A case for drafting Randle and Hairston with our picks

[Tr1boy]

My cousin (huge Celtics fan) who i haven't seen in ages thinks the Celts if they keep the pick will choose

6th : Randle

reason:  BPA. He makes the opposing teams players scared/uncomfortable. He was too much to handle in the paint that he had to be constantly be double teamed/triple teamed. And usually he would still score on you with crafty flip shots, fakes/up and unders or through contact.   His defense is perfectly acceptable and is a very good post defender. He helped his team get to the finals as a freshman.

His biggest perceived weakness is his lack of exceptional length and no jump shot.  But in the end unless he can be stopped one on one nba or not, we will assume he will continue having his way near the post.   What he needs to worry about more is to better reconize when a double team is coming and make the correct passes.  And unlike say Aaron Gordon who shot at an abysmal rate all over the floor especially at the FT line, Randle at least shot the ball at the FT line at a very respectable rate (70 percent). Usually guys who can make FT's will have an easier time making at least the 15 ft jump shots in real game situations.
 
17th pick: PJ Hairston

reason: The Celtics right now don't have secured a stating SG for next season.   Instead of taking a chance with AB and his contract situation/matching offers, they will pickup a SG that can score at the draft.  They can still bring back AB but it will be on Celtics terms instead (less money or 2 or 3 years only).  If that happens, you still get someone who can come off the bench and score  points in a hurry.    If AB doesn't resign, Hairston is not somebody that is going to need alot of time to need to develop. He is already bigger and stronger than alot of sg's in the nba and his shooting , catch and shoot, dribble and shoot are all advanced. His defense like Randle is perfectly acceptable but his main calling will be to score

By the Celtics adding Randle/Hairston you add inside/outside help which is a good thing for a rebuilding team like the Celtics.  By drafting Randle/Hairston you remedy alot of issues you had last season and you add a legit post scorer/down low presence,  a deadly shooter,  players that can get opposing teams in foul trouble and make FTs, consistent scoring,  size and physicality

Can't agree with some of the things he said but at least he makes some plausable points. Especially how many things can be remedied by just adding these two players. 

Thoughts?

[pokeKingCurtis]

He's an animal in the paint from the highlights I saw.

When the worst you can do is draft Randle, life's not too bad.

[wiley]

Agree.  If the draft is about adding value to your team
regardless of position, then Randle should be the pick if he's there.

I'd only want to give up a bunch of stuff for Love if we can add a second star
along with him to go for it all next year.  But that seems unlikely and Love by himself
won't do much.  He's no KG. 

So, draft Randle and let he, Sully and Oly push each other and build their value around the league.
Trade one of them later.

If SG for second pick I'd prefer to gamble on Zach Lavine and a resigned Bradley (or free agent) to Hairston.  And grab a late First for another solid, non-gamble, role player type pick.

[celticsfan8591]

I agree that BPA is always the way to go, but no matter what happens before we pick there's no way Randle will be head and shoulders above everyone else who is available.  Assuming Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, and Exum are gone, that leaves us picking between all but one of the Randle/Gordon/Vonleh/Smart group.  No one in that group has clearly separated himself yet (though Vonleh seems to be gaining momentum), and of the four I would argue that Randle is the worst fit with our current roster. 

I like Hairston though, it obviously depends on who's available but I'd be pretty happy with him at 17.  If Danny decides his character isn't a big concern then I think he'll be a very solid 3 and D guy, which I'll take at 17

[krumeto]

@Randle - I wouldn't say his defense is acceptable. From what I've seen, he is often out of position and even when he is, he rarely puts the effort. On offense he looks like a PF Westbrook to me - a relentless, talented ball hog. He will most probably be a good player, but I don't want him in Green.

I'd much prefer Gordon, Saric or even Doug at 6.

@Hairston - In Danny I trust.

[Tr1boy]

@Randle - I wouldn't say his defense is acceptable. From what I've seen, he is often out of position and even when he is, he rarely puts the effort. On offense he looks like a PF Westbrook to me - a relentless, talented ball hog. He will most probably be a good player, but I don't want him in Green.

