Anyone else fear we will draft another Jajuan Johnson?

[Celtics4ever]

With Ainge, always.

That is why he is an GM with a ring and your a poster on Celticsblog.   I bet you go to bed, proud.

[tarheelsxxiii]

With Ainge, always.

That is why he is an GM with a ring and you're a poster on Celticsblog.   I bet you go to bed, proud (unless his name is Proud).

(Sorry... for the sake of irony, I had to do it!)

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When you pick 16th in a poor depth draft, it's more likely than not! If he DOESN'T end up with that type of player he will have hit on another. We need to jump the requirement up to at least 3 years of college before draft or else this type of draft will become more and more common. If guys played 3 years, then we would see a lot more solid players come out and an improvement in the NBA's overall level of play. Then the 16th pick would actually be a positive versus a negative.

I think the first thing to do is figure out what type of players are available.  A lot of teams have preferred to grab a wild card with middle picks, hoping to strike gold (e.g. Gerald Green, picked 17th?).

If Danny accepts that he's going to get a role player, then looking at 3 year players (with legit size and an NBA skill) makes sense.  They've always been in the draft, but the hype has followed the other direction.

I'm hoping he doesn't draft another Gerald Green.

[slamtheking]

With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

[Interceptor]

And even though he missed on JJJ, he recovered by turning him and a pick into Courtney Lee.

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With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

But danny boy's a gambler, which is why there is a chance he'll pass on a solid role player and take a chance.

[slamtheking]

With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

But danny boy's a gambler, which is why there is a chance he'll pass on a solid role player and take a chance.

so your examples to bolster your viewpoint are?

[CelticsFan9]

With Ainge, always.

Didn't know Mario Elie posted here.

[Fred Roberts]

Gorguni Dieng is going to be a great piece for us. Not worried at all.

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With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

But danny boy's a gambler, which is why there is a chance he'll pass on a solid role player and take a chance.

so your examples to bolster your viewpoint are?

He drafted high school kids when he got middle-round picks before (GG and AJ), neither being close to NBA-ready, but having "potential."  Perk was a fat high school kid, too, and barely saw the court for quite a while.

He traded the only two lottery picks he's had (once, Rudy Gay was on the board in a "weak" draft).

And he's only drafted two centers, Erden and Big Al, and Al was considered a PF then, and Erden didn't come over right away.

He took the high-scoring (in college) Giddens over Pekovic (taken with the next pick), DeAndre Jordan (5 picks after Giddens), or Omer Asik (6 picks after Giddens).

Over time, I think he's gotten better at FA's, contract and roster stuff, but I don't think he's put as much energy into the draft in these playoff years as much as he did early on (when he screwed up the contract/roster/cap situation terribly).

There should be general agreement that Danny takes risks, though.  It's the nature of the business, I guess, but he wiffs his share.

[BballTim]

With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

  JJ played in 36 games, Green's played in over 270 and counting.

[BballTim]

?

  Hopefully this doesn't keep you up at night.

  The reality is no matter who he picks many people will claim he's another JJJ, you have to wait until you see him play to know for sure. Every time I see people up in arms the day after the draft I think of 2006, when someone started a thread claiming that drafting Rondo instead of Marcus Williams was the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Could somebody dig up that thread about Williams being better than Rondo. I wanna see it!

[D.o.s.]

With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

But danny boy's a gambler, which is why there is a chance he'll pass on a solid role player and take a chance.

so your examples to bolster your viewpoint are?

He drafted high school kids when he got middle-round picks before (GG and AJ), neither being close to NBA-ready, but having "potential."  Perk was a fat high school kid, too, and barely saw the court for quite a while.

He traded the only two lottery picks he's had (once, Rudy Gay was on the board in a "weak" draft).

And he's only drafted two centers, Erden and Big Al, and Al was considered a PF then, and Erden didn't come over right away.

He took the high-scoring (in college) Giddens over Pekovic (taken with the next pick), DeAndre Jordan (5 picks after Giddens), or Omer Asik (6 picks after Giddens).

Over time, I think he's gotten better at FA's, contract and roster stuff, but I don't think he's put as much energy into the draft in these playoff years as much as he did early on (when he screwed up the contract/roster/cap situation terribly).

There should be general agreement that Danny takes risks, though.  It's the nature of the business, I guess, but he wiffs his share.

Another poster pointed out that Peck had to be a second round pick for some financial reason (a buyout or something other to do with actually having him see an NBA floor), so there's got to be an asterisk next to his name re-his draft position.


I seem to remember JJJ's problems, aside from being a tweener, were largely mental/confidence, as well as his difficulties learning the Celtic's D.

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With Ainge, always.

like you'd have done any better than Ainge 

his track record is pretty solid for where's he's picked in the draft.  he's had a few, and only a few, duds where he should have had a better player that he had passed on.

Giddens is obvious.  JJJ only because they were linked to Parsons who ended up with Houston.  Who else?  Melo, maybe.  I'll call him a bust (gladly) in 2 years if he can't crack the rotation.

Gerald Green?  please.  that was a top-5 projection that slid to 18.  I, and most people, wouldn't fault a GM for taking that shot.  paid off in that case for Sully.

Drafting is the one thing Ainge has been consistently good at.  throw some substance behind your comments to back it up for a change

Well, ole GG didn't last much longer in the league than JJJ did...

But danny boy's a gambler, which is why there is a chance he'll pass on a solid role player and take a chance.

so your examples to bolster your viewpoint are?

He drafted high school kids when he got middle-round picks before (GG and AJ), neither being close to NBA-ready, but having "potential."  Perk was a fat high school kid, too, and barely saw the court for quite a while.

He traded the only two lottery picks he's had (once, Rudy Gay was on the board in a "weak" draft).

And he's only drafted two centers, Erden and Big Al, and Al was considered a PF then, and Erden didn't come over right away.

He took the high-scoring (in college) Giddens over Pekovic (taken with the next pick), DeAndre Jordan (5 picks after Giddens), or Omer Asik (6 picks after Giddens).

Over time, I think he's gotten better at FA's, contract and roster stuff, but I don't think he's put as much energy into the draft in these playoff years as much as he did early on (when he screwed up the contract/roster/cap situation terribly).

There should be general agreement that Danny takes risks, though.  It's the nature of the business, I guess, but he wiffs his share.

Another poster pointed out that Peck had to be a second round pick for some financial reason (a buyout or something other to do with actually having him see an NBA floor), so there's got to be an asterisk next to his name re-his draft position.


I seem to remember JJJ's problems, aside from being a tweener, were largely mental/confidence, as well as his difficulties learning the Celtic's D.

Looking at JJJ, I think some scout might have hoped/prayed/took the shot that he could be a KDurant-lite.

Oopsie, but probably worth a shot.

Seeing 3 legit centers drafted within 6 spots after Giddens, though...yuck.