Evans and the Small Forwards

[wiley]

List the players from last year's draft who could help (could have helped) the Celtics to a title this year.  I imagine most will list PG's and small forwards, since most of our discussions revolve around those two positions.  Here's my ranking.

1.  Tyreke Evans.  By a Landslide.  Too good not to get major minutes on a contender in year 1.  Wow.

2.  One of the small forwards.  I'm going with Budinger, though it's a tough call between him, Casspi and Jerebko (all might play behind Marquis when he's not injured, but wonderful insurance from all of them)

3.  Brandon Jennings.  Might have struggled for minutes here in year 1. hard to say.

[moiso]

Evans is excellent.  I'd still put Blake Griffin on this list.  Imagine that beast in place of Baby or Rasheed?

[Change]

Remember 'rumors' that Evans was Ainge's choice. Its hard to envision a scoring PG working well with the Big3.

[ssspence]

I pushed hard for Budinger. He was always going to be a better pro than college player. He could be seeing minutes now with Daniels down.

 

[PosImpos]

Remember 'rumors' that Evans was Ainge's choice. Its hard to envision a scoring PG working well with the Big3.

I remember those rumors.  The way Tyreke has been playing sure makes me feel a LOT more confident in Danny's ability to assess talent.  I recall that a lot of people on this site were very skeptical about Tyreke's abilities, so it's good to see that Danny still knows more than most of us.

I pushed hard for Budinger. He was always going to be a better pro than college player. He could be seeing minutes now with Daniels down.

Yeah, I wish it had been possible for us to trade up to get a higher 2nd round pick.  A few guys taken in the 2nd round could have been useful to us - particularly Budinger and DeJuan Blair.  Budinger's All-Rookie 1st team level play is just another example of Daryl Morey's genius.

[moiso]

Yeah, I love guys like Blair.

[indeedproceed]

Budinger was the guy I wanted ainge to grab.

Who woulda helped us the most? I don't know... Jonas Jerebko I think would get a fair amount of minutes here. We need a quick longer defending hustle guy

[Fan from VT]

ty lawson would have been great for us. He's thriving in a backup role right now and is an excellent player.

Budinger was the guy I wanted ainge to grab.

Who woulda helped us the most? I don't know... Jonas Jerebko I think would get a fair amount of minutes here. We need a quick longer defending hustle guy

[slamtheking]

Remember 'rumors' that Evans was Ainge's choice. Its hard to envision a scoring PG working well with the Big3.

Yeah, I wish it had been possible for us to trade up to get a higher 2nd round pick.  A few guys taken in the 2nd round could have been useful to us - particularly Budinger and DeJuan Blair.  Budinger's All-Rookie 1st team level play is just another example of Daryl Morey's genius.

I was very surprised to see Danny do nothing in the draft.  He always does something except this year.  Thought for sure he'd have snagged Blair once he was still available in the 2nd round.  Makes me think of a more agressive Leon Powe if that's possible.  As much as I like what Sheldon has done this year for the team, Blair very well may have beat him out for minutes and would be nice insurance for next year should the C's not be able to resign Sheldon.

[wiley]

ty lawson would have been great for us. He's thriving in a backup role right now and is an excellent player.

Budinger was the guy I wanted ainge to grab.

Who woulda helped us the most? I don't know... Jonas Jerebko I think would get a fair amount of minutes here. We need a quick longer defending hustle guy

Good point on Ty Lawson...Might have struggled to get minutes a bit more here than he did in Denver, but probably he would have earned them....

[KCattheStripe]

We could have solved this problem by drafting Wes Matthews!

[indeedproceed]

We could have solved this problem by drafting Wes Matthews!

lol

[kozlodoev]

Yeah, I love guys like Blair.

We already have Blair1 and Blair1a in Williams and Davis. If the plan was to draft for need, Blair is redundant. And the story with Powe clearly shows that you that knee problems can come back to bite you.

[Cman]

Who woulda helped us the most? I don't know... Jonas Jerebko I think would get a fair amount of minutes here. We need a quick longer defending hustle guy

Yeah, he looks like quite the steal.  I thought he would be a Euro bust like Jiri Welsh.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm also a fan of Jrue Holiday.  He's still developing, but already he can play excellent NBA-level defense.  He'd be a good role player immediately, and eventually he's definitely going to develop into more than that.

Tonight, he's played lockdown defense on both Mo Williams and Delonte, and has 9 points and 9 assists, as the Sixers are tied with the Cavs late.