The Reasons Ainge Reached For JB

[KG Living Legend]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

 Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

 

[mctyson]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

If that is not 20/20 hindsight I do not know what is.

Most everybody wanted Ainge to select Kris Dunn or Buddy Heild with that pick, mainly for the Jimmy Butler trade rumor.  I would rather have Jaylen Brown over all three of those guys.

[kraidstar]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

 Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

Give me a break, Murray is so overhyped here. That game he had against us was a fluke. He is a weak athlete and is shooting 42.6/29.3 for the season. PER of 14.4. Poor defensive upside. Thinks he's a lot better than he is. And has proved nothing in the playoffs.

Hield is 26 and is 9 months younger than Kyrie. Again, limited defensive upside.

Funny how these threads never pop up after Jaylen has a good game.

[Big333223]

I don't think it's fair to call Jaylen a reach. After Simmons and Ingram, the next bunch of picks were all up in the air and Jaylen was in that mix. Hield is looking like a stud right now in Sac but, as has been mentioned, he's 4 years older than Jaylen and Jaylen's upside as a defender is a lot higher.

I'm not ready to give up on him yet.

[nickagneta]

Funny how these threads never pop up after Jaylen has a good game.

Or last year when Jaylen was considered the 2nd best prospect after Simmons in his draft class by a large group of posters here, probably including the OP! Not a lot of people were sour on JB when he was this team's second leading scorer and best two way player in the playoffs.

Who was complaining about Brown after his two 30+ scoring performances in the playoffs? Kid has a rough start and suddenly everyone wants to trade him and forgets the tremendous potential he showed over the previous year. Somehow Heild is given a pass for sucking his first two years even though he was 24 and 25 years old but Brown has a tough 30 game stretch at 22years old and we need to jettison him.

Pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

[Smartacus]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

If that is not 20/20 hindsight I do not know what is.

Most everybody wanted Ainge to select Kris Dunn or Buddy Heild with that pick, mainly for the Jimmy Butler trade rumor.  I would rather have Jaylen Brown over all three of those guys.

Lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater, plenty of us around here were calling for Jamal Murray. I was fighting for Murray every week and most people I spoke to at least agreed we should at take him over Heild due to the massive age disparity. Sure a fair portion of the fan base wanted Kris Dunn but he was so similar to Smart and Rozier in terms of age and skillset that many of us felt he was redundant.

I agree with KGLL, Murray was absolutely the best long term prospect.

That being said I reject KGLL's premise that Jaylen was just Ainge blindly grasping for a wing who could defend. You're ignoring the value proposition aspect of taking Jaylen over Murray. Even if Murray was the best long term prospect, Jaylen plays at what has been the most valuable position in the league for several seasons now.

I believe that Ainge took Jaylen over Murray, Heild, or Dunn because he figured that even if Jaylen only developed into say 70% of his potential that would still be a more desirable trade asset than a scoring combo guard at 80+% of their potential. 2 way wings are just always a safe selection.

[KG Living Legend]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

If that is not 20/20 hindsight I do not know what is.

Most everybody wanted Ainge to select Kris Dunn or Buddy Heild with that pick, mainly for the Jimmy Butler trade rumor.  I would rather have Jaylen Brown over all three of those guys.

Lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater, plenty of us around here were calling for Jamal Murray. I was fighting for Murray every week and most people I spoke to at least agreed we should at take him over Heild due to the massive age disparity. Sure a fair portion of the fan base wanted Kris Dunn but he was so similar to Smart and Rozier in terms of age and skillset that many of us felt he was redundant.

I agree with KGLL, Murray was absolutely the best long term prospect.

That being said I reject KGLL's premise that Jaylen was just Ainge blindly grasping for a wing who could defend. You're ignoring the value proposition aspect of taking Jaylen over Murray. Even if Murray was the best long term prospect, Jaylen plays at what has been the most valuable position in the league for several seasons now.

I believe that Ainge took Jaylen over Murray, Heild, or Dunn because he figured that even if Jaylen only developed into say 70% of his potential that would still be a more desirable trade asset than a scoring combo guard at 80+% of their potential. 2 way wings are just always a safe selection.

 TP. Smartacus. Your right, and you make my point with your last sentence. "2 Way wings are a safe selection"
 That my friend is not how you GM especially with the Third Pick.

[KG Living Legend]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

If that is not 20/20 hindsight I do not know what is.

Most everybody wanted Ainge to select Kris Dunn or Buddy Heild with that pick, mainly for the Jimmy Butler trade rumor.  I would rather have Jaylen Brown over all three of those guys.

 I can prove people like Smartacus, myself, Larbrd and others wanted Murray Predraft. And Hield come on, the guy went nuts his last year of college ball and looked like an easy top 3 pick.

