2020 NBA Draft Thread

[Cuban Pete]

I think teams will regret passing on Wiseman. He has an excellect shooting stroke, including an unstoppable step back jumper and he also shoots a high percentage from the line. He rebounds, blocks shots and he really runs the floor. He's not a plodding halfcourt big like Embiid. If he develops a three point shot-- which he will-- he's Anthony Davis lite.

...and if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle

I have Okongwu going ahead of him. Wiesman's character will scare teams off. Yes, all players want to get paid, but not all players acted like he did.

[Cuban Pete]

If Cole Anthony is on the board at #14, can't see Ainge passing on a guard who was #3 RSCI ranked in high school.

That's the same logic behind the drafting of Langford.

[playa-hater]

after watching Boston lose to Miami, it becomes even more clear that a PG may have to be the position.. now let me be clear, I still want a solid 2 way wing like NeSmith, Vassell, Bey or P Williams.. But If Ainge did go with a K Lewis jr, I would not e upset.. Just not a big fan of Cole..

[bucknersrevenge]

If Cole Anthony is on the board at #14, can't see Ainge passing on a guard who was #3 RSCI ranked in high school.

That's the same logic behind the drafting of Langford.

Which is exactly why it's very likely to happen if he's there.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

This is such a late date.
Like 5 weeks after the Finals. And then the Season Starts on Dec 25th, or later.

[NuckyPowell]

For one of our later two picks, I really like Elijah Hughes. Guy is just a natural scorer with a pretty sweet stroke. Exactly what we need off of our bench. I don't want to go crazy with the comparisons, but he reminds me of a couple of former sixth men of the year who were gifted scorers.

Watch on YouTube

[ConstableGeneva]

Read on Twitter

[100proof]

after watching Boston lose to Miami, it becomes even more clear that a PG may have to be the position.. now let me be clear, I still want a solid 2 way wing like NeSmith, Vassell, Bey or P Williams.. But If Ainge did go with a K Lewis jr, I would not e upset.. Just not a big fan of Cole..

Lewis, Hampton, Maledon I think are all better than Cole.

[Bleeding Green]

If Cole Anthony is on the board at #14, can't see Ainge passing on a guard who was #3 RSCI ranked in high school.

That's the same logic behind the drafting of Langford.

Which is exactly why it's very likely to happen if he's there.

If you get drafted at 14 and you were a top-3 RSCI HS senior, that's pretty great value. Are scouts really going to change their opinion based on one college season on one of the worst teams in the nation with zero perimeter threat? If so, they probably **** up. Happened to a bunch of guys last draft (Nassir Little, Romeo Langford, Bol Bol, Cam Reddish). The year before had MPJ and Mitchell Robinson fall, Gary Trent Jr as well. Who knows how the crop last year will turn out, but if you have a bunch of picks you should probably draft the high upside players.

[celticfan42487]

Guys, the more and more I look at this draft the more excited I am.

Now do I want another Smart? Sure, but this draft doesn't have one. But then I look at our team next year and...

Wannamaker is 31 and just had his best season and is unrestricted. He is gone to the highest bidder and he deserves to be.

So to me that puts as as a team with a starting 5 and Marcus Smart. That needs a bench.

Of that bench we have

PG: Carsen Edwards (he hit 8 3s in summer league... can he become a Nunn type backup that we saw do great things in MIA?)
SG: Smart
SF: Romeo (didn't do jack **** and honestly was a huge **** disappointment. But that happens with rookies and he might show himself to be that Evan Turner esque guy off the bench as a sophmore)
PF: Grant (kind of a meh rotational piece that can't hit a 3)
C: Robert Williams (potential but a block head with a body made of glass, you don't ever want to count on him but he's an x factor)

And that's it. I look at that and I think **** we need a bench. And besides Smart a rookie could come in and take that over.

Okay so off the bench we need

- a real playmaking PG. Ideally, one that can either hit a 3 or defend. That helps our entire team.
- a 3 and D Jae Crowder clone.
- if not 3 and D then someone that can rain **** 3s down on you at a Miami Heat level
- a PF/C we can rely on and don't worry if he takes TimeLord's spot, that's on Timelord

Then I look at our draft assets and see ALL OVER nothing but bench players. **** brilliant. If we hit on even ONE of them we improve TREMENDOUSLY next year. If one of our young guys takes a leap (Edwards, Romeo, Grant, TimeLord) we improve ENDLESSLY.

