Who was Danny’s worst draft pick?

[NKY fan]

Everyone seems to be pulling the total busts, of which there have been quite a few.

But the worst pick was trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis, who was taken one pick ahead of their intended slot. This is not to mention a number of guys who have turned out to be much better NBA players than Kelly -- including Rudy Gobert (who should be discussed as an MVP candidate more than he is).

I can't see how this is even a remotely debatable choice. Taking Giddens or Young or Yabu were dents in the car. The Olynyk choice totaled it.

If Ainge had made the right choice in 2013, we'd probably have at least one title by now, and would be a perennial Top 2-3 team. That Danny traded up to put himself in position to take Giannis adds insult to injury.

A little bit more astute drafting and trading / non trading and we could be looking at a Celtics team right now of:
Smart / Doncic / Brown / Tatum / Giannis
😄

[todd_days_41]

Everyone seems to be pulling the total busts, of which there have been quite a few.

But the worst pick was trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis, who was taken one pick ahead of their intended slot. This is not to mention a number of guys who have turned out to be much better NBA players than Kelly -- including Rudy Gobert (who should be discussed as an MVP candidate more than he is).

I can't see how this is even a remotely debatable choice. Taking Giddens or Young or Yabu were dents in the car. The Olynyk choice totaled it.

If Ainge had made the right choice in 2013, we'd probably have at least one title by now, and would be a perennial Top 2-3 team. That Danny traded up to put himself in position to take Giannis adds insult to injury.

KO was a good pick.  There just happened to be a future MVP taken after him.  However, how many GM’s saw that coming?  Zero.

I completely disagree with this POV, as you know. Olynyk was not a "good" pick. He wasn't even close to the best player available any way you look at it.

And I don't think you can simply speak for the more-than-half of NBA GMs who didn't pick at 14 or better in '13 Draft.

[todd_days_41]

Everyone seems to be pulling the total busts, of which there have been quite a few.

But the worst pick was trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis, who was taken one pick ahead of their intended slot. This is not to mention a number of guys who have turned out to be much better NBA players than Kelly -- including Rudy Gobert (who should be discussed as an MVP candidate more than he is).

I can't see how this is even a remotely debatable choice. Taking Giddens or Young or Yabu were dents in the car. The Olynyk choice totaled it.

If Ainge had made the right choice in 2013, we'd probably have at least one title by now, and would be a perennial Top 2-3 team. That Danny traded up to put himself in position to take Giannis adds insult to injury.

A little bit more astute drafting and trading / non trading and we could be looking at a Celtics team right now of:
Smart / Doncic / Brown / Tatum / Giannis
😄

I'm not going down the Doncic route. But literally the ONLY thing Ainge had to do differently to have the other 4 on this team right now was say Giannis' name over Kelly's. That's it.

[Moranis]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

That said, trading up for Marcus Banks was pretty bad.  Especially when he could have just stood pat and taken David West.  That said, Perkins was the other player we ended up with in the draft day trade so it worked out pretty well in that regard and Banks was in the Wally trade that landed us the Minny pick we used for KG, so it worked out ok in the end, but Ainge clearly missed on his assessment of Banks. 

[todd_days_41]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

[Moranis]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

Fab Melo played 36 minutes and in just 6 games in his entire career.  No one else even comes close to that.  And I get you don't necessarily think you are going to strike gold with the 22nd pick, but you should at least get guys to make it through the 1st contract.  Even Yabu played 486 minutes in 74 games.  There is no contest.  Melo was an indefensible horrible pick.  It isn't close.  Worst pick by a mile.  I mean only the 4 2nd rounders that never played in the NBA have less games or impact than Melo.  When basically the entire 2nd round outperforms you, you are a horrid pick.

[todd_days_41]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

Fab Melo played 36 minutes and in just 6 games in his entire career.  No one else even comes close to that.  And I get you don't necessarily think you are going to strike gold with the 22nd pick, but you should at least get guys to make it through the 1st contract.  Even Yabu played 486 minutes in 74 games.  There is no contest.  Melo was an indefensible horrible pick.  It isn't close.  Worst pick by a mile.  I mean only the 4 2nd rounders that never played in the NBA have less games or impact than Melo.  When basically the entire 2nd round outperforms you, you are a horrid pick.

I'm not defending the pick! My point was more: why is Melo clearly worse than Yabu or James Young? They all stink to high heaven.

