The best #16 pick in NBA history is...

[vjcsmoke]

John Stockton. 1984.

http://www.mynbadraft.com/nba-draft-picks/16th-overall/160509/

Best pick at that spot in the last 30+ years of the draft.
So if the Celtics get really lucky and get a Stockton level talent, then they can trade Rondo for a lottery pick, hopefully a top 3 player.

Can we be that lucky?  I don't see any available trade for guys that would take our team over the top.  Draft might be our best chance.

[CelticConcourse]

Nikolaaaaaaaaaaaa Vucevic

[ronaldo943]

Nikolaaaaaaaaaaaa Vucevic

i love Vuc he will be an all star next year just needs to work on his defense

[j804]

or Danny will get us another JuJuan Johnson

[GreenShooter]

1984 - That's the same draft that produced Olajuwon, Jordan, Barkley and Sam Perkins at the top, along with Sam Bowie.
After McLemore, this draft is dead. Even with a top 10 pick you won't be getting much. Forget about it.

[bdm860]

John Stockton. 1984.

http://www.mynbadraft.com/nba-draft-picks/16th-overall/160509/

Best pick at that spot in the last 30+ years of the draft.
So if the Celtics get really lucky and get a Stockton level talent, then they can trade Rondo for a lottery pick, hopefully a top 3 player.

Can we be that lucky?  I don't see any available trade for guys that would take our team over the top.  Draft might be our best chance.

I think the Celtics were already that lucky in 2006.

[Lucky17]

Considering the rest of that 2000 draft class, Hedo at #16 was a pretty great selection. At least 10 of the guys taken before him have been out of the league for years.

[mr. dee]

I say we should gamble on taking euro guys. Who knows? Maybe we  can find our own Marc Gasol.

[#1P4P]

1984 - That's the same draft that produced Olajuwon, Jordan, Barkley and Sam Perkins at the top, along with Sam Bowie.
After McLemore, this draft is dead. Even with a top 10 pick you won't be getting much. Forget about it.

That is the nonsense that is repeated before every draft, but year after year, it is proven to be foolishness.

"Experts" predicted that the 2011 Draft had 0 potential elite players (All Stars)... 2 years later, Kyrie Irving is a top 20 player, Klay Thompson is a young star, Faried, Vucevic, Harris, Butler, Shumpert, Leonard, Parsons (2nd round). This can be done with any draft

The draft might be dead after Mclemore (for you),  but there's definitely valuable players to be had.

[CelticG1]

I say we should gamble on taking euro guys. Who knows? Maybe we  can find our own Marc Gasol.

I say we go after steph currys brother

[Boris Badenov]

John Stockton. 1984.

http://www.mynbadraft.com/nba-draft-picks/16th-overall/160509/

Best pick at that spot in the last 30+ years of the draft.
So if the Celtics get really lucky and get a Stockton level talent, then they can trade Rondo for a lottery pick, hopefully a top 3 player.

Can we be that lucky?  I don't see any available trade for guys that would take our team over the top.  Draft might be our best chance.

Everyone hoping that we can draft a real difference-maker should look at this list carefully.

In 33 years you have:
1 multiple-time All-Star and HOFer
1 one-time All-Star (and multi-time All-Defense team member)
5-6 guys who were occasional starters and had decent careers

The rest - 25 or so - ranged from marginally good bench guys to outright scrubs who never played.

Put another way - there are plenty of guys on that list who had *worse* careers than Jiri Welsch.

[clover]

And look who was available at 17, just in the last nine years:

2012    Tyler Zeller    
2011    Iman Shumpert    
2010    Kevin Seraphin    
2009    Jrue Holiday    
2008   Roy Hibbert   
2007   Sean Williams   
2006    Shawne Williams    
2005   Danny Granger   
2004   Josh Smith

Or, hey, how about who was available and taken at 18 over the last decade:

2012    Terrence Jones
2011    Chris Singleton    
2010    Eric Bledsoe    
2009    Tywon Lawson    
2008   JaVale McGee   
2007   Marco Belinelli   
2006    Olexsiy Pecherov    
2005   Gerald Green   
2004   JR Smith   
2003   David West

[lightspeed5]

I say we should gamble on taking euro guys. Who knows? Maybe we  can find our own Marc Gasol.

marc gasol was not a gamble, he was the 7 ft brother of future hall of famer pau gasol.

theres a difference between drafting a euro and drafting a gasol. Id avoid any euro unless his last name was gasol.

[ACF]

Id avoid any euro unless his last name was gasol.

I remember when people said Pau was soft and then he killed us in 2010. Please, get over the soft label and give guys a chance to prove they can play. The soft comments got very old a very, very long time ago.

[mr. dee]

I say we should gamble on taking euro guys. Who knows? Maybe we  can find our own Marc Gasol.

marc gasol was not a gamble, he was the 7 ft brother of future hall of famer pau gasol.

theres a difference between drafting a euro and drafting a gasol. Id avoid any euro unless his last name was gasol.

Tony Parker, Drazen Petrovic and Dirk Nowitzki. You'd avoid those type of players?