I'm calling it...our #3 draft pick for 2016. Buddy Hield. Boom.

[KGs Knee]

I'm calling it....if Danny Ainge drafts Buddy Hield with the #3 pick he will be fired....Boom!

Seriously, Hield is likely to be a very nice role player, but if I was a betting man I would definitely bet he never makes a single All-Star game.

JJ Redick seems like a fair ceiling for Hield.

[footey]

I see Hield as more of a Crawford, than Redick.  Or a blend of Pierce and Ray Allen, with Allen's 3 point acument, and Pierce's lethal drop back J.  We are talking ceiling here, not projection.

[KGs Knee]

Doesn't matter, point is, Hield is not getting drafted #3.

Dunn, Murray, or Brown have way more upside.   I don't know enough about Bender to comment on him, but most scouts think he has more upside as well.

[KG Living Legend]

I see Hield as more of a Crawford, than Redick.  Or a blend of Pierce and Ray Allen, with Allen's 3 point acument, and Pierce's lethal drop back J.  We are talking ceiling here, not projection.

 Nope. Crawford is a bad comparison IMO. Crawford always had unreal handles, and he's a flat out streaky scorer not a shooter.

 Hield is the opposite, his handles and driving ability are just good enough, his calling card is his unreal shooting ability. Crawford is a much better passer as well.

[footey]

I see Hield as more of a Crawford, than Redick.  Or a blend of Pierce and Ray Allen, with Allen's 3 point acument, and Pierce's lethal drop back J.  We are talking ceiling here, not projection.

 Nope. Crawford is a bad comparison IMO. Crawford always had unreal handles, and he's a flat out streaky scorer not a shooter.

 Hield is the opposite, his handles and driving ability are just good enough, his calling card is his unreal shooting ability. Crawford is a much better passer as well.

Most shooters are streaky, so I don't think that is a meaningful distinction. I think you under-rate Buddy's ability to go to the hole; plenty of video of him scoring through slash penetration.  Who do you compare him to?

[CelticSooner]

Do not doubt Buddy because he'll make you eat crow. Just hoping he ends up on a good organization regardless. A Buddy on the Celtics would be a much better player than a Buddy on the Kings.

[Sixth Man]

I see Hield as more of a Crawford, than Redick.  Or a blend of Pierce and Ray Allen, with Allen's 3 point acument, and Pierce's lethal drop back J.  We are talking ceiling here, not projection.

 Nope. Crawford is a bad comparison IMO. Crawford always had unreal handles, and he's a flat out streaky scorer not a shooter.

 Hield is the opposite, his handles and driving ability are just good enough, his calling card is his unreal shooting ability. Crawford is a much better passer as well.

Most shooters are streaky, so I don't think that is a meaningful distinction. I think you under-rate Buddy's ability to go to the hole; plenty of video of him scoring through slash penetration.  Who do you compare him to?

Hield should be the choice at #3.  He's Ray Allen redux, not as athletic but a better rebounder and defender.  It would be a mistake to pass on him, unless DA likes Murray more. 

[OHCeltic]

If Danny doesn't trade the pick for Okafor it will be Brown.

[sdceltsfan]

Hield has the makings of an All-Star, especially playing for our team. We need a natural shooter/scorer so bad to spread the floor. Hield or Murray should for sure be the pick if we were to get no trade out of the situation.

I definitely see Phoenix/Minn/Denver all wanting to trade up for Bender....so ideally, the #3/#23 for #4/#13 would be fantastic. I think depending on who is available, we could package  a combo of #13, #16 and 2nd rounders to move up in to the #8-11 range to still also get a quality big like Ellenson/Poeltl or a gamble prospect like Skal.

I also wouldn't mind trading down to #5 with Minn for their 2017 1st rounder (unprotected), because we would still get one of Bender/Murray/Hield at #5 anyway, and then be looking at drafting possibly two top 5  picks at best, and at worst two lottery picks again in 2017.

[chambers]

I'm calling it....if Danny Ainge drafts Buddy Hield with the #3 pick he will be fired....Boom!

Seriously, Hield is likely to be a very nice role player, but if I was a betting man I would definitely bet he never makes a single All-Star game.

JJ Redick seems like a fair ceiling for Hield.

JJ Redick doesn't get to the hole and finish like Hield. Reddick can't utilize his shooting to get a first step on his defender- his drives to the basket are always when he comes off a screen and curls to the middle from the left side, finishing on the right side of the basket.

Hield's got the ability to take his defender off the dribble when they over play him. Not only that, when he gets into the paint, he has the athleticism and body control to pump fake, switch hands, use the rim as protection or find an open shooter.

The only things they really share are the ability to come off screens and solid perimeter running/slashing, aswell a beautiful 3 point stroke- Hield is a far more advanced overall offensive player and will only get better.

I have never seen Redick split screens with a cross over dribble or take his man off the dribble and use a mid air up and under to finish with a reverse layup.

