Quote from: The One on November 09, 2015, 08:29:57 AM

So Jordan and Drummond...for my money are two of the best two centers in the Association right now.   This is taking into account both sides of the ball.  (I see you Boogie!).

Now when they came out of the draft, the consensus was that they were both raw skills-wise.  But athletically, they were both very impressive for centers.

The question is, with so many draft picks, why can't the Celtics find the next Jordan or Drummond?

I think finding this piece could catapult them into a top two or three team in the East.

Who could fit the bill as a center who is a diamond in the rough now but could be special in 2,3, or 4 years?

Let's start with "the question is"...

You named two centers. There's 30 teams. Drummond was selected 9th in the NBA draft. Since 1998 the Celtics have selected that high in the draft only three times - 2006, 2007 and 2014. That guy wasn't in the 2006 draft. The 2007 pick (Jeff Green) netted us Ray Allen and thus KG - I'd say that worked out well for the team. So far I'm happy with the 2014 pick. So there hasn't been much of an opportunity to get a high-quality, early-in-the-draft big man. That's one of the rarest of birds in the NBA anway.

Even rarer is the "late bloomer" pick. DeAndre Jordan was a 2nd round pick - #35. That means pretty much every GM in the league passed on him. I remember there being work ethic questions about him but I don't remember what caused him to fall so far in the draft. But something did. Let's face it...the Clips got lucky. This year many people thought that guy was Robert Upshaw. He got cut by the Lakers. You can't go chasing unicorns. If one falls into your lap, you thank the Gods that it happened. But lamenting the fact that the Cs haven't drafted a unicorn isn't really rational or realistic.

As for the diamond in the rough, Ainge actually has been pretty good at that. He just hasn't found an all-star Center with mid-round picks and that's nothing to be ashamed about. Of course, depending on how the Nets play, we may not need to look for that long-term development project anyway...

Also look at Thomas Bryant. He has the length and raw ability I think you are referring to. He is not ranked in this draft but he could easily have a good game at Indy and be. I think he is more offensively polished than the 2 you mentioned, but we will get to see him play this year.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gChte3yrUwE

Quote from: The One on November 09, 2015, 08:29:57 AM

So Jordan and Drummond...for my money are two of the best two centers in the Association right now.   This is taking into account both sides of the ball.  (I see you Boogie!).

Now when they came out of the draft, the consensus was that they were both raw skills-wise.  But athletically, they were both very impressive for centers.

The question is, with so many draft picks, why can't the Celtics find the next Jordan or Drummond?

I think finding this piece could catapult them into a top two or three team in the East.

Who could fit the bill as a center who is a diamond in the rough now but could be special in 2,3, or 4 years?

Let's start with "the question is"...

You named two centers. There's 30 teams. Drummond was selected 9th in the NBA draft. Since 1998 the Celtics have selected that high in the draft only three times - 2006, 2007 and 2014. That guy wasn't in the 2006 draft. The 2007 pick (Jeff Green) netted us Ray Allen and thus KG - I'd say that worked out well for the team. So far I'm happy with the 2014 pick. So there hasn't been much of an opportunity to get a high-quality, early-in-the-draft big man. That's one of the rarest of birds in the NBA anway.

Even rarer is the "late bloomer" pick. DeAndre Jordan was a 2nd round pick - #35. That means pretty much every GM in the league passed on him. I remember there being work ethic questions about him but I don't remember what caused him to fall so far in the draft. But something did. Let's face it...the Clips got lucky. This year many people thought that guy was Robert Upshaw. He got cut by the Lakers. You can't go chasing unicorns. If one falls into your lap, you thank the Gods that it happened. But lamenting the fact that the Cs haven't drafted a unicorn isn't really rational or realistic.

As for the diamond in the rough, Ainge actually has been pretty good at that. He just hasn't found an all-star Center with mid-round picks and that's nothing to be ashamed about. Of course, depending on how the Nets play, we may not need to look for that long-term development project anyway...

Combine measurements plus NCAA stats for the three guys mentioned above:

Whiteside

6'10.5'' without shoes
7'7'' wingspan
227 pounds
9'5'' standing reach
27.0 no step vert; 31 max vert

NCAA - 12.9 pts 9.1 reb 5.3 blks, .5 stls, on 50.5 FG% in 26.7 minutes


Drummond

6'9.75'' w/out shoes
279 lbs
7'6.25'' wingspan
9'1.5'' standing reach
31.5 no step vert; 33.5 max vert

NCAA - 28.4 minutes, 10.0 pts, 7.6 minutes, 2.7 blks, .8 stls, on 53.8 FG%


Deandre Jordan

6'9.75'' w/o shoes
250 lbs
7'6'' wingspan
9'5.5'' standing reach
26.0 no step vert
30.5 max vert

NCAA - 20.1 mpg, 7.9 pts, 6.0 reb, 1.3 blks, .2 stls, on 61.7 FG%

All were one and done.

Quick look at DX mock draft, who looks anything like that?

His name is Hassan Whiteside