Draft Grades

[colincb]

Boston Celtics
Round 1: Terry Rozier (16), R.J. Hunter (28)
Round 2: Jordan Mickey (33), Marcus Thornton (45)
Grade: B

The Celtics took care of three big needs in the draft, and I think they filled them well. Shooting was one of the biggest needs and landing Hunter at No. 28 was, in my opinion, a steal. Our analytics guru Kevin Pelton had Hunter ranked as a top-10 prospect and while I'm not sure I'd go that far, he's a potentially elite shooter and a very good playmaker for his size. Rozier gives the team a credible backup point guard to Marcus Smart who does many of the same things well that Smart does (he's tough, physical, a tenacious defender, and a good athlete) and has some of his weaknesses (he's not a great shooter and his feel for the point is still emerging).

Rozier had dominated workouts against higher-ranked prospects for a month and would've gone somewhere three or four spots later, so I don't think the Celtics reached. Mickey gives them some of the rim protection they desperately need and Thornton is an interesting experiment -- a super athletic, undersized guard who has a terrific shot. I'm not sure the Celtics got a star here (which is what they really need,) but taking care of needs in the back half of the first round is a good start.

"Insider" paid content
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2015/insider/story/_/id/13143628/nba-draft-miami-heat-denver-nuggets-top-chad-ford-draft-grades?ex_cid=InsiderTwitter_ford_draftgrades

Sixers B-

[hodgy03038]

If Ford rated our draft a B now I know it's an F because Ford is terrible and really knows very little about basketball.

[LooseCannon]

If Ford rated our draft a B now I know it's an F because Ford is terrible and really knows very little about basketball.

Does that mean that every team he gave an A to should really be a double F-minus?

[MBunge]

16 is too high to be taking a backup point guard.  I like a lot of what I'm reading about Rozier but if he's only a replacement for Pressey, Ainge totally blew the pick.  I suspect Ainge and Stevens are thinking more about three-guard line ups of Smart, Bradley and Rozier when other teams go small.

For all the sturm und drang, the other three picks are dynamite.  Shooting, an athletic big and a second-round flier on a guy who has as much chance as any 2nd rounder of being a star in the league.

Mike

[BitterJim]

16 is too high to be taking a backup point guard.  I like a lot of what I'm reading about Rozier but if he's only a replacement for Pressey, Ainge totally blew the pick.  I suspect Ainge and Stevens are thinking more about three-guard line ups of Smart, Bradley and Rozier when other teams go small.

For all the sturm und drang, the other three picks are dynamite.  Shooting, an athletic big and a second-round flier on a guy who has as much chance as any 2nd rounder of being a star in the league.

Mike

People were saying the same thing about #6 at this point last year.  I'm sure Danny has a plan, we just need to wait and see what it is

[colincb]

CBS
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25225549/nba-draft-grades-wolves-heat-excel-hawks-not-so-much

Boston Celtics

Selections: Terry Rozier (No. 16), R.J. Hunter (No. 28), Jordan Mickey (No. 33), Marcus Thornton (No. 45)

The Celtics were very active in trade talks but ultimately ended up not making any moves. And the draft was ultimately a strange one, because had the Celtics simply reversed taking Hunter at No. 16 and Rozier at No. 28, this draft would look a lot more normal according to my pre-draft rankings. Hunter gives them a shot maker that they kind of lacked prior to this draft, and he should fit well as a player that moves off-ball well in Brad Stevens' system. Rozier is the kind of player that they already have in the system though, with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley already there. Mickey is a pretty solid second-round pick that fits a need as a rim protector even if he's only 6-8, and he could legitimately end up becoming a cheap rotation player if things go right. I'm not really high on Thornton, but he'll give them D-League depth. Overall, it's impossible to kill them for not making a trade and they were really in a tough spot. It was a very average draft.

Draft Grade: B-

[Snakehead]

16 is too high to be taking a backup point guard.

This really isn't true.  It's perfectly acceptable to optimistic even.  You don't expect the world from the 16th pick.

[PhoSita]

I'm not particularly excited about the other guys the Celts took.  Hunter seems to entirely duplicate James Young's skillset without the athleticism or defensive potential, and I would have preferred Dakari Johnson or a couple of Euro stashes in the second round. 

If Ainge wanted another undersized power forward, I would have preferred Harrell.

