Celtics Questions from Chad Ford's chat today

[Celtics18]

lol some fans here are going to be so bummed out if the only major move we make this summer is trading down in the draft.

The trade down idea was the sixth pick for Thad Young and number 10.  I wouldn't be bummed if we could pull that off.

[MBunge]

Biggest take away:

Porzingis probably won't be available at 17. Despite all of the criticism of him on this site, Danny reportedly loves him.  I could see us trading down from 6 for 2 first round picks, or packaging 17 with a future, to make sure we get him.   

Of course, if he keeps climbing, just take him at 6.

I'm amazed that in 2014, we're still seeing almost total crapshoots like Exum and Porzingis getting played up by NBA "experts".  Saric has proven at least a little but no one really has any idea if either of those other guys can even play in the league.

Mike

[footey]

Exum would be a very nice fit in Utah at shooting guard.

PG: Trey Burke
SG: Dante Exum
SF: Gordon Hayward

Multiple ball-handlers and playmakers. Everyone can shoot and create some of their own offense.

That would be an exciting team in the making.

When did Exum become a shooter? Scouting reports are that his shot needs some work.

[footey]

Biggest take away:

Porzingis probably won't be available at 17. Despite all of the criticism of him on this site, Danny reportedly loves him.  I could see us trading down from 6 for 2 first round picks, or packaging 17 with a future, to make sure we get him.   

Of course, if he keeps climbing, just take him at 6.

Let's trade notes after the draft, and see where GM's slot these guys. It's not just media experts.  The scouts and NBA guys also are weighing in, albeit off the record.

I'm amazed that in 2014, we're still seeing almost total crapshoots like Exum and Porzingis getting played up by NBA "experts".  Saric has proven at least a little but no one really has any idea if either of those other guys can even play in the league.

Mike

[CM0]

Six and Gerald Wallace for Thad young and ten?

Young is a good player, but I'm not sure how this makes the Celtics better in either the short or long-term. The Celtics need to draft a few guys at different positions so as to give them minutes and allow them to develop. I like the idea of grabbing the maximizing talent and upside in the draft, giving them a year to develop, then pull the trigger on big trades next year when we have a better idea of how these players mesh in lineups.

At the same time, another year of tanking is out of the question. Moving forward, Stevens needs the tools to create a winning culture, both for team chemistry and to appeal to free agents. In this sense, I support trading down if the Celtics can still get their guy and ensure that player can get some decent minutes. This is why I support a potential trade down to #12 to pick up Afflalo and Saric/McDermott given that they could compete while rotating Green and McDermott/Saric at SF.

Young is a bit younger and perhaps a bit better than Green, but we would still have Green on the roster and would struggle to find minutes for any SF prospect unless Green shifts to the 2.
Incidentally, the highest ceiling prospects in the 8-15 range are mostly SFs. I like Stauskas, Harris and James Young, but I see them all as very good role players rather than potential stars.

The ultimate would be:

Celtics trade the #6 for Afflalo and the #12
Celtics draft Dario Saric at #12
Celtics draft James Young at #17
Celtics trade the TPE, Bogans and filler for Asik and Lin

Roster:
Rondo/Lin
Afflalo/J. Young
Green/Saric/Wallace
Sully/KO/Bass
Asik/KO

I think that's a 4-5 seed with some potential young stars. They Celtics would also have a TON of flexibility moving forward: expiring contracts + young assets + tons of picks that can be moved to bring in a superstar once the young nucleus takes shape.

[BleedGreen1989]

Six and Gerald Wallace for Thad young and ten?

Young is a good player, but I'm not sure how this makes the Celtics better in either the short or long-term. The Celtics need to draft a few guys at different positions so as to give them minutes and allow them to develop. I like the idea of grabbing the maximizing talent and upside in the draft, giving them a year to develop, then pull the trigger on big trades next year when we have a better idea of how these players mesh in lineups.

At the same time, another year of tanking is out of the question. Moving forward, Stevens needs the tools to create a winning culture, both for team chemistry and to appeal to free agents. In this sense, I support trading down if the Celtics can still get their guy and ensure that player can get some decent minutes. This is why I support a potential trade down to #12 to pick up Afflalo and Saric/McDermott given that they could compete while rotating Green and McDermott/Saric at SF.

Young is a bit younger and perhaps a bit better than Green, but we would still have Green on the roster and would struggle to find minutes for any SF prospect unless Green shifts to the 2.
Incidentally, the highest ceiling prospects in the 8-15 range are mostly SFs. I like Stauskas, Harris and James Young, but I see them all as very good role players rather than potential stars.

