Should have never taken Olynyk

[alldaboston]

For all those claiming they wanted us to choose the Freak, please re-post your pre-draft posts stating that. I suspect most of you are sharing hindsight rather than foresight.

No can do.  Didn't start posting until late 2014.  DraftExpress mock had Giannis going in the middle 1st.  There was lots of talk about the Greek Freak at that time.  It shouldn't be surprising that a lot of people wanted Giannis then.  Ainge's trading up to get KO was the worst part.  Thought for sure it was to get Giannis.

That's convenient.

Then can you show me all the threads in this Blog touting him before the draft that year??  Would be surprised if there was more than 1 or 2 if any.

Then compare that with the number of threads for Smart. Or Gordon. Or Bender.

I was in the "DKC" at the time, basically a quasi-simulation fantasy league we used to have on CB.  Giannis went 19th in our league (selected by my and riah32's team), and there was no fan fare. GMs were openly talking about being glad not to draft him because they were worried he'd be a bust.

I got nothing but low ball offers for him for most of the summer, and most of the league screamed bloody murder when I traded Noel, Giannis, Crabbe and a #1 for Boogie.

In hindsight people act like Giannis was a sure thing or a consensus pick among Celtics fans. He wasn't.

Here is the 2013 Draft thread.  Not much on Giannis, but KO was definitely not a popular pick.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=65912.0

Giannis isnt mentioned a single time after the Olynyk pick.

Thank you.

We're all wrong at some point. Look at TA9. Vehemently opposed to Steven Adams:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=65912.msg1504442#msg1504442

People were saying "Fire Danny" after the pick lol. Most (if not all) of us aren't as smart as Danny.

[SuddenFame]

Wondering if ppl have finally accepted that DA blew it big time by not taking Gianni's at 13 in 2013.

At the time Cs where desperate for a stud in the draft that was fairly weak in terms of top tier talent. Danny had 2 options:

Olynyk who at best was going to be an Nba rotation player

Or

Giannis an unknown quantity with soo many physical tools. He was either going to be a bust or a blue chipper talent. No in between

This was the chance for DA to swing for the fences, instead he chickened out and went with the safe pick

3years later Gianni's has signed a 100mil extension, is avg 24 8 6 while being on a path to multiple all star teams. Olynyk on the other hand can barely get consistent minutes for a pseudo contender

At this point Gianni's is turning out to be by far the best player of that 2013 draft. Danny really could have had him instead of KO. It's probably more frustrating because everyone knew Olynyk would be nothing more that a rotation player. Far too limited physically to have any impact in today's game. Yet there Gianni's was, breaming with potential and perfectly placed for Danny to swoop in and pick him up.

Danny messed up big time

Milwaukee has their share of epic misses too.
Jabari Parker < Joel Embiid
Jimmer Freddette < Klay Thompson
The draft is hard to gauge, and no one is perfect.  Let's just hope JB is the superstar we all think he might be.  That would do wonders for Danny's drafting image.

[Bobshot]

I don't think Danny has picked any bigs in the draft very well--in the past. Maybe he thought Olynyk was the next Larry Bird. LOL. He thought he had value in Sullinger, but the answer is no.

Traded for Zeller-a serviceable backup. Jerebko good sign/trade. Horford sign, sure, but I don't think he is KG. Howard has been better so far in Atlanta for cheaper. But Horford is more like the type of player they wanted. Still weak up front, Danny.

[alldaboston]

I don't think Danny has picked any bigs in the draft very well--in the past. Maybe he thought Olynyk was the next Larry Bird. LOL. He thought he had value in Sullinger, but the answer is no.

Traded for Zeller-a serviceable backup. Jerebko good sign/trade. Horford sign, sure, but I don't think he is KG. Howard has been better so far in Atlanta for cheaper. But Horford is more like the type of player they wanted. Still weak up front, Danny.

You can't knock Danny for picking Sully. I will defend that pick until the day I die. Anytime arguably a top 5 talent (at worst, top 10 talent) slips to 21, you HAVE to take him. Talent was NEVER the issue with Sully. He was a projected 5 pick in the 2011 draft before he decided to return to school, and he was projected to be a surefire lottery pick and in the top 10 before the concerns about his back were heard about.

