2019 NBA draft

[Curmudgeon]

Little was projected as a top 5 pick before he took the floor at UNC. He did not have an impressive year. If he learns to shoot, he could be DeMarre Carroll. If he doesn't, he's a 12th man somewhere.

[Larryxd]

Little is a possibility at 14, along with Goga, Alexander-Walker and Kabengele if they are still available at 14.

I’m getting excited about the draft, with less than 2 weeks away.

There's no way we pass on Little at 14, right? He fits the mold of the prototypical Ainge prospect to a tee.

I don't love him, but I also do appreciate he was in a really bad system for his skills. Like Jaylen at Cal, he should not have played so much with multiple bigs next to him who could not space the floor. I could see his productivity improving with NBA spacing.

My concerns with him are simply that I am not sure he how he fits with our existing wings. Honestly his best profile is a bench defensive stopper. If he ever bought into that as a true lockdown guy and corner 3 spot up shooter, he'd prob have a 12-year career locked up. Just hard for consensus top 10 recruits to believe that's what they are at the next level though.

I also think there will be other more attractive fits out there, like Clarke, Romeo and PJ Washington. I wouldn't toss my TV if they were there and we took Little, but I think they are all superior talents AND roster fits.

I'm not going to pretend like I watched a ton of college basketball this year outside of KU. I was really intrigued by Little coming into the season, and I'm really only basing my expectations off his high school ranking, which I do for a lot of players.

[Gomes3PC]

Being RSCI top-5 is not a bad indicator a guy is an NBA talent, no questions about that. It's part of why I also like Langford so much, in addition to the fact that he produced despite playing with a hand injury all year.

[Wes-J]

Little won't be there @14.

Cam Johnson is ready to go, I'd love to have him on the squad. Better version of Hood.

Despite having Bob I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really intrigued by Clarke.

As for the rest of the guards, meh, just pick one.

[Curmudgeon]

If Horford wants out (there are conflicting signals) I'm going with Goga at #14, Thybulle at #20 and Windler at #22. But that's just me. As I've said, there are no clearcut choices from #4 through #30.

[LRoss]

For anybody interested in the "who will/will not be there" thing -- as has been well discussed, this years draft is a little tough to wrap your head around with so much variance in how players are ranked and so much similarity in how they are valued ("same player at 4 as 20," etc.). I needed a framework to help feel like I understood the whole deal a little better, so I just went and made a spreadsheet of the first 10 free internet mock drafts (or I think 1 was a prospect ranking, whatever) I could find to see what the data would indicate. Obviously, this is only as good as the mock drafts! But here's what the data indicated, specifically from a C's fan perspective:

Guys who are virtual locks to be gone by 14 (in order):
1. Zion
2. Morant
3. Barrett
4. Hunter
5. Culver
6. Garland
7. White
8. Reddish
9. Hayes
10. Doumbouya

The next four are very grouped together, and obviously math dictates that at least one will be available at 14 (and likely more than one if somebody from the next group goes higher, which I think is extremely likely but just almost impossible to predict who). SO -- these are unreliable but very realistic targets at 14, each with either 5 or 6 of the 10 mocks available at 14 or lower:
11. Little
12. Hachimura
13. Clarke
14. Washington

The next group are guys who (again, according to the aggregate of these mocks) are very likely to be there at 14, but 50% or less of lasting to 20, of course meaning that if we like one specifically we'd best take them at 14 or run real risk of missing out:
15. Bol
16. Herro (a bit of an anomaly in consensus, every single one has his available at 14 [and 1 in which he goes 14], exactly half have him available at 20, and zero drop him past 22 [including 1 in which he comes to Boston)
17. Bitadze
18. Alexander-Walker
19. Porter, Jr.
20. Langford
21. Johnson, Keldon

The final group are guys who are more likely than not to be there at 20, but between 40%-20% chance will be gone by 22:
22. Kabengele
23. Fernando
24. Johnson, Cameron
25. Claxton
26. Williams
27. Okpala
28. Jerome

Anybody not listed above is available at 22 in at least 9 of the 10 mocks and is very likely to be available.

