Confidence in our youth movement

[nickagneta]

I think the youth movement we have is an excellent start.

Rondo - I expect a couple or more All-Star games from him eventually and for him to be one of the top 5 PGs in the league before the next couple of years are up, when he's 25 or so. For a guy taken at 22 in the draft, that's [dang] good. Please show me all the under 22 year old PGs that have ever had the following stat line in a Finals game: 21 Pts, 8 Ast, 7 Reb, 6 Stl and 1 TO. Also an NBA Finals average of 9.3 Pts, 6.7 Asts, 4 Rebs, 1.5 Stls, an Ast/TO ratio of 4.44:1 while playing all-star caliber defense is unreal for a starting 22 year old PG. I expect huge things from Rondo post Big Three.

Perk - He's 23. He's developing into a defensive monster. He's a five year vet. And Kobe Bryant said if he saw Pau Gasol and Perkins on either end of a dark alley, he would walk in Pau's direction. He's intimidating. His jump hook through the middle is starting to drop regularly and is 12 and 9 really that much out of the question when he's 27 or 28, you know, when he's entering his prime!!

With those 2 alone the Celtics are grounded with a determined core for years to come. Pruitt has the potential to be a high quality 6th man one day. Baby, if he gets his stuff together and goes to the Kendrick Perkins school of body shaping could be a special guy off the bench or even a starting PF if he loses 30 lbs and stays in shape. Powe is that career guy off the bench that every team needs.

The draft kids all have potential written all over all three of them. If Doc's track record pans out, one could one day be a solid starter, another a solid role player and another, who knows, maybe something special. Add to that the ability to turn two of the Big Three's roster spots into star replacements and this Celtic team could be contending for a long time.

[clover]

Saw Walker play about 40 times out here over two years, and the Vince Carter comparisons are absurd. He will defend, he's a smart player but his temperment is going to have to change.

Interesting, CoachBo--could you expound upon Walker's temperament issues?

[Jon]

The 'youth movement' on this team is about roll players.   And that's fine since this is a team designed to win now. 


I would be shocked if more then two of those players (most likely Rondo and Perkins) are still part of this team when the 3 stars have moved on and the Celtics have rebuilt themselves into a playoff team. 

I don't know.  I partially agree wit you.  I don't see Perk developing too much more offensively and I agree that Powe and Baby will probably be no more than role players.  But I don't agree about Rondo at all.  He's already showed the ability to dominate.  With a little more polish on his shot (both inside and out), he could easily be an elite point guard.  You could already argue that he's pretty close to be there. 

Going back to Powe and Davis, it's really hard to gauge them.  On one hand you could argue that they don't get enough time or touches to put up big numbers.  The other side of the argument is that all of their success hinges on the opposition ignoring them in favor of the Big Three.  While I'm not crazy on Ainge giving them big contracts when the time comes (because I see them potentially following in the footsteps of Jason Caffey, Austin Croshere, and Shandon Anderson with big contracts for role players on good teams), I also do see fairly good 1-on-1 games in both of them, which is something you usually don't see in role playing big men.

But the whole role player thing is why I like the picks this year.  At 30, we probably could've gotten a solid bench player for for the future.  But what's the point of that?  We're now a free agent destination, so it shouldn't be hard to get role players via free agency.  Walker and Giddens, on the other hand, are risks with high upside.  They have the potential to be more than role players.

So while I don't know if everyone is going to pan out, I do have confidence in what Danny's doing.  He realizes that if he wants to have smooth transition from the Big Three into a new era, he's going to have to roll the dice in the draft. 

[PRIDE]

I expect Pierce and KG to keep playing for less money when their contracts run out. Ray Allen might retire after his, but if not I expect him to take a cheaper deal too. We should have enough cap space to bring in a big time free agent to keep our winning tradition alive. Chances are we'll need a prime time scorer at the 2, 3 or 4 position.

Rondo will man the PG position here for a long time to come. He will develop into an all-star caliber player. Perk will be a 12-8 guy and maybe even better. He'll always bring toughness inside and his game seems to develop a lot from season to season. I've heard he has a really solid mid range jumper and he shoots them as well as anyone on the team. He isnt needed or used as an offensive option right now but in a few years I think he'll start to see more touches down low. He can back down most NBA bigs. I hope he'll develop both shooting hands because he could get hard to stop. Rondo and Perk leave us in really good shape at two crucial positions. Both of them have the ability to D up most of the guys they face.

I'm not sure BBD is the answer at PF down the road. But he should bring a lot of hustle and energy off the bench behind KG for a few years. I dont know if he can be a go to scorer at any point in his career because of his height. I hope he proves me wrong though. Powe seems to convert on more 1-on-1 attempts even though they aren't as pretty. I see him as being a hustle player for his whole career but he can put up a lot of points on any given night because of his sheer physicality and hustle. I could see us spending our FA cap room on a scoring 4 in four years or so.

We aren't really sure what Bill Walker will bring us because its too early to tell..but he is a great SF prospect. I think he'll fit in great with this team and hopefully The Captain will take him under his wing. I've heard he can get a temper but I think he'll mature from that after learning from true professionals in KG, Ray and Paul.

Giddens has a lot of potential to come right in and defend, rebound, and knock down shots as a rookie. As Ray Allen ages I can see Giddens taking his starting spot as long as he plays with intensity and enthusiasm.

I can also see us using our cap space on a big time wing player in the future.

I hope Pruitt develops into a 6th man combo guard. He can bring shooting and energy off the bench and the 1 or the 2. He would be a great piece of the team if he can develop into that kind of player.

Semih Erden is considered to be our "first round pick next year" by DA. He put up poor numbers this season in Europe but he has the potential to be a solid NBA center. He needs to work on his skillset but he is willing to bang inside, and thats the most important asset of an NBA Center. His contract in Europe is up after this coming season so we should be able to bring him over. Scot Pollard made a living in this league being a 7 foot  banger and I see no reason why Erden couldnt. He likes to dunk the ball whenever he gets the chance. If he can develops a solid defensive game then he could be a serviceable backup big man.

[BillfromBoston]

Everyone on that list to me is a question mark to me, although with Perkins, Rondo, and Powe its a little more of "how much better will they get" than whether or not they'll pan out.

As far legit superstar quality, which there is no question you need in the NBA, I don't think there is one on that list, which means in 3-4 years we'll need to really re-tool our roster.

...Superstars? No...but both Walker and Giddens have very high-end potential...they are certainly capable of becoming 2nd or 3rd offensive option types if they reach that potential...

..No, the current crop of youth likely isn't a title contender, but they do make up a very solid starting lineup potentially, one that I think would be able to make the playoffs and be a tough defensive squad...acquiring another superstar to pull it all together will still be a matter of parlaying the FA money freed up by GPA's expiring deals into a top-end player...

Exactly.

Rondo, if he develops an offensive game, could be a star. The other returnees are complementary pieces at best.

Saw Walker play about 40 times out here over two years, and the Vince Carter comparisons are absurd. He will defend, he's a smart player but his temperment is going to have to change. Giddens, if he's outgrown his character issues, could also be a decent role player.

But there are no superstars in that group, and beyond Rondo, it's next to impossible that there will be.