2014 NBA Draft Discussion Thread

[SHAQATTACK]

Smart is dropping? Looks like he should came out last year

Just me .....but I'm not impressed so much .....I would not risk a pick on him.....I have a bad feeling .

Randle,  Exum and Hood. Are my guys after the big three .......I think it's a crap shoot outside the top  8 .......maybe some winners , but only time will tell.

Must tank HARDer

[Dog_Lover106]

Noah Vonleh = Al Horford ?

Thats actually almost a perfect comparison

if Vonleh figured to be Horford he'd be slotted ahead of Exum. 

I think Vonleh will be a solid pro but a better trade chip.  I'd be tempted to send him with Wallace and Bass to Houston for Asik, the first this year and in 2017 (unprotected -- or the 2016 pick lottery protected and then 2017 unprotected)

What does it matter where he is "slotted" and why should I or more importantly Danny Ainge or any NBA GM's care about mock draft positioning?

[ForexPirate]

two trades to change the face of the celtics

bradley & hump to detroit for smith - lets detroit do a do-over from their smith failure as both bradley and hump are expiring.  maybe danny throws in the philly pick he just acquired from the heat.

Bass and Fav to houston for asik

This helps assure rondo signs here by getting better and bringing in a friend of his.

new line-up
rondo - pg   - bayless
green - sg  - johnson
smith - sf  - wallace
sully  - pf  - ko
Asik - c  - iverson comes back from turkey soon

[barefacedmonk]

new line-up
rondo - pg   - bayless
green - sg  - johnson
smith - sf  - wallace
sully  - pf  - ko
Asik - c  - iverson comes back from turkey soon

Josh Smith is not a SF. His tenure in Detroit has shown that.

[Tr1boy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Y_viRB13c

Anybody know much about this pg prospect. Looks like he has upside.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

I've asked before, I'll ask again. How DEEP is this draft? I'm seeing alot of posts based on the 'horror' of a no.6 pick floating around lately, and its got me wondering.

[Evantime34]

I've asked before, I'll ask again. How DEEP is this draft? I'm seeing alot of posts based on the 'horror' of a no.6 pick floating around lately, and its got me wondering.

I'm not exactly sure how to quantify your question. Comparing it to recent drafts I think it is heavier at the top. I  think we should be able to get an immediate starter and eventual all star if we pick in the top 4, while we should be able to get a solid rotation player with our second pick.

After about 10 I consider this draft as well as every draft a crapshoot.

[Tr1boy]

Its a tricky draft. There are no durants or lebrons. But lots of paul pierce, david west, ibaka calibre players

2nd round is deep though.

[Mr October]

I've asked before, I'll ask again. How DEEP is this draft? I'm seeing alot of posts based on the 'horror' of a no.6 pick floating around lately, and its got me wondering.

I think this will be one of the deeper drafts in the last 10 years. But we do have to see if all the young guys are going to declare for the draft.

The top 3 guys sure look like future all stars to me. Then it looks like you should get at least an elite role player in the 4-8 range. Who is going to actually evolve into an all star? Who knows.

Then i dont see a heck of a lot of seperation from about 9-20. The players look that good or mediocre, depending on your point of view.

I really think the celtics have a good shot at picking up a good slider in the 17-20 range with their second first round pick. The late first and second round even have some interesting projects.

[Galeto]

I've asked before, I'll ask again. How DEEP is this draft? I'm seeing alot of posts based on the 'horror' of a no.6 pick floating around lately, and its got me wondering.

I think this will be one of the deeper drafts in the last 10 years. But we do have to see if all the young guys are going to declare for the draft.

The top 3 guys sure look like future all stars to me. Then it looks like you should get at least an elite role player in the 4-8 range. Who is going to actually evolve into an all star? Who knows.

Then i dont see a heck of a lot of seperation from about 9-20. The players look that good or mediocre, depending on your point of view.

I really think the celtics have a good shot at picking up a good slider in the 17-20 range with their second first round pick. The late first and second round even have some interesting projects.

I don't think it's really all that deep because a lot of the highly projected freshman and sophomores have faltered this season.  Some flops include the Harrison Twins, Kasey Hill, Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III. Brandon Ashley was playing fairly well but he's apparently going to return to Arizona after suffering an injury.

