Woj: Randle will need foot surgery after Draft.

[saltlover]

Ugh. Wrong player to drop. He is not dropping to 17, he was projected to be in the top 5. I don't want him at 6, and now there is no chance he bumps down other players like Exum, Smart, and Vonleh.

I think Randle had been trending lower prior to this.  Most people didn't see him selected before 7th, unless Minnesota wanted him at 6th.  It likely won't change the draft for us, one way or the other.

[Al91]

I'm laughing in my head at those who think he wouldn't drop very far. A back problem and a foot problem are two very different things with two very similar results in the NBA if the issue keeps coming back. I mean I remember a Celtics player was a Top 5 pick before he returned to school for his sophomore year and before his back was red-flagged when he dropped from Top 5 to 21st overall.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Why is the surgery after the draft? I'd think that whoever drafts him would want the surgery done ASAP, so Randle can get back on the court sooner.

[LooseCannon]

Why is the surgery after the draft? I'd think that whoever drafts him would want the surgery done ASAP, so Randle can get back on the court sooner.

He's still working out for teams.  He won't get surgery until after he is done with all of that and he won't be guaranteed to be done until after the draft.

[obnoxiousmime]

Why is the surgery after the draft? I'd think that whoever drafts him would want the surgery done ASAP, so Randle can get back on the court sooner.

Also because the team will want their own doctors to decide the best course of action/doctor to perform the surgery.

[gift]

Why is the surgery after the draft? I'd think that whoever drafts him would want the surgery done ASAP, so Randle can get back on the court sooner.

Also because he wants to nail down that guaranteed contract. Suppose something goes wrong in surgery.

[Fafnir]

Surgeries can go bad, no reason for him to take that risk until after the draft at this point.

[byennie]

This could lead to a very big drop in a draft where there isn't a huge difference between #8 and #20. He was already looking like a 7th-9th pick with Gordon and Vonleh passing him in recent months.

Now teams are going to be looking at healthy players like Stauskus, Harris, Saric, McDermott, Ennis, Hood, Payton, Young, LaVine... that's 9 guys who aren't far behind a healthy Randle on draft boards.

I think his range suddenly became #7 to #20, and where it gets real interesting is if he starts sliding and teams that didn't expect him to be there panic and pass on him as well. That's the Sullinger factor.

As redundant as he might be, he'd sure be interesting at #17.

[CM0]

Ugh. Wrong player to drop. He is not dropping to 17, he was projected to be in the top 5. I don't want him at 6, and now there is no chance he bumps down other players like Exum, Smart, and Vonleh.

How so?

Say that Embiid, Wiggins & Parker go 1-3, as expected, that means that 4-6 will likely still be Exum, Smart & Vonleh, in no particular order. Basically, the C's will still be able to draft on of those three players.

The C's will just end up with the last choice of those 3 players, which was probably the case all along anyway. I don't for one second believe Ainge would pass on one of those players to draft Randle or Gordon, Ainge is smarter than that.

Yeah. His most likely landing spot was LA with an outside chance of going to Utah. The Jazz are likely to take Vonleh or Smart at this point (or Exum if the Magic take Smart). I'd be shocked if the Jazz took Gordon over Smart if both were available. Either way, the Celtics will be able to get one of Gordon, Smart or Exum with Gordon being the most likely. I don't think Vonleh will go in the top 6.

[CM0]

Ugh. Wrong player to drop. He is not dropping to 17, he was projected to be in the top 5. I don't want him at 6, and now there is no chance he bumps down other players like Exum, Smart, and Vonleh.

I think Randle had been trending lower prior to this.  Most people didn't see him selected before 7th, unless Minnesota wanted him at 6th.  It likely won't change the draft for us, one way or the other.

If anything, reports that Vonleh is wildly out of shape may change the draft more for the Celtics. I now fully expect Smart to go top-5.

[Waew]

Could he fall to 17? Will Danny move up from 17 like he did last year?

[CM0]

Could he fall to 17? Will Danny move up from 17 like he did last year?

I strongly doubt he would fall that far. Middling teams would take him without thinking twice, as would the Celtics if he were somehow available at #17. I don't see a team like the Nuggets passing on him for a guy like Gary Harris or Saric, who may not be willing to play for them anytime soon.

[byennie]

FWIW, Sullinger was ranked as high as #8 in a Chad Ford mock draft just before the back issues surfaced:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/7793955/nba-mock-draft-version-3

He then slipped all the way to #21. So while Randle may fare better, it's not crazy at all to suggest he could slip to #17. That's a full 4 spots higher than Sullinger landed. It's gonna depend on just how scary the foot issue is. Feet are as serious as anything for big men.

[byennie]

Could he fall to 17? Will Danny move up from 17 like he did last year?

I strongly doubt he would fall that far. Middling teams would take him without thinking twice, as would the Celtics if he were somehow available at #17. I don't see a team like the Nuggets passing on him for a guy like Gary Harris or Saric, who may not be willing to play for them anytime soon.

Keep in mind that Denver passed on Sullinger to draft Evan Fournier at #20 two years ago.

[saltlover]

Could he fall to 17? Will Danny move up from 17 like he did last year?

I strongly doubt he would fall that far. Middling teams would take him without thinking twice, as would the Celtics if he were somehow available at #17. I don't see a team like the Nuggets passing on him for a guy like Gary Harris or Saric, who may not be willing to play for them anytime soon.

Keep in mind that Denver passed on Sullinger to draft Evan Fournier at #20 two years ago.

Not sure your point.  Fournier was a fine pick.  I was ecstatic to get Sully, but I was very disappointed Fournier went off the board.  Denver also a) had selected Faried the prior year, and b) plays an up-tempo system in an environment that taxes conditioning.  I think Sullinger would have been a terrible fit there.