Did we take BPA at #16, or were we forced to take a Stash Pick

[KG Living Legend]

Hear me out, we had a big problem on our hands this year with eight Selections in the draft. We started out making the trade for two second-rounders that's down to 6 pics. Then take Nader at #58, he'll never make the team now we're down to 5.

Then we get to Steals with Ben  Bentil and Demetrius Jackson, we take Jaylen Brown who obviously makes the team and then we take the French freak and Zizic, who are both draft and stash players now we're down to three a very manageable number and a job well done for Ainge.

 But was that really the Best pick available? I don't think so personally.

 Ellenson is clearly more ready and has much more Upside than Yab. And my favorite pick would have been Brice Johnson. We still could have had him at number 23 so we could have even taken these each at 16 or 23, it didn't  really matter as long as we end up with both players. Johnson is NBA ready after 4 years of school is the best rebounder in the draft, crazy athletic, can switch and play defense on anyone, is 6 foot 9 with Pogosticks for legs, and he would have  been a great fit next to Horford.

 Yab is also shorter than advertised. I think he's 6'6" and change with his shoes off.

 Just answer my question even though so early, was he really the best prospect available, or do you think the stash thing played a big part, because remember we  didn't know that trade was going down at the time, two second rounders for a future first.

[Csfan1984]

I don't believe he was the bpa. I said it right out the gate thought he was only taken to stash. But then again I would have taken Lab at 16 and he went 28 so maybe I don't know anything.

[Beat LA]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

[saltlover]

We absolutely were forced to take a stash pick.  That said, he's an interesting player who could become something in a few more years.  Bear in mind that he started playing basketball in earnest only in 2012.  I think Ellenson was absolutely more ready (and is who I would have picked), but given his rawness, Yab could have higher upside.  The good news is that by stashing him, his developmental time can continue without costing the Celtics a roster spot, or granting him NBA service time.

This is a pick that really should be judged in 5-6 years, and not two weeks.  I don't think Ainge has much expectation of him coming over for a couple of years, and probably not contributing in earnest for a year or two after that.

It was a home-run swing, at the same time fitting the team needs of not taking up a roster space.  We won't know for a bit of Ainge connected on that swing.

[saltlover]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

It had almost nothing to do with cap flexibility. Yab currently has a cap hold the same as any other #16 pick. It had everything to do with the fact there are only so many roster spaces.  I really hope the NBA creates a true minor-league system in the next CBA, which will allow players to be sent to the D-league without starting their service clock or taking roster spaces, for a season or two.  We've signed one free agent and lost between 2-4 free agents (and John Hollands).  And yet we're currently full on rostered players (assuming Jackson and Bentil will be signed to contracts as reported on draft night), and still have $10 million in cap room, and the $2.9 million room exception.  Take a Levert and a Siakam, or Brice Johnson, and that's two more roster spots.

You already complain that not enough time is given to the young kids.  How in the heck is Stevens supposed to find minutes for Hunter, Rozier, Young, and Jackson, and you want to add Levert to the mix?  And again, we're already upset that Jordan Mickey doesn't get minutes, I'm sure the complaints about Bentil riding the bench will start soon, and you wish we had Pascal Siakam also?  Forget cap room -- who are you cutting? You have to pick three to cut, since we'll probably use that $10 million in cap space and get rid of one player as is.

[Beat LA]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

It had almost nothing to do with cap flexibility. Yab currently has a cap hold the same as any other #16 pick. It had everything to do with the fact there are only so many roster spaces.  I really hope the NBA creates a true minor-league system in the next CBA, which will allow players to be sent to the D-league without starting their service clock or taking roster spaces, for a season or two.  We've signed one free agent and lost between 2-4 free agents (and John Hollands).  And yet we're currently full on rostered players (assuming Jackson and Bentil will be signed to contracts as reported on draft night), and still have $10 million in cap room, and the $2.9 million room exception.  Take a Levert and a Siakam, or Brice Johnson, and that's two more roster spots.

You already complain that not enough time is given to the young kids.  How in the heck is Stevens supposed to find minutes for Hunter, Rozier, Young, and Jackson, and you want to add Levert to the mix?  And again, we're already upset that Jordan Mickey doesn't get minutes, I'm sure the complaints about Bentil riding the bench will start soon, and you wish we had Pascal Siakam also?  Forget cap room -- who are you cutting? You have to pick three to cut, since we'll probably use that $10 million in cap space and get rid of one player as is.

Really, because I could have sworn that that was the case, but at any rate, I'm going to quickly address this and finish it tomorrow, as we both need sleep, especially you .

Anyway, I'd start by cutting James Young, lol, and then renouncing all of our free agents.  That should free up a significant number of roster spots, should it not?  Do you really want guys like Zeller, Sully, Jerebko, and Amir back, because I don't, and wouldn't that also be financially advantageous?

[aingeforthree]

I thought Zizic would be the pick at 16 & stashed away. I thought he was the best available at the time.

Both him and Yab are under 20 so both have awhile.

