I don't know how Danny does it. This could his best steal yet

[Tr1boy]

Hudson has the talent its just he lacks the experience.

Pruitt on the other hand has talent too, has some experience now under his belt but still can't play (failure)

With pruitt most likely leaving, marbury not coming back i'd like to know who will backup rondo at this pt?

Hudson sounds like a fighter i'd like to have in my team

[crownsy]

Hudson has the talent its just he lacks the experience.

Pruitt on the other hand has talent too, has some experience now under his belt but still can't play (failure)

With pruitt most likely leaving, marbury not coming back i'd like to know who will backup rondo at this pt?

Hudson sounds like a fighter i'd like to have in my team

lacks experience? he's 24....

If you mean against top level competition, then that's kinda a problem. He won't be getting a shot to be cracking rotations till he's what, 26? 27?

[hwangjini_1]

Am I alone here in thinking this kid is a huge long shot to even make this team this year??

Guys he's the 58th pick in the draft, his chances of being the 15th man on any roster in the league are only slightly better than Michael Jackson doing a farewell concert.

I think he ends up in Europe.

I with you on this one. He's a late second round pick in an extremely weak draft. Why waste a roster spot on him? People on this board talk about him being Pruitt's replacement, but that makes no sense to me. We've already invested two year into developing Pruitt so why start all over? Personally, I doubt he ever suits up for an NBA team.

Why? Because two years of developing Pruitt have gone absolutely nowhere. And this kid would be $350,000 ($700,000 w/ l.t) cheaper for a 15th man.

But yeah, I don't see him making a rotation anytime in the next few years. If he makes the top 12 this year, I'll be shocked, either at how good he turned out to be or at how bad our attempts at free agent signings turned out to be.

I think you hit it right on the head there paintit. If Hudson is on this 15 man roster this year it's because Danny had a terrible free agent and/or offseason and decided to take a flyer by keeping the kid on the roster and sending him to the D-League.

that may be the case. but other scenarios for keeping hudson would include:

- he is actually a darned good player and earns a roster spot. (hey, we can all hope cant we?)

- he beats out pruitt/giddens. ainge has pretty much stated that this is an "important" summer in pruitt's development. if pruitt doesnt step his game up i expect him to be cut.

[nickagneta]

Am I alone here in thinking this kid is a huge long shot to even make this team this year??

Guys he's the 58th pick in the draft, his chances of being the 15th man on any roster in the league are only slightly better than Michael Jackson doing a farewell concert.

I think he ends up in Europe.

I with you on this one. He's a late second round pick in an extremely weak draft. Why waste a roster spot on him? People on this board talk about him being Pruitt's replacement, but that makes no sense to me. We've already invested two year into developing Pruitt so why start all over? Personally, I doubt he ever suits up for an NBA team.

Why? Because two years of developing Pruitt have gone absolutely nowhere. And this kid would be $350,000 ($700,000 w/ l.t) cheaper for a 15th man.

But yeah, I don't see him making a rotation anytime in the next few years. If he makes the top 12 this year, I'll be shocked, either at how good he turned out to be or at how bad our attempts at free agent signings turned out to be.

I think you hit it right on the head there paintit. If Hudson is on this 15 man roster this year it's because Danny had a terrible free agent and/or offseason and decided to take a flyer by keeping the kid on the roster and sending him to the D-League.

Not really. Maybe we make some trades that open up some roster spots. Maybe we spend all our MLE on one particular player that Danny really likes, and we're left with not much resources to fill out the whole roster... the 15th spot in particular...

Or Danny could leave that spot open to lure in bought out vets after the trade deadline lke he has the last two years.

[Tr1boy]

Hudson has the talent its just he lacks the experience.

Pruitt on the other hand has talent too, has some experience now under his belt but still can't play (failure)

With pruitt most likely leaving, marbury not coming back i'd like to know who will backup rondo at this pt?

Hudson sounds like a fighter i'd like to have in my team

lacks experience? he's 24....

If you mean against top level competition, then that's kinda a problem. He won't be getting a shot to be cracking rotations till he's what, 26? 27?