No one can even dare criticize that pick. Talent trumps all, and Sully had loads of it. He just didn't have the mindset to achieve his full potential.

Here's proof: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1240097-nba-draft-rumors-will-jared-sullinger-fall-outside-the-top-20

[Celtics4ever]

You can't knock Danny for picking Sully. I will defend that pick until the day I die. Anytime arguably a top 5 talent (at worst, top 10 talent) slips to 21, you HAVE to take him. Talent was NEVER the issue with Sully. He was a projected 5 pick in the 2011 draft before he decided to return to school, and he was projected to be a surefire lottery pick and in the top 10 before the concerns about his back were heard about.

No one can even dare criticize that pick. Talent trumps all, and Sully had loads of it. He just didn't have the mindset to achieve his full potential.

A lot of it was lack of disciple but there were reasons that he slipped to 21.   Those GMs ended up right in the end.  Physically, he never was top five in terms of athletic ability, he was not strong just bulkly, his ceiling was finite.   He was skilled when he game into the league with a low floor for growth but a passable player from the get go.  He brought the next Kevin Love hype and in all honesty he does and did not have a good three point shot.   He can rebound, has great hands but his shooting percentages are crap.

[tazzmaniac]

Wondering if ppl have finally accepted that DA blew it big time by not taking Gianni's at 13 in 2013.

At the time Cs where desperate for a stud in the draft that was fairly weak in terms of top tier talent. Danny had 2 options:

Olynyk who at best was going to be an Nba rotation player

Or

Giannis an unknown quantity with soo many physical tools. He was either going to be a bust or a blue chipper talent. No in between

This was the chance for DA to swing for the fences, instead he chickened out and went with the safe pick

3years later Gianni's has signed a 100mil extension, is avg 24 8 6 while being on a path to multiple all star teams. Olynyk on the other hand can barely get consistent minutes for a pseudo contender

At this point Gianni's is turning out to be by far the best player of that 2013 draft. Danny really could have had him instead of KO. It's probably more frustrating because everyone knew Olynyk would be nothing more that a rotation player. Far too limited physically to have any impact in today's game. Yet there Gianni's was, breaming with potential and perfectly placed for Danny to swoop in and pick him up.

Danny messed up big time

Milwaukee has their share of epic misses too.
Jabari Parker < Joel Embiid
Jimmer Freddette < Klay Thompson
The draft is hard to gauge, and no one is perfect.  Let's just hope JB is the superstar we all think he might be.  That would do wonders for Danny's drafting image.

Considering Embiid's injury, its hard to call choosing Parker an epic miss.  Parker was considered to be a potential star and we don't know what their medical staff's evaluation of his injury was.  Giannis and Embiid would have made a great young core for them. 

Olynyk over Giannis is the only real issue that I have with Danny's recent drafting.  Otherwise I think he's done a pretty good job.   

[guava_wrench]

The original premise is not reasonable.

You don't judge picks on the fact that there were better players picked after. You judge picks based on whether the team got value with the pick. The main exception to this is when a team does a surprise pick, like Bennett at number one.

Not picking a guy who ends up going 15 is not a blunder.

Are we doing to waste time talking about all the "blunders" where GMs passed on IT in the first round (and second round)?

Then we have all the previous Giannis type players who ended up a bust.

[The Oracle]

What a ridiculous thread!  People undervalue Olynyk so much it's beyond belief.  The guy is going to pull a 20 million plus (may very well pull max money) contract next summer and teams will be lining up to offer it to him and this forum thinks he's Joe average LOL.

[tazzmaniac]

You can't knock Danny for picking Sully. I will defend that pick until the day I die. Anytime arguably a top 5 talent (at worst, top 10 talent) slips to 21, you HAVE to take him. Talent was NEVER the issue with Sully. He was a projected 5 pick in the 2011 draft before he decided to return to school, and he was projected to be a surefire lottery pick and in the top 10 before the concerns about his back were heard about.