The ultimate would be:

Celtics trade the #6 for Afflalo and the #12
Celtics draft Dario Saric at #12
Celtics draft James Young at #17
Celtics trade the TPE, Bogans and filler for Asik and Lin

Roster:
Rondo/Lin
Afflalo/J. Young
Green/Saric/Wallace
Sully/KO/Bass
Asik/KO

I think that's a 4-5 seed with some potential young stars. They Celtics would also have a TON of flexibility moving forward: expiring contracts + young assets + tons of picks that can be moved to bring in a superstar once the young nucleus takes shape.

If Love falls through I could certainly get on bored with those moves and I think they're each realistic.

[MBunge]

The ultimate would be:

Celtics trade the #6 for Afflalo and the #12
Celtics draft Dario Saric at #12
Celtics draft James Young at #17
Celtics trade the TPE, Bogans and filler for Asik and Lin

Roster:
Rondo/Lin
Afflalo/J. Young
Green/Saric/Wallace
Sully/KO/Bass
Asik/KO

I'm not thrilled with this idea but it certainly isn't terrible.  What happens with Bradley in this scenario?  Does Ainge just let him walk?

Mike

[CM0]

The ultimate would be:

Celtics trade the #6 for Afflalo and the #12
Celtics draft Dario Saric at #12
Celtics draft James Young at #17
Celtics trade the TPE, Bogans and filler for Asik and Lin

Roster:
Rondo/Lin
Afflalo/J. Young
Green/Saric/Wallace
Sully/KO/Bass
Asik/KO

I'm not thrilled with this idea but it certainly isn't terrible.  What happens with Bradley in this scenario?  Does Ainge just let him walk?

Mike

Probably. For salary and flexibility reasons. NTM Afflalo would make Bradley expendable.

I like this scenario because it balances winning now with flexibility and allows the nucleus to gel before making a huge Love-type deal. The Celtics would still have all of their future picks to move while upgrading at the 2 and 5 and picking up 2 high-ceiling prospects that can get real minutes to develop.

Would you be on board with a different combination of a SF at 12 and SG at 17 or vice-versa? E.g. Stauskas and Warren, McDermott and Young, McDermott and Hairston, Saric and Hairston, etc.

[LarBrd33]

lol some fans here are going to be so bummed out if the only major move we make this summer is trading down in the draft.

As bummed out as you'll be if the C's don't trade Rondo?

I don't want us to trade rondo.  I only wanted us to trade him so we could tank, but it turns out we lost more games with him on the court... so it didn't matter. 

[dreamgreen]

Six and Gerald Wallace for Thad young and ten?

You wish.

Me too.

I may prefer that they just take Wallace and we swap picks, unless Exum drops to #6 I don't really think there is a difference between 6 & 10. Our payroll would look a hell of a lot better though.

[byennie]

Six and Gerald Wallace for Thad young and ten?

 

Young is a bit younger and perhaps a bit better than Green, but we would still have Green on the roster and would struggle to find minutes for any SF prospect unless Green shifts to the 2.
Incidentally, the highest ceiling prospects in the 8-15 range are mostly SFs. I like Stauskas, Harris and James Young, but I see them all as very good role players rather than potential stars.

Young has been playing PF almost exclusively for a few years now. He's not a great defender, but matches up well with a lot of teams that are player bigger wing types there (Carmelo, LeBron, etc). That said, we have KO and Sully at the 4 spot already, and I wouldn't be too thrilled with spending $20M on Green and Young.

[colincb]

Six and Gerald Wallace for Thad young and ten?

You wish.

Me too.

I may prefer that they just take Wallace and we swap picks, unless Exum drops to #6 I don't really think there is a difference between 6 & 10. Our payroll would look a hell of a lot better though.

Not really. Less than $2 million 2014-15 and $1 million 2015-16 for the difference between Wallace/Young AND the picks per the NBA rookie scale.  Young's the better player, but with the 10th pick you're supposedly into a lesser tier of prospects in this draft.

[Who]

Exum would be a very nice fit in Utah at shooting guard.

PG: Trey Burke
SG: Dante Exum
SF: Gordon Hayward

Multiple ball-handlers and playmakers. Everyone can shoot and create some of their own offense.

That would be an exciting team in the making.

When did Exum become a shooter? Scouting reports are that his shot needs some work.

My understanding is that Exum has a serviceable but below average jump-shot. That it still needs a lot of work but has beginnings of a quality jump-shot with legitimate three point range.

A small sample was U-19 World Championship last year where Exum played 9 games, took 5.7 three pointers a game and made 33% of them. That is a lot of attempts. Almost half (well, 42%) of his total shot attempts in that tournament (where he was 6th leading scorer at 18.2ppg) came from three point range. Surely he has some aptitude for the shot if he is taking that many of them and they are such a large proportion of his offense.

... but like I said = small samples. So not sure.