[chambers]

(1) I really just don't see the point of trading down a slot to pick up another first that we won't be able to use or trade for anything meaningful

(2) To me Hield's best case scenario is something along the lines of a J.R. Smith / Wes Matthews type shooting guard.  That's pretty nice, and the Celts could use a guy like that, but not the sort of player who will take the Celts to another level.


I'm all in on trading for Butler or somebody else established, then if that fails going after Okafor, then if that falls through, taking a swing on Bender. 

Ending up with a seven footer who might be another Kirilenko or Kukoc type guy, in today's league, would not be such a bad Plan C.

Hield is going to be better than JR Smith and Wes Mathews. He's going to be something like Klay Thompson and possibly even better.

I too would prefer a trade for Butler and wouldn't mind an Okafur trade. I like Bender at #4 but if we keep the pick, Buddy is my guy.

Klay Thompson is arguably the second best shooter of all time; that's a pretty unrealistic expectation.

He's a great shooter, so is Buddy Hield.
Klay Thompson shot 39.8% in his Junior year at Washington State over 246 attempts.
Hield shot 45.7% over 322 attempts.
50/45/88 overall is a guy that's going to be a great NBA shooter.

Doug McDermott's a pretty great shooter too, right?

Jaycee Carroll has demonstrated his abilities as a great shooter, too.  Overseas.

Then there's Shan Foster.  Wonder why he isn't tearing up the league?


I think Buddy Hield will be a nice player.  People just need to step back and remember that lots of guys that throw flames in college don't turn into NBA stars.  Lots of players demonstrate their ability to hit tons and tons of shots against college defenders, with the college three point line.  They typically go on to be excellent shooters at the professional level, if they make it. 

Thing is, being an excellent shooter doesn't make you an excellent player.  You've got to have above average peripheral abilities, too.  It's not as if Hield is one dimensional as a player.  He just doesn't exactly stand out all that much in terms of playmaking, getting inside, finishing at the rim, rebounding, forcing turnovers, or anything else.  He's just a really excellent scorer and shooter.

Working to Hield's advantage is that he was the whole show in college.  He led a team to the Final Four that had one other guy who might go in the 2nd round this year.  Jamaal Murray, in contrast, was playing with so much talent that a guy who barely got on the court for Kentucky like Skal is projected as a late lottery pick.

If I saw more people with real concerns about Hield's athleticism, like there was with McDermott, I'd be concerned but most of the experts seem comfortable that he won't have a problem in that area.

Mike

Those are excellent points that I hadn't mentioned at all, TP.
He's done this all on his own as the big dawg, with the team on his back.

[chambers]

Buddy Hield working on offense/moves.
Just something very James Harden about his movement and control. Not many guys have that control and can shoot it so well.

The last few minutes of him shooting is just amazing lol. The camera does not stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Xp_XkXEGc

[Cman]

If Danny doesn't trade the pick I think it is Hield, Bender, or one of the "top two" that fall for some reason.

[chambers]

(1) I really just don't see the point of trading down a slot to pick up another first that we won't be able to use or trade for anything meaningful

Not meaningful? Huh? First of all, letting PHO move from 4 to 3 would likely mean a swap of 23 for 13. And having 16 and 13 then allows Danny to trade up to #10 or so. That's a pretty blasted meaningful draft pick.

(2) To me Hield's best case scenario is something along the lines of a J.R. Smith / Wes Matthews type shooting guard.  That's pretty nice, and the Celts could use a guy like that, but not the sort of player who will take the Celts to another level.

Talent evaluation is not your strong suit.

Matthews we can compare easily since both he and Hield came out of college at roughly the same age and are roughly the same size. Hield is clearly a better physical prospect but let's look at their college production their senior year. In his last year of college Matthews averaged 18ppg, shooting 51.7% from 2, 37% from 3 and a TS of 60%. Hield averaged 25ppg, 55% from 2, 45% from 3 and a TS of 66%. In a nutshell Hield is a far, far better player at this stage of his career than Matthews was. There is no evidence whatsoever that getting to Matthews level would be Hield's "best case. In fact the opposite is true. Matthews is Hield's floor, not ceiling.

As for comparing him with JR Smith, that's a bit odd. Beyond being roughly the same size there's nothing to compare. JR Smith came out of High School and wasn't known as a shooter but as a raw athlete. And while Smith has become quite a decent shooter in his career, none of his stats come anywhere close to Hield's. Smith is also known as a knucklehead with an exceptionally low basketball IQ while Hield is known as a good character guy who is a leader and a gym rat.

Someone will impress in the pre-draft workouts but right now I'm with the OP - Hield is my binkie for the #3 pick. The guy has gotten better every year and can do the one thing that the Cs really need - putting the ball in the basket consistently. He also seems to be a good character guy. I also don't buy this "22 year olds can't develop into superstars" line of rhetoric. It's all a matter of their development at their age and it's impossible to deny that Hield produced at an exceptionally high - almost impossibly high - level last year for a major college program.

someone who gets it! TP

[cltc5]

Celticsig more like circus blog