Bad takes.

[droopdog7]

The most excited I've ever been about a draft pick was Paul Pierce.  Second and third are probably Acie Earl and Gerald Green.

Pierce definitely most excited.  I remember being amped when we drafted Mercer. 

Montross was another one I was excited about.

Mine was probably Ron Mercer

[Who]

The most excited I've ever been about a draft pick was Paul Pierce.  Second and third are probably Acie Earl and Gerald Green.

Pierce definitely most excited.  I remember being amped when we drafted Mercer. 

Montross was another one I was excited about.

Mine was probably Ron Mercer

Yeah, me too. I was giddy about Mercer. I thought he was going to be huge. Good size, athletic, versatile. He could handle it, slash, pass a bit, rebound, some defense, could score. Lotta talent. Never understood him not panning out better.

He even played reasonably well and then just fell off the map after Chicago traded him to Indiana. Felt like overnight he went from an up and coming quality starting SG/SF to a 3rd stringer.

Yeah, he had a career average of 16.5ppg for four and a half seasons to start his career. Then 4.5ppg once he arrived in Indy. That Indy team was ridiculously deep. Reggie, Artest, Al Harrington, Bender along with Mercer all competing for the same minutes at SG & SF. Then he left and you figure he would get a fresh start elsewhere but still only 7ppg next 3 years.

[kraidstar]

The most excited I've ever been about a draft pick was Paul Pierce.  Second and third are probably Acie Earl and Gerald Green.

Pierce definitely most excited.  I remember being amped when we drafted Mercer. 

Montross was another one I was excited about.

Mine was probably Ron Mercer

He was such a disappointment. He could put up points but wasn't particularly efficient or good at anything else. Just the prototypical late-90's chucker.

[droopdog7]

The most excited I've ever been about a draft pick was Paul Pierce.  Second and third are probably Acie Earl and Gerald Green.

Pierce definitely most excited.  I remember being amped when we drafted Mercer. 

Montross was another one I was excited about.

Mine was probably Ron Mercer

Yeah, me too. I was giddy about Mercer. I thought he was going to be huge. Good size, athletic, versatile. He could handle it, slash, pass a bit, rebound, some defense, could score. Lotta talent. Never understood him not panning out better.

He even played reasonably well and then just fell off the map after Chicago traded him to Indiana. Felt like overnight he went from an up and coming quality starting SG/SF to a 3rd stringer.

Yeah, he had a career average of 16.5ppg for four and a half seasons to start his career. Then 4.5ppg once he arrived in Indy. That Indy team was ridiculously deep. Reggie, Artest, Al Harrington, Bender along with Mercer all competing for the same minutes at SG & SF. Then he left and you figure he would get a fresh start elsewhere but still only 7ppg next 3 years.

So that's the thing, I had all the same perceptions that you just described.  Where it went wrong is that they were mostly not true.  I thought he was a plus athlete.  He really wasn't.  I thought he could shoot.  He couldn't really couldn't.  I thought he could handle the ball.  Nope. 

At the end of the day, he could not get his own shot and he wasn't a great shooter or defender.

[mef730]

Bad:

*Hated the Smart trade.
*Thought the Hayward/Kyrie team could win the whole thing.
*#freemickey

Good:

Loved the Larry Bird draft pick. The fact that I was five years old and only loved it because I thought he had a cool name in no way detracts from my prescience.

Mike

[Vermont Green]

I was also very high on Ron Mercer.  It turned out to be a bad take but I was far from alone so I don't feel so bad on that one.  I also like Gerald Green.  I was very excited about how he looked as a young player.  He did redeem himself some later in what turned out to be a pretty long career (12 NBA seasons), which isn't bad for an 18th pick, but he was a bust of a draft pick for the Celtics.

[Neurotic Guy]

g

I was also very high on Ron Mercer.  It turned out to be a bad take but I was far from alone so I don't feel so bad on that one.  I also like Gerald Green.  I was very excited about how he looked as a young player.  He did redeem himself some later in what turned out to be a pretty long career (12 NBA seasons), which isn't bad for an 18th pick, but he was a bust of a draft pick for the Celtics.

Same with me on Mercer and Green. I was ecstatic when Green fell to the Cs on draft night. Also thought Kedrick Brown was an athletic freak who was going to be a star.  And I thought getting Kemba was a perfect replacement for Kyrie.

[jpotter33]

Bad:

*Hated the Smart trade.
*Thought the Hayward/Kyrie team could win the whole thing.
*#freemickey

Good:

Loved the Larry Bird draft pick. The fact that I was five years old and only loved it because I thought he had a cool name in no way detracts from my prescience.

