Pierce: "Jimmy Butler should be a Celtic"

[Ilikesports17]

He should have been a Celtic, maybe.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team had honed in on three players in the first round: Johnson, Boston College's Reggie Jackson and Marquette's Jimmy Butler. When Jackson got hooked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 24, the Celtics elected to move down, but were pleased to see Johnson available at that point.

"I like it," Rivers said. "Big 10 Player of the Year, athletic, can shoot -- I like it a lot. We didn't think he'd be there and he was.

Im not sure I buy it.

They honed in on the 2 biggest steals of the draft and then just so happened to end up with one of the biggest busts?

sounds fishy. a bit like Bill Polian claiming he had a first round grade on Tom Brady.

When is this quote from?

[Roy H.]

He should have been a Celtic, maybe.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team had honed in on three players in the first round: Johnson, Boston College's Reggie Jackson and Marquette's Jimmy Butler. When Jackson got hooked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 24, the Celtics elected to move down, but were pleased to see Johnson available at that point.

"I like it," Rivers said. "Big 10 Player of the Year, athletic, can shoot -- I like it a lot. We didn't think he'd be there and he was.

Im not sure I buy it.

They honed in on the 2 biggest steals of the draft and then just so happened to end up with one of the biggest busts?

sounds fishy. a bit like Bill Polian claiming he had a first round grade on Tom Brady.

When is this quote from?

It was published the day after the draft, June 24, 2011.

[Ilikesports17]

He should have been a Celtic, maybe.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team had honed in on three players in the first round: Johnson, Boston College's Reggie Jackson and Marquette's Jimmy Butler. When Jackson got hooked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 24, the Celtics elected to move down, but were pleased to see Johnson available at that point.

"I like it," Rivers said. "Big 10 Player of the Year, athletic, can shoot -- I like it a lot. We didn't think he'd be there and he was.

Im not sure I buy it.

They honed in on the 2 biggest steals of the draft and then just so happened to end up with one of the biggest busts?

sounds fishy. a bit like Bill Polian claiming he had a first round grade on Tom Brady.

When is this quote from?

It was published the day after the draft, June 24, 2011.

[dang]. I stand corrected.

[iadera]

No way is Jimmy Butler worth Fultz.

Of course. But who says Bulls wouldn't give him for BRK'18 or some other trade combinations. I think his price is quite lower than in Feb.

[LilRip]

I would love to see this happen. I don't think we should trade Fultz, but I'd trade away Bradley, Crowder for this guy. The 2018 BKN pick would make me think about it but I'd gladly trade 2 other non-BKN 1st round picks for this guy. I'd include Rozier too.

[obnoxiousmime]

He should have been a Celtic, maybe.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team had honed in on three players in the first round: Johnson, Boston College's Reggie Jackson and Marquette's Jimmy Butler. When Jackson got hooked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 24, the Celtics elected to move down, but were pleased to see Johnson available at that point.

"I like it," Rivers said. "Big 10 Player of the Year, athletic, can shoot -- I like it a lot. We didn't think he'd be there and he was.

Im not sure I buy it.

They honed in on the 2 biggest steals of the draft and then just so happened to end up with one of the biggest busts?

sounds fishy. a bit like Bill Polian claiming he had a first round grade on Tom Brady.

When is this quote from?

It was published the day after the draft, June 24, 2011.

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

Really the only time he hit it big was Jefferson in 04, Rondo in 06, and Bradley to a lesser extent in 10. It's actually quite amazing that the current team has come so far without any star on the team they drafted themselves.

Anyway, I think Ainge is a good GM but drafting may not be his strong suit. Yes, I know a lot of the picks were in the teens and 20s but other teams have still been able to produce talent in those spots. I don't expect him to bat 1.000, just to have a big steal once in awhile.

One of the reasons they're in the situation they are now cap-wise is because they've been signing FAs like Horford and will now go after Hayward. When you are forced to rely on the FA market, it's very easy for your cost control to go haywire. Not only do you usually overpay, but FAs are usually older and have shorter windows.

Oh well, I'm done ranting. I'm optimistic about last year's class and Fultz, so I'm happy. It would just be nice if we had gotten a big steal in the draft from say, 2011-2015. And don't bring up Rozier please, I like him but I think his future is as a nice backup.

[jay]

I would love to see this happen. I don't think we should trade Fultz, but I'd trade away Bradley, Crowder for this guy. The 2018 BKN pick would make me think about it but I'd gladly trade 2 other non-BKN 1st round picks for this guy. I'd include Rozier too.

Question: If Bradley, Crowder, Rozier were traded for Butler, and we threw in whatever future pick(s) - does it help or hurt (salary cap wise) the ability to sign Hayward?

[LilRip]

I would love to see this happen. I don't think we should trade Fultz, but I'd trade away Bradley, Crowder for this guy. The 2018 BKN pick would make me think about it but I'd gladly trade 2 other non-BKN 1st round picks for this guy. I'd include Rozier too.

