We have missed on two of our last three first round picks.

[ctrey]

Melo has been a total stiff who can not stay out the way of a door frame. We were wiped out by injuries and dopes running off to the Balkans and Melo still could not get time in on the team. Rather than bring him up after Jason Collins got traded we brought in guys who just left the Chinese league.

Then JaJuan Johnson. If you can name the three D-League teams he has bounced around this year without looking it up I will send you a prize. I think that sums that up nicely.

Thank goodness we did get Sullinger.

Danny has not been drafting like he used to. Has me worried.

[bfrombleacher]

Jajuan Johnson - weak draft, tried to fill a need that needed filling.

Fab Melo - still a work in progress. Too early to call him bust in my opinion but not for some, I guess.

[ctrey]

Jajuan Johnson - weak draft, tried to fill a need that needed filling.

Fab Melo - still a work in progress. Too early to call him bust in my opinion but not for some, I guess.

We could have picked Chandler Parsons instead of Johnson. he is awesome. I watch him here in Houston and just get furious about that. Particularly when Chandler actually said in an interview he thought the Celtics were going to pick him and was crushed when it did not happen. He recalled working out for the Celtics including Doc, thinking it was his best workout and that he left under the impression the C's were taking him. Alas we took Johnson.

I guess I just have to patient with Fab Melo. I have no choice.

[Atzar]

Agree on JaJuan, but we knew from the beginning that Melo was going to take several years to develop.  He wasn't going to help us this year, and he probably won't help us next year either.  He's the definition of 'long-term project'.  Too early to call him a bust.

'Last three first-rounders' is also a very convenient stopping point for your argument, given that he drafted Avery Bradley with the pick before that.   

It's also worth noting that the 2011 draft sucked after the first pick.  Danny missed on JaJuan Johnson, but very few guys drafted after him have done anything.  Chandler Parsons is good, Jimmy Butler is looking like a very nice prospect, Isaiah Thomas has played well for the Kings and Norris Cole is a serviceable backup guard, but the list basically ends there. 

All in all, I wouldn't read too far into it at this point.

[CelticConcourse]

Jajuan Johnson - weak draft, tried to fill a need that needed filling.

Fab Melo - still a work in progress. Too early to call him bust in my opinion but not for some, I guess.

We could have picked Chandler Parsons instead of Johnson. he is awesome. I watch him here in Houston and just get furious about that. Particularly when Chandler actually said in an interview he thought the Celtics were going to pick him and was crushed when it did not happen. He recalled working out for the Celtics including Doc, thinking it was his best workout and that he left under the impression the C's were taking him. Alas we took Johnson.

I guess I just have to patient with Fab Melo. I have no choice.

NOOOOOOOOO. So close.... why no Parsons. 

[CelticConcourse]

Eh, let's go back a bit more

Tony Allen - one of the best wing guards in the NBA still
Delonte West - wasn't a bust, had a career for a while
Al Jefferson - still playing, successfully
Gerald Green - getting into a nice niche in Indiana
Randy Foye - has been doing great
Jeff Green - great player
JR Giddens - bust
Avery Bradley - panning out as a great defender
MarShon Brooks - had a nice year in New Jersey
Fab Melo - still developing
Jared Sullinger - can be a great player

Fair enough (OK, maybe we didn't exactly keep all those players... )

[Atzar]

Eh, let's go back a bit more

Tony Allen - one of the best wing guards in the NBA still
Delonte West - wasn't a bust, had a career for a while
Al Jefferson - still playing, successfully
Gerald Green - getting into a nice niche in Indiana
Randy Foye - has been doing great
Jeff Green - great player
JR Giddens - bust
Avery Bradley - panning out as a great defender
MarShon Brooks - had a nice year in New Jersey
Fab Melo - still developing
Jared Sullinger - can be a great player

Fair enough (OK, maybe we didn't exactly keep all those players... )

Gerald Green was a bust where he was picked.  Just because he became a serviceable roleplayer several years later doesn't change the fact that he was a bust. 

I don't consider MarShon Brooks to be our pick.  He's also not very good, but that's beside the point.


Also, I object to the idea of hindsight drafting where you label a pick as trash simply because a guy taken later happened to turn out good.  That logic makes some sense in the top ~5 picks in the draft, but not later when so much is dependent upon team needs and everybody has warts.  JaJuan Johnson was a bust because JaJuan Johnson was a bust, not because Chandler Parsons wildly exceeded everybody's expectations. 

[lightspeed5]

brooks was not our pick.... danny said he wasnt even on our map.

[Celtics18]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him. 

[bfrombleacher]

brooks was not our pick.... danny said he wasnt even on our map.

We got a pick out of that trade too.

Jajuan Johnson - weak draft, tried to fill a need that needed filling.

Fab Melo - still a work in progress. Too early to call him bust in my opinion but not for some, I guess.

We could have picked Chandler Parsons instead of Johnson. he is awesome. I watch him here in Houston and just get furious about that. Particularly when Chandler actually said in an interview he thought the Celtics were going to pick him and was crushed when it did not happen. He recalled working out for the Celtics including Doc, thinking it was his best workout and that he left under the impression the C's were taking him. Alas we took Johnson.

That's unfortunate but then other teams passed on Parsons too. The picks immediately after JJJ aren't exactly taking the league by storm either.

Plus he flipped ETM and JJJ for Courtney Lee.

He also cashed in big with two of the China boys, with White being good filler in the future.

The only one he really really missed badly on is Giddens. Apart from Jordan, pretty much half of the next 10 picks after Giddens could really be helping us right now.

[Atzar]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him.

I disagree.  He doesn't have a position.  Not fast enough to guard SF, not strong enough to guard PF, not enough offense to offset either one. 

[Celtics18]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him.

I disagree.  He doesn't have a position.  Not fast enough to guard SF, not strong enough to guard PF, not enough offense to offset either one.

I definitely see him more as a big, in the mold of Anthony Randolph, Ty Thomas, or Brandan Wright (the latter of which, quietly had a nice season in Dallas). 

[syfy9]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him.

I disagree.  He doesn't have a position.  Not fast enough to guard SF, not strong enough to guard PF, not enough offense to offset either one.

I definitely see him more as a big, in the mold of Anthony Randolph, Ty Thomas, or Brandan Wright (the latter of which, quietly had a nice season in Dallas).

None of those 3 are sure-fire starters on any given team; they're all role players.


JJJ's ceiling is probably a role player, though.

[GreenEnvy]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him.

Glad to see an actual former Celtic is on CelticsBlog.

Hi Jujuan!

[tarheelsxxiii]

JJJ is going to be a player in this league.  The mistake Danny made was not in drafting him, but in not being more patient with him.

I disagree.  He doesn't have a position.  Not fast enough to guard SF, not strong enough to guard PF, not enough offense to offset either one.

I definitely see him more as a big, in the mold of Anthony Randolph, Ty Thomas, or Brandan Wright (the latter of which, quietly had a nice season in Dallas).

None of those 3 are sure-fire starters on any given team; they're all role players.


JJJ's ceiling is probably a role player, though.

That's wild. I called him a Euro player prior to his demotion... how could any one possibly think he has NBA size or talent? You literally need to have no concept of NBA basketball, whatsoever, to believe he can play even spot minutes in the NBA. You or I would fit as well as he, physically... and I mean that.