Can we expect another surprise draft by Ainge?

[Tr1boy]

Especially when Danny picks in the teens/20s he has drafted his share of players where it has most fans scratching their heads.

Picks like Gerald Green, Avery Bradley, James Young come to mind. For the 2013 draft  moving up 2 spots to grab KO (though quite a bit of fans wanted Giannis, Shroeder, Dieng).

In the 20s outside of Sullinger, Tony Allen most have been failures such as Fab Melo, JR Giddens, JJJ

If we cant trade up I wonder what he is going to do  this time.  Maybe reach for Malik Pope at 15 (due to his ceiling) or reach a little for Dekker who has been amazing this tourney.

Same situation with the nets pick (could be even more unpredictable)

[indeedproceed]

Somehow when Danny Ainge drafts I always wish he'd take his chances on the long-shot-probably-won't-hit guys I like, not the ones he likes.

[BDeCosta26]

I don't always agree with his picks, often there is a guy I really like that we don't pick, but the chances he takes in the mid-late 1st seem to work out decently. Bradley, Rondo, Sullinger, TA and KO were all good picks considering their draft classes and the spots they were taken in. He's had some misses like Melo and JaJuan, but when your picking out of the top 12, especially after 20, 50-60% is a good number of hits to get.

I fully and totally trust DA to get us back where we belong. No matter how he does it.

[CelticGuardian]

Seeing as we have a chance to finish the season in the playoff picture, we should look to continue embracing the concept of winning with our young team.

I don't see the need for Frank or Sam in our team. We will be better off adding more depth to our center position and acquiring a young up -and -coming 3 like Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, Jimmy Buckets, or Kawhi.

[spikelovetheCelts]

I beleive DA will make a trade to move up  or to trade for a player on a team that may be rebuilding. If we took lopez from the Nets with a FA deal we could help ourself twice. Cousins, Animal or Embrid may come to us for future picks and players. Cousins is the wild card for the summer.

[GreenWarrior]

I know for certain we will draft a player that will be under-sized for his position. this I know for sure.

another thing i'm pretty certain of is there is no Lebron, Durant or Duncan in this yr's draft. the likelihood of Ainge trading up is about 20%. he's saving the plethora of picks to acquire established talent, not waste 'em on unknown commodities.

[hwangjini_1]

Especially when Danny picks in the teens/20s he has drafted his share of players where it has most fans scratching their heads.

Picks like Gerald Green, Avery Bradley, James Young come to mind. For the 2013 draft  moving up 2 spots to grab KO (though quite a bit of fans wanted Giannis, Shroeder, Dieng).

In the 20s outside of Sullinger, Tony Allen most have been failures such as Fab Melo, JR Giddens, JJJ

If we cant trade up I wonder what he is going to do  this time.  Maybe reach for Malik Pope at 15 (due to his ceiling) or reach a little for Dekker who has been amazing this tourney.

Same situation with the nets pick (could be even more unpredictable)

i see the same old story, but the historical data does not back it up. for drafting in the 20s of the first round, ainge has a record of success that surpasses most every other GM. only around 25% of those players drafted in that range become any sort of regular nba player.

using that as our measure, in place of using some mythical GM with perfect knowledge, ainge has drafted well. add to that his above average record of finding passable talent in the second round.

all of this has been pointed out here on cb ad naseum. perhaps we can move beyond this tired and trite narrative.

[chambers]

I know for certain we will draft a player that will be under-sized for his position. this I know for sure.

another thing i'm pretty certain of is there is no Lebron, Durant or Duncan in this yr's draft. the likelihood of Ainge trading up is about 20%. he's saving the plethora of picks to acquire established talent, not waste 'em on unknown commodities.

I wouldn't be so sure.
We've go to ask...what established talent is there to be acquired via trade with these picks?
I really think there's a much higher chance he combines picks and trades current role players to move up and draft someone he thinks has All Star potential.

If someone's an impact player, why would they be given up for picks?
The 2016 Nets pick and 2017 Nets pick swap haven't got that long before they must be used, so their lustre and attractiveness goes down unless Lopez/Williams get injured before their contracts end.

Danny traded up to get Olynyk and Brad Stevens loves stretch fours and three point shooters. Olynyk and Sully don't appear to be the long term solution at PF unless Sully can fix his attitude and 3 point shot. Olynyk is just so clumsy and soft that's it hard to picture him being the long term solution either.
The draft is always going to be hit or miss but so is waiting around for a disgruntled star.

So I think there's gotta be a combined strategy of trying to draft 'binkies' with mid-late lottery picks whilst acquiring players with picks and acquiring picks with players.

[Smartacus]

I know for certain we will draft a player that will be under-sized for his position. this I know for sure.

another thing i'm pretty certain of is there is no Lebron, Durant or Duncan in this yr's draft. the likelihood of Ainge trading up is about 20%. he's saving the plethora of picks to acquire established talent, not waste 'em on unknown commodities.

Well Mario Hezonja thinks he's as good as Lebron, Durant and Duncan. Does that count?

[vjcsmoke]

When has Danny traded picks for established talent?  Well Isaiah Thomas looks like a very good pickup right now and we only gave up an expiring contract in Marcus Thornton and late 1st round pick (Cleveland's) to get him.  I'd say he was a fairly well proven talent too.  At least, much more proven than the draftees we are considering now.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/19/report-suns-trade-isaiah-thomas-to-celtics/

I'd like to see us make a slight move up to get a dropping talent.  If for example Stanley Johnson or Cauley Stein drop out of the top 8, I'd love to see us make the move up to get one of those guys because they could be difference-makers for the Celtics!

[Monkhouse]

My dream is that Ainge can pry Cousins from SAC.

Wouldn't that be lovely?

I would love to see DMC; he would look great in green.

[PhoSita]

I expect Ainge to try very hard to combine some of our assets (picks and cost-controlled role players) to move up into the top 5 or at least the middle of the lottery.

If he can't do that, perhaps he'll see about trading out of the first round entirely by looking to combine our two picks with one of our better young pieces (e.g. Bradley, Sullinger) and trying to find an upgrade.  That seems rather unlikely to me, but you never know.

If Ainge uses the picks, expect him to take a guy who's a bit of tweener with proven ability to produce at the college level.  Looney, Harrell, Kaminsky, Johnson, Grant, Dunn, and perhaps Portis seem to fit the bill.

[Smartacus]

I expect Ainge to try very hard to combine some of our assets (picks and cost-controlled role players) to move up into the top 5 or at least the middle of the lottery.

If he can't do that, perhaps he'll see about trading out of the first round entirely by looking to combine our two picks with one of our better young pieces (e.g. Bradley, Sullinger) and trying to find an upgrade.  That seems rather unlikely to me, but you never know.

If Ainge uses the picks, expect him to take a guy who's a bit of tweener with proven ability to produce at the college level.  Looney, Harrell, Kaminsky, Johnson, Grant, Dunn, and perhaps Portis seem to fit the bill.

Ainge's trades lately have been pretty mutually beneficial for both teams particularly Memphis. You could argue that Memphis owes much of its emergence to the steady production brought on by Courtney Lee and Tony Allen as well as the talent and shot creating ability of Jeff Green.

Who's to say a team like Portland or Minnesota doesn't see how much Memphis improved and seek an asset exchange with Danny Ainge? I think the next big Boston trade could very well be one that no one on this blog has ever thought of. Exciting times ahead.

[colincb]

I doubt we make 4 picks.