[Moranis]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

Fab Melo played 36 minutes and in just 6 games in his entire career.  No one else even comes close to that.  And I get you don't necessarily think you are going to strike gold with the 22nd pick, but you should at least get guys to make it through the 1st contract.  Even Yabu played 486 minutes in 74 games.  There is no contest.  Melo was an indefensible horrible pick.  It isn't close.  Worst pick by a mile.  I mean only the 4 2nd rounders that never played in the NBA have less games or impact than Melo.  When basically the entire 2nd round outperforms you, you are a horrid pick.

I'm not defending the pick! My point was more: why is Melo clearly worse than Yabu or James Young? They all stink to high heaven.

6 games, 36 minutes. 

[Goldstar88]

Everyone seems to be pulling the total busts, of which there have been quite a few.

But the worst pick was trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis, who was taken one pick ahead of their intended slot. This is not to mention a number of guys who have turned out to be much better NBA players than Kelly -- including Rudy Gobert (who should be discussed as an MVP candidate more than he is).

I can't see how this is even a remotely debatable choice. Taking Giddens or Young or Yabu were dents in the car. The Olynyk choice totaled it.

If Ainge had made the right choice in 2013, we'd probably have at least one title by now, and would be a perennial Top 2-3 team. That Danny traded up to put himself in position to take Giannis adds insult to injury.

KO was a good pick.  There just happened to be a future MVP taken after him.  However, how many GM’s saw that coming?  Zero.

Plus, he’s like a 7’ tall Forward. Danny would never draft one of those...The C’s wouldn’t be able to small ball.

[Celtics2021]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

Fab Melo played 36 minutes and in just 6 games in his entire career.  No one else even comes close to that.  And I get you don't necessarily think you are going to strike gold with the 22nd pick, but you should at least get guys to make it through the 1st contract.  Even Yabu played 486 minutes in 74 games.  There is no contest.  Melo was an indefensible horrible pick.  It isn't close.  Worst pick by a mile.  I mean only the 4 2nd rounders that never played in the NBA have less games or impact than Melo.  When basically the entire 2nd round outperforms you, you are a horrid pick.

This criteria was met by only one of the 8 1st rounders selected after Fab.

[todd_days_41]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

Why? Ainge has taken a number of total busts earlier in the 1st round than Melo.

Fab Melo played 36 minutes and in just 6 games in his entire career.  No one else even comes close to that.  And I get you don't necessarily think you are going to strike gold with the 22nd pick, but you should at least get guys to make it through the 1st contract.  Even Yabu played 486 minutes in 74 games.  There is no contest.  Melo was an indefensible horrible pick.  It isn't close.  Worst pick by a mile.  I mean only the 4 2nd rounders that never played in the NBA have less games or impact than Melo.  When basically the entire 2nd round outperforms you, you are a horrid pick.

I'm not defending the pick! My point was more: why is Melo clearly worse than Yabu or James Young? They all stink to high heaven.

6 games, 36 minutes.

Any here I thought Yabu was a bad pick. Dude played 500+ minutes in his career! Impressive.

[Roy H.]

The clear answer is Fab Melo.

That said, trading up for Marcus Banks was pretty bad.  Especially when he could have just stood pat and taken David West.  That said, Perkins was the other player we ended up with in the draft day trade so it worked out pretty well in that regard and Banks was in the Wally trade that landed us the Minny pick we used for KG, so it worked out ok in the end, but Ainge clearly missed on his assessment of Banks.

I forgive him a bit for Banks, as he was new to the job and didn’t have a full season of scouting.  Banks at least hung around in the league for a while.

Fab Melo may be the worst player that Danny has drafted.  I don’t know if he was necessarily the worst pick, just because the talent left on the board was pretty sparse.

It does make me wonder though, why take fab over a guy like Festus Ezeli?  Ezeli was more athletic, had a bigger wing span, and performed better in college.  He also wasn’t as intellectually challenged as Fab, one of the least intelligent players I can remember.

At the time, though, the big angst from fans was that we did not take Perry Jones III. 

[cltc5]

James young. Isn’t that right bill simmons

[Kernewek]

There's a few ways to answer this question.

Fab Melo's certainly the least productive NBA player drafted by Ainge.

He may not qualify as the worst draft pick if you are comparing picks against the players left on the board when the pick was made (that's probably Kelly Olynyk [edit: or James Young, I forgot his contemporaries]).

[perks-a-beast]

One name I dont think has been mentioned is Gerald Green. He ended up becoming a serviceable player later in his career after a stint overseas, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he was horrible in his first stint with the team. And there were some pretty good players taken after him - David Lee, Lou Williams, Monta Ellis, Ersan Ilyasova, Marcin Gortat, Amir Johnson, Brandon Bass. 2005 was deep.