 To be clear I want Jaylen to be the best player in the draft class obviously. If I were his coach I'd tell him to go to the Rim every chance he gets.

 

[Vermont Green]

I have not given up on Jayen Brown.  This season, he has had a down couple of months but he has also been fighting injuries where the whole story is probably not known by the general public.  If you look at his collective career, he has shown more than any of these other guys (Murray, Heild, etc), and shown it in the playoffs.  My recommendation would be to not jump ship on Brown just yet.

Drafting is hard and one of Murray or Heild may end up having a better career but you can't say that as of now.  Brown has done more than either of these guys at this point, even with a down couple of months figured in.  I remain very high on Jaylen Brown.

[KG Living Legend]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

 Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

Give me a break, Murray is so overhyped here. That game he had against us was a fluke. He is a weak athlete and is shooting 42.6/29.3 for the season. PER of 14.4. Poor defensive upside. Thinks he's a lot better than he is. And has proved nothing in the playoffs.

Hield is 26 and is 9 months younger than Kyrie. Again, limited defensive upside.

Funny how these threads never pop up after Jaylen has a good game.

 3 point % truly an unpredictable stat. Jaylen is beating Murray in career 3 point%. So Kudos to Jaylen there.

 However NBA Scouts put more stock into free throw % when evaluating shooting.

 Each players career FT%

 Hield .855%
 Murray .890%
 Brown .657%

 These stats are compelling you must admit.
 
 

[keevsnick]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

 Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

So what exactly is your point? Ainge didn't reach for Brown, Brown was always projected to go in the 3-8 range of the draft right in that same group with Murray, Heild, Bender and Chris. Chris  and Bender are borderline NBA players right now and may be out of the league next year. Murray for  all the love he gets on this site has been only marginally better than brown offensively and is mediocre defensively on his best days. Heild is 26 years old. Brown has struggled this year, but he  was still the right pick.

[PhoSita]

The reason Ainge reached for JB -- you can never have enough wings with the size and physical attributes to defend 1-4, hit open threes, and attack the rim.

It's possible to find quality guards and bigs later in the draft, but it's really hard to find good, versatile two-way wings.

[KG Living Legend]

The reason Ainge reached for JB -- you can never have enough wings with the size and physical attributes to defend 1-4, hit open threes, and attack the rim.

It's possible to find quality guards and bigs later in the draft, but it's really hard to find good, versatile two-way wings.

 Agreed. Does that make it the right move though?  No IMO.

[Ogaju]

Funny how these threads never pop up after Jaylen has a good game.

Or last year when Jaylen was considered the 2nd best prospect after Simmons in his draft class by a large group of posters here, probably including the OP! Not a lot of people were sour on JB when he was this team's second leading scorer and best two way player in the playoffs.

Who was complaining about Brown after his two 30+ scoring performances in the playoffs? Kid has a rough start and suddenly everyone wants to trade him and forgets the tremendous potential he showed over the previous year. Somehow Heild is given a pass for sucking his first two years even though he was 24 and 25 years old but Brown has a tough 30 game stretch at 22years old and we need to jettison him.

Pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

I think we need reminders that JB is only 22 and JT only 20. I definitely do.

[KG Living Legend]

 Luigi Datome, Gerald Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Evan Turner, Jeff Green, Crowder, Coty Clarke, John Holland, Chris Babb, Chris Johnson.

 Those are the SFs A.P. After Pierce. It was a long miserable struggle to find the 6'6" athletic, strong, cover anyone type of athlete that Pierce was and Jaylen is. With that Said Jaylen is an important player on nearly any roster. Hes an asset.

 Hield was the best player at the time of the draft and Buddy is a perfect fit for today's game. He's a lights out shooter and solid defender with length.

 Jamal Murray was the best long term prospect by a considerable margain. Period. He drafted out of need instead of taking the best player on the board.

 He didn't know we were getting Tatum and Hayward, if he did. Rest assured he would have went in a different direction.

So what exactly is your point? Ainge didn't reach for Brown, Brown was always projected to go in the 3-8 range of the draft right in that same group with Murray, Heild, Bender and Chris. Chris  and Bender are borderline NBA players right now and may be out of the league next year. Murray for  all the love he gets on this site has been only marginally better than brown offensively and is mediocre defensively on his best days. Heild is 26 years old. Brown has struggled this year, but he  was still the right pick.

 You can't say he was the right pick. That's TBD. He drafted the Raw project wing. Over Two guards that we're far more developed. One much older. The other had a historic season at Kentucky.

 Because this was his biggest draft in years I studied it closely. For me it was

 Simmons
 Ingram
 Murray
 Hield
 Brown

 And I loved Sabonis but admittedly wouldn't have the balls to have taken him third, I did want to try to trade up and get him but Indiana took him before he was projected.