[saltlover]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

It had almost nothing to do with cap flexibility. Yab currently has a cap hold the same as any other #16 pick. It had everything to do with the fact there are only so many roster spaces.  I really hope the NBA creates a true minor-league system in the next CBA, which will allow players to be sent to the D-league without starting their service clock or taking roster spaces, for a season or two.  We've signed one free agent and lost between 2-4 free agents (and John Hollands).  And yet we're currently full on rostered players (assuming Jackson and Bentil will be signed to contracts as reported on draft night), and still have $10 million in cap room, and the $2.9 million room exception.  Take a Levert and a Siakam, or Brice Johnson, and that's two more roster spots.

You already complain that not enough time is given to the young kids.  How in the heck is Stevens supposed to find minutes for Hunter, Rozier, Young, and Jackson, and you want to add Levert to the mix?  And again, we're already upset that Jordan Mickey doesn't get minutes, I'm sure the complaints about Bentil riding the bench will start soon, and you wish we had Pascal Siakam also?  Forget cap room -- who are you cutting? You have to pick three to cut, since we'll probably use that $10 million in cap space and get rid of one player as is.

Really, because I could have sworn that that was the case, but at any rate, I'm going to quickly address this and finish it tomorrow, as we both need sleep, especially you .

Anyway, I'd start by cutting James Young, lol, and then renouncing all of our free agents.  That should free up a significant number of roster spots, should it not?  Do you really want guys like Zeller, Sully, Jerebko, and Amir back, because I don't, and wouldn't that also be financially advantageous?

I absolutely want Amir back.  We're a competitive team and he's good.  I like Jerebko as well.  He's perfectly useful.  I've already pretty much assumed that Zeller and Sullinger are gone.

Your ideal scenario would leave the team well below the salary floor, which is just a waste of resources.  Not to mention, suppose we get down to your ideal roster of 15, featuring 5 rookies and three second-year players, so that Brad is forced to play some youth.  What happens next year? We have a great first round pick and three second round picks?  Who gets cut then? Who doesn't get minutes of the 12 players with two years or less experience?  We only have one player scheduled to become a free agent -- do you let Olynyk walk because he's too old?  Do you trade IT and Avery and Crowder, not to mention Horford, and run with just guys on their rookie deals, having a payroll of $25 million?  What do you even trade them for?

Ainge had an unprecedented amount of picks.  He moved two, and still had several too many.  Picking some players for use later was the only reasonable thing to do.  Given the run on foreign players, many for stash purposes, beginning with the Kings pick at 13, they decided that the first round was where to get them, because the ones they wanted wouldn't be available in round 2.

[RockinRyA]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

This kind of trash logic is what defines you.

We cannot have more than 15 players on the roster. We have 8 draft picks. You want to use them all? Dumb

[MBunge]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

It had almost nothing to do with cap flexibility. Yab currently has a cap hold the same as any other #16 pick. It had everything to do with the fact there are only so many roster spaces.  I really hope the NBA creates a true minor-league system in the next CBA, which will allow players to be sent to the D-league without starting their service clock or taking roster spaces, for a season or two.  We've signed one free agent and lost between 2-4 free agents (and John Hollands).  And yet we're currently full on rostered players (assuming Jackson and Bentil will be signed to contracts as reported on draft night), and still have $10 million in cap room, and the $2.9 million room exception.  Take a Levert and a Siakam, or Brice Johnson, and that's two more roster spots.

You already complain that not enough time is given to the young kids.  How in the heck is Stevens supposed to find minutes for Hunter, Rozier, Young, and Jackson, and you want to add Levert to the mix?  And again, we're already upset that Jordan Mickey doesn't get minutes, I'm sure the complaints about Bentil riding the bench will start soon, and you wish we had Pascal Siakam also?  Forget cap room -- who are you cutting? You have to pick three to cut, since we'll probably use that $10 million in cap space and get rid of one player as is.

Really, because I could have sworn that that was the case, but at any rate, I'm going to quickly address this and finish it tomorrow, as we both need sleep, especially you .

Anyway, I'd start by cutting James Young, lol, and then renouncing all of our free agents.  That should free up a significant number of roster spots, should it not?  Do you really want guys like Zeller, Sully, Jerebko, and Amir back, because I don't, and wouldn't that also be financially advantageous?

As it stands right now, if we essentially bring back last year's team and add Brown and Horford, we stand a decent chance at being at least the second best team in the East.  I can't understand anyone wanting to throw that away almost four months before the season starts.

Mike

[RockinRyA]

We weren't forced to take any stash picks, at all.  That was a conscious decision by Ainge to pass on available talent in order to 'maintain cap flexibilty' (kind of makes you shake your head in disbelief, doesn't it?  Ugh.). Given what has transpired with signing Horford, but not Durant, and seeing Turner leave, I stand by what I said regarding the draft, and we'd be much better off, today, imo, had we used 16 on Caris Levert and 23 on Pascal Siakam, for starters.  Those two contracts wouldn't exactly have crippled us, financially, lol , but whatever.