Question: If Bradley, Crowder, Rozier were traded for Butler, and we threw in whatever future pick(s) - does it help or hurt (salary cap wise) the ability to sign Hayward?

No salary cap expert but according to my calculations:
Bradley - 8.8
Crowder - 6.8
Rozier - 2

Butler - 17.x (I forget)

We're basically sending out as much as salary as we're getting. So it shouldn't help or hurt us. We'd probably still need to renounce KO to get under the cap to sign a max and change. 

[kozlodoev]

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

However, they've hit a ton of doubles and get on base with regularity. That's nothing to sneeze at.

[mef730]

Simmons is the most overrated player on this board lol

What are you talking about? The kid hasn't had a bad game his whole NBA career!

Yeah, well, that's the problem with you eternal optimistic Philadelphia homers. Despite your constant crowing about how good Simmons is, how great his passing is, etc., he doesn't have a single assist in the pros. Nor has he hit any threes. In fact, I struggle to think of one good game that he has had in his NBA career.

And a TP for making me laugh.

Mike

[JBcat]

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

However, they've hit a ton of doubles and get on base with regularity. That's nothing to sneeze at.

You have to consider draft position as well.  Really tough to hit homeruns when you consistently draft outside the lottery.  Maybe Smart was a reach in the lottery but on the other hand he doing just as well as players drafted near him.

[18isGREATERthan72]

Not just draft position is a factor but also the makeup of the team at the time.  I think the JJ draft over Butler was more of a positional need at the time.  I can't recall specifics about the roster that year but I think I remember a big being a kind of important positional need at the time.  Also, Ainge missed on Butler, but so did 28 other teams?

[RIPRED]

He should have been a Celtic, maybe.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team had honed in on three players in the first round: Johnson, Boston College's Reggie Jackson and Marquette's Jimmy Butler. When Jackson got hooked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 24, the Celtics elected to move down, but were pleased to see Johnson available at that point.

"I like it," Rivers said. "Big 10 Player of the Year, athletic, can shoot -- I like it a lot. We didn't think he'd be there and he was.

Im not sure I buy it.

They honed in on the 2 biggest steals of the draft and then just so happened to end up with one of the biggest busts?

sounds fishy. a bit like Bill Polian claiming he had a first round grade on Tom Brady.

When is this quote from?

It was published the day after the draft, June 24, 2011.

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

Really the only time he hit it big was Jefferson in 04, Rondo in 06, and Bradley to a lesser extent in 10. It's actually quite amazing that the current team has come so far without any star on the team they drafted themselves.

Anyway, I think Ainge is a good GM but drafting may not be his strong suit. Yes, I know a lot of the picks were in the teens and 20s but other teams have still been able to produce talent in those spots. I don't expect him to bat 1.000, just to have a big steal once in awhile.

One of the reasons they're in the situation they are now cap-wise is because they've been signing FAs like Horford and will now go after Hayward. When you are forced to rely on the FA market, it's very easy for your cost control to go haywire. Not only do you usually overpay, but FAs are usually older and have shorter windows.

Oh well, I'm done ranting. I'm optimistic about last year's class and Fultz, so I'm happy. It would just be nice if we had gotten a big steal in the draft from say, 2011-2015. And don't bring up Rozier please, I like him but I think his future is as a nice backup.

Delonte West at 24 and Tony Allen at 25 were pretty good picks in 2004. A lot of people hated his game here, but Tony Allen has been playing elite defense in the league for 13 years now - not bad for the 25th pick. There have been plenty of swings and misses since 2004 (JR Giddens, JJJ, Fab Melo, etc), but that was undeniably a great draft year for Danny.

[Roy H.]

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

However, they've hit a ton of doubles and get on base with regularity. That's nothing to sneeze at.

You have to consider draft position as well.  Really tough to hit homeruns when you consistently draft outside the lottery.  Maybe Smart was a reach in the lottery but on the other hand he doing just as well as players drafted near him.

I'd probably consider AB to be a home run, and a lot of other years there were no HRs, period.

Giddens and Melo were really bad picks. Everything else was pretty justifiable.

[RIPRED]

Let's be honest, the Celtics haven't hit a home run in the draft in a long time. The jury is still out on last year's class, but other than a lot of role players Ainge has really come up with bupkis. The Celtics are really living off unbelievably one-sided trades (Thomas, Crowder, BKN picks), free agency (basically Horford), and superior coaching.

However, they've hit a ton of doubles and get on base with regularity. That's nothing to sneeze at.

You have to consider draft position as well.  Really tough to hit homeruns when you consistently draft outside the lottery.  Maybe Smart was a reach in the lottery but on the other hand he doing just as well as players drafted near him.

I'd probably consider AB to be a home run, and a lot of other years there were no HRs, period.

Giddens and Melo were really bad picks. Everything else was pretty justifiable.

Danny Ainge famously said that if Avery waited for the 2011 draft he would have been a top 5 pick. Not sure if that's true, but he was definitely a home run at 19 overall.