Celtics making promise to Royce White at 21? (rumor)

[bucknersrevenge]

"White is a SF, not a PF."

That theory has been dismissed. He's a PF, and that his best position defensively anyway.

White does indeed have post moves. They may not be classic finesse moves but he scores very easily inside with his ball handling, quick spins, upfakes, and brute strength to bump guys out of the way.

Lebron just did that to the Celtics. White can use his wide shoulders and get his points inside while he develops other moves.

Yeah, in college against Joe Schmo in like 2/3rds of his games. He's not gonna be able to bully or shoot over 4's at the next level. And whatever bullying he may do on 3's he would get absolutely torched on defense. White is just a REALLY bad fit in Boston.

[arambone]

Joe Schmoes like Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones. Guys like Thomas Robinson.

Andrew Nicholson has prettier moves, but they are much less likely to be effective against top NBA players, because of his limited strength and low level of competition in college.

White played against much higher level competition.

White is also a great rebounder, something the celtics obviously need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7-hjkfkM20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmhRJrKtSDw&feature=relmfu

[bfrombleacher]

Sullinger pleaseeeeeeee!!!

[snively]

How much better can 6'8 ball dominating power-forward get?

He is undersized
He can't shoot.
He is a loaf on defense.
He has no post game.
He never played without the ball in his hands.
Outside distractions with his anxiety.


The likelihoods White struggling in next level is tremendous.

Where are you getting this idea that White has no post game?  Posting up was a major part of his game - he has great strength, good footwork, long arms, great spin moves and quickness and decent touch.  And he's an amazing passer out of the post.

And he did play without the ball in his hands quite a bit.  Ran an effective two man game with that blonde PG on Iowa St.  He has a great screening body, a la Big Baby, great hands to catch passes on the roll and ideal tools for finishing or passing on the move.

He's not just a iso, drive and dish guy.  He plays like Boris Diaw - mixes in a little bit of everything, only with more power and aggression (though less of Diaw's soft touch).

[Galeto]

Not White's biggest fan but Ainge does know how to draft.  He's an incomplete player though, which kind of fits with previous Ainge's draftees who have had flaws in either shooting or dribbling.

I don't see White being good on defense at either the 3 or the 4.  He's not laterally quick enough to stay in front of 3s and too bulky to effectively chase them around screens.  Against 4s, he gives up size in the post.  Sure he's strong but he wasn't a good defender in college either.  He's not much of a rim protector either.

On offense, it's great that he can pass but his poor shooting is a big negative.  I wouldn't make too much of his ability to handle because even 4s who can dribble don't handle the ball all the much.  An exception is Odom but that's mostly in igniting the break after the rebound.  If White could do that, I'd love it but he's deliberate.

He was the best option to handle and facilitate at Iowa St but he wouldn't be the best option here so his ballhandling duties will be significantly reduced.

[mctyson]

I hate the thought of Danny making a promise in this draft.  What's the upside?  That he doesn't work out for the handful of teams picking after us?  And the downside is that we would miss out on any highly-ranked players who fell to us?

If Quincy Miller and Jared Sullinger are there at 21, and we pass on one of them for White, it's going to be a big mistake in my mind.

The only rationale I see is that we have 2 picks back-to-back, so if one guy does slip to us we can still nab him.

Though this could be a promise from us for another team.  That would be interesting...

[mctyson]

It's funny how this thread became a love-hate fest on Royce White.  I guess, if the rumors are true, certain people don't trust our GM's ability to evaluate talent.

Personally, I would more than welcome a 6'8" 260-pound forward to can handle the ball and pass like Royce White on our team.  As long as he can run the break with Rondo and Bradley.

[henr1k]

I would love to see him in a Celtics uniform.

He is just the type of player Danny would pick in the middle/late first round, a TOP 5 talent with flaws/red flags that scare a lot of teams.

When you pick @ 21 you can expect a rotation player at best.
I know it's a big IF, but if he can handle his anxiety problems he can be the steal of the draft. It's a risk worth taking IMO. We know Danny isn't afraid of taking risks.

[Chris]

I am hoping that the promise to White is from the C's pick...but the pick will be from another team (Houston?) that is trading down to get White. 

I can see White as a Danny guy, because he is a classic "I am smarter than all of you idiots" pick.  But, I really hope he isn't. 

He is one of those guys with just enough of a combination of size, athleticism and skill to be a good college player, but he is not strong enough in any of those categories to be good in the NBA.  Those guys can be nice sleepers in the second round, if they are also character guys (Ryan Gomes types), but when they have red flags on their personality, and are guaranteed money, it is just bad times. 

