Jordan/Giddens

[ScoobyDoo]

I was disappointed with the Giddens pick. I wanted Jordan with that pick. And this isn't Monday mroning quartering backing for me on this particular pick, that is what I had on my draft card if available.

I just thought Jordan BIO made him a perfect project pick for a Celtic Team with Perkins and KG in place. His BIO said he had elite athleticism and solid defensive potential for a seven footer - and that he had a decent motor but showed inconsistency and needed to mature.

Stick a kid with those raw talents behind KG and Perkins, let them toughen him up and help him mature - excellent fit.

This being said, I agree with Roy that if a promise was made to Giddens it was a mistake and in general I would be against making promises to anyone during draft time because even if you do make a promise to a player there is no guarantee he will still be available anyway, so you're unnecessarily tying your own hands.

Perkins, Jordan and KG would have made the best defensive front the league has seen in many, many years. Jordan may also have prevented Perkins from being traded away, possibly...

Jordan would also be making our current team a legit contender - not because he is so dominant, just that he provides exactly what this team is lacking.

[Celts Fan 92]

Cant even front at the time I wanted us to draft CDR or Chalmers since they were available I had no idea who Giddens was, when I heard he stayed in trouble (stabbings, gettin kicked outta kansas) I was thinkin oh man we got another Justin Reed

[footey]

The fact that the Clips scooped up Jordan brings to mind the proverb that even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.  Talk about having a history of bad draft picks.  The Kandi Man as the first pick, for example. 

[the_Bird]

Flip-flop the Billy Walker and Giddens picks that year, and no one would be giving Ainge any grief about that draft.  Walker's performed at about the level that would have been expected of 30th-overall pick, and Giddens has played like most mid/late second rounders (i.e., he's out of the league!)  

I don't recall nearly as much Jordan love back at the time as some people here want to present; Chalmers is the one I recall a lot of people wanting, followed by CDR.  I'm sure there were some, but if there was a "consensus" pick at the time, it was Chalmers.

[Celtics4ever]

Hindsight Jordan was a pick we missed but so did many other teams.

[LooseCannon]

I don't understand why you would make a promise to one specific prospect.

Usually, the promise involves getting a player to refuse to workout for other teams.  If you can get a player who should be drafted 20th overall to do things so that he is still there when you have the 25th pick, then it makes sense to do so.  Sure, you run the risk that a guy who should have been 15th will also still be there.

There was a rumor that Ainge made a similar promise to Reggie Jackson this past draft, but someone actually took him, so Ainge locked in on his second choice, JaJuan Johnson, and picked up a second-round pick in the process.

[Eja117]

I don't understand why you would make a promise to one specific prospect.

Usually, the promise involves getting a player to refuse to workout for other teams.  If you can get a player who should be drafted 20th overall to do things so that he is still there when you have the 25th pick, then it makes sense to do so.  Sure, you run the risk that a guy who should have been 15th will also still be there.

There was a rumor that Ainge made a similar promise to Reggie Jackson this past draft, but someone actually took him, so Ainge locked in on his second choice, JaJuan Johnson, and picked up a second-round pick in the process.

Well yeah but there was no way Giddens was going higher than 30 I don't think.  

[greg683x]

I don't buy the whole excuse that Danny made a promise to Giddens or anybody and thats why he HAD to pick them.  Danny could very well have made promises, but I can't imagine him not breaking them if a potential future franchise center was there, just because of some sacred relationship between him and the kids agent.

Im sure this happens all the time, Didn't Big Baby say that Detroit promised to draft him and they broke it??  Or was that Leon Powe?

[snively]

I loved Giddens' skill-set.  Powerful, athletic guard who could hit the boards and bully his match-up.  A Bonzi Wells type. 

He just couldn't calm down enough to figure out his role and focus on executing. 

Shame. 

[Eja117]

I don't buy the whole excuse that Danny made a promise to Giddens or anybody and thats why he HAD to pick them.  Danny could very well have made promises, but I can't imagine him not breaking them if a potential future franchise center was there, just because of some sacred relationship between him and the kids agent.

Im sure this happens all the time, Didn't Big Baby say that Detroit promised to draft him and they broke it??  Or was that Leon Powe?

I sort of agree with this. I think your average NBA GM would punch their mom in the teeth to improve their team. And I don't think of "honesty" and "Danny Ainge" in the same sentence that often unless "lack of" is also in the sentence

[MBunge]

One thing being overlooked is that Jordan is past his rookie deal and is being paid by the Clippers 10 mil this year and 10+ mil for the next 3 years.  Add that to what Boston will be playing Pierce and Rondo next season, throw in JJJ and Bradley and assume that Bass picks up his player option and Boston has 43.7 million dollars in salaries, which means Ainge can't offer DHoward a max deal and even if Dwight might take a little less to be a Celtic, those 7 players alone would put us over the salary cap.

Think you can win a title with Rondo, Howard, an aging Pierce, Bass, one MLE guy and whoever is willing to play for the minimum?  I doubt Howard will think so.

I'd rather take my chance on getting Howard with a max deal and still having enough left over to sign somebody like Gerald Wallace.

Mike

[guava_wrench]

While the Giddens pick was bad, it was done with the same mindset that got us Rondo. Was the gain from drafting Rondo more than the loss from drafting Giddens (compared to consensus picks at those spots)?

[feckless]

While the Giddens pick was bad, it was done with the same mindset that got us Rondo. Was the gain from drafting Rondo more than the loss from drafting Giddens (compared to consensus picks at those spots)?

?

[Roy H.]

While the Giddens pick was bad, it was done with the same mindset that got us Rondo. Was the gain from drafting Rondo more than the loss from drafting Giddens (compared to consensus picks at those spots)?

?

guava is saying that Danny targets a certain type of guy in the draft:  athletic, long limbs, defense-oriented.  That's the mold that got us Rondo.  It also got us Bradley, Giddens, and Marcus Banks.  In other words, it's sort of a mixed bag, but when it works out, it really works out (and three of the four of those guys have had legit NBA skills.)

[Cman]

I just thought Jordan BIO made him a perfect project pick for a Celtic Team with Perkins and KG in place. His BIO said he had elite athleticism and solid defensive potential for a seven footer - and that he had a decent motor but showed inconsistency and needed to mature.

Stick a kid with those raw talents behind KG and Perkins, let them toughen him up and help him mature - excellent fit.

I won't deny that the Giddens pick was a bad one.

But a tall guy with raw athleticism?  Isn't the NBA littered with guys with this type of bio who never pan out?

Question: Can anyone guess the name of the prospect profiled below?

He has great size and an outstanding body for a ## year old, a body that is ready to come in and get minutes right off the bat as long as NAME prepares himself the way most NBA players do for the season. His frame is excellent and is ready to put on about as much muscle as he'll need in the NBA. His wingspan is very good as well, and he already knows how to use it quite well to intimidate around the basket. Athletically, he moves awfully well for a 7 footer; fluidly and with good coordination. ... when he wants to, he can certainly get up off the floor, on both ends around the basket. ... he'll definitely be considered one of the more athletic 7 footers in the league almost right off the bat. I especially like his quickness moving around the court; he's mobile moving both east to west and north to south.