I would have rather taken Pat than Marcus Thornton.
Why not choose a euro player to stash overseas? why not?
Because they would already be over there? 
Silly answer, but I think the real one is Ainge does not care for them. He has had numerous opportunities to take them and declines.
I would have rather taken almost anyone else instead of Marcus Thornton. What a waste of a pick. He just doesn't look like an NBA player to me. Danny should have selected Tyler Harvey, imo, as it was pretty much a no-brainer, but, again, that's just me. Dakari Johnson, Norman Powell, Cady Lalanne, and even Sir'Dominic Pointer were all still available, as well, never mind all of the guys who eventually went undrafted. Sigh.
I don't see why this is considered such a bad pick.
Very few mid-to-late second round pick ever end up rotation NBA players, so rather than take an NBA-ready (but mediocre) guy, Danny went for potential and took a gamble on a guy who has:
* Elite athleticism
* Very good shooting / scoring ability
* Decent passing and ball handling
* A good attitude (good motor / work ethic)
I really don't see how you can expect much more than that from such a late pick. The kid has talent, just need to see if he can make the most of that potential.
You consider Tyler Harvey mediocre? You do realize that if we'd gotten him and Hunter that we'd have come away with 2 of the 3 best shooters in the draft, right (and at 28 and 45, no less)?
The only thing that Thornton has on Harvey is athleticism, imo. He looks more like 6'1" to me, quite honestly, and Harvey is a much better passer and ball handler, never mind his shooting, he can create his own shot, which no one on our roster, save Rozier, can do right now. He's also a great kid with a great work ethic, so what's not to like?
I've also never bought into the whole play the percentages thing whereby the average of finding a good player in the second round is very low, because it tries to make it seem like every draft class is the same, when that is absolutely not the case, and I've made this point before. I don't care what the numbers say - if a good player is available wherever you pick, you take him, period. Don't just give up because the numbers say that it's statistically improbable to find a player in that range. Besides, what else are the picks for if we don't use them? We need talent, and I don't care where it comes from, selection-wise, in the draft. There were also a number of excellent undrafted free agents this year, as well, but he Ainge didn't look into them, either, smh. Ugh. Larry Bird got Joseph Young at 43 - why can't we do the same, especially in such a deep draft? It just boggles the mind, and the fact that they were seriously considering taking Nance Jr. at 28
is only further proof, imo, that we need better scouts, at the very least. Nance is a pretty good player, yes, and I actually do like his talent, but he was pegged as a late second rounder to undrafted for a reason, and could have been had at 33 or 45, imo. Stories like this, to me, are only further proof that it's time to take the keys from Danny, which should have been done a long time ago, imo.
Topic: Celtics came "really, really close" to drafting Pat Connaughton (Read 5531 times)