YABU being waived

[footey]

Yabusele wrote a nice thank you to Celtic fans on Instagram. Seems like a real good guy. I hope he finds his way back into the league.

[Kuberski33]

Before coming across this post, my first thought was "oooooh, room for Tacko!" followed shortly after by "Hmm... would I rather have Tacko or Dwight?"  I am not sure.  I'm higher on Dwight than most and there are some favorable reports coming out about him losing 25 pounds and becoming serious about being a good teammate.  Take that for what its worth though.  I could probably go either way.

Howard did an interview in the Athletic where he said all the right things and mentioned that he has a new 'management team'.  I'm guessing a member of his management team crafted the interview. Pass.

[DarrenTillis]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

[jambr380]

Yabusele wrote a nice thank you to Celtic fans on Instagram. Seems like a real good guy. I hope he finds his way back into the league.

Yeah, it was very nice:

I've Been blessed and thankful since that special day of my life. #2016NbaDraft
I want thank all the fans, the city of Boston for all the love and the @celticsfor the amazing experience.
I want to thank also my teammates, coaching staff, all the peoples working with the @celtics that help us everyday and all the peoples around.
Boston will always be in my heart 💚 #TheDancingBear #Dabusele#BleedGreen

He always seemed like a really nice guy. I am not as concerned that he finds his way back into the NBA, as he is not from the U.S., but hopefully he finds a professional basketball situation that works well for him - I am sure he will.

[NKY fan]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

[RockinRyA]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

Im pretty sure there were a lot worse picks, esp in the 20-30 range.

[SHAQATTACK]

JJJ was a pile  ....made KO look like Bill Walton

[Alleyoopster]

Yabu surprised me in two ways.

1. Watching the pre-draft highlight videos I
I wrote that I'd be surprised if he could guard a chair. He often looked that clueless on defense.  Never did I expect him to be a half decent defender. He wildly exceeded my expectations in that regard. Not that he was g
great by any means, but acceptable.

On pre-draft videos he shot remarkably well from the European 3 point area. This. I thought we were getting a diamond in the rough phenom shooter.That never materialized....not even close. He hit a few 3's here and there, but nothing that ever turned the tide of many games. Initially, I thought his shooting might mitigate any other shortfalls. Unfortunately, he never regained that outside touch. Or, perhaps he never had it and the videos clouded my perception of him.

In a personal level. I loved him as a fun, loyal and enthusiastic person. He possesses a lot of charm and charisma. I wish him well and future success wherever he goes.

[moiso]

Before coming across this post, my first thought was "oooooh, room for Tacko!" followed shortly after by "Hmm... would I rather have Tacko or Dwight?"  I am not sure.  I'm higher on Dwight than most and there are some favorable reports coming out about him losing 25 pounds and becoming serious about being a good teammate.  Take that for what its worth though.  I could probably go either way.

Howard did an interview in the Athletic where he said all the right things and mentioned that he has a new 'management team'.  I'm guessing a member of his management team crafted the interview. Pass.

He's always been great at those interviews so either the old management team also crafted great interviews or Howard is a master BS'er.

[nickagneta]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

Im pretty sure there were a lot worse picks, esp in the 20-30 range.

Here are some:

2017
#16 Chicago Justin Patton
#28 LAL Tony Bradley

2016
#25 LAC Brice Johnson
#26 Sixers Forkan Korkmaz

2015
#17 Milwaukee Rashad Caught
#26 San Antonio Nikola Milutinov
#29 Brooklyn Chris McCullough

2014
#20 Toronto Bruno Cabocolo
#21 OKC Mitch McGary
#22 Memphis Jordan Adams

2013
#16 Dallas Lucas Nogueira
#19 Cleveland Sergey Karasev
#28 San Antonio Livio Jean Charles
#30 Phoenix Nemanja Nedovic

2012
#16 Houston Royce White
#23 Atlanta John Jenkins
#24 Cleveland Jared Cunningham
#27 Miami Arnett Moultrie
#28 OKC Percy Jones

2011
#18 Washington Chris Singleton
#21 Portland Nolan Smith

2010
#21 OKC Craig Brackins
#22 Portland Elliot Williams
#24 Atlanta Damian James
#25 Memphis Dominique Jones
#29 Orlando Daniel Orton
#30 Washington Lazar Hayward

That's just 2010-2017. I didn't do 2018 because those still need to be evaluated more. But that's 27 picks only in the last 10 years that can be argued are every bit as bad as some of Ainge's picks in the #16-30 range.

Some are made even worse by being near a great player that could have been selected instead.

Tremendously bad picks happen to everyone and are very common. Even teams that normally draft well make mistakes. San Antonio have selected two guys that have never even played for them yet and might never.

[W8ting2McHale]

Three recent failures by OKC. That doesn’t bode well for those “15 picks” they were gifted unloading their stars.

I thought McGary would step into Nick Collison’s role, at least, but that didn’t happen.

Portland with a couple swings and misses, and that doesn’t even account for the bigger mistakes higher up, like Cleveland wasting a pick on Bennet, and the Karasev and Cunningham picks too. Ouch!

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Before coming across this post, my first thought was "oooooh, room for Tacko!" followed shortly after by "Hmm... would I rather have Tacko or Dwight?"  I am not sure.  I'm higher on Dwight than most and there are some favorable reports coming out about him losing 25 pounds and becoming serious about being a good teammate.  Take that for what its worth though.  I could probably go either way.