Do you think guys who are 18 eventually become nba players too? Some reach the potential but might leave your team for greener pastures

Hudson to me may need 1 year of seasoning but thats it. If he can't get it after that then yeah he doesn't have a chance

But i feel confident he will welcome that sort of pressure

Tired of hearing players have to be drafted young to have much impact for their team(so they can develop). Its a two way street being drafted young, be immature and fraile to do anything vs drafting someone who finished college, has a mature body and probably has a better chance to "get" the system quicker

[nickagneta]

Hudson has the talent its just he lacks the experience.

Pruitt on the other hand has talent too, has some experience now under his belt but still can't play (failure)

With pruitt most likely leaving, marbury not coming back i'd like to know who will backup rondo at this pt?

Hudson sounds like a fighter i'd like to have in my team

There's no way Hudson is this teams primary backup PG this year. And I wouldn't want him to be. I want a veteran with experience behind Rondo this season and for the playoffs. Enough with the young PG/House playing the main backup through the season and then bringing in a vet that has to adapt in a short time. That really hasn't worked both year.

Get me Flip Murray or Brevin Knight or Anthony Carter. Or deal Tony and/or Scal for an experience backup like Earl Watson. Those are guys I want to go to war with. Not some Player of the Year from a lower NCAA conference that hasn't seen a meaningful game in his life.

[paintitgreen]

Just to clarify, what I said was the shocking thing to me would be if he made the top 12 on our team, not the top 15. I can easily see him beating out Pruitt and/or Giddens for a spot in the top 15 and even if he doesn't, given Ainge's affinity for second round projects, I can see him being in that 15, just not part of our active 12-man roster to start the year (of course, if 3 guys get hurt during the season and we need him for depth, it wouldn't be nearly as shocking).

Now, there is a possibility that roster spots would be opened by trades. So I'll have to add on that I'd be shocked if we traded any starter, except maybe Ray. But if we did trade Ray (which would surprise but not shock me), I expect we'll be getting back more than one player, which would lessen available roster spaces. As for the bench, even if we made a 3-for-1 type trade to get a legit sixth man, I would be very surprised if Hudson makes it to the top 12 out of that. 

[cdif911]

I am going to highly doubt this is DA's best steal ever - its unlikely the kid gets any burn with the team esp if House is back

this pick reminds me of Kris Klack, descent college player, gets a chance in camp and gets cut... but we will see

[Tr1boy]

Hudsons chances to be in the top 15 like danny stated is only about 3 percent. But that is based in general theory. Danny's percent is more like 60 percent from what we have seen these past draft years.

Chances pruitt improves his body, pg skills are unlikely. He is a nice kid but seriously too nice to have a place in the nba. Marbury is not coming back or he better not(finished from the league).  There is a 30-70 percent chance house leaves to staying with the celtics team(and he is not a pg). Given all of these facts hudson has at least 50 percent chance to stick the top 15.

There are a dime of dozen of decent fa pgs dying to get land a job in the nba. Danny won't be in a rush to sign one until both pruitt and hudson both prove they are completely incompetent.

I'm seriously rooting for hudson

[Tr1boy]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/players/1333825

click on the video on the right middle side to see more of who we drafted.

Even though they are all highlights you can see his capabilities. Very nice

[hwangjini_1]

Hudson has the talent its just he lacks the experience.

Pruitt on the other hand has talent too, has some experience now under his belt but still can't play (failure)

With pruitt most likely leaving, marbury not coming back i'd like to know who will backup rondo at this pt?

Hudson sounds like a fighter i'd like to have in my team

lacks experience? he's 24....

If you mean against top level competition, then that's kinda a problem. He won't be getting a shot to be cracking rotations till he's what, 26? 27?

correct on when he might crack the rotation. but so what? so he doesnt make the rotation until he is 27? or 28?

hudson is the 58th pick. if he makes ANY team's rotation it is wonderful. i dont care if he has to wait until he is 27 to help the celtics. that he can help the celtics is good enough for me.

and so what if he can only play in the nba for 6-7 years instead of 10-12? i wish him luck, but for the celtics it doesnt really matter since he cost them next to nothing and anything they get from him is almost like a bonus.

i have seen a few posters mention his age. outside of it meaning that he might not have a high ceiling in front of him, i am not sure of the importance of it.

