Not really sure why some Boston fans hate the move, it's ****ing genius IMHO. Sure Fultz and Lonzo Ball might turn into superstars...but Boston has two stars now in Isiah Thomas and Horford so why get another dude who plays the same position? Horford esp. is already 31 years old, he doesn't have time to sit around and babysit a rookie pg who is 5 years away from being good it's gonna turn into Portland situation where LMA was ready to win while their pg was still getting his feet wet. With Hayward 90% sure of signing with them (or maybe already a done deal behind the scenes), Boston's roster is already essentially complete and they are just planning for the future. As such, it makes sense to stock up on future picks in case a trade comes up. Maybe NO implodes next year and Davis can be had for this year's #3 and next year's lottery pick, you never know. Picks are valuable because they symbolize "potential"...they are essentially hopes and dreams in a single asset and that makes them extremely attractive for desperate gms looking to save their jobs and die hard fans wanting to see their team get turned around. As such, if Boston wants to have assets available in case a franchise player becomes available then it's much better to have a pick in reserve for the upcoming draft rather than cash it all in on a player now. Plus, this draft seems to lack upper tier talent. There's probably gonna be a lot of good players in the draft but you don't have a bonafide superstar draftee that is miles above the others like KaT, DRose or Blake Griffin. Maybe Jackson or Tatum or hell even Fox could end up being the best player in the draft, it's tough to say who will be the best so in such a scenario where it's a bit of a crapshoot the Celts did the right move by hedging their bets and investing now for an additional pick next year. Boston is in such a good spot right now, they're supposed to be a small/mid market team but Patriots, Celtics and even Red Sox have managed to build a brand and culture of winning through analytics and "smart" GMing.
How is this betting it all on one draft when he just split his pick into 2 years? Ball and Fultz aren't total slam dunk prospects they have flaws in their games they only look like superstars because the college competition is weak, just look at Derrick Favors or Beasley in college. Not saying Ball and Fultz would be busts but their floors are way lower than a real top prospect like, say Blake Griffin or Anthony Davis or Lebron James. When those guys were coming up you know there's 0% chance they would become a bust injuries aside. Ball could turn out to be the next Jason Kidd with Steph Curry offensive skills or he can just be an unathletic White Chocolate. Fultz could be the next Dwade but then again you'd think a Dwade level prospect would carry his team against inferior college opponents just like Melo did back in the day. Is IT even going to cost a max contract? I dunno if any team out there will pay him the max Boston might get him on a discount.
Being a good drafter also depends on player development. Celtics are good at player development but not star development because they're not letting young guys play. The minutes just are not there to develop a future superstar at the moment. Not with Thomas, Smart, Bradley, Rozier, Crowder, Horford and potentially Hayward all in the way. The top 20 players in the league all played minimum 25 min/game in their 1st or 2nd years. You need young guys to go through a lot of confidence building, and making mistakes, and seeing many different situations all at the same time in order for them to make incremental improvements, it can't happen in practice. Now the Celtics have to find 25 min/game for this year's pick plus Jaylen Brown in order to justify building a contender while competing. Thats with their other two picks coming in next year in Zizic & Yabusele who they stashed and are very high on, plus Demetrius Jackson being groomed in D-League. They have failed to even give R.J. Hunter, Ben Bentil (who they cut), James Young or Jordan Mickey a chance because they're so limited on minutes. Last year in the 2nd round they traded pick #31 & #35 for a future 1st round pick from Memphis, protected from 1-14 in 2019 & 2020 and after that it turns into a 2nd round pick. Except the only issue is they missed out on Ivaca Zubac @ #32, Tyler Ulis @ #34, Malcolm Brogdon @ #36, and Patrick McCaw @ #38, all of them looked very good in their rookie years. This incessant focus on asset building has blinded their ability to see actual talent now. To sum up, Ainge has been acquiring tons and tons of assets for years now, but has failed to draft anyone in the late rounds of worth (or they're just not able to properly develop due to no available time). Thus, what is the point of even acquiring picks if your hit rate is so low?
If Ainge is right that Jackson/Tatum are pretty comparable prospects to Fultz, this is a very smart move. Outside of generational talents (like Duncan, LeBron, Durant, Anthony Davis), even the top few picks can be a bit of a crapshoot and Ainge diversified the value rather than putting all his apples in one cart. On the other hand, he has to be right. A lot of experienced people believe Fultz is the clear cream of the crop. On the other, other hand, if Ainge is just stockpiling assets to make one or two big strikes in the trade market, then again this could be smart. You can't trade the #1 pick in two separate deals. You can trade the #3 and the future pick in separate deals each. He has the ammunition to make a couple of big trades, as well as sign a premium free agent. They could become really good in a hurry. Kind of like Boston's last great team.
