| Another Great Ainge Draft Night? Authored by Ryan Bennett - June 28, 2005 - 12:27 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Final Thoughts On The 2008 NBA Draft This year's draft was decidedly more calm and casual than the Oden/Durant showdown, which made for a more candid and personal experience.
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So where are the weaknesses? Who are we going to draft?
The biggest gaps I see are at center and point guard. In such a deep draft I can see the Celtics patching up those holes and moving back towards something resembling the glory days.
First things first, trade Pierce. Previously in my Pierce Trade Checker Destination article, I stated that Minnesota might be a possible new home for Pierce (Minnesota are looking at adding another superstar, Pierce or Francis). I rated the trade 4/10, so I have upped it here for the Celtics to get some equal value for Pierce.
Boston trade:
Paul Pierce
Mark Blount
Minnesota trade:
Trenton Hassell
Sam Cassell
Michael Olowokandi
First round Pick# 14
Boston gets two expirers and a great perimeter defender, who is relatively cheap. The number 14 pick is very interesting. It could be Andrew Bynum or Fran Vasquez.
Minnesota gets Paul Pierce who wants to win now, and KG would be a great tag team partner. Mark Blount’s defensive inconsistencies can be covered up by KG.
With this trade in mind the Celtics will have the following picks:
Pick 14: Andrew Bynum or Fran Vasquez can be had here. Bynum seems to be moving up the rankings, while Vasquez seems to be sliding. Vasquez reminds me of Dino Radja, and that isn’t a bad thing at all.
Pick 18: Martynas Andriuskevicius can be had at the 18th pick, and could be developed in the NBDL for a season. Martynas and Al Jefferson could form a dominant inside/ outside pairing for years.
Picking two big men means that Raef can slide back over to PF, his natural position. I like the idea of stocking up on big men with talent. Swing men are a dime a dozen.
Pick 50: John Gilchrist would be a great choice at 50. Many NBA mock drafts don’t even have him being picked in the draft. I could see this guy being really, really good. He has been very clutch in the past and has as much upside as Chris Paul in my opinion. The only knock on him has been his attitude. Call me crazy but maybe Ricky Davis can help him turn over a new leaf.
Pick 53: The easy pick is here. The Celtics could do with some more depth at small forward, and some height too. I don’t think it is wise to take too many foreigners otherwise I would have Angelo Gigli slotted here. I’m going with a known product, Jawad Williams. Williams is a great shooter, great defender and a good team player.
Celtics 05/06:
C- Kendrick Perkins/ Michael Olowokandi/ Andrew Bynum/ Martynas Andriuskevicius (NBDL)
F- Al Jefferson/ Raef LaFrentz
F- Trenton Hassell/ Jawad Williams
G- Delonte West/ Sam Cassell/ Marcus Banks/ John Gilchrist (NBDL)
G- Ricky Davis/ Tony Allen
Contact Ryan at: ryanwbennett@gmail.com |