It had almost nothing to do with cap flexibility. Yab currently has a cap hold the same as any other #16 pick. It had everything to do with the fact there are only so many roster spaces.  I really hope the NBA creates a true minor-league system in the next CBA, which will allow players to be sent to the D-league without starting their service clock or taking roster spaces, for a season or two.  We've signed one free agent and lost between 2-4 free agents (and John Hollands).  And yet we're currently full on rostered players (assuming Jackson and Bentil will be signed to contracts as reported on draft night), and still have $10 million in cap room, and the $2.9 million room exception.  Take a Levert and a Siakam, or Brice Johnson, and that's two more roster spots.

You already complain that not enough time is given to the young kids.  How in the heck is Stevens supposed to find minutes for Hunter, Rozier, Young, and Jackson, and you want to add Levert to the mix?  And again, we're already upset that Jordan Mickey doesn't get minutes, I'm sure the complaints about Bentil riding the bench will start soon, and you wish we had Pascal Siakam also?  Forget cap room -- who are you cutting? You have to pick three to cut, since we'll probably use that $10 million in cap space and get rid of one player as is.

Really, because I could have sworn that that was the case, but at any rate, I'm going to quickly address this and finish it tomorrow, as we both need sleep, especially you .

Anyway, I'd start by cutting James Young, lol, and then renouncing all of our free agents.  That should free up a significant number of roster spots, should it not?  Do you really want guys like Zeller, Sully, Jerebko, and Amir back, because I don't, and wouldn't that also be financially advantageous?

As it stands right now, if we essentially bring back last year's team and add Brown and Horford, we stand a decent chance at being at least the second best team in the East.  I can't understand anyone wanting to throw that away almost four months before the season starts.

Mike

Ha, Beat LA:where guys who never played an NBA game is better than Mid-Tier vets Jerebko and Amir 

[walker834]

I don't think it's because it was a stash pick.  I think the C's were legitamently drafting players they liked.  A lot of factors.  Plus we can stash him if we want.  He gives us options that way. Jerebko is ok but Yab is a guy who can maybe be a more offensive version of that.  The C's like big men like this off the  bench.   They did it with glenn davis, powe, etc.. Sully is leaving possibly because he is too slow to be a bench player.  Yab is a good shooter too.

The C's were trying to get different kind of big men that way that can give us more energy off the bench.  BEntil is the same thing.

Like someone else said there are only so many roster spots.  People get upset when we dont take a star at every pick. We are trying to fill roles on the team.  We weren't going to find kevin durant in this draft.  Taking a bunch of guys who dont fit roles disrupts chemistry.

We are trying to win games and fill roles down the road as well.  He gives competiton to mickey and guys like that.  I don't get what people don't understand about this it's been explained time and time again that winning games puts us in position to land legitament stars from around the league.

We didnt' get durant but a guy like hayward or blake may choose here next year over the clippers or utah.

If yab busts it's no big deal either.  We aren't banking on guys like this.  We drafted Bentil too and Mickey.   He's a player we'd like to develop though. He serves a purpose as a mobile big who can do some things for us as a roleplayer.

We've done the same with guys like young, rj, rozier, jackson, thornton etc.  Thornton and young may end up being the busts there but so what.  It's ultimately about getting the right guys to fill roles.

Marcus and Brown obviously we hope for more than that but even them people expecting them to be superstars are expecting way too much. 

Players coming into the league are very young.  There are only so many Durants and Curry's these days.  It's about getting the right guys as much as it is star players.

this is also what I never understood about the wiggins hype.  He is a developmental star player and isn't going to win us anything as it stands. Maybe once he is developed we can make a move for him but he isn't Durant or a guy who is going to come in and turn our franchise around right now.

We basically have a very competitive roster and a lot of cap space and are trying to keep it that way until we can add the right guys.

The signing of Horford changes that a bit.  But we have one of the most if not the most well managed payrolls and rosters of a team that is as competitive as we are.

People panned the Rozier pick last year.  He is looking like the perfect backup to Isaiah right about now.  Yab could end up the same for all we know.  Young hasn't worked out so much. We drafted Brown. 

[Celtics4ever]

It was a classic Ainge gamble pick.

[LGC88]

It's a high risk pick, like Young and Rozier.
If Rozier continu like that, he could be a starter by the end of the season.
Young is out at that point. His head is f***** up unfortunately.

Yab could be one of them, a bust or a burst.

It's nice he doesn't mind to play in Europe next season to develop.
We need roster space. We lost Evan, and probably Sully + Zeller.
We need someone that can create some scoring while waiting for Brown and Smart.
We also need some kilos in the paint on the bench.

[KG Living Legend]

 My point is why not stash later in the second round. At #16 you should draft BPA which we did not IMO.

 Add to that we could really use a PF next to Horford and three very good ones were on the board. Take one of Ellenson, Johnson, Skal, The first two are tremendous rebounders, exactly what we need.