Kelly-Top Soph?

[indeedproceed]

I think we're going to see a lot of the 2013 Draft class redeem themselves this year.

Just in watching Summer league (yes I know it's only summer league), you can see a marked improvement in several players.   

Nerlens Noel is going to be a ROY candidate this year... so he alone will make that draft class look better in retrospect.

Otto Porter looked fantastic.  That kid never got an opportunity.

Anthony Bennett is in far better shape and showed real signs of the potential he was drafted for.

Ben McLemore will eventually start hitting shots.  His form is juicy and he's super athletic.  I think he'll show great improvement.

Oly was fantastic towards the end of last year... his shooting percentages over the last two months were great.  He could average 14-16 points on this lotto squad if he gets promoted to starter.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was was extremely aggressive and proved he's a natural scorer.  He was already getting minutes for his defense... it'll be interesting to see if his new coach gives him some offensive opportunities.

CJ McCollum looks great.  He was another guy who was injured early last year and didn't get a major opportunity.  Not sure where he'll get minutes behind Lillard, but that kid has game.

Shabazz Muhammad is a scorer.  Depending on what happens to K-Love, you could see him suddenly thrust into a key starting position on a rebuilding squad.

I know everyone looks at that class as one big cesspool of busts, but most of those kids are still extremely young and have potential to show major improvement.

Adding to this list, Giannis, Glen Rice Jr, Isiaah Canaan, James Ennis...lots of guys out there who are AT LEAST rotation players. If the line of future all-stars for the class is 2.5, I'm taking the over.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I love evaluating young players and my dark horse this year is Rudy Gobert. Some of you remember me talking about him and his play in summer league showed he got better.

I wish the Celtics could have gotten him.

[LarBrd33]

I think we're going to see a lot of the 2013 Draft class redeem themselves this year.

Just in watching Summer league (yes I know it's only summer league), you can see a marked improvement in several players.   

Nerlens Noel is going to be a ROY candidate this year... so he alone will make that draft class look better in retrospect.

Otto Porter looked fantastic.  That kid never got an opportunity.

Anthony Bennett is in far better shape and showed real signs of the potential he was drafted for.

Ben McLemore will eventually start hitting shots.  His form is juicy and he's super athletic.  I think he'll show great improvement.

Oly was fantastic towards the end of last year... his shooting percentages over the last two months were great.  He could average 14-16 points on this lotto squad if he gets promoted to starter.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was was extremely aggressive and proved he's a natural scorer.  He was already getting minutes for his defense... it'll be interesting to see if his new coach gives him some offensive opportunities.

CJ McCollum looks great.  He was another guy who was injured early last year and didn't get a major opportunity.  Not sure where he'll get minutes behind Lillard, but that kid has game.

Shabazz Muhammad is a scorer.  Depending on what happens to K-Love, you could see him suddenly thrust into a key starting position on a rebuilding squad.

I know everyone looks at that class as one big cesspool of busts, but most of those kids are still extremely young and have potential to show major improvement.

Adding to this list, Giannis, Glen Rice Jr, Isiaah Canaan, James Ennis...lots of guys out there who are AT LEAST rotation players. If the line of future all-stars for the class is 2.5, I'm taking the over.

It's going to be a story at some point this season on ESPN... count on it.  The "surprising" underforming of the "Great" 2014 class... the redemption of the "terrible" 2013 class. 

They'll peg someone like Marcus Smart with his mediocre stats off Boston's bench... and compare him to someone like Ben McLemore surprisingly coming into his own in year 2.

[krumeto]

So there's been a lot of talk about Rondo, Marcus, Avery, Sully, even Tyler...but I don't want to forget about our ponytailed wonder!   

I think Kelly, if given the minutes, could have the best stats from all of the draftees from 2013.  He looked particularly good in March and April of last year.  He also seemed very confident and comfortable in the Summer League, which isn't easy to do for a big.  We know that the SL is very heavy on guard play, which sometimes gets raggedy.

It won't be easy for Kelly to rise to the top of the sophs, as far as media perception, because he's not the highlight reel that Bennett, Oladipo, or Noel are so he might get lost in the shuffle.  But I am certain that he will have a good season showing a lot of progess and with the right situation - starter, fourth quarter closer, offense running through him some - he could be the TOP SOPH!

If that happens, I think the Celtics future will certainly look a lot brighter, with our 7-foot ponytailed wonder!

What do you guys think...can Kelly be the top soph in the 2014-15 NBA season?

Go Kelly!

TP for the optimism!

To be honest, I don't care about any NBA-given reward. I hope he is more confident. I hope our offensive execution leads to good shots for Kelly. And I hope to see him take bigs of the dribble more often.

If the reward is given based on stats, Noel and MCW are the favorites. Phily plays so fast, that  "per 36" becomes an unreliable normalizer.

I wonder how many minutes Kelly will play the center. With Sully and Bass, the PF is crowded.

[loco_91]

I hope he posts stats near the top of the class, but Nerlens is going to be far better. Probably likewise for Greek Freak and Oladipo

[Tr1boy]

KO is going to be better and more consistent vs last years version.

Sullinger is hanging onto the starting position by a hair now