http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=MockDraft-080609&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1
I find these picks dubious. Hopefull Douglas-Roberts, Bill Walker, or some non-international big man who won't be a complete stiff will fall to the Celtics.
Thoughts?
I don't care if he is from America, Canada, Lithuania, or China, as long as he can play.
Certainly there are some major benefits for the C's to pick an international player, who can continue to develop for a year or two, without them having to pay him, use a Roster spot, or start the clock on his rookie contract...but really, they should be taking the best talent available.
I am not really a big Ajinca fan. I saw him last year play in the hoop summit, and I wasn't impressed. He was painfully skinny, especially in the lower body, and IMO didn't seem THAT skilled. Mostly though, I don't have confidence he will ever be strong enough to play down low in the NBA.
On a side note, I am still a fan of Nemanja Aleksandrov. I was very impressed with him in the Hoops Summit last year, and I think if you get him on a team with leaders like KG and a coach like Clifford Ray, he could be a star. He really has all of the skills, and he showed a real aggressiveness (albeit in spurts) that you rarely see from European players who are as skilled as he is.
Omri Casspi was good in that game as well, although he looked to be all hustle without that much legit talent.
Topic: Chad Ford's Fourth Mock Draft (Read 3938 times)