Mocks starting to pick Mcollum or Giannis as possible celtic choices

[letsgoblue86]

Not sure if already posted, but GRIII is staying in school (much to my delight).

[Atzar]

Glenn Robinson and Mitch McGary are both returning to Michigan.  Weak draft becomes weaker.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I dont get these mocks.

We have guards that are better than McCollum, why should we draft him. He may not or maybe the best player available but surely he'll be a wast of a pick for us.

[sofutomygaha]

As of now, going through more popular mocks, I see projected to us:

Austin
Plumlee (x4)
McGary
Olynyk (x5)
Adams (x2)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope   
Dieng (x2)
Poythress
Adetokunbo (x2)

That's still the vast majority of folks predicting a big man to the Celtics, with the favorites being Olynyk and Plumlee. Last year, the Fab Melo pick was predicted by the consensus among mock drafts (few predicting the depth of Sullinger's dive)

[CelticConcourse]

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a pretty awesome name.

[Atzar]

I dont get these mocks.

We have guards that are better than McCollum, why should we draft him. He may not or maybe the best player available but surely he'll be a wast of a pick for us.

A lot of the mock drafts are just ranking the prospects at this point.  Not accounting for team need.  They'll start factoring that into the equation as we get closer to the draft.

[mmmmm]

I dont get these mocks.

We have guards that are better than McCollum, why should we draft him. He may not or maybe the best player available but surely he'll be a wast of a pick for us.

I am not advocating McCollum, and as already pointed out, the mocks don't really organize for team draft strategy yet.

That said, as I pointed out before, Danny will almost certainly use his first pick for BPA.

Again - his philosophy has always been to draft for talent and trade for need.

If you end up drafting at a position that you are already strong at, that just provides assets for trade.

So, if McCollum is the BPA (according to Danny's evaluations) at our pick, then he will pick him, independent of how many guards he already has on the roster.

[nickagneta]

Also, the combines can really effect players movement up and down the boards. All it takes is one bad athletic performance, set of measurements, MRI, x-ray or psyche evaluation and a player can shoot up or fall off the boards very quickly. So the mocks will take much better shape in the week or so leading up to the draft than what we see now.

[nickagneta]

I dont get these mocks.

We have guards that are better than McCollum, why should we draft him. He may not or maybe the best player available but surely he'll be a wast of a pick for us.

I am not advocating McCollum, and as already pointed out, the mocks don't really organize for team draft strategy yet.

That said, as I pointed out before, Danny will almost certainly use his first pick for BPA.

Again - his philosophy has always been to draft for talent and trade for need.

If you end up drafting at a position that you are already strong at, that just provides assets for trade.

So, if McCollum is the BPA (according to Danny's evaluations) at our pick, then he will pick him, independent of how many guards he already has on the roster.

In most cases I would agree. But there is such obvious depth in the Celtic backcourt with Rondo, Bradley, Terry, Lee, Crawford, and Williams all already signed for next year and only Williams non-guaranteed. It almost necessitates a roster move to keep the roster flexible enough to have depth everywhere. Making the BPA pick of an undersized 2 guard lessens the value of anyone you try to trade because the people you will be trading with KNOW you have to trade someone or eat salary.

So if McCollum is BPA but the measurement tool they use to measure prospects puts a larger player as very close, I would bet Ainge would go big then. But then and only then.

[Boris Badenov]

I dont get these mocks.

We have guards that are better than McCollum, why should we draft him. He may not or maybe the best player available but surely he'll be a wast of a pick for us.

I am not advocating McCollum, and as already pointed out, the mocks don't really organize for team draft strategy yet.

That said, as I pointed out before, Danny will almost certainly use his first pick for BPA.

Again - his philosophy has always been to draft for talent and trade for need.

If you end up drafting at a position that you are already strong at, that just provides assets for trade.

So, if McCollum is the BPA (according to Danny's evaluations) at our pick, then he will pick him, independent of how many guards he already has on the roster.

In most cases I would agree. But there is such obvious depth in the Celtic backcourt with Rondo, Bradley, Terry, Lee, Crawford, and Williams all already signed for next year and only Williams non-guaranteed. It almost necessitates a roster move to keep the roster flexible enough to have depth everywhere. Making the BPA pick of an undersized 2 guard lessens the value of anyone you try to trade because the people you will be trading with KNOW you have to trade someone or eat salary.

So if McCollum is BPA but the measurement tool they use to measure prospects puts a larger player as very close, I would bet Ainge would go big then. But then and only then.

I like McCollum. He measures out (or is projected to) pretty close to Lillard. He was scoring at a better rate than Lillard before he went down, and just as efficiently, with equal steals and rebounds.

