The way I see it

[Hova]

If taking Bender at 3 is a gamble because we are unsure of what he will turn out to be, why not go for a sure thing at 3? Hield or Murray to me are sure things. Pure shooters, scorers. And gamble at 16 on Maker or Skal if he is still there. To me they can bring some of the same things Bender can bring. Shooting, mobility, length and upside. Shooter at 3, gamble on a big at 16.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Also, since the top 2 picks seem to be set in stone...Danny has the Number 1 Pick of the rest of the draft...#3 holds great value for the 27 other teams....Trade down...take a shooter like Murray or Hield....gonna be a fun month.

[Surferdad]

Also, since the top 2 picks seem to be set in stone...Danny has the Number 1 Pick of the rest of the draft...#3 holds great value for the 27 other teams....Trade down...take a shooter like Murray or Hield....gonna be a fun month.

Yup, I like to think of it this way.  All he has to do is choose the one he thinks is best.  He doesn't have to worry about what other teams ahead of the C's will do and make contingency plans.  Now, if Philly or LAL do something crazy and NOT chose Ingram/Simmons, well that's a different story but still pretty straightforward:  GRAB ONE OF THEM.

[86MaxwellSmart]

I'd prefer him to trade this pick---I'm really not comfortable with Ainge being able to select the correct guy---he's not very good at this....his trades are aces though.

[Celtics18]

If taking Bender at 3 is a gamble because we are unsure of what he will turn out to be, why not go for a sure thing at 3? Hield or Murray to me are sure things. Pure shooters, scorers. And gamble at 16 on Maker or Skal if he is still there. To me they can bring some of the same things Bender can bring. Shooting, mobility, length and upside. Shooter at 3, gamble on a big at 16.

Makes sense to me.

[Surferdad]

I'd prefer him to trade this pick---I'm really not comfortable with Ainge being able to select the correct guy---he's not very good at this....his trades are aces though.

I've heard this a couple times lately.  I don't think his record is that bad.  A few clunkers for sure -- Fab Melo, JR Giddens, Gabe Pruitt, etc. 

The big difference this year is owning the #3 pick.  I don't think he has ever had a pick that high.  The task is MUCH more straightforward.  Take out Ingram/Simmons for obvious reasons.  Danny essentially has the #1 pick of the rest.  I can't see him screwing it up.

[Hova]

Also we should draft as if we cant make a trade for the picks. Takes two to tango. This all hit me today lol. An epiphany of some sort. There will most likely be another Bender (potential) at 16. There wont be another Hield or Murray at 16. Make the right choice Danny!

[86MaxwellSmart]

Also we should draft as if we cant make a trade for the picks. Takes two to tango. This all hit me today lol. An epiphany of some sort. There will most likely be another Bender (potential) at 16. There wont be another Hield or Murray at 16. Make the right choice Danny!

My Epiphany came on Tuesday Night....Does Anyone Actually think there will be NO Future All-Stars taken after Pick #2---?

Of course not---Danny HAS to find THAT guy....like Curry/Wade/George,etc....He CANNOT mess this up.

[jay]

Compare Poeltl and Damian Jones:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jakob-Poeltl-63039/

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Damian-Jones-7211/

Jones isn't as good on offense, but I think with his size and athleticism; he could be a stud on defense.


I really think Danny could get great value with Buddy at #3 and Damian at #16.

Think of i in terms of replacing Turner and Zeller straight up.  Jones should be a much better defender than Zeller as far as blocked shots and presence in the paint. Hield will be a much better scorer than Turner. I think Jones could be a poor man's Robert Parish for this team. Maybe I'm reading too much into both of them being from Louisiana, but I think Jones's demeanor, IQ, and physical stature is a great fit.

Hield brings so much scoring to the equation. He is a much more natural scorer than Bradley or Smart. I love his athleticism. This team needs a dynamic (Dwayne Wade, Russell Westbook, Derrick Rose) type player and maybe Buddy can be that, even if he never gets to be 90% as good as any of those guys.  A poor man's Westbrook and Parish are still very valuable.


At #23, I like a stretch 4 like Petr Cornelie (instead of a more post oriented  Brice Johnson)

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Petr-Cornelie-61916/

I'm also intrigued by this guy in the 27-35 range:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Guerschon-Yabusele-66311/


Getting the two French guys would also give the option of leaving them overseas for a year to develop more.

[esel1000]

Pretty much in this boat, I jump back and forth between Murray and Hield. We have enough picks to gamble on a guy like Maker we don't need to gamble at 3... Best moves are to either trade the pick or trade down to grab a few assets and pick one of those guys like was said above. But if we ended up using 3 on Hield or Murray I wouldn't be mad.

[Csfan1984]

I think the biggest issue with who to take is its too tight to call

Bender has hype and supposed to be a shooter with good defensive instincts. But it's all hype right now as he hasn't got PT.

Murray, a combo guard that can score against college players sure but against pros will his less than elite speed and size cut back his scoring? Probably.

Heild had a great year but his college career was up and down. He has decent size but he showed very little defense. Could he step up his defense or will he be a minus chucker?

Brown, a lot of holes in his game. Too many. But man is he athletic. LaVine flashed to us all what hard work and athleticism can do. Can Brown be a SF version of LaVine or just a Kendrick Brown?

Lab, very down year. He often stuggled as fit was an issue clearly. And then you also saw he would often get lost on defense. Plenty of tools but questions if he can put things together with in a team system.


I'm not sold on any of these guys.

[wiley]

Agree with everyone else...choose between Hield and Murray, then get some bigs later.

Also like Yabusele along with poster above.  Good Sully replacement (skilled space eater with toughness), but there
are so many bigs later in this draft I have no idea which ones to go after.

If Philly took Ingram and the Lakers took Bender (won't happen), then trade Simmons to Sacramento in a boogie deal. 

[BornReady]

My picks for 3
Are Dunn then bender

Dunn seems more of a safe bet except his shoulder injuries

Murray was good in college but I don't think he can create on the NBA level and lacks the sap speed for NBA guard

Hield seems like just a high volume shooter which is why his college career had ups and downs.

Brown is athletic but a lot of him remains as potential. I wouldn't say he is elite in any one skill and needs to work on his shooting. Kind of reminds me of Stanley Johnson from last year minus SJ defense.

[Hova]

Also we should draft as if we cant make a trade for the picks. Takes two to tango. This all hit me today lol. An epiphany of some sort. There will most likely be another Bender (potential) at 16. There wont be another Hield or Murray at 16. Make the right choice Danny!

My Epiphany came on Tuesday Night....Does Anyone Actually think there will be NO Future All-Stars taken after Pick #2---?

Of course not---Danny HAS to find THAT guy....like Curry/Wade/George,etc....He CANNOT mess this up.

...............

[86MaxwellSmart]

Also we should draft as if we cant make a trade for the picks. Takes two to tango. This all hit me today lol. An epiphany of some sort. There will most likely be another Bender (potential) at 16. There wont be another Hield or Murray at 16. Make the right choice Danny!

My Epiphany came on Tuesday Night....Does Anyone Actually think there will be NO Future All-Stars taken after Pick #2---?

Of course not---Danny HAS to find THAT guy....like Curry/Wade/George,etc....He CANNOT mess this up.

...............

Usualy I use ----   I hate internet punctuation police.