Internal growth potential to fill a bench role need:
Edwards - rain 3s down on a ****
Romeo - doesn't quite fit in anywhere unless his 3 is rolling but may just be good enough at enough things to be a weird 3 and D guy.
Timelord - easiest one to see, if he's healthy and learns rotations he will threaten to start. Point blank.

So given that what we can't potentially get from our internal growth and could get from the draft for a need is a playmaking PG, and a true 3 and D guy (again emphasis on hitting the 3s, our lack of that off the bench has killed us)

Prospects at 14 that fit a bench role need:

- Nesmith - Tyler Herro clone

- Josh Green - a little bit of everything as a 3 and D guy

- Aleksej Pokusevski - I CRINGE at the idea of him never being able to see the court like Bol Bol. But we know what an Al Horford playmaker can do, and we're seeing what Jokic can do. He is worth a dart throw.

- Saddiq Bey - he literally may be Jae Crowder

- Jalen Smith - could be Kelly Olynk reborn. I would hate it but that's a reliable bench big for sure.


Players at 26 or 30 that fit a bench role need:

- Leandro Bolmaro - 6'7" playmaking PG. Enough said. Could be our Shaun Livingston and a perfect switch up of Kemba. Dream get, we could even jump up and select him at 14 to make sure we get him.

- Theo Maledon - Honestly could be what Waters is as a player but he's 6'4 with a 6'8" wingspan. Enough said.

- Killian Tillie - Maybe he only plays 4 years before his body breaks. But like Leon Powe and Big Baby he'll be an impactful big in those years. Plays like Marc Gasol of last year when he could hit a 3 (but was 34 and not a stud by any means)

- Nico Mannion - Playmaking, feel for the game, 3 point shooting. Just 6'2 and a liability. Standard backup PG that can play a critical role on any championship team


Players with one of our 3 second rounders that fit a bench need:

(all of them, legit endless potential talent here)
Specifically a **** ton of the 6'2" guys who can playmaking and either hit a 3 or grind on defense despite being small, or guys who can fit a TimeLord role or a Grant Williams role.

Draft them all. Let Semi, Wanna, Green, Waters, Tacko, Kanter go.

Based on our team and free agency, I still say fade the Center spot because you can always find a Kanter for the MLE out there if you need to.

Let them battle it out on the team. There's only 2 maybe 3 playoff rotational spots for them to get. May the best players win. One of them will be cut in preseason to sign a big like Kanter so hope they show out.

[celticfan42487]

Read on Twitter

This is such a late date.
Like 5 weeks after the Finals. And then the Season Starts on Dec 25th, or later.

Gezzes yeah that's way too **** late.

Ugh we're going to go a LONG time with 0 NBA news.

If they're going to do that then just **** start free agency earlier. Ugh.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Read on Twitter

Interesting.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Let's say we could get into the top 5.

Who do you guys like?

Guys I really like as fits on this team:

LaMelo Ball— has wing height, a very good handle and unbelievable passing vision. Shot isnt good but, from what I can tell, a lot of it is due to a lack of strength in the legs that should be curable. Defensively, he’s shown good instincts with lazy effort that causes the ‘poor defender’ label. After seeing Stevens routinely fix poor college defenders when they get here, I’m not worried about his defense at all. Think he fits in perfectly in the short term with Kemba/Brown/Tatum and the longterm with Smart/Brown/Tatum.

Obi Toppin— Offensively, theres little doubt that he’d be a good fit. He’s shown great touch inside the arc, has solid FT indicators and should be able to stretch his game to 3. He can pass and has solid vision for a PF. Awesome athlete, too. Defensively, he’s poor. He’s pretty top heavy and has trouble sinking his hips. I think Stevens could turn him into a slightly below average defender due to his athleticism— with his diverse offensive skill, that makes him tantalizing to me.

Guys I like in general, but dont think they’d develop right here:

Anthony Edwards— he has some real solid indicators— great touch at the rim, ability to create for himself, good vision— but I think he needs some time where he’s able to play through mistakes and Boston isnt the right fit. I think his defense would be fixed here, but I dont trust that his offense would come far enough along to justify the asset usage. Think that, on a losing team, he could turn into one hell of a player, sorta like Devin Booker.

James Wiseman— going more off intuition from his answers to interviews, but he seems like a guy who will want an outsized role for what his skill set demands. Were not in a position to reward that and I think itll hurt his effort to properly develop here. Huge potential, but dont see it actualizing in Boston.