Howard did an interview in the Athletic where he said all the right things and mentioned that he has a new 'management team'.  I'm guessing a member of his management team crafted the interview. Pass.

He's always been great at those interviews so either the old management team also crafted great interviews or Howard is a master BS'er.

[hwangjini_1]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

Im pretty sure there were a lot worse picks, esp in the 20-30 range.

Here are some:

2017
#16 Chicago Justin Patton
#28 LAL Tony Bradley

2016
#25 LAC Brice Johnson
#26 Sixers Forkan Korkmaz

2015
#17 Milwaukee Rashad Caught
#26 San Antonio Nikola Milutinov
#29 Brooklyn Chris McCullough

2014
#20 Toronto Bruno Cabocolo
#21 OKC Mitch McGary
#22 Memphis Jordan Adams

2013
#16 Dallas Lucas Nogueira
#19 Cleveland Sergey Karasev
#28 San Antonio Livio Jean Charles
#30 Phoenix Nemanja Nedovic

2012
#16 Houston Royce White
#23 Atlanta John Jenkins
#24 Cleveland Jared Cunningham
#27 Miami Arnett Moultrie
#28 OKC Percy Jones

2011
#18 Washington Chris Singleton
#21 Portland Nolan Smith

2010
#21 OKC Craig Brackins
#22 Portland Elliot Williams
#24 Atlanta Damian James
#25 Memphis Dominique Jones
#29 Orlando Daniel Orton
#30 Washington Lazar Hayward

That's just 2010-2017. I didn't do 2018 because those still need to be evaluated more. But that's 27 picks only in the last 10 years that can be argued are every bit as bad as some of Ainge's picks in the #16-30 range.

Some are made even worse by being near a great player that could have been selected instead.

Tremendously bad picks happen to everyone and are very common. Even teams that normally draft well make mistakes. San Antonio have selected two guys that have never even played for them yet and might never.

good work nick. a tp for the research and post. add to your good points one more. in many drafts there are not 30 players who are good enough to stay in the nba, let alone succeed at a high level. by definition then, almost every year some teams are going to make bad picks.

there simply is not enough talent out there to ensure that everyone picks a winner every year. so, that ainge winds up with some stinkers is not a surprise.

[nickagneta]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

Im pretty sure there were a lot worse picks, esp in the 20-30 range.

Here are some:

2017
#16 Chicago Justin Patton
#28 LAL Tony Bradley

2016
#25 LAC Brice Johnson
#26 Sixers Forkan Korkmaz

2015
#17 Milwaukee Rashad Caught
#26 San Antonio Nikola Milutinov
#29 Brooklyn Chris McCullough

2014
#20 Toronto Bruno Cabocolo
#21 OKC Mitch McGary
#22 Memphis Jordan Adams

2013
#16 Dallas Lucas Nogueira
#19 Cleveland Sergey Karasev
#28 San Antonio Livio Jean Charles
#30 Phoenix Nemanja Nedovic

2012
#16 Houston Royce White
#23 Atlanta John Jenkins
#24 Cleveland Jared Cunningham
#27 Miami Arnett Moultrie
#28 OKC Percy Jones

2011
#18 Washington Chris Singleton
#21 Portland Nolan Smith

2010
#21 OKC Craig Brackins
#22 Portland Elliot Williams
#24 Atlanta Damian James
#25 Memphis Dominique Jones
#29 Orlando Daniel Orton
#30 Washington Lazar Hayward

That's just 2010-2017. I didn't do 2018 because those still need to be evaluated more. But that's 27 picks only in the last 10 years that can be argued are every bit as bad as some of Ainge's picks in the #16-30 range.

Some are made even worse by being near a great player that could have been selected instead.

Tremendously bad picks happen to everyone and are very common. Even teams that normally draft well make mistakes. San Antonio have selected two guys that have never even played for them yet and might never.

good work nick. a tp for the research and post. add to your good points one more. in many drafts there are not 30 players who are good enough to stay in the nba, let alone succeed at a high level. by definition then, almost every year some teams are going to make bad picks.

there simply is not enough talent out there to ensure that everyone picks a winner every year. so, that ainge winds up with some stinkers is not a surprise.

You earned some TPs for this point. 

Also, at some point in every draft it comes time to just swing for the fences and you are just lucky if you land a guy that turns out to be good. It isn't that you are better than everyone else at targeting that player, it's just that you got lucky. Selecting Isaiah Thomas at #60 isn't some sign of tremendous ability to target talent late in the draft. You just got lucky.

[DarrenTillis]

Yabusele is perhaps the worst pick since James Young.

I think you have to go all the way back to Albert K. Brown in 2001 to find a worse Celtics pick than Yabu.

Fab melo - rip and jajuan Johnson can be argued were worse picks given that they played in the ncaa tournament
I have posted before that Danny has 4 of the top 10 worst picks in the last 15 years in the 15-30 range

Not sure why whether they played in the NCAA tournament is relevant, but I agree that JJJ and Fab were objectively awful picks.  I would argue that Yabu is a significantly worse pick than either given that he was a significantly earlier pick than either.

Take a look at the first round of that 2012 draft starting from around pick 10, btw.  Make sure you have a motion sickness bag by your side when you do so.  The players on the board in the second round of that draft were dramatically better as a group than those selected from and after #10.  Rare to see a draft that shakes out that way.  Yet another illustration of how inexact a science the NBA draft is.  But even allowing for that, I think Yabu is easily Ainge's worst draft pick and the worst Celtics pick since the Chris Wallace era.