O'Quinn if he was still available in the 2nd round.

If ATL wins who has the tiebreaker between them and LAC?

CelticFaninLBC wrote:If ATL wins who has the tiebreaker between them and LAC?

Coin flip.

Here what matters for the two draft picks:

For the Celtics pick: Boston is one game ahead of Orlando and Denver. Boston must lose while one or both of the other two win, and then there would be a coin flip.
If Atlanta loses and Boston wins, they would have a coin flip for 21/22.

(A Boston win with an Atlanta loss would also switch homecourt.)

For the Clippers pick: The Clips are done playing. They are one game ahead of Atlanta and one behind Memphis. Both of those teams play tonight. If there are ties, more coin flips.

Right now the Celtics pick is at 21, and the Clips at 23. The Celtics pick could end up 19, 20, 21 or 22 (21 most likely). The Clippers pick could end up 22, 23, or 24.

Tonight's finales-
Boston @ Milwaukee.
Orlando @ Memphis.
Denver @ Minnesota.
Dallas @ Atlanta. (Dallas may be resting guys, Atlanta playing for homecourt.)



The oddity is that Orlando plays Memphis. So one will move up and one down based on that outcome.