Grade 2020 Celtics draft

[gouki88]

I love Nesmith.  I like PP.  Yam was a good stash.

I’m less sold on the Memphis trade, with Bane, Tillman’s and Carey all there.  I’ll wait on further details, but as is, poor value.

Overall, a B+.

^this. Warming up to PP - he's a big one

Our last PP was pretty good (unless I’ve missed one...)

This one can hit from deep

Just remembered we had a PP between Pierce & Pritchard - Pressey...

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'm no draft expert, so I won't give a grade.

They did need bench scoring, so I'm glad they got some shooters, but I won't allow myself to get excited unless they show something in real NBA games.

This draft was another disappointment for the big-man department, but that's what I've come to expect from Danny.

What I'm really wondering, though, is: Will Danny trade Tatum, Brown, and Smart in the next year so he can fit a few more rookies onto the team? Really go whole-hog with this "youth movement"?

[SlapSlapSlap]

I think what everyone needs to realize is that you can only have so many big money players.  Rookies and players on rookie deals are valuable for cap reasons.
I am fine with mostly ignoring bigs as they hold less value in today's NBA.  That said, I think we ignored bigs because we are trading Hayward for a big.  My guess atleast....

People are going to have a hard time convincing me that Nesmith and Pritchard are not the right picks in those spots.  Nesmith is widely considered the best shooter in the draft and Pritchard is criminally under rated and brings several elite traits as well.  This never happens but these were the two players I wanted in those slots before the draft. 

[ederson]

I'm no draft expert, so I won't give a grade.

They did need bench scoring, so I'm glad they got some shooters, but I won't allow myself to get excited unless they show something in real NBA games.

This draft was another disappointment for the big-man department, but that's what I've come to expect from Danny.

What I'm really wondering, though, is: Will Danny trade Tatum, Brown, and Smart in the next year so he can fit a few more rookies onto the team? Really go whole-hog with this "youth movement"?

IMHO he should trade them for 2nd round picks. I think we need again 10 years of misery Minnesota style in order to start appreciating some things again

[Somebody]

I love Nesmith.  I like PP.  Yam was a good stash.

I’m less sold on the Memphis trade, with Bane, Tillman’s and Carey all there.  I’ll wait on further details, but as is, poor value.

Overall, a B+.

^this. Warming up to PP - he's a big one

Our last PP was pretty good (unless I’ve missed one...)

This one can hit from deep

Just remembered we had a PP between Pierce & Pritchard - Pressey...

Oh the small PP

[CelticsElite]

I think what everyone needs to realize is that you can only have so many big money players.  Rookies and players on rookie deals are valuable for cap reasons.
I am fine with mostly ignoring bigs as they hold less value in today's NBA.  That said, I think we ignored bigs because we are trading Hayward for a big.  My guess atleast....

People are going to have a hard time convincing me that Nesmith and Pritchard are not the right picks in those spots.  Nesmith is widely considered the best shooter in the draft and Pritchard is criminally under rated and brings several elite traits as well.  This never happens but these were the two players I wanted in those slots before the draft.

TP

We left the draft with 2 great players.

[Roy H.]

Anybody subscribe to the Athletic?

https://theathletic.com/2208229/2020/11/19/celtics-roster-rebuilding-nba-draft/?source=emp_shared_article

[Donoghus]

Anybody subscribe to the Athletic?

https://theathletic.com/2208229/2020/11/19/celtics-roster-rebuilding-nba-draft/?source=emp_shared_article

Yeah, you just need the full article posted?

[Roy H.]

Anybody subscribe to the Athletic?

https://theathletic.com/2208229/2020/11/19/celtics-roster-rebuilding-nba-draft/?source=emp_shared_article

Yeah, you just need the full article posted?

Please.

[Donoghus]

They came so close. Devin Vassell was still in play. Tyrese Haliburton was somehow falling, even if The Athletic had him fourth in the entire draft on the Celtics’ big board. A potential point guard of the future, Kira Lewis, was snatched up just before they picked.

Yet Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge barely even bat an eye.

“I wasn’t really caught off guard too much by the order of the draft,” Ainge said. “And I don’t pay that much attention to the mock drafts, so there really wasn’t that many surprises.”

Credit as always to Ainge for saying something so absurd with a straight face. Even if Ainge himself may not read the mock drafts, the front office staff around him is paying attention to the intelligence coming from those in the mock draft side of the NBA sphere. He was aware of Tyrese Haliburton being projected to be gone by the ninth pick. He knew Patrick Williams was no longer sitting in his range at the 14th pick after Williams was taken fourth by Chicago. It’s Ainge’s job to be aware of all of this information swirling around the league, though it’s of course inherent that the Celtics and the rest of the league are going to know more that never makes it to the public.

So Aaron Nesmith, who just happened to be the subject of sudden reporting about injury concerns the morning of the draft, wound up at 14. It was an unmistakably solid hit, that satisfying feeling of smashing a seven iron so squarely that the contact doesn’t even register with an errant vibration. This was not spinning an approach shot next to the pin like nabbing Vassell would have been, or even driving the green on a par 4 by hauling in Haliburton. But the Celtics got a guy that will likely be a rotation player and could end up a good starter down the road. It’s exactly what you hope for in the middle of the first round, no matter how tantalizingly close you were to something special. The Celtics already have enough special. They need more solid.

