Austin Ainge seems to like Zhou Qi

[rondohondo]

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

[Lucky17]

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

No. I'd be really surprised if Qi sticks in the league.

[Jon]

And I wouldn't take too much stock in anything either of the Ainges say (or really anyone for that matter). You never know how much of this is misdirection. Even if it's not that, I'm sure there are places in the draft that both Ainges wouldn't mind taking him. But whether that's at the end of the first round or the end of the second round is hard to tell.

[Denis998]

Qi is a great prospect. Great on the offensive end, but has some work to do on team defense. I'd take him with our pick.

[guava_wrench]

We have so many picks that Danny will be complimenting everyone. With 8 picks, we would have to potentially draft a lot of players.

[walker834]

Qi is a great prospect. Great on the offensive end, but has some work to do on team defense. I'd take him with our pick.

I don't know about great.  he has a good personality though. I don't put much stock into what Austin Ainge says either.  I can see us drafting him.  Whether he ends up being that good who knows.


He's right in his assessment that Qi is a popular guy in China. He's a guy people like to root for which is a good sign.

[Stig]

I like him too, isn't he projected to be late first round? I'd draft him with either 16 or 23. I can see him developing to someone better than Zeller

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

[Tr1boy]

Who does he not like lol

Danny will make the final decision obviously
Zhou if he can add 20 pounds could be a terror

He has a higher ceiling than bender imo

[manl_lui]

I like him too, isn't he projected to be late first round? I'd draft him with either 16 or 23. I can see him developing to someone better than Zeller

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

I don't know, I am not too fascinated with Chinese players due to injuries problems. No doubt I think most of them have skills, but don't they all have some sort of commitment to the Chinese team in the summer? Yao and Yi were both very good players with good skills in my opinion but the history of their injury scares me. Same goes for Zhou. The downside is Zhou doesn't weight as much as Yao or Yi did when they were first drafted (I could be wrong, someone please correct me if I am wrong and I apologize in advanced).

With that said, I don't mind drafting him as a project if it's a very late first rounder or 2nd rounder. With out 16th pick, I would rather have someone like Valentine or possibly even Thon Maker

[Evantime34]

Who does he not like lol

Danny will make the final decision obviously
Zhou if he can add 20 pounds could be a terror

He has a higher ceiling than bender imo

It was either Ford of Givony who talked about how coaches/gms don't want to say anything negative about a player because that player might not want to sign with/accept a trade to that team in the future.

How I feel about quotes like this depends on the context. If Ainge brought up Qi on his own to reporters then he either really likes him or it's a smoke screen. If someone asked him a question about Qi and that was his response then I think it's not much different from Ainge being polite.

If we can't trade for a star or trade to consolidate picks, I think Qi would be an excellent draft and stash in the 2nd round.

[Stig]

There's some doubt about his age, though, he was listed as born June 1996, but now it's Jan 1996.
It's common in china for a player to change his age, usually forced by their coaches. Yi Jianlian was 3 years older than he claimed.

Although there's no evidence so far suggesting Qi is not born in 1996.

[TA9]

I like him too, isn't he projected to be late first round? I'd draft him with either 16 or 23. I can see him developing to someone better than Zeller

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

I don't know, I am not too fascinated with Chinese players due to injuries problems. No doubt I think most of them have skills, but don't they all have some sort of commitment to the Chinese team in the summer? Yao and Yi were both very good players with good skills in my opinion but the history of their injury scares me. Same goes for Zhou. The downside is Zhou doesn't weight as much as Yao or Yi did when they were first drafted (I could be wrong, someone please correct me if I am wrong and I apologize in advanced).

With that said, I don't mind drafting him as a project if it's a very late first rounder or 2nd rounder. With out 16th pick, I would rather have someone like Valentine or possibly even Thon Maker

You are right !
Yi and Yao weighted respectively 246 ibs and 296 ibs, when they got drafted.

[Stig]

I like him too, isn't he projected to be late first round? I'd draft him with either 16 or 23. I can see him developing to someone better than Zeller

Marc D’Amico: Austin Ainge on 7-foot-2 Zhou Qi: “He’s so long, he’s got a good touch. He’s probably the 3rd/4th most recognized name in Chinese basketball.”
3 hours ago – via Twitter celtics

any chance Qi is a better prospect that bender ? if so take Heild , then try to trade up with Dallas pick to get a long PF in Qi

I don't know, I am not too fascinated with Chinese players due to injuries problems. No doubt I think most of them have skills, but don't they all have some sort of commitment to the Chinese team in the summer? Yao and Yi were both very good players with good skills in my opinion but the history of their injury scares me. Same goes for Zhou. The downside is Zhou doesn't weight as much as Yao or Yi did when they were first drafted (I could be wrong, someone please correct me if I am wrong and I apologize in advanced).

With that said, I don't mind drafting him as a project if it's a very late first rounder or 2nd rounder. With out 16th pick, I would rather have someone like Valentine or possibly even Thon Maker

You are not wrong about his weight, he's by far the thinest Chinese big man prospect, Yi was 111kg when drafted, Qi is only 95kg.

However, Qi has been pretty healthy in his short career, having said that, Yi and Yao Ming were very healthy before coming to NBA....You can't really predict the health of a big man, one just cross his fingers.

Qi has skills similar to Porzingis (except the 3point shooting), he has good handling for a big man (was trained as a guard for some time), can shoot anywhere inside 3 point line, very good at blocking, decent rebounder (average 9.8 rebounds compared to Yi Jianlian's 8.9 before joining nba), he seems to have a good motor. The downside is obviously the weight, and his jump shot is very slow, remind me of JJJ.

[Kane3387]

Qi is a great prospect. Great on the offensive end, but has some work to do on team defense. I'd take him with our pick.

Which pick?

[TheSundanceKid]

Qi is a great prospect. Great on the offensive end, but has some work to do on team defense. I'd take him with our pick.

Which pick?

Our pick. He means number 23