Grade the Draft

[Celtics_Champs]

Title sais it all. I give them an A-. The buying of Bill Walker really got me excited.

[EdSkae]

trading cash for Bill Walker makes it an a+ draft for me.

[Bleeding Green]

A. Not drafting Dick Hendrix? Big mistake.

[campybatman]

Do you mean Richard Hendrix?

[LarryBrdismyDad]

A. Not drafting Dick Hendrix? Big mistake.

What role does Hendrix fill? We already have our undersized 4's in Powe and BB who are both way better then Hendrix. Hendrix did measure out well at the NBA Players Camp (9ft standign reach) but his vertical sucked I believe it was 30 inches. His game also doesn't translate well to the NBA in that he relies mostly on strength which won't work in the NBA.

[LarryBrdismyDad]

This draft was an A+ no doubt. We landed a top 20 player in this draft in the second round for cash in Bill Walker. Walker would have been a lottery pick had he not torn his knee up in HS and College. He is high risk pick but he wasn't given guaranteed money and he could be a huge reward as well. Walker was a top 10 player in the HS Class of 2007 (With Love, Beasley, Mayo, Bayless, Gordon) and was compared to Vince Carter before his knee injuries. Walker averaged 15 ppg this yr and grabbed 6.6 rpg as well. He needs to improve his ballhandling and outside shooting but he does a great job at rebounding, posting up, and defending and has big time athleticism adn strength.

J.R. Giddens was also a major HS recruit who was a MCD's All American. He struggled at Kansas and left after his sophomore yr in which he was stabbed in the leg durign a bar fight. He transferred to Nex Mexico where he averaged 16 ppg and 9 rpg this season in which he was named MWC Conference Player of the Year. He does a good job slashing and rebounding. He needs to get his shot more consistent, improve his midrange game, ballhandling and defense. He measured out at 6-5 at the NBA Players camp and had a wingspan of 6-11 and a standing reach of 8-8. He also has big time athleticism like Walker and can jump out of the building.

[Man_Up]

I give Danny a B+ only because we didn't pick up a decent center.

Other than that we had a great draft.

[DynastyInTheMaking]

I gave it a B+ only because there are still questions about our roster. Conceivably we could have a second unit of all inexperienced players. Maybe that's a good thing though. Once the questions are answered through someone's play, resigning Posey House and/or Allen, or signing a new FA the grade will go up. So essentially a B+ for the start of our offseason.

[ParticleMan]

A- just because we got two guys who play the same position, and one that (assuming we keep posey) might be our strongest spot.

I can't downgrade too much, tho, because i really like both picks. i actually like giddens more than walker. in college he was one of those "holy terror" guys who you were literally afraid every time they touched the ball (watching as an opponent). kind of like lebron. he just made things happen.

i know less about bill walker but he seems like good value, especially since we only gave up cash. i still don't understand GMs/owners selling picks for cash. if you're running a multi-100 million dollar franchise, do you really think it's a good idea to be so cheap as to not pay a guy $500k a year who could possibly be an impact player? i'm so glad the Thanksdad days are behind us and we've got great ownership.

[GreenGrizz]

I gave it an A+ because JR Giddens and Bill Walker both could have been lottery picks if they never had any incidents. I am glad Ainge learned that valuable lesson from drafting Gerald Green. He did let Jordan and others go.

[campybatman]

If Walker pans out (I believe has dealt with an ACL injury once or twice in the same leg) like Powe who's another player who wasn't selected in the first round due to concerns relating to him having surgery twice on his knee(s). Another example of a success story was Curtis Martin not going in the first round either due likewise to concerns with his knee.

I'll give this draft a solid C. Because Giddens I believe wasn't project in the first round in anyone's mock. So, Ainge likely reached on him. The concern with Walker is how much of his game or further development is based off of his athleticism? You keep seeing Vince Carter's name mentioned and if Walker can find that athleticism he'd in high school that evoked the Carter comparisons. As said, if he doesn't have any major set backs like Powe. He's a bargain. I won't say steal because he was projected as a second round pick. If he was projected to be a first round pick in other mocks (I don't sit and read everyone's mock drafts). Then, yes, Walker could prove to be a steal some years down the road. As for Erden, I feel as if I've to write an incomplete with him. I mean he may never come over to the states and play for Boston. Boston does still have three foreign players that the draft rights are own to who have yet to make the leap for the Celtics. Why is that?

[hiphop1]

I gave us a B-. I think we could have done better with the 30th, but Danny knows better than I do. But picking up Sky Walker was HUGH!

[Kefa461]

From where we were DA did a great job......

[campybatman]

Yes, I'd graded a C because I'd felt that fans are grading largely based on the acquisition of Walker from Washington. Hadn't Ainge done so and the draft night concluded with only Giddens and Erden who's playing overseas. Fans wouldn't have been as positive or optimistic. I bet people would've been on Ainge's case somewhat for reaching on Giddens. The arguments would've been about passing on Douglas-Roberts or Jordan and who the hell is Erden?!

[Datruth345]

A

for where we were drafting

[GreenGrizz]

If we had drafted Jordan and Forbes, we would have given it an A+ and blame AInge later.

[Tricky Ricky]

I wanted CDR but will trust Ainge, as long as Walker chooses #8 Ill give this draft an A+

[Prophet_C]

I gave us a B-. I think we could have done better with the 30th, but Danny knows better than I do. But picking up Sky Walker was HUGH!

Nice, I'm a big fan of HUGH.