All Wiggins all the time

[droopdog7]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not. 

[Vox_Populi]

Here's my way of thinking about it.  Obviously Wiggins is the guy everyone wants but even if we miss on him and still land in the top 5 then we're still getting a franchise player.  Parker, Randle, and Smart are the next tier after Wiggins.  Then after that you have Gordon, Harrison, Selden, and Young.  Very very impressive class coming up.  If it was up to me I would use some of our other additional picks to make sure we have 2 selections in the top 10 next year.  Then throw the money we're saving up at a couple nice FA's and we're probably contending for a championship in a couple of years.

Thing is...how many other franchises have the same idea? If this class is a good as people expect, we're all in for some of the worst basketball ever played on purpose.

[rondoallaturca]

The differences between Los Angeles and Boston are many, varied, and so well tread it's not necessary to go over them in great detail, except to say that the team has no problem outspending other teams for star talent and selling players on the free agent beacon that is hollywood. There's a reason Chris Paul wasn't doing State Farm ads in New Orleans.

I'd say that the 2009 Nuggets were certainly contenders, but that is, as you say, nitpicking. When I say Automatic Contenders, I'm really referring to the idea that you could almost definitely win a title with those guys as your best players. Building Block type players. The guys you absolutely want to have locked up for as long as possible as cheaply as possible.

You know what, taking a look at their contracts again, I'll backtrack on my comments and agree with you. I was not aware that Kobe, Pau, and Metta were all off the books that offseason, and Nash would be an expiring.

Anyway, moving on, I'd like to comment on your last sentence. You want building block players who you want to have locked up for as long as possible for as cheaply as possible. Rondo is a franchise point guard. I think that certainly qualifies as a building block player. He's on one of the best contracts in the NBA right now, and even though there's only 2 more years on it, I disagree with everyone who thinks Rondo will demand a max contract (reasons I can explain later if you care for it). I don't think Green will ever be better than a solid complimentary player, but in today's league where athletic wings are so valuable, I'd say Green at $9M a year is also a very affordable building block.

Again, going back to what you said a few posts back, it'd be a dream come true if Boston could keep both these players AND land a top 5 lottery pick for a chance at yet another high-level player at a very affordable salary. I really hope that's the case. I'm just not sure if we can get to that position without unloading one of our current affordable building blocks, and that's something I'd be against.

[lightspeed5]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not.

nope, scouts have been sauing these kids are all crazy good, and that kentucky has the most loaded team ever.

[D.o.s.]

The differences between Los Angeles and Boston are many, varied, and so well tread it's not necessary to go over them in great detail, except to say that the team has no problem outspending other teams for star talent and selling players on the free agent beacon that is hollywood. There's a reason Chris Paul wasn't doing State Farm ads in New Orleans.

I'd say that the 2009 Nuggets were certainly contenders, but that is, as you say, nitpicking. When I say Automatic Contenders, I'm really referring to the idea that you could almost definitely win a title with those guys as your best players. Building Block type players. The guys you absolutely want to have locked up for as long as possible as cheaply as possible.

You know what, taking a look at their contracts again, I'll backtrack on my comments and agree with you. I was not aware that Kobe, Pau, and Metta were all off the books that offseason, and Nash would be an expiring.

Anyway, moving on, I'd like to comment on your last sentence. You want building block players who you want to have locked up for as long as possible for as cheaply as possible. Rondo is a franchise point guard. I think that certainly qualifies as a building block player. He's on one of the best contracts in the NBA right now, and even though there's only 2 more years on it, I disagree with everyone who thinks Rondo will demand a max contract (reasons I can explain later if you care for it). I don't think Green will ever be better than a solid complimentary player, but in today's league where athletic wings are so valuable, I'd say Green at $9M a year is also a very affordable building block.

Again, going back to what you said a few posts back, it'd be a dream come true if Boston could keep both these players AND land a top 5 lottery pick for a chance at yet another high-level player at a very affordable salary. I really hope that's the case. I'm just not sure if we can get to that position without unloading one of our current affordable building blocks, and that's something I'd be against.

Agreed. I don't want the Celtics to move Rondo.

[droopdog7]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not.

nope, scouts have been sauing these kids are all crazy good, and that kentucky has the most loaded team ever.

