Celtics Draft Review
O.J. Mayo was drafted third overall by Minnesota, but he'll be suiting up for Memphis next season. Kevin Love, Thursday's fifth overall pick, had his bags packed and stamped for the Grizzlies' facilities, but he's now heading to the Timberwolves instead. Poor Darrell Arthur, whose stock took a huge hit due to a highly-publicized-of-late kidney issue, waited to get drafted for what seemed to be an eternity and then got bounced from team to team in wacky post-selection trades. Picks and players changed hands last night at a surprising rate and Danny Ainge and the Celtics' front office were one of the teams doing some purchasing.
We already recapped the Celts' selection of J.R. Giddens; after completing that selection, the Celtics were lined up for one more pick - Pick #30 of the 2nd round (60th overall), the final pick of the draft (which they used to select Turkish big man Semih Erden; more on that later). That's not exactly how things would turn out, though, as the Celts shipped some cash to Washington for the rights to small forward Bill Walker at the 47th pick. Walker could end up being an absolute steal at this spot, similar to another former second round pick of the Celts (see: Powe, Leon), and interestingly, Walker fell for the same reason as said former second rounder. The freshman out of Kansas State finished the 2007-08 season with an impressive stat line (16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game), but significant concerns regarding his health (ruptured ACL in January 2007, bringing his total for ACL-related injuries to 3) kept him out of the first round. I'm pretty sure that ACL injuries are bad news for basketball players, but this guy was considered a lottery pick last year prior to his injury. Some people were even saying he could go in the top 5. How Walker fell this far is beyond me, and how Ainge and co. aren't yet being lauded for another shrewd and calculated draft-day gem is even more incomprehensible. All I know is that regardless of past injuries, a guy who's drawn comparisons to Vince Carter is someone I want on my team.
As I already mentioned, the C's picked up center Semih Erden with their final pick of the draft, the 60th overall selection. Rotoworld speculates that Erden "is not likely to ever see the light of day in the NBA," but Chad Ford insists that he's better described as "an intriguing international option for down the road." If we see anything out of Erden, it won't be for two or three years, and given the fact that Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Glen Davis seem to have the center position locked down for now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. (Sure it'd be nice to have a guy like, oh I don't know, say Dwight Howard, at the 5, but high hopes like that are just unreasonable when you already have three superstars in your starting 5.) Anyway, Erden plays in the Euroleague and racked up 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He's been knocked for being very inconsistent and for not being a hard worker, but international scouts have been eying him for years. He might never join the NBA (whether it be for lack of skill or for lack of desire to play in America), but it's worth seeing if he can develop overseas and become an NBA-worthy talent.
In the end, the 2008 NBA champs probably didn't end up with any future All-Stars (at least not of the perennial nature), but they covered their butts nicely in case guys like James Posey, Eddie House and Tony Allen do not return. Giddens (depending on his maturation) and Walker (depending on his health) could possibly break into the Celts' rotation next year, and don't count out the possibility of one of last year's second rounders, Gabe Pruitt, contributing on the floor, as well. As a lot of analysts have pointed out, it wasn't quite as flashy as drafts past (Ford: "The Celtics didn't make nearly the same splash in this year's draft..."), but that was fairly predictable heading in as they held the worst picks of both rounds... kind of goes along with the whole 'winning the championship' thing.
Even if the Celts just ended up with a couple of fringe role players and a guy that never steps foot on an NBA court, I think we can all agree it's a fair trade off. Would you rather have Michael Beasley, Darnell Jackson and Miami's league-worst 15-67 record or J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker, Semih Erden and Boston's league-best 66-16 record (as well as the title of 2008 NBA Champs)? ... Me too. That's what I thought.
We already recapped the Celts' selection of J.R. Giddens; after completing that selection, the Celtics were lined up for one more pick - Pick #30 of the 2nd round (60th overall), the final pick of the draft (which they used to select Turkish big man Semih Erden; more on that later). That's not exactly how things would turn out, though, as the Celts shipped some cash to Washington for the rights to small forward Bill Walker at the 47th pick. Walker could end up being an absolute steal at this spot, similar to another former second round pick of the Celts (see: Powe, Leon), and interestingly, Walker fell for the same reason as said former second rounder. The freshman out of Kansas State finished the 2007-08 season with an impressive stat line (16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game), but significant concerns regarding his health (ruptured ACL in January 2007, bringing his total for ACL-related injuries to 3) kept him out of the first round. I'm pretty sure that ACL injuries are bad news for basketball players, but this guy was considered a lottery pick last year prior to his injury. Some people were even saying he could go in the top 5. How Walker fell this far is beyond me, and how Ainge and co. aren't yet being lauded for another shrewd and calculated draft-day gem is even more incomprehensible. All I know is that regardless of past injuries, a guy who's drawn comparisons to Vince Carter is someone I want on my team.
As I already mentioned, the C's picked up center Semih Erden with their final pick of the draft, the 60th overall selection. Rotoworld speculates that Erden "is not likely to ever see the light of day in the NBA," but Chad Ford insists that he's better described as "an intriguing international option for down the road." If we see anything out of Erden, it won't be for two or three years, and given the fact that Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Glen Davis seem to have the center position locked down for now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. (Sure it'd be nice to have a guy like, oh I don't know, say Dwight Howard, at the 5, but high hopes like that are just unreasonable when you already have three superstars in your starting 5.) Anyway, Erden plays in the Euroleague and racked up 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He's been knocked for being very inconsistent and for not being a hard worker, but international scouts have been eying him for years. He might never join the NBA (whether it be for lack of skill or for lack of desire to play in America), but it's worth seeing if he can develop overseas and become an NBA-worthy talent.
In the end, the 2008 NBA champs probably didn't end up with any future All-Stars (at least not of the perennial nature), but they covered their butts nicely in case guys like James Posey, Eddie House and Tony Allen do not return. Giddens (depending on his maturation) and Walker (depending on his health) could possibly break into the Celts' rotation next year, and don't count out the possibility of one of last year's second rounders, Gabe Pruitt, contributing on the floor, as well. As a lot of analysts have pointed out, it wasn't quite as flashy as drafts past (Ford: "The Celtics didn't make nearly the same splash in this year's draft..."), but that was fairly predictable heading in as they held the worst picks of both rounds... kind of goes along with the whole 'winning the championship' thing.
Even if the Celts just ended up with a couple of fringe role players and a guy that never steps foot on an NBA court, I think we can all agree it's a fair trade off. Would you rather have Michael Beasley, Darnell Jackson and Miami's league-worst 15-67 record or J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker, Semih Erden and Boston's league-best 66-16 record (as well as the title of 2008 NBA Champs)? ... Me too. That's what I thought.
Comments