[nickagneta]

Hudsons chances to be in the top 15 like danny stated is only about 3 percent. But that is based in general theory. Danny's percent is more like 60 percent from what we have seen these past draft years.

Chances pruitt improves his body, pg skills are unlikely. He is a nice kid but seriously too nice to have a place in the nba. Marbury is not coming back or he better not(finished from the league).  There is a 30-70 percent chance house leaves to staying with the celtics team(and he is not a pg). Given all of these facts hudson has at least 50 percent chance to stick the top 15.

There are a dime of dozen of decent fa pgs dying to get land a job in the nba. Danny won't be in a rush to sign one until both pruitt and hudson both prove they are completely incompetent.

I'm seriously rooting for hudson

Where are you deriving these numbers from to call them facts?

What you are stating is pure self-speculation and nothing more.

The only fact that exists is that Hudson's chances of making this team is tremendously low. 58th picks just almost never make it in this league. Now that is a fact.

[vjcsmoke]

Anyone wishing we'd draft Marc Gasol instead of Pruitt?
I sure am.

http://www.nbasideline.com/2007/draft/drafttracker.asp

Gabe Pruitt #32
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3227

Marc Gasol #48
http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3206

[celts34pats55]

From Celtics twitter. I am loveing this kid!!

DA: "We had him much higher." On possibly moving up in 2nd round: "We had some conversations." Close to any trades? "No."
1 minute ago from Tweetie  
  Ainge says the Celtics don't know yet if he has a chance to play for the Celtics next season or be on the C's Orlando Summer League team.
2 minutes ago from Tweetie  
  DA: "He's a tough kid. What I see on the court, how hard he competes and instigates physical play on the court. We think he's got a chance.
3 minutes ago from Tweetie  
  DA on Hudson: "I like his toughness, and his ability to score. He's one of those guys who really knows how to score the ball."
5 minutes ago from Tweetie

Also says on freeagency "We have a idea what we want to accomplish".

They better get something accomplished in FA. We need to shore up our bench in so many areas, especially with the east's improving talent.

Exactly, what scares me is how our top 2 competitors both got significantly better today. I'm fine with not making any major moves tonight, and I think this kid could crack the rotation in 2011, but we really need to make some great moves in fa.

Shaq is a minor improvement, as is VC if Hedo is not retained in Orlando.

The key will be what all three teams do in free agency. All three big contenders in the east can separate themselves somewhat by either retaining or bringing in new elements to cover up their flaws.

While I'm not sure I'd say Shaq is a major improvement, he's definitely a significant improvement. And, yes Vincanity isn't that much better than Hedo, but he's more versatile, and he fits nicely with Howard and Lewis. He's the slasher that they really needed.

Here's the thing: we were better than either team to begin with. But, they narrowed the gap. Now let's go shore up our bench and hope to have some Patriot-like fa moves.

Have you watched Shaq this season? He's much like Big Z good when he only has to play 25 or so minutes. He brings a low post scoring threat which will be useful. But he's also just as much a liability as Z defensively in many situations.

Z's offensive repertoire-knocking down the open jumper
Shaq's-overpowering smaller defenders

Yes, Shaq will not play 82 games, nor 40 minutes a game, but when he's in there he poses matchup problems. We'll have to bring back Waltah to defend him.

Shaq going to CLE is a minor improvement.  He's better than what they gave up certainly but he's not immensely better than Big Z.  

VC going to Orlando is far more disconcerting.  If the resign Hedo, that's a very potent starting 5---potentially better than the C's starting 5 if VC can gel with the other starters.  The advantage they'd have is that all of their starters can score whereas Rondo's still got to get a reliable 16-18 foot jumper and prove to the rest of the league he's now a scoring threat that has to be guarded.

Rondo creates a lot more for his teammates than does Nelson