The numbers:

Lillard: 24.5/5.0/4.0/1.5 in 35mpg, shooting 52/41/89
McCollum: 23.9/5.0/2.9/1.4 in 32mpg, shooting 50/52/85

Lillard was 6'3" 189 with 6'8" reach
McCollum is 6'3" 192 with 6'6" reach

I think he's under the radar because of his injury.

I say draft the best player and worry about the roster later. It's not like we're one piece away from a championship - we need assets. Though for what it's worth I think McCollum would be a better fit with Rondo than Bradley is, because of his shooting ability.

I have also promised myself that I will close every draft-related post between now and when we pick with the following disclaimer: last year I wanted us to get Royce White.

[Eja117]

I think this draft is going to be decent. I think it will definitely be better than people think.  I mostly just don't want a player that is smaller than 6ft 5.  We have Rondo at a very good salary for a while and Avery should get lots of minutes as a defender.

I think if people really think this is a bad draft then it's a good time to try to trade up.

I think the Melo thing failed and that KG and PP are gone soon.  I think looking for a competent swingman or pf/c who can give quality backup minutes or starter minutes is what we have to look for. 

I think the future starters are Rondo, Bradley, Green, and Sully. Center is missing, but I'm not sure you find him here. 

[Tr1boy]

what i don't understand is why is Mcollum being underestimated.  I wish people would watch the duke vs lehigh game in 2012 to know how good this guy is.

A no name school beating a top calibre team is no joke in the ncaa. Especially when one guy from that low level team, pretty much single handedly wins you the game.

And its no fluke as his stats is quite incredible even for the league he plays in.   

With the bad news that GR3 is going back to school (which is a smart move for him), plus Mcgary, this has become a even more interesting draft.

Top 11 players likely gone before the celts pick

Noel
Mclemore
Zeller
Muhammad
Len
Oliadipo
MCW
Olynyk
Burke
Bennett
Mcollum

6 players that celts have 50 percent chance of drafting
Plumlee
KCP
Saric
Giannis Adetokoubo
Austin
Gobert

Players that should be avail when celts draft

Dieng
Withey
Mcdermott
Adams
Mitchell (take a look at this guy below. Was suppose to be a top 5-10 pick last year. Mouthdropping athletic. Because of a coaching change, his play decreased in his soph year. Not sure about the video stating he has a low motor, bc from every other scouting report, he plays with intensity.  Could climb into top 15 utilizing ind workouts. Looks like a player Danny would draft. Too risky??)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6tNGmh3ieE

[CelticConcourse]

what i don't understand is why is Mcollum being underestimated.  I wish people would watch the duke vs lehigh game in 2012 to know how good this guy is.

Isn't that good? Now he can drop to our pick!

[nickagneta]

what i don't understand is why is Mcollum being underestimated.  I wish people would watch the duke vs lehigh game in 2012 to know how good this guy is.

A no name school beating a top calibre team is no joke in the ncaa. Especially when one guy from that low level team, pretty much single handedly wins you the game.

And its no fluke as his stats is quite incredible even for the league he plays in.   

With the bad news that GR3 is going back to school (which is a smart move for him), plus Mcgary, this has become a even more interesting draft.

Top 11 players likely gone before the celts pick

Noel
Mclemore
Zeller
Muhammad
Len
Oliadipo
MCW
Olynyk
Burke
Bennett
Mcollum

6 players that celts have 50 percent chance of drafting
Plumlee
KCP
Saric
Giannis Adetokoubo
Austin
Gobert

Players that should be avail when celts draft

Dieng
Withey
Mcdermott
Adams
Mitchell (take a look at this guy below. Was suppose to be a top 5-10 pick last year. Mouthdropping athletic. Because of a coaching change, his play decreased in his soph year. Not sure about the video stating he has a low motor, bc from every other scouting report, he plays with intensity.  Could climb into top 15 utilizing ind workouts. Looks like a player Danny would draft. Too risky??)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6tNGmh3ieE

If there was ever a year where the Celtics could move their pick, and or a player, and or a future second rounder for a switch into the top 10, its this year. And if they could, I would go for MCW and look to grow him behind Rondo and alongside Bradley. If MCW can grow his three point game into being at a 36%+ clip, and Bradley gets that corner three dropping more regularly, that back court could grow into the best in the league for many many years.

[Tr1boy]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/nielsen-on-nba-2013-mock-draft-v-1-0/

imo one of the better recent mock drafts i've seen. Its so devastatingly good that both Saric and Giannis will be just gone before we pick. And i can see teams having to resort to doing this, to compensate for missing out on guys like GR3, Smart etc. "potential" = only way to get worthwhile pick for some teams

BUT on the flipside, this guy thinks we will draft Shane LArkin, son of Barry Larkin. And i've seen him play, and he is a very good pg. Close to Chris Paul the way he plays. Just plain out composed. Downside is , he is on the smaller side. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxgpHuDI7W8