Clint Capela - the one that got away

[jpotter33]

We hear a lot about several of Danny's draft misses on here - KO over Giannis, Young over Hood, etc.


But one that you don't hear much about is Young over Clint Capela. He is who I really wanted at 17 in 2014, along with Harris and then Hood.

He's currently the starting center in Houston and in 25 mpg is averaging 11.5 pts, 8.6 rebs, and 2 blks per game on 62% shooting. He's not a good free throw shooter, but he does his job really well. He's also much better than the wasted pick in Young rotting on our bench.

Imagine him next to Horford right now. He's a really good fit for our current team.

[mr. dee]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

[alewilliam789]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

[tazzmaniac]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

We weren't a contender with KG and PP and Olynyk certainly wasn't going to move the needle.  Always should draft for upside assuming there are no red flags.  There are no safe draft picks.  Giannis is not yet 22 and he's averaging 21.8 pts, 8.5 reb, 5.8 ast, 2.2 blk and 2.0 stl. 

[tazzmaniac]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

Trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis is what made it really bad. 

[alewilliam789]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

Trading up to take Olynyk over Giannis is what made it really bad.

Not even that. There were good players to be had at 16 like Noguiera who I actually liked the pick, and Schroder who I thought we were taking. Not only did we end up passing on Schroder, but we then drafted Smart who isn't close to the pure point guard as Dennis. I'm fine with Ainge as a GM, but as a drafter he's not good. I think his best picks in the last 4 years has been Sully or Brown. Over dozens of picks and multiple picks from Brooklyn he could only muster two players with real starter potential.  Not liking that

[mr. dee]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

Giannis was just as risky as the James Young pick was. Nobody knew what he brings to the table. Olynyk was still a good pick, given how terrible that draft class was. Did Danny blew the pick? Maybe, but so did the first 12 teams. Only Noel, Oladipo and McCollum are clearly panning out on the top 10 and they were nowhere near the raw talent of Giannis.

I, myself hated the Olynyk pick way back in the draft. His summer league performance impressed alot of people here, hoping he could at least be a solid player. But the ship has sailed. Danny learned that day that never pick softies in the lottery range. That's why he picked Smart next.

[Rondo9]

Olynyk is a good player

[trickybilly]

I wouldn't count Olynyk as a big, but all the bigs we've drafted since Kendrick Perkins have turned out to be busts.. and what's more we just haven't drafted that many. In part the reason for the thinness in the current rotation..

[jpotter33]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Nets trade was finally broke just right before the draft happened. It was rumored and talked about for several days prior, but it broke like an hour prior to the draft.

I feel like this was the deal, because while I was excited about KO when we picked him, I was pretty down overall about the night.

[mr. dee]

I wouldn't count Olynyk as a big, but all the bigs we've drafted since Kendrick Perkins have turned out to be busts.. and what's more we just haven't drafted that many. In part the reason for the thinness in the current rotation..

Define bust.

Al Jefferson = 3rd All-NBA team
Ryan Gomes = Solid 10+ PPG guy from a 2nd round pick
Leon Powe = contributor on a championship team from a 2nd round pick
Glen Davis = 6th man on a championship team from a 2nd round pick
Semih Erden = solid 3rd stringer contributor on a championship team, from a second round pick
Jared Sullinger = Solid rebounder and a decent scorer, a steal for a 21st pick.
Kelly Olynyk = Finesse big with above shooting for his size. A decent pick given the draft's talent depth.

The only bust Danny drafted are:

JaJuan Johnson = Late first rounder
Fab Melo = Swing for fence pick, after taking Sullinger. Could have drafted Ezeli instead.

[mr. dee]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Nets trade was finally broke just right before the draft happened. It was rumored and talked about for several days prior, but it broke like an hour prior to the draft.

I feel like this was the deal, because while I was excited about KO when we picked him, I was pretty down overall about the night.

The deal was still under negotiation during the draft. It was only a week later that the deal was finalized.

[jpotter33]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Nets trade was finally broke just right before the draft happened. It was rumored and talked about for several days prior, but it broke like an hour prior to the draft.

I feel like this was the deal, because while I was excited about KO when we picked him, I was pretty down overall about the night.

The deal was still under negotiation during the draft. It was only a week later that the deal was finalized.

Sure, but it was pretty much finalized and agreed upon that night, as evidenced by Bill Simmons and the commentators discussing the deal.

So he still could've picked Giannis with the high upside pick over KO knowing that he was going to be rebuilding now. However, I don't blame him for that pick at all. KO is still a decent player for us, and Giannis still could never reach his star potential.

Still hate that Young pick though with so much risk, especially when there were safer, surer picks in Harris, Capela, and Hood still available who have similar ceilings.

[tazzmaniac]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

Giannis was just as risky as the James Young pick was. Nobody knew what he brings to the table. Olynyk was still a good pick, given how terrible that draft class was. Did Danny blew the pick? Maybe, but so did the first 12 teams. Only Noel, Oladipo and McCollum are clearly panning out on the top 10 and they were nowhere near the raw talent of Giannis.

I, myself hated the Olynyk pick way back in the draft. His summer league performance impressed alot of people here, hoping he could at least be a solid player. But the ship has sailed. Danny learned that day that never pick softies in the lottery range. That's why he picked Smart next.

Giannis was predicted to go in the middle of the 1st so passing on him with a top 5 or even a top 10 pick is understandable.  Hinkie blew it by taking MCW with the 11th pick and Ainge blew it taking KO with the 13th.  I can understand OKC taking Adams with the 12th. 

[Ilikesports17]

Celtics was a lottery team back then. Swinging for fences is more practical for lottery teams in the late first round than draft a safe but low ceiling player (see Olynyk). I doubt Danny would draft Young if they were already contending at that time.

As for the KO pick, it was only later that Danny traded KG and PP for picks. Trading them was not really in Danny's plan until Billy King called and offered him their farm. He would have picked Giannis if the trade went earlier than the draft.

How does this justify the KO pick? If anything because you believe you have your established core you can take a swing on a high potential prospect like Giannis, Capela, Schroder, and Gobert who it is very easy to tell are better players just from watching a simple highlight tape of them before coming over. I don't care what anybody tells me that was the worst possible pick he could have made in that draft in that position. Olynyk was a scrub then and now has developed into an inconsistent bench player. Terrible pick

I hated the Olynyk pick. I wanted Schroeder or Dieng.

Olynyk isnt bad at 13. I dont blame danny for missing on a greek kid who would go on to grow a few inches. Foreign scouting is shaky and I dont trust it.

Kelly is a solid bench guy. At 13 Im not too frustrated with the pick.

Again, I would be more frustrated if all the guys we missed on werent foreigners. Its really hard to scout them. Schroeder GA and Gobert were all studs we missed.