Which prospects do you want Danny to avoid for the 2016 draft?

[Tr1boy]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

We're on pretty much the same page.

I like Sabonis though.  I trust that a guy who was that productive his second year in college, with his variety of skills, will find a way to make it in the league.  Provided he develops a reliable outside shot, he'll have some use unless he's just completely horrendous on defense.

I'd be fine with getting a Hawes / Kaminsky / Olynyk type player with a mid 1st round pick in this draft, and that's how I see Sabonis.

TP for the similarity, but I have to disagree on Sabonis. Notice the 3 players you mentioned as a comp are all 7' or 7'1". I think Sabonis definitely has skill, but I don't see him ever developing into a serious 3 point threat. Also in regards to defense, he was getting a little man handled on defense against Syracuse's bigs, and they have some of the worst offensive bigs in the country. Yet even they were given the green light to try to move Sabonis around. If only he was the size of his father, we wouldn't even be having this conversation lol.

come again ?

sabonis vs cuse - 19 pts 17 reb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBrwMKfVqhs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yB0AufGMM8&nohtml5=False

[Smartacus]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

It's an interesting question, I'd say there have probably been dozens of potentially successful players that never made it to the NBA due to a failure to grasp English.

To be clear though, I'm not saying that Luwauwu wont be able to be a successful NBA player, I'm saying that The Celtics are close enough to a finished product that we need each player to be 100% on board, I'd be nervous adding a potentially high usage player that might not be able to grasp everything Stevens is asking of the team.

Honestly his English isn't even that bad just less refined. In this interview you can clearly hear him string together coherent sentences but he does often revert to simple phrases like "very good" and "very bad". Personally think it's one of the main reasons why Danny took Kelly over Giannis. Obviously Giannis is the better player in a vacuum but would we be the third best team in the east playing Brad Stevens basketball with Antetokoumpo at the point? I'm not so sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBP5tTpREUM

honestly, please provide this list. thank you.

by the way, hockey and baseball have figured out how to manage this challenge.

Well you see that's kind of the problem I don't know of many great international players outside of Oscar Schmidt that never went to the NBA. Don't really follow international play all that much.

I did always wonder why Nenad Kristc never got more minutes with us when he seemed like he could play. He ended up being one of the top players for Russia after bolting the NBA.

I'm sorry if this view of my mine is at best not supported by hard evidence and at worst offensive, but personally I don't think there's any chance we take Luwauwu. No disrespect intended to English as a second language people out there. I certainly wish that I was Bilingual.

[A Future of Stevens]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

We're on pretty much the same page.

I like Sabonis though.  I trust that a guy who was that productive his second year in college, with his variety of skills, will find a way to make it in the league.  Provided he develops a reliable outside shot, he'll have some use unless he's just completely horrendous on defense.

I'd be fine with getting a Hawes / Kaminsky / Olynyk type player with a mid 1st round pick in this draft, and that's how I see Sabonis.

TP for the similarity, but I have to disagree on Sabonis. Notice the 3 players you mentioned as a comp are all 7' or 7'1". I think Sabonis definitely has skill, but I don't see him ever developing into a serious 3 point threat. Also in regards to defense, he was getting a little man handled on defense against Syracuse's bigs, and they have some of the worst offensive bigs in the country. Yet even they were given the green light to try to move Sabonis around. If only he was the size of his father, we wouldn't even be having this conversation lol.

come again ?

sabonis vs cuse - 19 pts 17 reb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBrwMKfVqhs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yB0AufGMM8&nohtml5=False

With all due respect, I'm a little confused why you replied to my concerns about his defensive abilities with offensive highlights. I watched both games and he obviously had some difficulties handling even college level bigs on the defensive end of the court.

But yes I agree his high level of skill does make him very good at offense on the college level and maybe above average at the nba level.

But seriously man why the offense links for a defense problem? Lol

[KG Living Legend]

 You want defense, I'll show you defense! Lol.

 Go to 4 minutes on this video. DE, lines him Defense. Good in the pick and roll, slides his feet well, great effort, some of the more important tools now adays due bigs.

https://youtu.be/ZyIU4_tyDo0

[Tr1boy]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

We're on pretty much the same page.

I like Sabonis though.  I trust that a guy who was that productive his second year in college, with his variety of skills, will find a way to make it in the league.  Provided he develops a reliable outside shot, he'll have some use unless he's just completely horrendous on defense.

I'd be fine with getting a Hawes / Kaminsky / Olynyk type player with a mid 1st round pick in this draft, and that's how I see Sabonis.

TP for the similarity, but I have to disagree on Sabonis. Notice the 3 players you mentioned as a comp are all 7' or 7'1". I think Sabonis definitely has skill, but I don't see him ever developing into a serious 3 point threat. Also in regards to defense, he was getting a little man handled on defense against Syracuse's bigs, and they have some of the worst offensive bigs in the country. Yet even they were given the green light to try to move Sabonis around. If only he was the size of his father, we wouldn't even be having this conversation lol.

come again ?

sabonis vs cuse - 19 pts 17 reb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBrwMKfVqhs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yB0AufGMM8&nohtml5=False

With all due respect, I'm a little confused why you replied to my concerns about his defensive abilities with offensive highlights. I watched both games and he obviously had some difficulties handling even college level bigs on the defensive end of the court.