This problem with minutes given when it comes to a no1 pick and supposedly superstar prospect I don't understand. Giving time to Bradley who is about to be an UFA and ask for max $, Smart and Rozier over Fultz is crazy. I don't think it mattered at all in their decision. I don't think that they plan to keep any of the above players by next season tbh unless Smart gets a cheap extension. Mickey, Hunter, Yabusele Jackson etc...if it was another team that didnt' have a hype media machine we wouldn't even have heard of them but when it comes to the Celtics even the most marginal prospect like them are overhyped to the max. But to what you are saying, I don't think that the situation or the coach are good for player development. That doesn't mean that he isn't a good coach and I know he was a college coach, but itn the NBA I have seen better developmental coaches.
My english isn't good so I didn't write well what I meant. I meant that he betted it all on his drafting abilities and his abilities to scout and evaluate prospects. Which so far hasn't been the most bright in contrast to this trading abilities. We will see about IT it will be interesting but if no max for sure near max unless this year he falls a lot. Don't expect the kind of discount that they have been getting till now.
What makes you think Ainge and co is a lousy drafter? IIRC he hasn't drafted a bust so far, I mean Jaylen Brown's done decent for them last year. Well from a competitive standpoint I don't think IT is good enough for a Max, definitely a Klay Thompson or Green max (15M) but not a Conley Max (25-30M). I think that's too much money for a defensive liability given that IT isn't a top dominating offensive force like Harden or Curry.
Ainge has probably been average to maybe slightly above average as a drafter, when you factor in where he was drafting: Picks in the top 10: #5: Jeff Green (2007) #6: Marcus Smart (2014) #7: Randy Foye (2005) Picks between 11-20: #15: Al Jefferson (2004) #16: Gueschron Yasubele (2016), Terry Rozier (2015), Lucas Noguiera (2013), Troy Bell (2003) #17: Terry Rozier (2014) #18: Gerald Green (2005) #19: Avery Bradley (2010) #20: Dahntay Jones (2003) Picks between 21-30: #21: Jared Sullinger (2012) #22: Fab Melo (2012) #23: Ante Zizic (2016) #24: Delonte West (2004) #25: Marshon Brooks (2011), Tony Allen (2005) #30: JR Giddens (2008) Not great inside the top 10 (Jeff Green at #5--not good), but has mined decent value from mid- and late-first round picks, where the expected value drops off a lot. So maybe that augers badly for his appraisal of how Fultz compares to the next few prospects.
I just looked at that draft (2007) and you are right Green is not good. But that was an awful draft. I also had no idea Corey Brewer was drafted that high, Number 7 wowow
Jeff Green was a good pick. He was a starting player in his first 4 seasons & averaged 14 points per game, before he was traded to packed Celtics team. How many #5 picks failed to do just that? It's just unfortunate that he had problems with his heart, and had to do a surgery. It's hard to come back after that. And he actually did that - he averaged over 15 points per game in the next 3 seasons after sitting out a season because of the heart surgery. There was just several notable players that were picked after him in the first round, and they aren't that much better (Joakim Noah & Rodney Stuckey may be the best of that 1st round group after #5 pick). You have a bad example of a "bad pick" my friend.
Except for Jefferson, Allen and Bradley I don't see anything that shows good drafting. With these credentials over such a superlong period of time and not hitting even one big jackpot in 15 years noone can say that he's anything good. In my opinion someone with his drafting history shouldn't risk that much and gamble with the no1 pick that the vast majority of scouts and other teams think is a future star or even superstar. He has the confidence to, but not the credentials for his opinion to hold much water. Jeff Green's carreer development has less to do with his surgery and more to do with his lack of brain and ,,,well..heart. Would he being healthy make him more intelligent or interested in the sport?
Lol... Photoshop aside, see how tall Fultz looks. Fultz's measurements/stats are insane. 6'4, 6'9.75 wingspan (like the same as Josh Jackson, more than Ball), 8'5 standing reach (2 inches more than Jackson... I'm using Jackson as he seems like the guy the Celtics want), 185 pounds (which is 20 lbs lighter than the 6'8 Jackson, but almost 20 more than Ball). Extremely athletic. 23 ppg, 6, rpg, 6 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.2 bpg, 50% shooting overall, 41% shooting from three. Played just as well against power conference schools as crappy schools. Ainge better be right...
what is there to elaborate? His bball iq and passion for the game are notoriously low. That's what has been missing for him ever since he got drafted. Failing to improve, failing to show effort , stupid decisions on the court.