Here's the breakdown of who goes to Boston and where in these 10:
Doumbouya (14 -- 1 mock)
Little (14 -- 2 mocks)
Hachimura (14 -- 2 mocks)
Clarke (14 -- 2 mocks; 20 -- 1 mock) (these numbers are making sense by now, yes?)
Bol (20 -- 1; 22 -- 1)
Herro (14 -- 1; 22 -- 1)
Bitazde (14 -- 1)
Alexander-Walker (20 -- 1)
Porter, Jr. (20 -- 2; 22 -- 1)
Johnson, Keldon (22 -- 2)
Fernando (20 -- 1; 22 -- 1)
Johnson, Cameron (14 -- 1)
Claxton (22 -- 1)
Williams (20 -- 1)
Okpala (20 -- 1)
Jerome (20 -- 1)
Thybulle (22 -- 1)
Edwards (22 -- 1)
Horton-Tucker (22 -- 1)
Porter, Jontay (20 -- 1)
That's a total of 20 different players with our 3 picks, which who knows if we even keep all of them -- if anything, it maybe shows how this is all pretty worthless info and we just don't know much, ha ha!

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading a lot of your posts, and figure that at least a few of you will find this as interesting as I did.

Mocks used for data sources: 2 from CBS Sports (Gary Parrish and Reid Forgrave), nbadraft.net, bleacherreport, walterfootball, tankathon, SI (I think this was prospect rankings rather than mock, but whatever), nbadraftroom, drafttek, draftsite

[Feed Your Head]

Awesome post LRoss, thank you.

[greenroom31]

For anybody interested in the "who will/will not be there" thing -- as has been well discussed, this years draft is a little tough to wrap your head around with so much variance in how players are ranked and so much similarity in how they are valued ("same player at 4 as 20," etc.) ...

Thanks for pulling all this together -- which players do you like? I'm having a hard time getting excited about anyone available in our range personally, and hope that the picks will be sent to NO as part of a deal for Davis.

[Curmudgeon]

The problem is, the people who devised those mocks with all of those rankings were just shooting blindfolded.

[LRoss]

For anybody interested in the "who will/will not be there" thing -- as has been well discussed, this years draft is a little tough to wrap your head around with so much variance in how players are ranked and so much similarity in how they are valued ("same player at 4 as 20," etc.) ...

Thanks for pulling all this together -- which players do you like? I'm having a hard time getting excited about anyone available in our range personally, and hope that the picks will be sent to NO as part of a deal for Davis.

I don't know, I guess Hachimura if he's there at 14 and we're picking for ourselves, but a) I'm an idiot; and b) so much roster uncertainty I don't really have strong feelings. I'll say I don't think I like Porter Jr. but I don't even remember why. Does he have an attitude reputation or something?

Curmudgeon is right, of course. But having it laid out like this makes my brain feel better and seems less scattered. We all know reality can vary greatly from these mocks.

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

For those who didn't see the news, adjust or celebrate your mock draft because of the "Green Room" invites to the draft.

That doesn't mean they will be good players, Jan Vesely, but they will be there and expected to go early.

Zion Williamson
Ja Morant
R.J. Barrett
Darius Garland
De’Andre Hunter
Jarrett Culver
Coby White
Cam Reddish
Jaxson Hayes

It also means they, and maybe their parents, have to start coming up with their style for the predraft fashion parade that the NBA introduced last year. It doesn't mean one of the above won't slide, but the NBA and the team staff they talk to have come up with this better group and the others that arrive when more players are added will be in the group more likely to slide.

Neuf joueurs invités dans la Green Room, Sekou Doumbouya devrait suivre : le made in France a toujours sa place en NBA

Maybe that is the guy that completes the Top 10, maybe not. Those saying he or Clarke or Little are Top 5 locks, the NBA says maybe not. None of that probably means much for the Boston picks, if they even have them to use.


For those saying that two Boston workouts means getting picked by the Celtics, you are correct.

For those saying that two Boston workouts for a prospect this far away from the draft means getting picked by the Celtics, maybe incorrect. Maybe past drafts they looked at the prospect, then a day or two before the draft got them back for another look, then picked them.


