NBA draft prediction time!

[wiley]

I still think Ainge goes with Tony Mitchell at #16.

He's got every trait Ainge loves.  Athletic combo forward with skills.  Runs the floor well.  Easy target for Rondo in the open court.  Great size for a 3, & athletic enough to play 4 (Also a long wingspan).  He can guard multiple positions on the NBA level, & is quick enough to defend anybody.  You could not score against him at the collegiate level. Shot blocker who creates a ton of turnovers, & rebounds extremely well both offensively & defensively.  Passionate player.  Has to work on the shot a bit.

Tony Allen in a 6'8" body ?

Yes.  I'm paranoid about not picking up Mitchell and then watching him turn into a poor man's dennis rodman rebounder with better offense on some other team!

[Evantime34]

I still think Ainge goes with Tony Mitchell at #16.

He's got every trait Ainge loves.  Athletic combo forward with skills.  Runs the floor well.  Easy target for Rondo in the open court.  Great size for a 3, & athletic enough to play 4 (Also a long wingspan).  He can guard multiple positions on the NBA level, & is quick enough to defend anybody.  You could not score against him at the collegiate level. Shot blocker who creates a ton of turnovers, & rebounds extremely well both offensively & defensively.  Passionate player.  Has to work on the shot a bit.

Tony Allen in a 6'8" body ?

To me his best comp is Josh Smith.

[manl_lui]

Celtics does nothing and keeps the 16th pick and chooses Zeller

[No Nickname]

C's trade Pierce for Cleveland's #31 and #33.  They take Erick Green the NCAA scoring leader out of Virginia Tech and Kenny Kadji out of Miami.

With the 16th they take Kelly Olynyk or Dennis Schroeder.

[Eddie20]

I still think Ainge goes with Tony Mitchell at #16.

He's got every trait Ainge loves.  Athletic combo forward with skills.  Runs the floor well.  Easy target for Rondo in the open court.  Great size for a 3, & athletic enough to play 4 (Also a long wingspan).  He can guard multiple positions on the NBA level, & is quick enough to defend anybody.  You could not score against him at the collegiate level. Shot blocker who creates a ton of turnovers, & rebounds extremely well both offensively & defensively.  Passionate player.  Has to work on the shot a bit.

Tony Allen in a 6'8" body ?

Yes.  I'm paranoid about not picking up Mitchell and then watching him turn into a poor man's dennis rodman rebounder with better offense on some other team!

Scouts take on Mitchell

Tony Mitchell, 6-9 forward, North Texas: "I think he's Shawn Marion. He's that good of an athlete. The problem is he falls in line with the Royce Whites of the world where they think they have everything under control. I mean, if you're the only NBA player in the Sun Belt, how is your team one of the worst in the league? Overall intelligence is a question, too. That's something we're digging into. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, but you have to have some innate intelligence. He just didn't have a good year."

[Eddie20]

I think we go Larkin at #16. Jay Larranaga's dad coached Larkin at UM so I'm sure Ainge is well informed on him.

I also love this scouts take on him:

Shane Larkin, 6-foot point guard, Miami: "Stud athlete, stud kid. His size is never going to change, so the question is whether your coach can live with that. He had a 44-inch vertical at the combine. He's gonna be pretty [dang] good, man. If you have talented pieces around him, he's going to be really good because he likes to get others involved. He's an off-the-charts kid. He is truly about the team."

[tarheelsxxiii]

Has Larkin's stock dropped? I didn't expect him to be around at 16. I'd love to have him, Ledo over Shabazz, and Dieng if we're going big.

[bfrombleacher]

If we don't blow it up,

Al Jeff/Milsap/Gortat for the 16th, Bass and filler...

Utah can have Schroeder, Favors and Kanter develop together.

The Suns can use another pick. Bass is nice pedigree.

[D.o.s.]

Has Larkin's stock dropped? I didn't expect him to be around at 16. I'd love to have him, Ledo over Shabazz, and Dieng if we're going big.

I've come to the realization that I haven't done nearly enough legwork for this year's draft--mostly, I think, because of the shell-shock of our first round exit.

I liked Shabazz's Grantland interview. What's the word on Ledo--all I seem to read about him is that he's academically challenged.

Which is fine, provided his Basketball IQ is higher than his academic inclinations.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Has Larkin's stock dropped? I didn't expect him to be around at 16. I'd love to have him, Ledo over Shabazz, and Dieng if we're going big.

I've come to the realization that I haven't done nearly enough legwork for this year's draft--mostly, I think, because of the shell-shock of our first round exit.

I liked Shabazz's Grantland interview. What's the word on Ledo--all I seem to read about him is that he's academically challenged.

Which is fine, provided his Basketball IQ is higher than his academic inclinations.

Steve Kerr compares Shabazz's situation with Harrison Barnes. Great high school guy but was exposed in college, therefore dropping his stock, but still too talented to not contribute.

I see a lot of similarities with Shabazz and Barnes after I heard that, and if we can have that, that would be really great. I believe he has a bigger killer instinct and competitiveness over Barnes. He's not the shooter Harrison is, but he's a better scorer and gets to the line.

We draft him, please.

[D.o.s.]

Agreed. When I dug a little deeper into the whole "bad body language after a game where he didn't have the chance to take the last shot" all I could see it as was a positive.

After all, do you really want a scorer on your team who doesn't want to take the last shot?

For me, there's a certain "Monte Ellis have it all" delusion of grandeur I want in my scorers.

[bfrombleacher]

Has Larkin's stock dropped? I didn't expect him to be around at 16. I'd love to have him, Ledo over Shabazz, and Dieng if we're going big.

I've come to the realization that I haven't done nearly enough legwork for this year's draft--mostly, I think, because of the shell-shock of our first round exit.

I liked Shabazz's Grantland interview. What's the word on Ledo--all I seem to read about him is that he's academically challenged.

Which is fine, provided his Basketball IQ is higher than his academic inclinations.

Steve Kerr compares Shabazz's situation with Harrison Barnes. Great high school guy but was exposed in college, therefore dropping his stock, but still too talented to not contribute.

I see a lot of similarities with Shabazz and Barnes after I heard that, and if we can have that, that would be really great. I believe he has a bigger killer instinct and competitiveness over Barnes. He's not the shooter Harrison is, but he's a better scorer and gets to the line.

We draft him, please.

Did Barnes have the off-court problems Shabazz allegedly have?

[Birdman]

Any chance they trade Pierce to Dallas for the 13th pick?

[bfrombleacher]

Any chance they trade Pierce to Dallas for the 13th pick?

Dang, we're really selling low on Pierce. A *late* lottery pick in a supposedly very weak draft or 2 2nd round picks from the very same draft (Cavs).

Can't we look for a Bulls Marquis Teague type deal? A prospect a contender doesn't need.

LarBrd33's destinations were pretty nice. Golden State or Blazers be very awesome destinations for both Pierce and KG. Meanwhile we can get picks, young assets (J.J. Hickson, maybe Ezeli) in return.

(I'm preemptively answer the "well, where the hell are you trading Pierce then?")

[Birdman]

I think we going to get one of the 2 PGs..either Schroeder or Larkin..but Utah (14) and milwaukee (15) may take them both ahead of us..then what? I really like Shabazz but Ledo may be a sleeper