The Vanderbilt shooting guard was leading the SEC in scoring when his season ended in January due to a right foot stress fracture. It was such poor timing, as he was really hitting his stride as a defender and off-ball mover on offense. But it ended his season early and rumblings started to emerge on Wednesday, of all days, that teams were concerned the lingering foot injury was a problem.

There is no indication that Nesmith is going to miss time at this point, which is important since Ainge confirmed Romeo Langford is still in a cast from his left wrist surgery and is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.

One thing that was apparent in Boston’s strategy on draft night was the pursuit of players who can contribute right away. Coach Brad Stevens mentioned Wednesday night that the team wanted guys who could come in to add to winning immediately, particularly lauding 26th pick Payton Pritchard’s penchant for winning as a four-year point guard at Oregon. Ainge noted Pritchard is ready to play now. With Nesmith, he at least does the one thing that should translate pretty easily.

That’s the beauty of glorifying shooting as a skill. Of all the variables that change at the NBA level, hitting a wide-open shot looks just about the same in an NBA arena as it does in a high school gym. Nesmith should at the very least be able to spot up and fire away for the Celtics.

“He can come in the gym and out-shoot most of our guys right this second,” Ainge said. “I’m guessing Jayson Tatum will have a little dispute with that.”

That claim matters because it solves a short-term need, something that generally is not supposed to take place through the draft. Just as Ainge’s son, Austin (the Celtics’ director of player personnel), said this week, need is the worst draft evaluator. The presumption was always that the Celtics would have to hit free agency to find ready shooters to help the team’s offense stay afloat in the playoffs. Drafting Nesmith doesn’t preclude Ainge from signing a veteran shooter, but he is acutely aware of how much his team needs that skill. He has typically drafted players who weren’t deadly shooters in college, successfully building them up. This seems like just about the first time Ainge has drafted someone who can actually walk right into the locker room and win a 3-point contest.

“Well, listen: shooting is big. As we saw in the playoffs this year and throughout the season, you’ve got to be able to make shots,” Ainge said. “Our guys have become better shooters as they get into the NBA, and that’s generally a rule. It doesn’t always work out that way, but we got two really good shooters that we added and that’s a great feeling.”

Pritchard should be able to push in transition and run some pick-and-rolls from day one. That’s a sharp contrast from last season, where the Celtics’ rookies required a significant breaking-in period. Grant Williams came around, Romeo Langford showed some flashes of progress while Carsen Edwards was so disappointing that they drafted his replacement Wednesday night. It would be easy to say with confidence that Pritchard is here to replace Brad Wanamaker, but there is one major variable that works against him.

In a typical NBA offseason, players get drafted, immediately go to summer league training camp with their new teams, play in the summer league, then spend the next two-three months preparing for their rookie seasons. This year, rookies get three weeks before the preseason begins. They can try to study their teammates to learn how to play next to them, but free agency hasn’t even started yet. There are maybe three or four Celtics you can count on being in green at this point. It’s going to be a long week as the league’s rosters get sorted out.

“We have to fast-track it, not just with no summer league but usually we have part of August and all of September to prepare them for our system, our defensive schemes,” said Ainge. “It’s a different world that we’re in right now and a different time for the NBA. Every team is in the same boat so we have to be better than others at getting our young players ready to play.”

Hawks hustling and the Bogdanovic Bonanza
Did the endless cascade of news over the past 24 hours change the state of play with the Celtics’ biggest objective?

Gordon Hayward has until 5 p.m. ET Thursday to opt into his $34 million player option. The Celtics and Hayward’s camp agreed at the outset of the week to push that deadline back from Tuesday in hopes that something could happen on draft night. Something did, but just not with Hayward.

The first layer of that came when The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported that the widely reported Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade between the Kings and Bucks had been called off. Bogdanovic, who becomes a restricted free agent this week, claimed he was not a party to this deal.

This spills over into the Hayward saga. Bogdanovic is a comparable player to Hayward in style and capability, plus he is several years younger. If Hayward is appetizing to Atlanta, then Bogdanovic may be the perfect meal. The Pistons could still be in the picture after trading away Luke Kennard so they could acquire Saddiq Bey, especially after drafting Killian Hayes supposedly takes them out of the Fred VanVleet sweepstakes.

The good news for Hayward’s leverage play with Atlanta is that Onyeka Okongwu being drafted by the Hawks causes a logjam that could make them even more amenable to a trade. Okongwu projects to be a better version of Clint Capela, Atlanta’s current center. He could also play power forward next to Capela in lieu of big-time scorer John Collins, but that may be too little shooting on the floor for Atlanta’s taste.

But the concept of a Hayward-for-Collins-and-Dewayne Dedmon deal continues to be viable. Maybe that deal now includes Capela instead. The problem is that Boston has already used its draft pick, which was likely needed to make the deal work. Atlanta already has Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish and DeAndre Hunter as wings, so it’s unlikely the Hawks would want Nesmith.