No one can even dare criticize that pick. Talent trumps all, and Sully had loads of it. He just didn't have the mindset to achieve his full potential.

A lot of it was lack of disciple but there were reasons that he slipped to 21.   Those GMs ended up right in the end.  Physically, he never was top five in terms of athletic ability, he was not strong just bulkly, his ceiling was finite.   He was skilled when he game into the league with a low floor for growth but a passable player from the get go.  He brought the next Kevin Love hype and in all honesty he does and did not have a good three point shot.   He can rebound, has great hands but his shooting percentages are crap.

Picking Sully in the top 10 would have been a mistake.  Sully at 21 was a good pick.  As for Sully shooting 3s that is on Stevens.  Players whose best ability is banging in the paint for offensive rebounds should not be force fit into a stretch 4 role. 

[SuddenFame]

Wondering if ppl have finally accepted that DA blew it big time by not taking Gianni's at 13 in 2013.

At the time Cs where desperate for a stud in the draft that was fairly weak in terms of top tier talent. Danny had 2 options:

Olynyk who at best was going to be an Nba rotation player

Or

Giannis an unknown quantity with soo many physical tools. He was either going to be a bust or a blue chipper talent. No in between

This was the chance for DA to swing for the fences, instead he chickened out and went with the safe pick

3years later Gianni's has signed a 100mil extension, is avg 24 8 6 while being on a path to multiple all star teams. Olynyk on the other hand can barely get consistent minutes for a pseudo contender

At this point Gianni's is turning out to be by far the best player of that 2013 draft. Danny really could have had him instead of KO. It's probably more frustrating because everyone knew Olynyk would be nothing more that a rotation player. Far too limited physically to have any impact in today's game. Yet there Gianni's was, breaming with potential and perfectly placed for Danny to swoop in and pick him up.

Danny messed up big time

Milwaukee has their share of epic misses too.
Jabari Parker < Joel Embiid
Jimmer Freddette < Klay Thompson
The draft is hard to gauge, and no one is perfect.  Let's just hope JB is the superstar we all think he might be.  That would do wonders for Danny's drafting image.

Considering Embiid's injury, its hard to call choosing Parker an epic miss.  Parker was considered to be a potential star and we don't know what their medical staff's evaluation of his injury was.  Giannis and Embiid would have made a great young core for them. 

Olynyk over Giannis is the only real issue that I have with Danny's recent drafting.  Otherwise I think he's done a pretty good job.   

I guess in hindsight it looks like a miss, but you're right, at the time Parker was the consensus pick at that spot.

[Alleyoopster]

To be honest I wasn't thrilled when Danny selected Kelly. I thought he would be a defensive liability. He worked on his game and got a lot better. Not great, but acceptable.

On the other hand Giannis didn't look all that great either. In the beginning of his career he looked totally lost on the court and couldn't shoot. Not sure if he can shoot now or he simply relies on slashing to the hoop and using his athletic advantage to score. 

In the past we've drafted players solely on athletic ability that turned out to be wasted picks, e.g., Kendrick Brown, Fab Melo, J.R. Giddens?. What if Giannis turned out like these players. Would we be saying we should have drafted Kelly or someone else? Yes, yes and yes.   

Another way to look at this is to ask is Giannis that good or is he really the beneficiary of playing with good players? I looked up the draft order of his teammates. This is what I found.  Five players were top 10 selections. If you include Giannis 7 players were drafted 2-15. Thus, is Giannis that great or is some of his good fortune teammate related?


Giannis Antetokounmpo 15th
Matthew Dellavedova – undrafted
Thon Maker 10th
Jabari Parker 2nd
Greg Monroe 7th
Khris Middleton 39th
Michale Beasley 2nd
Jason Terry 10th
Tony Snell 20th
Malcolm Brogdon #36
John Henson #14
Mirza Teletović – free agent from Europe?
Miles Plumlee #26
Steve Novak #32
Rashad Vaughn 17th
Jared Cunningham 24th
Shawne Williams undrafted?