Is Mickey the PF to pair next to Sullinger at C?

[TheFlex]

I made a post somewhere the other day gushing at the fantasy of having a wiry, athletic shotblocker at the 4 next to Sullinger at the 5 (seeing the success of Amir-Sully). I guessed that that 4 could be Skal Labissierre. But how awesome would it be if Mickey became Taj Gibson with greater range, allowing us to keep Sullinger at the 5 (where I think he can have a lot of success) and take a 3 in the upcoming draft with the Nets pick?

Rotation a few years (assuming we bring back Sully, KO and Jerebko):

IT/Rozier
Smart/RJ Hunter
Simmons/Crowder
Mickey/Jerebko
Sullinger/KO

We'll assume a little bit of bad luck: We get the 4th pick in the draft and have to use Bradley and another 1st to move up to #1 to select Simmons. Young never pans out. Amir falls off a cliff soon. Zeller never pans out.

Thoughts?

[Donoghus]

I think the event that will end up expediting Mickey to extended minutes with the Celtics could very well be Sullinger being moved by the trade deadline. 

[Jon]

I could see that happening some day, but time will tell if Mickey is up to the task and if Sullinger is even still here.

[yagru]

Mickey is a long way away from that..

but I was impressed with his raw skills even from the first few summer league games.. he def. has some potential.. hope he develops!!

[PhoSita]

Amir certainly seems like a good fit, so I guess you have to ask, can Mickey become a better version of what Amir Johnson is now? 

Get a guy with a similar skillset to Amir but maybe better quickness, athleticism, and overall scoring ability, and you might really have something.


Similarly, I look at the success of Jerebko and Olynyk together and I wonder who could the Celts get who is a better version of Jerebko.  Maybe that's Ben Simmons.  We can dream.

[Tr1boy]

Mickey is a long way away from that..

but I was impressed with his raw skills even from the first few summer league games.. he def. has some potential.. hope he develops!!

I disagree. Mickey can play now

Can he be more ready? yes. But he is not Fab Melo long ways away.  James Young long ways away.   

[TheFlex]

Mickey is a long way away from that..

but I was impressed with his raw skills even from the first few summer league games.. he def. has some potential.. hope he develops!!

I disagree. Mickey can play now

Can he be more ready? yes. But he is not Fab Melo long ways away.  James Young long ways away.

You were right about Mickey. He will be very good someday. Not quite there yet. But impressive early.

[tarheelsxxiii]

What evidence is there that Mickey is an NBA player? He hasn't played in the NBA, so I can't see where this notion is coming from.

One can hope, sure... I hope he is too. But there's literally zero evidence to suggest he can be a successful NBA player -- not even observations, yet.

[MJohnnyboy]

I'd say Amir Johnson is actually a pretty fair comparison for Mickey. Of course I don't think Mickey will get any serious burn until Amir Johnson is off the team but still, I like Mickey.

Of course I'm not going to say that he's ready to play now just because he played well in the summer league/pre-season. Those aren't good measures of judgment. Plus the Celtics have 5 bigs right now who have proven a lot more than him.

[TheFlex]

I'd say Amir Johnson is actually a pretty fair comparison for Mickey. Of course I don't think Mickey will get any serious burn until Amir Johnson is off the team but still, I like Mickey.

Of course I'm not going to say that he's ready to play now just because he played well in the summer league/pre-season. Those aren't good measures of judgment. Plus the Celtics have 5 bigs right now who have proven a lot more than him.

I'd be fine with getting a prime Amir Johnson. I think he will be more valuable in the modern day and age as a super athletic "rim protector" who runs the P&R with sound fundamentals, and can fade off the pick to hit a long two (or possibly 3... I like to see him already working on it).

There's really no evidence to prove Mickey's worth if college performance, summer league performance and D-League performance are all to some degree marginalized. I just have a feeling about Mickey, just like I have a feeling about a number of non-Celts (Nurkic, Rashad Vaughn, Rodney Hood, Tyler Johnson to name a handful).

[Tr1boy]

What evidence is there that Mickey is an NBA player? He hasn't played in the NBA, so I can't see where this notion is coming from.

One can hope, sure... I hope he is too. But there's literally zero evidence to suggest he can be a successful NBA player -- not even observations, yet.

yes there is.  Do you think SL, Preseason perfromances means nothing?

Mickey also has had 2 top notch NBDL games. 

CBS also praised for being the best player in a practice session.

[max215]

The Amir and Sully pairing is really awesome IMO.

[tarheelsxxiii]

There's really no evidence to prove Mickey's worth if college performance, summer league performance and D-League performance are all to some degree marginalized. I just have a feeling about Mickey, just like I have a feeling about a number of non-Celts (Nurkic, Rashad Vaughn, Rodney Hood, Tyler Johnson to name a handful).

Nurkic, Hood, & Johnson have all given ample reason for their teams to be excited. But on the whole, Mickey is undersized and has yet to play an actual game. So, SL/Preseason should probably be marginalized quite a bit if we're talking about long-term solutions, don't you think?

Not intending to troll, just saying that it's early. I do hope you're right. I think the Mickey train got a little too long, too soon for my pessimistic taste. Maybe that's contributing to my hate.

[tarheelsxxiii]

What evidence is there that Mickey is an NBA player? He hasn't played in the NBA, so I can't see where this notion is coming from.

One can hope, sure... I hope he is too. But there's literally zero evidence to suggest he can be a successful NBA player -- not even observations, yet.

yes there is.  Do you think SL, Preseason perfromances means nothing?

Mickey also has had 2 top notch NBDL games. 

CBS also praised for being the best player in a practice session.

I do think they mean absolutely nothing.

So did Fab Melo -- 2 better games, in fact.

But he's also in Maine, while his peers are getting some playing time.  He hardly played in preseason.

[Celtics4ever]

So did Fab Melo -- 2 better games, in fact.

You can take it to the bank, Mickey will be a better NBA player than Fab Melo.    I would bet he gets more blocked shots too.