Bob Ryan - Celtics very interested in Barnes

[Fafnir]

8 foot 5 inch standing reach is too small. He is going to have an extremely difficult time creating shot attempts for himself as a SF in the NBA.

Get real Davis a Center only has 9' and he is taller.   I think it's an ok standing reach when you take into account that 40 inch vertical Barnes possesses.   I am not crazy about Barnes but long arms are not the end all not like he has short arms.  His wingspan is almost 7 foot.  So his arms are longer than his body.

Davis is undersized for a C and his lack of length hurts him.

The average standing reach of a SG is 8' 5" in the NBA.

I mean its not a deal breaker of his success, but it does indicate that he might be more suited to be a big SG than a 3.

[jr_3421]

I watched a lot of Barnes at UNC and the thing that stood out to me the most in terms of flaws was how much he struggled to fit into UNC's untempo game. Even with the best passer in the in country, Barnes seemed to prefer half court isolations ala Carmelo. Not sure how that fits the direction we're trying to go in with Rondo but it's something to look out for.

[guava_wrench]

8 foot 5 inch standing reach is too small. He is going to have an extremely difficult time creating shot attempts for himself as a SF in the NBA.

Get real Davis a Center only has 9' and he is taller.   I think it's an ok standing reach when you take into account that 40 inch vertical Barnes possesses.   I am not crazy about Barnes but long arms are not the end all not like he has short arms.  His wingspan is almost 7 foot.  So his arms are longer than his body.

How does a 7 inch difference prove your point? KG is only 6 inches taller than Ray Allen. 7 inches is significant.

I do agree that vertical can compensate for length.

[Galeto]

I think Barnes is pretty overrated.  He skillset consists of solid but not great shooting both off the dribble and spotting up and scoring from the post.  That's the entirety of his game, really.  He's not exactly a well-rounded, stat stuffing player.  I've never seen a player who couldn't dribble the ball, didn't possess short area quickness to beat his defender, didn't create much for his teammates and is coming off a season where his defense was below-average retain so much helium.  If he was a fluid, smooth athlete who just look like a potential star in time, I could understand but he's very robotic.

If he becomes a marginal player, in hindsight it'd be easy to see in the stats.  His scoring was inefficient and his "athletic" stats in terms of rebounds, steals and blocks was far below what good small forwards put up in college.  I think people will wonder what others ever saw in Barnes.

[satch]

Harrison Barnes is more overrated than an NBA official.

[byennie]

I hope he gets so overrated he becomes underrated in time for us to roll from the ECF into drafting him.

OK fine, maybe he's not the superstar some had hoped, but geez...

* Good scorer from a top program
* Good 3PT shooter
* Gets to the FT line
* 6' 8" and a good defender
* Good rebounder
* Just turned 20 years old 2 weeks ago

His freshman numbers were better than Beal's, who is being tossed around as #2 overall now and a "great" shooter (despite having worse shooting percentages than Barnes).

The knock on him is that he's not an alpha type, and has trouble creating his own shot. But yet he is STILL talented enough to go top-5 despite not being a big man. That should tell you something. Let Rondo set him up and he could be a helluva player, I think. A lot more impact than the Nicholsons and Whites of this draft that so many people seem content to draft in the 20s.

[Sherm Douglas Finger Roll]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

[Eddie20]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

Problem is that AInge will have to know KG's decision before the Draft (which is only 12 days away). What does Ainge do if KG is undecided?

[SHAQATTACK]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

Problem is that AInge will have to know KG's decision before the Draft (which is only 12 days away). What does Ainge do if KG is undecided?

My guess is Danny already pretty much knows what KG is going to do , or they have a comunication betweeen them , that will let DA know how to draft / or play the FA market.  He has a plan either way KG calls it .  I usupect KG will let Danny know for sure what he is doing very soon , as he realizes the importance ...especially if he comes back...he'll want the best team gathered up possible.

[Eddie20]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

Problem is that AInge will have to know KG's decision before the Draft (which is only 12 days away). What does Ainge do if KG is undecided?

My guess is Danny already pretty much knows what KG is going to do , or they have a comunication betweeen them , that will let DA know how to draft / or play the FA market.  He has a plan either way KG calls it .  I usupect KG will let Danny know for sure what he is doing very soon , as he realizes the importance ...especially if he comes back...he'll want the best team gathered up possible.

Perhaps you're right. However, if that's the case then the fact we've worked out Barnes, and had a meeting with Drummond, could be pointing as to what direction Ainge feels KG is leaning.

[hpantazo]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

Problem is that AInge will have to know KG's decision before the Draft (which is only 12 days away). What does Ainge do if KG is undecided?