When he is unable to create any space for himself off the dribble, unable to get clean shots up, and unable to grab rebounds over the bigger, more athletic guys, it will just be a countdown until he is out of the league.

[Jon]

I'm far from a college basketball expert, so I won't profess to know how good Royce White will be at the NBA level.  However, this seems to be a Danny Ainge pick through and through.  

It's been Ainge's MO to draft talented players that have one or more flaws that turn off other teams.  With White, it's his tweener status and his anxiety order.  

If Ainge is confident that the anxiety disorder can be overcome, White seems to have talent worthy of a pick significantly higher than #21, which is a good thing.  

As for his tweener status, as this NBA Finals proved (and the Celtics proved this year with Bass at the 4 and KG at the 5), the NBA seems to be moving away from this notion of classic centers and power forwards.  So I don't see a major problem with White at the 4.  Furthermore, any problems he has facing length, opposing 4s will have more problems facing his quickness and ball handling.  

[jgod213]

I wouldn't be against White at 21, but WHY are we promising anything to anyone.  We all know that DA had his fingers crossed behind his back if he even ever said that.  I think this is a whole lot about nothing.  

If DA gets a chance to get a better player than white either before or at 21 do you think he holds to that promise?  I don't think he does haha...just silly.

I hate the thought of Danny making a promise in this draft.  What's the upside?  That he doesn't work out for the handful of teams picking after us?  And the downside is that we would miss out on any highly-ranked players who fell to us?

If Quincy Miller and Jared Sullinger are there at 21, and we pass on one of them for White, it's going to be a big mistake in my mind.

  If Ainge really made a promise to White and his agent he'll keep it. He has in the past.

Yeah i don't understand the people here saying "oh well just because he promised to draft him at 21 doesn't mean he'll stick with it if someone falls."

If the reports are true, then Danny will draft Royce White at 21.  You don't make a promise to a player and then reneg if someone slips.  GM's that burn bridges like that don't last long in professional sports.

I don't know how much i put into this rumor.  As Roy said, there's just too much talent out there to make promises that far down on the board.

[slamtheking]

The more I here about White the less I'm liking him as a pick.

Defensive skills are questionable at the NBA level which means he's fighting an uphill battle to get on the court under Doc.

He's not a good shooter which is something we really need from whoever we get in the first round this year.  Too many guys on this team that couldn't put up points.

What really bothers me is that although his game would probably draw fouls on the other team, his FT shooting is so bad that he wouldn't make the other team pay for the foul so him getting fouled and bricking his FTs is almost the equivalent of the C's turning it over.  That really bothers me. 

[sofutomygaha]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7-hjkfkM20

White is like Lebron in more ways than one. Did anyone else watch this video and notice that White takes a big ol' hop step off his pivot foot every time he faces up and then drives?

As arambone and others pointed out, White is a versatile scorer who played some of his best games against his stiffest competition... he was a super-efficient 25-9 and shot 75% from the field against Kentucky in the tournament, for pete's sake.

If you come on this board and start to think that White is undersized or that he is somehow not a true PF, please watch some tape and then come back. The people who have watched the tape are telling you that he is an excellent scorer at PF, posting up or facing up. He's also a great slasher and finisher off the dribble. He has big weaknesses- he can't shoot or hit free throws and he has trouble staying in front of wings when he has to guard them.

Bottom line- huge strengths and huge weaknesses for White. bucknersrevenge and change are wrong to minimize the former. Hopefully everyone knows the latter by now

[wiley]

Some of you are saying this is a classic Ainge pick.  I'll tell you why:

Danny drafts talented players.  When a talented guy doesn't make it (Giddens), it's because the bbiq doesn't pan out.  That's not Royce Whte, who is talented with a high bbiq.

White's positives will outweigh the negatives
and he'll have a fine NBA career...

[Chris]

Watching that video just confimed what I have been saying.  He is just not athletic and quick enough to do that in the NBA.  He couldn't get separation with his first step against college big men.  He is not going to do it against NBA big men and wings on a regular basis.  The pivots and up and unders are nice, but in the NBA, that will be too slow, and will just get swatted back at him, and the passes won't be there, because teams will know they don't have to help on him.

I like the comparisons to Lebron, because that is exactly what he is, a Lebron clone...except instead of having otherworldly athleticism and quickness, he makes Antoine Walker look fast.