If you're comparing this draft to the last ten years, I doubt it's going to hold up to the 2008 draft which had Hibbert, McGee, Ryan Anderson, Courtney Lee, Ibaka, George Hill, Batum, Darrell Arthur, Asik, Deandre Jordan, Chalmers, Pekovic and Dragic go from the 17th pick on. 

An elite role player from the 4-8 position is probably not what a team wants from that high of a selection.  I think the role players starter from the 6th or 7th pick on but that's not good either.  I see a lot of role players from the 7th pick on, with possibly a few foreign players becoming more than that. 

[LarBrd33]

I've asked before, I'll ask again. How DEEP is this draft? I'm seeing alot of posts based on the 'horror' of a no.6 pick floating around lately, and its got me wondering.

I think this will be one of the deeper drafts in the last 10 years. But we do have to see if all the young guys are going to declare for the draft.

The top 3 guys sure look like future all stars to me. Then it looks like you should get at least an elite role player in the 4-8 range. Who is going to actually evolve into an all star? Who knows.

Then i dont see a heck of a lot of seperation from about 9-20. The players look that good or mediocre, depending on your point of view.

I really think the celtics have a good shot at picking up a good slider in the 17-20 range with their second first round pick. The late first and second round even have some interesting projects.

Listened to a podcast with Bill Simmons and Chad Ford this afternoon.  They seem to be suggesting this is a rather deep draft.  Simmons seems to think this might be a draft where the guy taken 12th, 14th or whatever could end up being the best player down the road.  Ford basically agreed that it's possible that someone like Tyler Ennis could fall out of the top 10 and end up being someone that you look back on and say, "holy crap how did that guy fall out of the top 10?"... but he was quick to reiterate that Wiggins, Embiid, Parker, Exum all have superstar potential. 


Lots of guys who could have really good careers, it seems.  Someone like Aaron Gordon could end up being a star.  Randle could end up being a star.  Vonleh could end up being a star.  I imagine over the next couple months we'll start to add even more names to our lists.

[Tr1boy]

If we draft parker or wiggings, then what happens to green and or wallace?

[Galeto]

I think I'd take Wiggins over Parker.  Parker's two advantages right now are supposed to be ballhandling and outside shooting.  His ballhandling is better and more creative than Wiggins' but Wiggins can still use the dribble to get to the hoop and also go coast to coast.  The advantage isn't big.  And as for the shooting, I think Wiggins has shot better since Parker's extremely hot start.  I don't know the numbers but from 15 feet out, he has to be shooting under 30 or in the low 30s.  His shot is pretty flat.  He has the look of a low-30s three point shooter for the first four or five years of his career. 

[Tr1boy]

I think I'd take Wiggins over Parker.  Parker's two advantages right now are supposed to be ballhandling and outside shooting.  His ballhandling is better and more creative than Wiggins' but Wiggins can still use the dribble to get to the hoop and also go coast to coast.  The advantage isn't big.  And as for the shooting, I think Wiggins has shot better since Parker's extremely hot start.  I don't know the numbers but from 15 feet out, he has to be shooting under 30 or in the low 30s.  His shot is pretty flat.  He has the look of a low-30s three point shooter for the first four or five years of his career.

i like wiggins too. His game has grown on me. Very athletic. Even if he has an off game or ill body condition can still do damage

[Galeto]

Parker is really slow off the ground.  I hope it's because he's gained weight since the start of the season because it's going to really hurt him in the NBA.  He shows signs of really good raw athletic ability when he attempts to go coast to coast or when he jumps for alley-oops so hopefully his quickness and explosiveness will improve with much better conditioning. 

Comparing him to his no.1 NBA comp Carmelo, Carmelo is also pretty limited getting off the ground on his drives.  He is a poor finisher around the rim to the point that his best shot around the basket is putting back his own misses.  However, Carmelo's ability to get by his man is elite; it's much, much better than Parker's at the same age.  Carmelo makes up for his poor finishing by getting to the line at an  elite rate and being excellent from 15-19 feet and now from three as well.  If Parker's going to be Carmelo as a scorer, he's going to have to find a way to improve his quickness off the bounce and improve his shot.