Guys I’m okay with but wouldnt want to spend a top 5 pick on:

Hayes, Haliburton, Avdija, Okongwu

Bumping given the Ball meeting— guy is a perfect fit for what Ainge/Stevens look for in PGs and would definitely develop defensively if we drafted him.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Read on Twitter

Looks like we got caught with our hand in the cookie jar and are trying to damage control

[SmartWentCrazy]

Read on Twitter

Looks like we got caught with our hand in the cookie jar and are trying to damage control

Read on Twitter

For the doubters, LaMeo wasnt lying to the kid lol— wouldnt do that over meeting with a shoe company. Hes covering his tracks which makes me really think were interested.

The Celtics facility is New Balance, not Puma FWIW

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

[celticfan42487]

Let's say we could get into the top 5.

Who do you guys like?

Guys I really like as fits on this team:

LaMelo Ball— has wing height, a very good handle and unbelievable passing vision. Shot isnt good but, from what I can tell, a lot of it is due to a lack of strength in the legs that should be curable. Defensively, he’s shown good instincts with lazy effort that causes the ‘poor defender’ label. After seeing Stevens routinely fix poor college defenders when they get here, I’m not worried about his defense at all. Think he fits in perfectly in the short term with Kemba/Brown/Tatum and the longterm with Smart/Brown/Tatum.

Obi Toppin— Offensively, theres little doubt that he’d be a good fit. He’s shown great touch inside the arc, has solid FT indicators and should be able to stretch his game to 3. He can pass and has solid vision for a PF. Awesome athlete, too. Defensively, he’s poor. He’s pretty top heavy and has trouble sinking his hips. I think Stevens could turn him into a slightly below average defender due to his athleticism— with his diverse offensive skill, that makes him tantalizing to me.

Guys I like in general, but dont think they’d develop right here:

Anthony Edwards— he has some real solid indicators— great touch at the rim, ability to create for himself, good vision— but I think he needs some time where he’s able to play through mistakes and Boston isnt the right fit. I think his defense would be fixed here, but I dont trust that his offense would come far enough along to justify the asset usage. Think that, on a losing team, he could turn into one hell of a player, sorta like Devin Booker.

James Wiseman— going more off intuition from his answers to interviews, but he seems like a guy who will want an outsized role for what his skill set demands. Were not in a position to reward that and I think itll hurt his effort to properly develop here. Huge potential, but dont see it actualizing in Boston.

Guys I’m okay with but wouldnt want to spend a top 5 pick on:

Hayes, Haliburton, Avdija, Okongwu

Bumping given the Ball meeting— guy is a perfect fit for what Ainge/Stevens look for in PGs and would definitely develop defensively if we drafted him.

If I'm not mistaken we've never developed anyone defensively but had amazing luck developing their 3 point shot?

Tony Allen
Tatum
Brown
Bradley
Smart


They were all either great or in Tatum's case only good defenders day 1.

Hell even Romeo sucked hitting a 3 but his body and tape put him as at least a pretty good defender if he can stay on the court.

Not that I don't think our #1 need is a playmaking PG off the bench either.

But I don't think Ainge has even had a player go from a bad defender to an average one. And I think he makes a point to draft good defenders because it's something that can't easily be taught (or the market in his mind doesn't value and that's where he can find value).

[SmartWentCrazy]

Guys I really like as fits on this team:

LaMelo Ball— has wing height, a very good handle and unbelievable passing vision. Shot isnt good but, from what I can tell, a lot of it is due to a lack of strength in the legs that should be curable. Defensively, he’s shown good instincts with lazy effort that causes the ‘poor defender’ label. After seeing Stevens routinely fix poor college defenders when they get here, I’m not worried about his defense at all. Think he fits in perfectly in the short term with Kemba/Brown/Tatum and the longterm with Smart/Brown/Tatum.

Obi Toppin— Offensively, theres little doubt that he’d be a good fit. He’s shown great touch inside the arc, has solid FT indicators and should be able to stretch his game to 3. He can pass and has solid vision for a PF. Awesome athlete, too. Defensively, he’s poor. He’s pretty top heavy and has trouble sinking his hips. I think Stevens could turn him into a slightly below average defender due to his athleticism— with his diverse offensive skill, that makes him tantalizing to me.