I'd much prefer Gordon, Saric or even Doug at 6.

@Hairston - In Danny I trust.

I like gordon also. But he wouldnt be say a go to scorer, take charge guy.  Right now we might need that more than anything else. Both randle and hairston are a bit of hogs but they are not inefficient or will not usually shoot their ways out of slumps.

You feed randle the ball inside and he wants to take charge. Hairston at the perimeter will shoot. So again both of these guys and their confidence in their scoring skills could be a good thing for the team

[Evantime34]

I like Randle but I am slightly uneasy about drafting at a position with our best young prospect playing there. That being said I think he is going to be better in the league than Sully. I bet he becomes a really good midrange shooter and after a few years shows 3 point range.

I think Randle's defensive woes are overblown because he doesn't create turnovers, he does however do a good job staying with his man, which isn't the worst thing. I also see Randle overcoming his length issues by improving his body and thus becoming stronger and gaining lift.

I would prefer Gordon or Smart because I think both will end up being elite defenders in the league, which is what we need if we are going to give Olynyk and Sullinger extended minutes in the future.

I like Hairston a lot. Stevens seems like he wants his players to take a lot of 3's so drafting a dead eye 3 point shooter is probably a great idea.

[Kane3387]

You draft the best player available. Period. You don't need a giddens, melo, or Johnson with this pick. You need an asset or someone who makes a current player turn into an expendable asset.

If you'd have told me in November we'd be getting Julius randle with our top, obviously lotto, pick then I'd have been elated.

[CoachBo]

My cousin (huge Celtics fan) who i haven't seen in ages thinks the Celts if they keep the pick will choose

6th : Randle

reason:  BPA. He makes the opposing teams players scared/uncomfortable. He was too much to handle in the paint that he had to be constantly be double teamed/triple teamed. And usually he would still score on you with crafty flip shots, fakes/up and unders or through contact.   His defense is perfectly acceptable and is a very good post defender. He helped his team get to the finals as a freshman.

His biggest perceived weakness is his lack of exceptional length and no jump shot.  But in the end unless he can be stopped one on one nba or not, we will assume he will continue having his way near the post.   What he needs to worry about more is to better reconize when a double team is coming and make the correct passes.  And unlike say Aaron Gordon who shot at an abysmal rate all over the floor especially at the FT line, Randle at least shot the ball at the FT line at a very respectable rate (70 percent). Usually guys who can make FT's will have an easier time making at least the 15 ft jump shots in real game situations.
 
17th pick: PJ Hairston

reason: The Celtics right now don't have secured a stating SG for next season.   Instead of taking a chance with AB and his contract situation/matching offers, they will pickup a SG that can score at the draft.  They can still bring back AB but it will be on Celtics terms instead (less money or 2 or 3 years only).  If that happens, you still get someone who can come off the bench and score  points in a hurry.    If AB doesn't resign, Hairston is not somebody that is going to need alot of time to need to develop. He is already bigger and stronger than alot of sg's in the nba and his shooting , catch and shoot, dribble and shoot are all advanced. His defense like Randle is perfectly acceptable but his main calling will be to score

By the Celtics adding Randle/Hairston you add inside/outside help which is a good thing for a rebuilding team like the Celtics.  By drafting Randle/Hairston you remedy alot of issues you had last season and you add a legit post scorer/down low presence,  a deadly shooter,  players that can get opposing teams in foul trouble and make FTs, consistent scoring,  size and physicality

Can't agree with some of the things he said but at least he makes some plausable points. Especially how many things can be remedied by just adding these two players. 

Thoughts?

Danny needs to find a taker for the 6th.

[Tr1boy]

You draft the best player available. Period. You don't need a giddens, melo, or Johnson with this pick. You need an asset or someone who makes a current player turn into an expendable asset.

If you'd have told me in November we'd be getting Julius randle with our top, obviously lotto, pick then I'd have been elated.