My guess is Danny already pretty much knows what KG is going to do , or they have a comunication betweeen them , that will let DA know how to draft / or play the FA market.  He has a plan either way KG calls it .  I usupect KG will let Danny know for sure what he is doing very soon , as he realizes the importance ...especially if he comes back...he'll want the best team gathered up possible.

Perhaps you're right. However, if that's the case then the fact we've worked out Barnes, and had a meeting with Drummond, could be pointing as to what direction Ainge feels KG is leaning.

Or, it could be that re-signing KG is Danny's plan B, and trading up to get Barnes or Drummond is the actual plan A. If so, then the draft will decide if we try to get KG back and not the other way around.

[SHAQATTACK]

Posted by: greenpride32




Insert Quote

What's interesting is Barnes agreed to workout for the C's.  Typically a guy slated to go much higher (or even a little higher) than a team's pick will decline the invite.

Now the fact that he worked out for the C's is only half the story.  Did the C's like what they saw and decide yeah we're going to go all out to try and land him?  Or did they decide we don't like him enough to try and take a gamble?


I think you are on to something here.  Why would Barnes workout for a team slated to pick 15 spots after where he is projected to go?

My guess is Danny has several scenarios in play simultaneously:

Scenario A: KG comes back, we use our two picks on bigs and sign whatever solid complementary players we can for one last run. 

Scenario B: KG retires and it is blow-it up time.  Danny already has a deal arranged with Sac. or GS in case Barnes slides and the rebuild begins in earnest.  I don't think Pierce is going to retire and leave $32 million on the table, especially if he got traded to California where he is closer to home. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but I think you are right, the mere fact Barnes worked out suggests there is some smoke here. 

Problem is that AInge will have to know KG's decision before the Draft (which is only 12 days away). What does Ainge do if KG is undecided?

My guess is Danny already pretty much knows what KG is going to do , or they have a comunication betweeen them , that will let DA know how to draft / or play the FA market.  He has a plan either way KG calls it .  I usupect KG will let Danny know for sure what he is doing very soon , as he realizes the importance ...especially if he comes back...he'll want the best team gathered up possible.

Perhaps you're right. However, if that's the case then the fact we've worked out Barnes, and had a meeting with Drummond, could be pointing as to what direction Ainge feels KG is leaning.

Or, it could be that re-signing KG is Danny's plan B, and trading up to get Barnes or Drummond is the actual plan A. If so, then the draft will decide if we try to get KG back and not the other way around.

LoL ....HAA!! the ol which came first chicken or egg.  I'm putting my money on KG  comming back.  The longer he waits to reitre the less likey he'll do it . He loves to play , and hates growing older with a passion,  I think think the urge to THROWN IN another final year will be just too much to bare and he'll cave .... 

[WeMadeIt17]

Can a deal of draft picks happen before the finals are over?

[diddybop]

I watched a lot of Barnes at UNC and the thing that stood out to me the most in terms of flaws was how much he struggled to fit into UNC's untempo game. Even with the best passer in the in country, Barnes seemed to prefer half court isolations ala Carmelo. Not sure how that fits the direction we're trying to go in with Rondo but it's something to look out for.

If ISOs are what he loves, then thats crazy because his shooting % after three dribbles is beyond awful. Catch and shoot, in transition, pull-up off one dribble are all areas he excels in. When he tries to dribble and create, he struggles and it stuck out this season.

People say he played with a bum ankle. By the end of the year, he couldn't even dribble past big men who came out to guard him on the perimeter. He had zero burst and looked slow.

Now that his ankle has healed, he put up the second highest vertical, fastest 3/4 sprint and one of the best shuttle times. There is no way a guy can go from looking uber-slow, to practically acing the combine, without something happening to him. The ball handling is still a concern, but at least you know he is a very athletic, strong body, well suited to play the 3, measuring a legit 6'8" with a wingspan close to 7ft.

Someone mentioned in another thread how Ainge has targeted prospects with big hype/recruiting out of HS but struggled in college (Avery Bradley was one of the most recent examples). Barnes is in the same boat. #1 recruit in the country, failed to live up to it. He was so highly touted, but ended up leaving on such a sour note, leaving a real bad taste in your mouth.

I don't think Barnes will ever be a franchise type guy, but a solid #2 option on a contending team? He definitely has potential.

It's almost too bad he had such a good combine, because he could have slipped in the draft. Im starting to get the feeling he won't be there past 4 and it will be hard for the Celtics to get a pick that high.

[Celtics4ever]

I think Barnes is over rated but arm length isn't the end all.   It helps but people act like this kid is Michael Smith which he is not.