But yes I agree his high level of skill does make him very good at offense on the college level and maybe above average at the nba level.

But seriously man why the offense links for a defense problem? Lol

Who did he have issues with? I watched that game from start to finish.   The players that killed Gonzaga were mainly Richardson and Gbinije

http://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d1/2016/03/25/gonzaga-syracuse/boxscore?cid=MML2016_Googleonebox

[Tr1boy]

 You want defense, I'll show you defense! Lol.

 Go to 4 minutes on this video. DE, lines him Defense. Good in the pick and roll, slides his feet well, great effort, some of the more important tools now adays due bigs.

https://youtu.be/ZyIU4_tyDo0

Exactly

Sabonis won't be much help protecting the rim but he will try everything else to play solid D. 

On the defensive end like a Jerebko (SF/PF) but instead a (PF/C) version. Good rebounder. Will dive for loose balls. Extra effort

[A Future of Stevens]

Honestly I guess I have been unfairly characterizing him as a pf/C instead of a sf/pf. He does have very good lateral quickness for his size. I just foresaw problems with him being a rim protector. Granted this can be covered in stevens switch heavy system, but at some point we do need a rim protector (not exactly a shot blocker, but someone to get stops at the rim.) I don't see Sabonis being proficient at this at the next level.

Also I felt when Roberson was on Sabonis, sabonis wasn't able to hold position very well. That matchup wasn't truly exploited on offense, but it happened a few times and was relatively successful. Sabonis just doesn't scream great at the pro level to me.

 You want defense, I'll show you defense! Lol.

 Go to 4 minutes on this video. DE, lines him Defense. Good in the pick and roll, slides his feet well, great effort, some of the more important tools now adays due bigs.

https://youtu.be/ZyIU4_tyDo0

Exactly

Sabonis won't be much help protecting the rim but he will try everything else to play solid D. 

On the defensive end like a Jerebko (SF/PF) but instead a (PF/C) version. Good rebounder. Will dive for loose balls. Extra effort

I didn't realize he was so good laterally. He could possibly guard power forwards and sfs  at the next level.

I felt Roberson wasn't a great match up when it occurred. I just can't see how sabonis could hold his own against an nba level post scorer. However you are right. This might not be a huge problem in the new movement of the nba. I kind of go back and forth on Sabonis and this question caught me in a downturn of my support.

[Greenback]

Everyone that NBADRAFTNET has the Celtics picking.

[ederson]

Bender ... especially with the nets pick

[aingeforthree]

Avoid all of them with the Nets pick.

With that pick, you can add a legit all star veteran to this 47+ win team via trade. Plus I believe Ainge has sold this franchise pretty darn well with the players he has in the locker room, and the coach on the sidelines.  This guarantees a player like Horford or Durant is coming, IMO.

A legit all star vet via the Nets pick, and Horford or Durant on this 47+ win team ?  Yeah, forget all of those draft binkies.

Use the remaining picks to fill in the blanks or shoot, sell them outright to put some more money in WYC's pocket just for kicks and giggles.

[celticmania]

Jakob poetl

[loco_91]

Jakob poetl

Why? Poeltl is 7'1, he's a really good defender with great stats, and he could get 20mpg right away on this team.

Another popular choice I don't understand is Demetrius Jackson. He's like Terry Rozier with a 40% 3pt shot. He's obviously awesome value with a non-lotto pick, though I expect him to go top ten.

[libermaniac]

Bender, Jaylen Brown, Skal

[loco_91]

I'm going to say that Ellenson is the least exciting prospect who's currently projected in the top 10. He's talented, but he hasn't managed to score efficiently, and his defense is poor. A decent comparison for him is Sullinger (although Ellenson has better quickness + handles; he has more potential as a face-up threat).

Ellenson: 21 PER, .53TS%, 16.5TRB%, .74 AST/TOV, 30/104 3pt, .75FT%
freshman Sullinger: 30 PER, .59TS%, 20.1TRB%, .75 AST/TOV, 3/12 3pt, .70FT%

Basically, Ellenson is a marginally better shooter, and Sullinger is better at everything else. 30 vs 21 PER is a huge gap. I'd say that Ellenson's ceiling is roughly as a skinny Sullinger with a 3pt shot, which is pretty good; but his median outcome is significantly worse than Sully, and there's almost no chance that he'll be nearly as good as Kevin Love.

[Tr1boy]

I'm going to say that Ellenson is the least exciting prospect who's currently projected in the top 10. He's talented, but he hasn't managed to score efficiently, and his defense is poor. A decent comparison for him is Sullinger (although Ellenson has better quickness + handles; he has more potential as a face-up threat).

Ellenson: 21 PER, .53TS%, 16.5TRB%, .74 AST/TOV, 30/104 3pt, .75FT%
freshman Sullinger: 30 PER, .59TS%, 20.1TRB%, .75 AST/TOV, 3/12 3pt, .70FT%

Basically, Ellenson is a marginally better shooter, and Sullinger is better at everything else. 30 vs 21 PER is a huge gap. I'd say that Ellenson's ceiling is roughly as a skinny Sullinger with a 3pt shot, which is pretty good; but his median outcome is significantly worse than Sully, and there's almost no chance that he'll be nearly as good as Kevin Love.

Interesting pts