Mike

I mean - is that a bad take, though? We made it to game 7 of the ECF without either Hayward or Kyrie. I don't think a freak accident for Hayward + a knee injury for Kyrie equates to a bad take.

[RMO]

Years ago there was a thread on this site (maybe after Dirk retired) about who we thought the next player would be to retire having played for just one team.

I said Westbrook.

[A Future of Stevens]

I have a devastating pattern of being unable to evaluate big men at the college or overseas level. Players like WCS and Wiseman can't possibly miss because who could be that fluid of a mover at that size? Dragan Bender? Sure he doesn't produce, but he moves like a deer and can pass (I liked Brown that draft at our spot.)
The only big that fit that bill was RW3. I loved him. I couldn't believe he fell to us.

My biggest example of this was Robert Upshaw. 7'0 250lb mobile Sophomore with long arms at Washington averaged 10/8 and 4.5 blocks. I thought he could be our anchor for the future (before we all accepted where the league was heading.) I believe we had pick 15 or 16, and he was mocked anywhere from 12 to the 2nd round. I was in the camp to just take him at 16.

Long story short he went undrafted due to character concerns, spend part of a season in the G league for the Lakers, failed the drug program and has never been in the nba since.

I guess I will stick to wings/forwards/guards.

P.S - I would have jumped in sooner, but I originally thought OP was asking about recent bad takes. I thought we would beat the Warriors like 4-2....

[mef730]

Bad:

*Hated the Smart trade.
*Thought the Hayward/Kyrie team could win the whole thing.
*#freemickey

Good:

Loved the Larry Bird draft pick. The fact that I was five years old and only loved it because I thought he had a cool name in no way detracts from my prescience.

Mike

I mean - is that a bad take, though? We made it to game 7 of the ECF without either Hayward or Kyrie. I don't think a freak accident for Hayward + a knee injury for Kyrie equates to a bad take.

Not sure, but I've had so many of them over time that I'm willing to deal with a "not bad take bad take."

Mike

[Kernewek]

The most excited I've ever been about a draft pick was Paul Pierce.  Second and third are probably Acie Earl and Gerald Green.

To Gerald Green's credit, he matured and ended up having a decent career considering that he was essentially out of the league without his athleticism. I liked him as a player. Still may be one of most explosive players we have drafted in the last 20 years.

Speaking of former Celtic connections, the MarShon Brooks to Gerald Green windmill alley-oop will always be one of my all-time top 'saw it as it happened' in-game dunks, I think. Just beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnt7Og8jfTE

[keevsnick]

Going back over the last decade or so:

Good takes:
-I wanted to draft Giannis, I was SURE they were going to pick him when they moved up in that draft, but took Olynyk instead.
-I wanted Brown in the 2016 Draft.
-Wouldn't have traded Brown for Beal or Harden, those guys too old/injury prone.
-Loved Smart, but never thought he was that vital to team success.
-Liked Nesmith as an upside pick. He's been good this year and last.

Bad takes:
-Thought PP wasn't even a rotation guy. He's actually good.
-Was worried that ownership was cheap (they've paid up to their credit). 
-Was unsure of Tatum draft. After they traded that pick i worried a lot about whether it was the right move, didn't even dislike Tatum just liked Fultz a lot. But boy did that work out.

To be determined:
-One take still left to be decided. I firmly believe Tatum and Brown not only work well together but will win a title together. I've never understood the desire to break them up. So much success, so young, only now entering their primes.

[ozgod]

Bad:

*Hated the Smart trade.
*Thought the Hayward/Kyrie team could win the whole thing.
*#freemickey

Good:

Loved the Larry Bird draft pick. The fact that I was five years old and only loved it because I thought he had a cool name in no way detracts from my prescience.

Mike

I mean - is that a bad take, though? We made it to game 7 of the ECF without either Hayward or Kyrie. I don't think a freak accident for Hayward + a knee injury for Kyrie equates to a bad take.

This was also my nominated bad take...I thought Gordie was going to take us to a championship. What a letdown. If we want to be really harsh he had a lower VORP and winshare contribution over his 3 years in Boston than the player he replaced, Jae Crowder 

[Goldstar88]

I didn’t think Sam Hauser would make it when Brad first brought him in. Thought he was too much of a liability defensively and didn’t believe he would improve due to his lack of athleticism. His defense has improved so much that I would consider him above average at this point. Sam is also starting to score at the rim and the guy is such a high IQ player. Very rarely makes a bad play. Glad I was wrong about him!