The Celts Should Draft Dunn and Build for 2020

[Csfan1984]

I think there is another factor to consider. Can't C's also hope to cash in on other teams believing they have no chance? Like Bulls, Jazz, Grizz, Knicks, Pacers, Hawks, Kings, and Pelicans. Those teams can quickly become sellers yet only the C's are loaded with picks and value contracts to be great trade partners. I think C's stick to BPA scenario and stay open to any trade.

[KG Living Legend]

Knock this draft out of the park and let's keep this thing rolling toward 2020.  Smart and Crowder can be the "veteran leaders."  If competing for a title is really the goal, aiming to compete when LeBron is in his twilight years is the only smart way to go.

I think we should draft Chriss or Murray and build for 2030 when they will be our veteran leaders. I mean, it's guaranteed that there will be no transcendent players in the NBA at that time.

 Why stop there? Have you seen the class of 2050??

 Absolutely stacked with bigs and guards. I'd Jeep rolling the picks Back so we can have 10 First rounders in 2050.

[Bobshot]

I don't think the owners want to wait until 2020. Nor do many fans who are getting on in years. 

[hodgy03038]

Ridiculous to build for 4 years from now. Haven't we already been building for 2017? I might not be alive in 2020. Time is of the essence.

[flybono]

LeBron James is the king of the NBA and we are all witnesses.

What's more, he's shown no signs of slowing down.  In the regular season, yes, but not in the playoffs.  LeBron may only be top 5 in the league during the regular season, but he's the most dangerous player in the playoffs when jumpers stop falling and size combined with speed and strength still trumps all else. 

Not to mention his running mate, Kyrie, who has only begun to build a great resume as a clutch performer and is still very young.

Why go for "fireworks" this summer when all that's likely to get you is a date with LeBron in the 2nd or 3rd round for the next few years?

Unless you've got Durant, Curry, or Kawhi, why bother?


The Celts should take advantage of all of their draft capital this year and go young.

Take Kris Dunn at #3.  Shop Isaiah, Bradley, and Olynyk along with the other picks to try and get a second top 10 pick.

With the rest of the picks, target young players with great physical tools and high upside.  In particular, target guys who project to have substantial physical advantages over the average player at their position.  No more targeting undersized, underathletic players who are "a great value."

Names like Skal Labissiere, Deyonta Davis, Malachi Richardson, Wade Baldwin, Isaiah Cordinier, Chieck Diallo, Chinanu Onuaku, and so on.


Knock this draft out of the park and let's keep this thing rolling toward 2020.  Smart and Crowder can be the "veteran leaders."  If competing for a title is really the goal, aiming to compete when LeBron is in his twilight years is the only smart way to go.

What are you 20 years old?
The future is now. Not yesterday, not today, not in four years. Now. You win now. This is Boston not Phoenix or Charlotte

[kraidstar]

isn't ainge on record saying he'll pick the BPA regardless of how long it takes to develop?

and we can't tank next year because of the nets swap pick.

i'm ok with our current direction so long as we don't tie up our cap space with guys who don't make us real contenders. sooner or later we'll draft some studs, and we should have flexibility to surround them with good players.

[IDreamCeltics]

Some thoughts... 

I like Dunn a lot, but I can't figure out why at 22 he's a top 3 pick and at 23 Gary Payon II is a second rounder...  Why are people so sure Dunn's a starting caliber NBA point guard?  His A/To in college was not even 2:1 and he played on a college team with other guys that will definitely be in the NBA.   If you look at his conference totals (playing against other Big East teams - which I consider to be a very competitive conference) his A/To is just a hair over 1:1.  We're not talking about Chris Paul here.

He strikes me (at least right now) as a guy who will need to play with a pg early in his career, but could give valuable minutes as the top guard against bench units.

I love his handle, his ability to attack the basket, and his ability to draw fouls, what I'm not sold on are his jumper and his durability.

Would you draft a guy who's had season ending injuries already in college after his agents refused to release his medical records?  I know it was spun as a move to prevent him from going to a guard heavy team ask yourself if that actually makes any sense?  Is this actually the first time in history an NBA agent deliberately hurt his client's draft stock so he would make less money?  Or does it make more sense that Dunn still has serious medical questions regarding his shoulders and that's why his agents refused to release his medical records?

[Rosco917]

LeBron James is the king of the NBA and we are all witnesses.

What's more, he's shown no signs of slowing down.  In the regular season, yes, but not in the playoffs.  LeBron may only be top 5 in the league during the regular season, but he's the most dangerous player in the playoffs when jumpers stop falling and size combined with speed and strength still trumps all else. 

Not to mention his running mate, Kyrie, who has only begun to build a great resume as a clutch performer and is still very young.

Why go for "fireworks" this summer when all that's likely to get you is a date with LeBron in the 2nd or 3rd round for the next few years?

Unless you've got Durant, Curry, or Kawhi, why bother?


The Celts should take advantage of all of their draft capital this year and go young.

Take Kris Dunn at #3.  Shop Isaiah, Bradley, and Olynyk along with the other picks to try and get a second top 10 pick.

With the rest of the picks, target young players with great physical tools and high upside.  In particular, target guys who project to have substantial physical advantages over the average player at their position.  No more targeting undersized, underathletic players who are "a great value."

Names like Skal Labissiere, Deyonta Davis, Malachi Richardson, Wade Baldwin, Isaiah Cordinier, Chieck Diallo, Chinanu Onuaku, and so on.


Knock this draft out of the park and let's keep this thing rolling toward 2020.  Smart and Crowder can be the "veteran leaders."  If competing for a title is really the goal, aiming to compete when LeBron is in his twilight years is the only smart way to go.

I've been around too long, and seen too much happen, to listen to this ^

[Beat LA]

By the way, I'm NOT advocating tanking. 

I'm suggesting the Celts should take Dunn if he's the BPA, even if that means trading Isaiah, and they should focus on building up the roster around players who will be in their prime 4-5 years from now.

Trying to win anything of significance in the next few years is foolhardy without an MVP caliber player.

Question - I posed this idea in another thread, but as I know that you're a fan of this guy, as am I, I think it's appropriate in this thread, as well: why not trade IT and KO to the Pelicans for 6 and use it to take Poeltl?  For New Orleans, KO, at least in theory, lol, gives them insurance in the likely event that Ryan Anderson walks, and with Eric Gordon both always being hurt and a free agent, coupled with Jrue Holiday's inability to stay on the court, IT gives them a cheap and dependable offensive weapon to pair with Davis.  Combine this with taking Dunn at 3, and you've now got the bookends of your starting lineup, and we can get the rest of our new starters at 16 and so on this year and the finishing touches next year, imo (well, hopefully, anyway).  What do you think?  It's hard to pass on a big guy with Poeltl's size, speed, defense, and skill set, imo.  Just an idea .

In a word, no.

Poeltl has slow feet, and I saw him in person be absolutely dominated by Wichita State's bigs, then follow that with some definite struggles late in the year.

If Ainge were foolish enough to deal our best player for him, he should be summarily fired.

Are we talking about the same player?  Poeltl is quite agile and fast, and he even bested Okafor when they matched up against each other in the tournament last year.  If you want to talk about someone outplaying Poeltl, that's fine, but Sabonis aside, I'm surprised that you didn't mention Tonye Jekiri's 20 point, 12 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block effort against Jakob (16 points, 6 rebounds, an assist and a block in the blowout by Miami) at the start of this past season.