As The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner reported, the Hawks have declined to extend qualifying offers to their four restricted free agents. They are looking to reduce salary and including talented players in a trade like this would at least provide more financial flexibility. The Hawks are clearly poised to make moves, but it’s seeming less likely that will include Hayward if the Bogdanovic trade truly has fallen apart.

[nebist]

After sleeping on it, I give the Celtics a solid B for last night. We didn't screw anything up, and off-season can still swing either way based on what we can get for Hayward and the MLE.

The good: Nesmith was a strong pick at 14. 9th on my board. Addressed our biggest need in my opinion for a bench wing that can shoot/score. Strong athletic measurables to at least be solid defensively in our switching scheme. Should feast playing off Tatum and Brown. I think Stevens is going to do wonders with one of the first true shooters he's ever had. He made Avery Bradley look like a good shooter. Even though Pritchard was not much on my radar screen because I didn't do a ton of homework on the smaller PGs (cause I like Smart on the ball more), I like the kid's tape a lot. He can clearly shoot, handle, and pass in a much more dynamic way than Wanamaker and has the experience and skill set to possibly fill that 3rd PG role even as a rookie. Trading 30 for some future 2nds and a decent draft and stash at 47 makes logical sense. No need to go for a mediocre big necessarily with so many decent options available in FA for the MLE.

The questionable: No home run move. Did not trade up for a clear future starter though Nesmith could maybe develop into one. I would have liked to see them be more aggressive with 26+30 and move up for Hampton or maybe Maxey. Moving 30 for 2 2nds is fine, but definitely a value push rather than value win.

[Emmette Bryant]

In the first round, the Celtics drafted two yutes who can shoot the ball.

Put me down for a B+

[todd_days_41]

I think SI nailed it:

I get it—it takes two teams to make a deal, and Boston’s draft night transaction window extends to Thursday, when Gordon Hayward must decide whether to pick up his player option for next season. But the Celtics began the week hoping to package its picks for a top-10 selection that they could use for a significant trade (Jrue Holiday was among the targets) and end draft night with two more rookies to squeeze onto a suddenly bloated roster.

Look, on paper, Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard make sense. Neismith is arguably the best shooter in the draft and Pritchard, a four-year player at Oregon, shot 41.5% from three last season. There are some concerns about the foot injury Neismith suffered in January, but long term he should be fine. Boston’s bench badly needs shooting, and Nesmith and Pritchard theoretically could provide it.

But where do they fit in? Boston had two first-round picks on the roster last season (Romeo Langford, Grant Williams) and a pair of second-rounders (Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters) in the mix. To make room for Nesmith and Pritchard, the Celtics may have to sever ties with Semi Ojeleye or Brad Wanamaker. Maybe both. Vincent Poirier has another year left on his contract, but he could go, too.

I can’t help but wonder if the Celtics whiffed on R.J. Hampton. They could have had him at No. 14, which was in the range of some mock drafts. They could have maneuvered up to get him at 24, with picks Nos. 26 and 30 to dangle in a trade. Boston addressed a need in the draft. But for the second year in a row, its stockpile of picks couldn’t be parlayed into something bigger.

After looking over the draft as a whole, I give the Celts a C -- especially before I know the status of Nesmith's foot. Meanwhile, I get why Ainge likes Pritchard... he's central casting for an Ainge binkie. But what about Waters? Is PP really so much better than Waters that we couldn't have used that pick on a more interesting fit? I like Waters and want to see him get his shot. Are we really going to carry Walker, Pritchard, Waters, and Edwards in the same backcourt? Too much redundancy.

The second part from SI also bugs me, especially considering Danny doesn't seem to have succeeded in moving Poirier with the 30th pick. I understand why it was difficult to take a player with that pick -- ok, so then use it for something of value. NY was able to trade for pick 23 before the draft.... why couldn't Ainge with 26, 30 and a player? Didn't happen again.

Said another way, "Trader Danny" (much as I'm a fan of him overall, which I am) failed to execute something fairly basic last night, i.e. using picks and role players to move up -- which a bunch of other GMs did. I think that's a set back.

Not a particularly strong night IMO.

[keevsnick]

I mean it basically depends on what Nesmith is. The 26 pick is more likely to be off the team before the end of its rookie contract then it is to be a starter longterm. SO if pritchard can be a spark plug back up PG thats fine. But if not its not a big loss. The 30th for 2 seconds and cap relief seems fair.

If Nesmith shoots 38% on a decent number of attempts and can be an average defender then he has potential to be a long term important rotation piece. If he shoots 40+% on volume and can be a above average defender who can switch 2-4 and keep the ball moving he's a starter for a long time and that's great at 14 in a week draft. But he'd better shoot, because his ball handling, passing, overall defense and athleticism all are average or below right now.

I will say Nesmith and Pritchard complement the young guys the already have well. Langord fits in right between those guys as a guy who can cover 1-3 but has shooting struggles.

[td450]

It may turn out fine. Nesmith might be very good for us, and he seemed like a solid pick at 14.

But right now, it seems like a pretty major fail that we didn't trade down to get Okongwu and that Halliburton got to 12 and we didn't get him either. I was really hoping we got one of those two.