Well, all I can say is that last year was supposed to be a fairly big year as well but it didn't turn out as such.  A lot of the guys that were projected to be stars either regressed or did not improve.  I would be shocked if the same didn't happen to many of these kids. 

[rondoallaturca]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not.

nope, scouts have been sauing these kids are all crazy good, and that kentucky has the most loaded team ever.

Don't forget that Shabazz was also a much hyped prospect out of high school, and look at what happened to the UCLA program. Unranked for most of the year, snuck in at the end, and lost in the first round to Minnesota of all teams. Then, he tumbled all the way to the end of the lottery, after previously being a consensus #1 overall pick.

There's also the Michael Beasley's, who succeed immensely in college due to their sheer athletic and physical advantages, but quickly fizzle out in the NBA.

I mean, I'm not trying to cast a cloak on the 2014 draft and say that it's going to be bad. There's talent, no doubt, and there WILL be franchise changers. But to expect any more than three or four is way too optimistic in my opinion. This is a deep draft, and I'd rather us keep Rondo and Green, land a pick in the late lottery (7-14), draft a Harrison Barnes rather than a Damian Lillard, and continue building a balanced but dangerous team. (Horrible analogy with Barnes/Lillard, I know, since Lillard is great but not a franchise changer like Lebron/KD, but you get the gist...too late to rack my brain for a better one).

[Chief Macho]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not.

nope, scouts have been sauing these kids are all crazy good, and that kentucky has the most loaded team ever.

Well, all I can say is that last year was supposed to be a fairly big year as well but it didn't turn out as such.  A lot of the guys that were projected to be stars either regressed or did not improve.  I would be shocked if the same didn't happen to many of these kids.

i couldn't agree more. this stuff happens all the time.  harrison barnes was supposed to be the greatest thing ever,  until he stepped on a college court.  i'm a arizona alum, aaron gordon is getting all the hype this year, but i've heard it all before.  soon as they get on the court things change.  trying to tank is kind of pointless. it's trying to predict the unpredictable. 

[lightspeed5]

Sorry, but I feel like fans are overrating most of these high school kids.  Wiggins sounds like the real deal but all the others may be just like any other top high school player from any other year.  Maybe they'll be good nba players, maybe not.

nope, scouts have been sauing these kids are all crazy good, and that kentucky has the most loaded team ever.

Don't forget that Shabazz was also a much hyped prospect out of high school, and look at what happened to the UCLA program. Unranked for most of the year, snuck in at the end, and lost in the first round to Minnesota of all teams. Then, he tumbled all the way to the end of the lottery, after previously being a consensus #1 overall pick.

There's also the Michael Beasley's, who succeed immensely in college due to their sheer athletic and physical advantages, but quickly fizzle out in the NBA.

I mean, I'm not trying to cast a cloak on the 2014 draft and say that it's going to be bad. There's talent, no doubt, and there WILL be franchise changers. But to expect any more than three or four is way too optimistic in my opinion. This is a deep draft, and I'd rather us keep Rondo and Green, land a pick in the late lottery (7-14), draft a Harrison Barnes rather than a Damian Lillard, and continue building a balanced but dangerous team. (Horrible analogy with Barnes/Lillard, I know, since Lillard is great but not a franchise changer like Lebron/KD, but you get the gist...too late to rack my brain for a better one).

everyone you mentioned came from a draft class that was weaker than this next one.

[rondoallaturca]

i couldn't agree more. this stuff happens all the time.  harrison barnes was supposed to be the greatest thing ever,  until he stepped on a college court.  i'm a arizona alum, aaron gordon is getting all the hype this year, but i've heard it all before.  soon as they get on the court things change.  trying to tank is kind of pointless. it's trying to predict the unpredictable.

Exactly. There's always the Darko Milicic's, as well as the Chandler Parsons's. Highly touted high draft picks are no where near a guarantee, and you can never rule out the nobodies that come way later in the draft.

everyone you mentioned came from a draft class that was weaker than this next one.

That's why I acknowledged it was a bad analogy. My point is that rather than putting all our eggs into a very unstable basket, it's smarter to play the much safer way of building forward with established guys on solid contracts: Rondo, Green, etc.