Danny has little trust with JJJ and Sully?

[BostonNative]

Disagree. There will few minutes for JJJ and Sully. The top 4 will take all the minutes. There just won't be enough minutes to go around. Not sure why we drafted those kids in the first place. Hope we can trade them later.

exactly though not sure what kind of trade value you will get for them if they are buried on the bench.

Why not just draft Brooks last year, if you are going to need SG anyways.

Dannys drafting pattern these years have been poor. Especially how they will be incorporated in the lineup eventually. You are wasting time and money. Danny wants to win now and have a team of vets. Then they get three project like picks in JJJ (needs to bulk up), Sullinger (needs to slim down), Melo (shape body and very raw still).

If you want instance defense you could of had Jared Cunningham, Melo , or just draft Melo and trade the other pick for a future pick. Also you could package both picks and get Zeller instead.

Honestly i wouldn't feel too great being in these kids shoes. No matter how hard you practice , unless you get real game experience you will barely improve.

are you eriously going to diss jjj and sully? late first round draft picks are not perfect, so you would be complaining no matter who danny drafted

let me ask you, even if you draft a guy 30th, is your intention to never play him? at least want him to be a bench player?

Why draft and pay money then?

i know we are deep and need to be. But Bass was sort of not worth getting. You really needed to waste money on obtaining a good Centre. This would of made more sense

I'll be honest, i know everyone is talking about we need a center but i disagree. Our main problem to me was OFFENSE. Not only were there times that our core stopped putting up points but the bench was getting nooooooothing. We had one of the worse benches and i really feel like that is what we needed to improve over center.

[Fan from VT]

When you draft a player, especially late, you are just taking a cheap chance that he will end up being able to contribute. Most drafted players can't contribute. Usually this becomes relatively apparent in practice and you don't need gametime to see. Hopefully JJJ improves massively from year 1 to year 2, but he was old for a draft pick and has less room to grow.

But they didn't draft him without intention of playing him. It was a cheap way to swing for the fences so to speak; they were over the cap and it was a way to take a chance on someone with upside. Most likely it won't work out, most don't, but it's not like we could have used that money on someone else because they were over the cap. And sometimes in the 20s you end up with Rondo and Bradley, WAY better than most FAs.

[BostonNative]

When you draft a player, especially late, you are just taking a cheap chance that he will end up being able to contribute. Most drafted players can't contribute. Usually this becomes relatively apparent in practice and you don't need gametime to see. Hopefully JJJ improves massively from year 1 to year 2, but he was old for a draft pick and has less room to grow.

But they didn't draft him without intention of playing him. It was a cheap way to swing for the fences so to speak; they were over the cap and it was a way to take a chance on someone with upside. Most likely it won't work out, most don't, but it's not like we could have used that money on someone else because they were over the cap. And sometimes in the 20s you end up with Rondo and Bradley, WAY better than most FAs.

Yup JJJ was trash and usless last year 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkPCzk9H2IQ

[Brendan]

Harsh reality JJJ is probably just not that good.

[cman88]

sullinger wouldve been a top10pick if it wasnt for his back...the kid will contribute this year IMO

BUT

do you really want a rookie starting?? bass will start alongside kG and sully will backup bass/KG

[Jon]

I think part of this is about retaining assets.  While the #5 pick and Al Jefferson were center pieces for the Ray and KG trades in '07, keep in mind that Ainge also included good role players at reasonable prices to complete the deal (guys like Delonte West and Ryan Gomes). 

Bass can serve as a starter this year and then potentially be part of a larger deal in year 2 or 3 if it becomes clear that Sullinger and/or JJJ are better (or at least equal) options. 

I just hope that they don't beat him out so quickly that he loses all trade value. 

[ScottHow]

I've got my fingers crossed Sully plays himself into the lineup like Bradley did last season. I mean he was gonna be a top 10 talent, so it could happen...I think.

[hpantazo]

sullinger wouldve been a top10pick if it wasnt for his back...the kid will contribute this year IMO

BUT

do you really want a rookie starting?? bass will start alongside kG and sully will backup bass/KG

Exactly. I think Ainge has a lot of faith in Sullinger, JJJ, and Melo, but if he had told KG that those guys will be playing heavy minutes next year, KG would have retired. You can't go into a season with the mentally of depending on rookies if you want to win. If they work their way in and prove themselves, great, but you can't bet on it.

[LarBrd33]

I've got my fingers crossed Sully plays himself into the lineup like Bradley did last season. I mean he was gonna be a top 10 talent, so it could happen...I think.

If he was a top 10 talent he probably would have gone in the top 10.  I go with the crazy assumption that 20 players were better draft picks than he was.  Sure, maybe he turns into a player... but as of right now, I don't have many expectations of a dude picked 21st in the draft.

[LosAngelesCeltic]

Obviously from this vid, Johnson is ready offensively, but defensively is where he struggled, but in all fairness the Celtic schemes on D haven't been the same since Thibs, then LFrank, left us. And now we are on to Longabardi as the defensive coach. So these things take time to learn, and this truncated season with little to no practice time was difficult. This dude will be ok, plus improve faster with Sully and Melo pushing for PT as well.

[TripleOT]

Sullinger will beast from Day 1 and earn a starting spot. KG likes playing with a widebody.  If I'm Sullinger, I'm salivating about posting up in the NBA, surrounded by shooters like KG, PP and RA/JT, as opposed to having five college players gumming up the paint all the time.

He's going to have to learn the defense, but playing with KG should help in that regard.    

[LEHGOCELTICS]

I believe Sullinger will be effective from day 1, but JJJ is going to be a non-factor. Again, DA absolutely NEEDS to chase Anthony Randolph. ugh.

[wdleehi]

He has trust in his starters from last year.  He brought them back.




The Celtics do need another vet off the bench. 



Hopefully, these young guys earn minutes this year and make a guy like Bass expendable next year. 

[slamdunk]

Can you blame him? Johnson was a 4-year college player and was drafted by a team desperate for a quality big man. Yet despite that, he rarely got off the bench. What does that say?

[hpantazo]

I believe Sullinger will be effective from day 1, but JJJ is going to be a non-factor. Again, DA absolutely NEEDS to chase Anthony Randolph. ugh.

What? Anthony Randolph? I'd rather depend on JJJ.