Guys I like in general, but dont think they’d develop right here:

Anthony Edwards— he has some real solid indicators— great touch at the rim, ability to create for himself, good vision— but I think he needs some time where he’s able to play through mistakes and Boston isnt the right fit. I think his defense would be fixed here, but I dont trust that his offense would come far enough along to justify the asset usage. Think that, on a losing team, he could turn into one hell of a player, sorta like Devin Booker.

James Wiseman— going more off intuition from his answers to interviews, but he seems like a guy who will want an outsized role for what his skill set demands. Were not in a position to reward that and I think itll hurt his effort to properly develop here. Huge potential, but dont see it actualizing in Boston.

Guys I’m okay with but wouldnt want to spend a top 5 pick on:

Hayes, Haliburton, Avdija, Okongwu

Bumping given the Ball meeting— guy is a perfect fit for what Ainge/Stevens look for in PGs and would definitely develop defensively if we drafted him.

If I'm not mistaken we've never developed anyone defensively but had amazing luck developing their 3 point shot?

Tony Allen
Tatum
Brown
Bradley
Smart


They were all either great or in Tatum's case only good defenders day 1.

Hell even Romeo sucked hitting a 3 but his body put him as at least a pretty good defender.

Not that I don't think our #1 need is a playmaking PG off the bench either.

But I don't think Ainge has even had a player go from a bad defender to an average one. And I think he makes a point to draft good defenders because it's something that can't easily be taught (or the market in his mind doesn't value and that's where he can find value).

Who havent we developed defensively? Read the pre-draft reports on Tatum [definitely considered bad] and Romeo [not a strength] and no one labeled them even average in this regard. Brown improved immensely too. Smart. Olynyk. Semi. Pretty much everyone improved by a material chunk under Brad. I can be critical of him, but Stevens is probably the best coach in the league with respect to developing defenders.

[100proof]

I was really high on wiseman, still am.

But I thinknit would be alot easier to pick up Naz Reid from minny. Kid defends, strong as a bull, fast and can make and take 3s.

The 14th, is looking like, will be in the middle of a grouping of pgs. And honestly its a need for now. A bench pg who can be groomed to take over in a year or 2.

[celticfan42487]

Bumping given the Ball meeting— guy is a perfect fit for what Ainge/Stevens look for in PGs and would definitely develop defensively if we drafted him.

If I'm not mistaken we've never developed anyone defensively but had amazing luck developing their 3 point shot?

Tony Allen
Tatum
Brown
Bradley
Smart


They were all either great or in Tatum's case only good defenders day 1.

Hell even Romeo sucked hitting a 3 but his body put him as at least a pretty good defender.

Not that I don't think our #1 need is a playmaking PG off the bench either.

But I don't think Ainge has even had a player go from a bad defender to an average one. And I think he makes a point to draft good defenders because it's something that can't easily be taught (or the market in his mind doesn't value and that's where he can find value).

Who havent we developed defensively? Read the pre-draft reports on Tatum [definitely considered bad] and Romeo [not a strength] and no one labeled them even average in this regard. Brown improved immensely too. Smart. Olynyk. Semi. Pretty much everyone improved by a material chunk under Brad. I can be critical of him, but Stevens is probably the best coach in the league with respect to developing defenders.

I know Tatum's report and he was considered average but not bad. They had concerns about his potential one on one agility (which has proven true)

Langford was considered a good defender, see his ESPN (draftexpress) profile and that was one of his pluses as well as being considered a potential stud defensively thanks to his ideal wing body on top of the good defense he's shown in college. Not Smart where he does it every game but on and off and flashes of studly defensiveness.

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Brown was considered a good defender

Smart I don't have to speak here

Olynyk was bad and still is bad. **** Kelly.

Semi?


Again Ainge almost never drafts bad defenders. It has probably cost us hitting on studs like Herro often. But he doesn't draft guys who are duds on defense.

He DOES draft players that suck shooting a 3

TATUM - can't hit a 3 scouting profile
Brown - doesn't even know what hitting a 3 looks like
Smart - can't hit a 3 to save his life
Semi - can't hit a 3
Romeo - knowns how to hit only 30% of his 3s in college and looks horrible there

Kelly is the ultimate counter to all of Ainge's picks hahah. He's the one guy that CAN'T play defense and can hit a 3 haha. **** I hate Kelly haha.

This is in no way an indictment on Stevens developing defenders. Just Ainge has never drafted a bad defender or only does rarely. Stevens hasn't had a chance to transform a complete **** defender to a great one as a prospect.