Still, Hunter and Mickey seem like they could outperform their draft position.  If the pick at #16 had been really any of the other guys taken between 17 and 24, I think I would feel OK about the draft, though I'd still be disappointed they didn't move up.

[danglertx]

If Ford rated our draft a B now I know it's an F because Ford is terrible and really knows very little about basketball.

Does that mean that every team he gave an A to should really be a double F-minus?

That would be the conclusion if that reasoning played itself all the way out.  It amazes me that some people feel they know so much more than people who do this for a living and have access to more information than they will ever have.

I read a statistical breakdown of the value of stats recently by basketball analytics  guys and they said a steal is valued at 9 points.  I ask myself, how can that be?  That flys in the face of all logic.  If their points per possession on that possession goes from say 1.3 to zero and ours goes from 0 to 1.7, how can that possibly equal 9 points?

That is my analysis from looking at no data and thinking about it for 2 minutes.  Maybe these guys who have poured over statistics for months and spent hours and hours coming up with basketball equations and formulas have come up with something I didn't think of. 

Apparently this comes from historical basketball statistics and one steal has more of an effect than on just one possession each way.  It sets a tone and represents pressure on the ball.  So just maybe these people who do this for a living know more than me.

I'll add the link in case others want to look at it.  Interesting stuff.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-hidden-value-of-the-nba-steal/

[Csfan1984]

Rozier, C- or B if they trade IT
Hunter, C+ a shooter than doesn't shoot well, yuck.
Mickey, B+ good pick there adds some toughness to front line.
Thornton, F D-league fodder.

[kozlodoev]

FWIW, Spears gives us a C for Rozier (one of three Cs in the first round, together with McCullough and Looney), and B for Hunter, and he knows his stuff.

[Tr1boy]

16 is too high to be taking a backup point guard.  I like a lot of what I'm reading about Rozier but if he's only a replacement for Pressey, Ainge totally blew the pick.  I suspect Ainge and Stevens are thinking more about three-guard line ups of Smart, Bradley and Rozier when other teams go small.

For all the sturm und drang, the other three picks are dynamite.  Shooting, an athletic big and a second-round flier on a guy who has as much chance as any 2nd rounder of being a star in the league.

Mike

What are you expecting to get with the 16th pick?? Winslow??

Rj hunter is starting material imo and we got him at 28

[SHAQATTACK]

F        ......tank

F.         ........tank

F          .........tank

F          ........tank players .....

 F + F + F + F = at least TWO solid seasons of no more than 16 wins are NOW requires to make up lost ground in the draft last night .......so the team can get a Elite center , elite wing .

Last nights debacle set the team back 2-3 years in the rebuild

Total disaster


Danny is forcing the team into MUST tank mode .....

The little chip shots of a minor upgrade here or there is not going to work

 He can use not the picks to get ELITE talent .....they are over rated by Boston fans .....good for more role players at BEST.

Then he needs to dump the role players .....play the D leaguers and pick in the Lottery for about three season.

[colincb]

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/draft/2015/06/26/nba-draft-grades-heat-nuggets-timberwolves-lakers/29308641/

16. Boston Celtics: At first there was a lot of headscratching going on. Terry Rozier (No. 16) might have still been around at No. 28 if the Celtics didn't pick him. Nevertheless, they got a guard who's electric in transition and so-so in the halfcourt. R.J. Hunter (No. 28) was still available late in the first round and that's a bank pick. Marcus Thornton (No. 45), another guard, shows Brad Stevens and the Celtics are stockpiling up on good guards. Jordan Mickey (No. 33) provides NBA-ready defense and shot-blocking but needs to make strides offensively. Grade: B.

[LooseCannon]

16 is too high to be taking a backup point guard.

This is probably an inaccurate understanding of why he was drafted.  I think Rozier was drafted based on being a boom-or-bust kind of guy instead of being taken with the idea of him being the backup PG.  It'd be reasonable to think he has more star potential than other PGs taken later in the first round.  He probably has a higher ceiling than some players that people around here wanted, such as Dekker or Portis.

A lot of posters said that the Celtics have no star so should be taking the player who has the best chance of becoming a star or the player with the highest ceiling (which isn't the same thing as taking the best player available).  I've been pointing out that if this is true, the Celtics shouldn't be afraid to take a guard.