I agree. I didnt like his performance in the finals but there were rumors that he was injured/fatigued. It was onely one game and still helped take his team to the finals as a freshman. Pretty nice accomplishment.

I like the idea that he will instill some fear bc I dont think any team in the league was scared of anyone from our lineup. Hairston too could go off for 25-30 if he cant miss a shot also

KO if he puts on weight and at least doesnt get pushed aroumd can play center(if we dont grab a legit starting center). A ko/randle outside/inside combo could be hell to deal with. Prob not as good as gasol/zbo combo but somethimg like it. Randle unlike sullinger will be difficult to contain 1 on 1 in the post. He is just more athletic and skilled  under the basket

[Pucaccia]

don't know much about Hairston but I LOVE RANDLE. Think about, he came to Kentucky raw and played with 4 other Freshman. Of course his play is going to be inconsistent. If the other players are trying to learn, how can Randle be complete. Calipari did a masterful job.   I would be very happy with Randle.

[footey]

You draft the best player available. Period. You don't need a giddens, melo, or Johnson with this pick. You need an asset or someone who makes a current player turn into an expendable asset.

If you'd have told me in November we'd be getting Julius randle with our top, obviously lotto, pick then I'd have been elated.

I agree. I didnt like his performance in the finals but there were rumors that he was injured/fatigued. It was onely one game and still helped take his team to the finals as a freshman. Pretty nice accomplishment.

I like the idea that he will instill some fear bc I dont think any team in the league was scared of anyone from our lineup. Hairston too could go off for 25-30 if he cant miss a shot also

KO if he puts on weight and at least doesnt get pushed aroumd can play center(if we dont grab a legit starting center). A ko/randle outside/inside combo could be hell to deal with. Prob not as good as gasol/zbo combo but somethimg like it. Randle unlike sullinger will be difficult to contain 1 on 1 in the post. He is just more athletic and skilled  under the basket

That Kentucky team was loaded with the top recruits nationally. It's not like they rode on Randle's back to get to the finals. He played decently, but let's not make him out as the reincarnate of David Thompson's NC State of the late 70's.

I don't like him for the Celtics. I don't believe his game is going to translate well in the NBA against bigger players. The Zach Randolph comparisons that we read about are ridiculous. Also, if a player does not represent an improvement on a position we have already drafted (power forward), it makes no sense to draft him.  For those of you who claim that he is better at the power forward than Sullinger, even if I conceded that (which I do not), we would then have to trade Sully due to the log jam.  And guess what?  We would probably get pennies on the dollar if forced to do so.  A player, once drafted, is like a new car the moment it is driven off the lot: he depreciates rapidly in book value.  Compounded with being forced to dump Sully to make room for Randle, we would be lucky to get a mid-twenties first round pick for him.  Does that make any sense?

[lon3lytoaster]

Sure, I could get on board with that. I've said before I like Randle as a prospect a lot and in pre-season I thought he'd seriously be in consideration over Wiggins by teams. I'm leaning towards Smart if he's there but if he's not, Randle would be more than okay. I've calmed down on not wanting to draft him because of Sully. I think he can be better, no reason not to improve our best young prospect just because our current one also plays PF.

On Hairston, also currently have him as my 1B at the 17 pick. I really like Warren a lot, but Hairston in tradition for 3 is nice to watch. Reminds me a little of when Rajon used to hit Ray for that shot. Not comparing the two players at all except for how they take that particular shot, though.

[Nef-Oracle]

Randle isn't the bpa at #6. I think he'll slide down in this draft. Personally i'll take Aaron Gordon at #6 & TJ Warren at #17. I could have take Saric but Aaron Gordon is too skilled to pass on. His offensive/defensive skills makes him a safe pic in this draft. He's a weapon of mass in counters, finish every possessions, defend 4 position, unselfish, versatile, intangible & he's a tireless hardworker. He's still young & have a lot of potential. He is the perfect fit for the C's long term project.

[MaxAMillion]

I like Hairston a lot. I think people have forgotten about him. He could end up being the best perimeter shooter in the draft. I will be happy with him at 17.