I give it a C.
I like the Goodwin pick. I think it makes a lot of sense to pick a project at 29, and if we have the proper player development structure in place, I think we may have a quality player on our hands in a few years.
I don't understand picking Len over Noel and McLemore. I understand that McDonough does this for a living, whereas all I have to go on is the majority opinion of the scouts I read online, but it seems like we picked a guy who sequestration consistently rated below the two guys picked below him. I know draftexpress(Givony and Schmitz) had Len first on their Big Board, but almost every other source had Noel as the number one dude.
Now, some will point to the fact that multiple teams passed on Noel and Ben; well, until we picked, those same teams passed on Len too. My relatively uninformed forecast is that both Noel and McLemore will be better pros. For all the talk about Noel being inept offensively and Len being skilled, the numbers say that their offensive impact is almost equal; in fact, Noel shot better on twos away from the rim than Len did. Plus, Noel is regarded as the number one defensive prospect in the draft, and the Indiana series showed just how important a rim protector is. Add that to the fact that his weight issues were wildly overblown and you have a guy I'm very upset about passing up.
As far as Ben goes, he was also ranked higher in the majority of rankings I read. I don't know how you can pass on an elite athlete who is also an elite shooter, all while being a plus defender too. Sure, there are a lot of questions about his assertiveness, but in my mind, he was a surefire pick. Even if he never becomes the alpha dog, guys who can shoot and move like he can are starters on playoff teams. And I don't understand the character concerns. He's never been reported to be a bad dude or a knucklehead; indeed, Simmons, Rose and Ford said he was one of the sweetest kids they met. Ford said Ben was a little naive, but the kid grew up broke and hungry, and he's worked hard to get where he is.
The only reason I can see Len over those guys making sense is if Ben really did completely blow his workout, or if we really did redflag Noel and his knee. However, the latest report says we never even got a look at his medical info, so the red flag stuff doesn't make sense. Plus, his doc(one of the leading ortho surgeons in the country) and the Cavs med team have cleared him and said his rehab is ahead of schedule. If the issue really is a worry about injury concerns, stress fractures are kinda worrisomely chronic little beasts too(Yao, Z).
I'm not saying Len was a bad pick. We had the fifth pick, and we got a guy who was consistently regarded as a top 5 prospect....but we passed on guys ranked higher. I know McDonough is an expert and said he was their unanimous number one, but remember, the second best player Boston drafted in the last 8 years is Avery Bradley. Even taking into account their draft position, that's not very inspiring:
http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/ ... -in-reviewhttp://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/ ... ses-part-2Len is an interesting pick. He's a dude the eyes like but the numbers loathe. I'm not a fan of the decision to draft him, but I very much hope that our staff is right about him, and I'll be rooting hard for his success.