You draft better than Danny Ainge—here's your chance to shine

[BillessuR6]

14: Nesmith - he was my pick at this spot, so I am happy we got him. I think he can be one of the best SGs in the league...
26: Reed
30: I wanted Quickley with one of these picks but since he was picked at 25, I guess I would go with Maledon as a stash player. I think he can be a solid back-up PG in the NBA.

[Homerclease]

I wanted them to trade up, didn’t really feel too strongly about anyone at either draft slot. Guess I would’ve taken Azibuke at 26 but we made a promise to Pritchard

[MagicBagley18]

I’d have traded the picks at the trade deadline. At least 2 of the 3. We’d have Latvian laser right now

[amory87]

I would've loved to see the picks traded since we have too many young players to give each of them a fair shot to develop. But overall (knowing nothing about these guys) I was happy with who we chose. At least they can shoot, which is a skill that Ainge frequently just doesn't worry too much about.

I really liked the Pritchard pick, based on basically nothing. Kid strikes me as a worker and he's already got some ball handling and shooting skills. And he's older, so we're not just gambling on raw talent.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

14 - Nesmith
26 - Maledon or Terry
30 - trade down a few picks for Oturu
46 - YAMS! (channeling inner Brad Pitt)

I'm basing this on us going into the season with our current front court. If Danny has a plan to get a big for Hayward then scratch the Oturu pick.

[ParticleMan]

I'll let you know in 3 years.

[snowman]

14) Nesmith I originally wanted Saddiq Bey but only because I didn't think Nesmith would be available.
260 Daniel Oturu
300 Tre Jones
470 Killian Tillie

[bastillon]

I liked the thought process behind the picks Ainge made. He said they only wanted 2 rookies, no more. So it makes sense they used 2nd rd pick for a guy who will be stashed overseas and traded away no 30 pick. The guys that were brought in are simply nba ready, and can contribute right away. Both of them bring scoring and shooting off the bench, which the Celtics were lacking desperately last year in the playoffs. From what I umderstand Celtics didnt want to draft bigs because they believe in Robert Williams and perhaps Tacko. So it all makes sense, its a good draft. At least the rookies will be very useful right away.

[Curmudgeon]

I would have taken Isaiah Stewart at #14 (no surprise there), The other two picks were ok, although I might have taken a taller player like Simanic or Eboua with the stash pick.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I'm only in this thread to say that Tyrell Terry is not going to be worth the outrage that some of you exhibited in the draft thread. He is small, and his release is slow.

[LarryBirdsFingr]

My pick was halliburton. Been salivating over a big point guard. Sick of small.

[Red2]

Hayward is gone and we probably aren’t getting anything in return. I assume the celts had a good idea that was going to happen before toast night’s draft. I don’t think we have enough to win a title so if I’m Danny I look to trade Kemba if I can. I think we need to find a younger point guard and some young bigs for our front court

[SLCceltic]

#14 Nesmith OUTSTANDING PICK ! been pounding table for shooters for 3years now !! he is excellent midrange shooter ! don't care if he can or cannot create his own shot, he will be somewhere bw Duncan Robinson and Khris Middleton. excellent pick !

#26 Terry ..... BUT the more I watch PP the more I see Bobby Hurley w jjRedick shot can't really complain here, and even like this pick bc PP plays like an animal ... he can also facilitate at or close toTerrys level and is much bigger than TT

BUTTTT
you have to take a shot at Vernon Carey when he slides all the way to #30 ! WOULD'VE been a 1st round pick and more or less control him until his ceiling is apparent ....really think he is going to make alot of people look stupid

Like YAMS as a stash pick, why not

[LuckyLeprechaun]

Can't think of a reason why they didn't pick Theo Maledon at #26 or #30.

Maledon is the guy I wanted there as well but he is a long term project. I was fine with waiting 3 years before he contributed in a positive way but I doubt most on here were. Pritchard can be in the rotation at some point as a rookie unless he's a total bust. If the belief in the front office is that we can make the finals this year, Maledon probably doesn't really help us any with a title run.

As for 30, they said trading it away for future picks was a cap/money thing. We'll see if that materializes in any meaningful way. Assuming they knew Hayward was opting out it probably wasn't about the luxury tax, but it might affect our ability to use the full MLE or not if Hayward is just walking for nothing. No idea how that extra 1.6m contract would have affected us if Hayward is getting S&T and we were going to be an over the cap but under the tax team regardless though.

[aporel18]

Can't think of a reason why they didn't pick Theo Maledon at #26 or #30.

Maledon is the guy I wanted there as well but he is a long term project. I was fine with waiting 3 years before he contributed in a positive way but I doubt most on here were. Pritchard can be in the rotation at some point as a rookie unless he's a total bust. If the belief in the front office is that we can make the finals this year, Maledon probably doesn't really help us any with a title run.

As for 30, they said trading it away for future picks was a cap/money thing. We'll see if that materializes in any meaningful way. Assuming they knew Hayward was opting out it probably wasn't about the luxury tax, but it might affect our ability to use the full MLE or not if Hayward is just walking for nothing. No idea how that extra 1.6m contract would have affected us if Hayward is getting S&T and we were going to be an over the cap but under the tax team regardless though.

Probably that's the reason, although I think Maledon is 2 years from getting you starter performance, but he could be a decent 2nd/3rd stringer PG from the get go. It's still to be seen what the depth chart in OKC will be like, and Pritchard will probably be a better contributor next season.

I'm rooting for Pritchard to be a beast off the bench and become a valuable rotation player or a trade asset. Maybe next summer Danny will be able to trade him for a first round pick and Maledon...

[SichtingLives]

I don't follow college basketball anymore. I would've taken Shawn Respert, Felipe Lopez and Scottie Thurman.

[SuperDeluxe]

Thank you brave souls for participating. The vast majority of those who complained about Danny's picks haven't yet let us know who they would have drafted instead—shocking.

Please just post two names (one for #14 and one for #26). No need to explain or justify your selection.

[hugepatsfan]

I’d have traded the picks at the trade deadline. At least 2 of the 3. We’d have Latvian laser right now

Seems unlikely they'd have viewed that as fair value seeing as how they just signed him for 5 years, $80M. They obviously place a TON of value on him.

[hugepatsfan]

At #14 I think I would have gone Presious. I like Nesmith and think he fills a need. I just think you always gotta swing for the fences in the draft. I like Precious upside more. You can fill needs in free agency.

At #26 I think I would have gone Malachi Flynn. Similar player/skill set but that was just the guy I had ranked higher.

At #30 I liked the Kanter salary dump when I thought we were pulling off some moves. I think that was a dumb move based on how things have gone but IDK how the Hayward timeline actually went so I will refrain from this one and just say I'd do the trade.

At #47 I'm also going to refrain. I'd have taken the best overseas guy. Appears they did, but I don't really have a clue about the options.

[Writebloc]

So I wanted Kira Lewis at 14, but he was gone so I was happy with Nesmith.

At 26 I had no idea, but I would have to say I had barely heard of Payton Pritchard so I would have selected Tyrrell Terry.