Duke4life831 wrote:playa-hater wrote:Hal14 wrote:They're good. but Griffin is likely going in the top 6 or 7 picks. very slim chance we get a pick that high.
we're lightly picking in the 13-18 range. Williams will likely be available then but i doubt we pick a center that high, with the continued emergence of rob and how the team is saying they consider him part of the future core alongside Tatum/Brown.
don't know enough to agree or disagree but maybe some players can rise up and push Griffen down to us.
AJ is more of the player you expect to continue to rise than get pushed down. 12/5/1 with really good defense and a 65 TS% in conference play so far and that is just in 26mpg. Now obviously his 3pt% is going to tail off, it wont continue to be north of 50% in conference play. But his FT% will rise (he has always been a solid-good FT shooter). His role has slowly been expanding as well. I think most view him as kind of the poster boy of the guys that are expected to rise as we get closer to the draft. For instance Mike Schmitz was saying he wouldnt be shocked if he ends up top 5.
So ya I think he will be out of reach by the time the draft comes around. A few perimeter names that might be available in the mid to late teens.
Bennedict Mathurin: Probably wont be there but most mocks seem to have him 10th-late lotto. Good size, good athleticism, solid jumper
Ochai Agbaji: Older but solid size for a guard, good 3pt shooter (the FT shooting is questionable), good athlete.
Max Christie: Skinny guard, with a really nice looking jumper off the catch and shoot or off the dribble
Kendall Brown: Not a shooter, but 6'7-6'8 wing with elite athleticism.
Pat Baldwin: Bad year in a very bad situation. But a legit 6'9 with as nice of a shooting stroke you can ask for.
And I agree with the poster above. Mark Williams will be there in the mid teens, but that is too high to take him.
From those guys..
Mathurin - yes if he's still on the board in the 13-18 range, you take him but I doubt he'll still be there.
Christie - way too similar to Nesmith. Christie is like a skinnier Nesmith who is isn't as proven a shooter at the college level but maybe has better moves off the dribble. Could potentially end up being better than Nesmith but IMO just way too similar to draft him. Now, on the off-chance that we trade Nesmith at the deadline or on like a draft night trade, then sure I may be open to picking Christie
Agbaji - ah, i don't know man. All of these guys, Mathurin, Christie and Agbaji are all kind of like Nesmith. I just think Mathurin is a top 10 talent with star upside so i would take him anyways. But Agbaji? Projects to be a solid role player. Kind of similar to Christie except Agbaji is stronger, better defender and overall just a better player than Christie but Agbaji is 3 years older so while Agbaji is better today, Christie possibly ends up being better in the long term - but I think the celtics would probably rather take the guy who is ready now, less of a development project so we'd probably want Agbaji over Christie...but is Agbaji too similar to Nesmith/Langford/Begarin?
Kendall Brown - here's a wild card! On one hand, I'm almost scared to draft a wing who isn't a really good shooter, given our shooting woes this season. On the other hand, Brown is very unique - he clearly provides something different than Nesmith/Langford. Brown has this insane energy he plays with. Yes, Nesmith plays a high octane style of play, but often times plays out of control. Brown is more fast, fast, go go go, up tempo high energy while at the same time stays under control. Plus Brown is bigger than Nesmith. Brown is 6'8" with a 6'11" wingspan and a vertical leap that's clearly over 40". I've seen him dunk the ball with his head up near the rim (or above it) more times than i can count. The dude can jump out of the gym, he's a freak athlete. You put Brown and Robert williams out there together - man, we'd have 2 lob threats at the same time - a smart offensive basketball mind should be able to draw up some plays where you look for a lob to 1 of them but if the pass isn't there, then boom, the other one cuts to the basket for a lob and boom, dunk! Excellent cutter, excellent at moving without the ball. Absolutely NOT a ball stopper - if anything, he might be too unselfish but that is probably a good thing with tatum/brown here - a guy like kendall brown will absolutely not take shots away from those guys - if anything he'd get tatum/brown better looks because he's such a damn good passer. Can you tell I'm a kendall brown fan? lol. Good, highly switchable defender too. Really good off ball defender, excellent at jumping the passing lanes for steals and turning defense to offense by pushing it on the break - really good in transition at pushing it quickly, and either passing it ahead to open man or finishing it himself. I think he's a guy who can contribute right away with defense, passing, energy, cutting, lob dunks and then long term you hope he is able to improve his shooting and ability to create off the dribble - if he does he could turn into a star. It's just that in the short term, while Kendall brown is working on his shot, you just have to make sure you have another shooter out there if Kendall brown is out there with tatum, brown and rob. it probably wouldn't work with smart as the 5th guy in the lineup. Pritchard? Yes.
Baldwin - he's a tough one to evaluate because he hasn't played many games this season (only like 8 and in 1 of those games he left the game only a few mins into the 2nd half w/ ankle injury)..an injury he still hasn't returned from. Plus when he has played, Baldwin has faced some really easy teams in a small conference (along with 2 tougher games vs colorado and florida). But overall, he has struggled. Baldwin could end up being really good but I probably wouldn't take him. I have him 19th right now on my big board. However, some people have him top 10 so there is a decent chance he won't make it to our pick..