Maybe players will avoid the Celtics and their workouts, one player who was unlikely to be picked injured his knee at a workout.


International players have a few more hours until they have to stay in or leave the draft. With a few teams with many picks to use, like 76ers and Hawks, overseas players will be wanted but not many seem to be in mock drafts.

[Darthlukey]

Apparently Charles Matthews blew his ACL in a workout for the C's

[djFan71]

My thoughts. Take them in order of who's left. If one from 14 is left, take him at 20. I know some of the 20 guys could be gone, but get them if they slip.

14 - Little, Clarke, Washington, Hayes
20 - Alexander-Walker, Goga, Keldon
22 - Claxton.

Make sure you get Claxton. Tall, skinny, skills. Only negatives are his frame. He's one I roll the dice on - assuming they verify the work ethic is there.

[djFan71]

I'd still love to do 20, 22 & 51 with CHA for 12 & 36. I like a lot guys going from 10 to 17 or so in mocks. Get 2 lotto picks, then one last shot at the top of the 2nd round.

[djFan71]

Assuming no trades for picks, Jalen Lecque screams Danny pick at 51. Crazy athletic, great defender, can't shoot or playmake. Always need a stash of those on hand.

[Curmudgeon]

Assuming no trades for picks, Jalen Lecque screams Danny pick at 51. Crazy athletic, great defender, can't shoot or playmake. Always need a stash of those on hand.

Yes, and another sleeper is Alen Smailagic, the Serbian big man who played for Santa Cruz in the D-league last year. He's very young as well, and could probably be signed as a 2-way and developed further in Maine.

[SmartWentCrazy]

My thoughts. Take them in order of who's left. If one from 14 is left, take him at 20. I know some of the 20 guys could be gone, but get them if they slip.

14 - Little, Clarke, Washington, Hayes
20 - Alexander-Walker, Goga, Keldon
22 - Claxton.

Make sure you get Claxton. Tall, skinny, skills. Only negatives are his frame. He's one I roll the dice on - assuming they verify the work ethic is there.

Claxton is one of the developmental prospects I’d love to take a chance on— like him a lot

[greenroom31]

I don't know, I guess Hachimura if he's there at 14 and we're picking for ourselves, but a) I'm an idiot; and b) so much roster uncertainty I don't really have strong feelings. I'll say I don't think I like Porter Jr. but I don't even remember why. Does he have an attitude reputation or something?

Curmudgeon is right, of course. But having it laid out like this makes my brain feel better and seems less scattered. We all know reality can vary greatly from these mocks.

You're no more of an idiot than the rest of us. I worry about strength of competition and BBIQ with Hachimura but agree he's got good size/length and appears to be a solid shooter. If we do end up using the pick I hope we have tentative trades in place to move up and grab either Garland or Hunter if they drop into the 6-9 range.

[FlatearthZorro]

I don't know, I guess Hachimura if he's there at 14 and we're picking for ourselves, but a) I'm an idiot; and b) so much roster uncertainty I don't really have strong feelings. I'll say I don't think I like Porter Jr. but I don't even remember why. Does he have an attitude reputation or something?

Curmudgeon is right, of course. But having it laid out like this makes my brain feel better and seems less scattered. We all know reality can vary greatly from these mocks.

You're no more of an idiot than the rest of us. I worry about strength of competition and BBIQ with Hachimura but agree he's got good size/length and appears to be a solid shooter. If we do end up using the pick I hope we have tentative trades in place to move up and grab either Garland or Hunter if they drop into the 6-9 range.

I also like Hachimura's strength, athletic ability. The guy plays mean and isn't afraid of contact. If he's there I wouldn't mind him at #14.

[Gomes3PC]

Little won't be there @14.

Cam Johnson is ready to go, I'd love to have him on the squad. Better version of Hood.

Despite having Bob I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really intrigued by Clarke.

As for the rest of the guards, meh, just pick one.

I really, really like Cam Johnson outside the lotto. Not to be reductive but I think Danny Green is a very realistic outcome for him.

On Clarke, I haven't seen enough from Timelord to believe we should avoid looking at bigs. Clarke may also very well turn into a wing if he continues to improve his shooting.