Real GM gives us an A for Giddens and Walker

[Rida]

30. Boston – J.R. Giddens (30), Bill Walker (47), Semih Erden (60)

How often does a team who finishes the regular season with best record and wins the championship end up with two players who were once considered lottery picks at positions of need?

The Celtics were lean on the wings behind Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and both Giddens (24) and Walker (21) flat out know how to play the game and have the talent to be special.

Giddens will be a defensive workhorse under Tom Thibaudau and a Kobe-stopper if they meet again in the Finals.

Walker, as soon as he is healthy, will be taken under the wing of Pierce and KG and really be fostered as a scoring wing.

It’s not like getting McHale and Parrish, but I expect Giddens and Walker to wear Celtics’ uniforms for a long time to come.

Erden is a straight-up banger who doesn’t really do anything else, and I ironically had him as the 60th best prospect on my board.

Grade: A

Something that should not be glossed over, is this "Kobe Stopping" ability. I didn't actually think about it until i read this.

Not only that, he could probably guard Le Bron better than anyone we have at the moment too.

If we lose Posey to free agency, we really have no one to defend kobe, I agree that Ray and PP both did great jobs on him in the finals, however they expend too much energy to be effective over 48 mins.

I think TA is toast, no point in resigning him now when we are going to pay a dollar for dollar penalty on his qualifying offer.

I'd rather use the money to ensure posey and house stay.

Also has anyone else noticed the parrallels between Billy Walker and Leon Powe.

Both MC Donalds high school All amercians and heavily touted going into college, both supreme athletes and both blow out both knees.

They fall to the second rd where walker is picked 48th and powe picked 49th.

I'm not doubting Danny, not for a second.

His worst draft pick might have been Marcus Banks but that was his first summer in charge so I will give him a pass on that one.

People may argue he should messed up with Gerald Green, but GG was rated as a top 5 pick on all draft boards and slipped very unexpectedly.

We were basically going to pick with either GG or Granger.

i feel good about these picks, lets be honest we dont need either of these guys to really contribute next season. That would be a nice bonus but these guys will most likely get their minutes in blow outs.

[Roy Hobbs]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

[RockinRyA]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

i agree.. not now, maybe later 

[Rida]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

Ordinarily i would agree with you.

Giddens is however 23 and has played 4 years in college. thats not to say that Kobe wouldn't abuse him, however he is going to have to show that he can defend either this year or the next or he won't have a future if he is a 25 yr old who can't defend in the NBA

[jay_jay54]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

Ordinarily i would agree with you.

Giddens is however 23 and has played 4 years in college. thats not to say that Kobe wouldn't abuse him, however he is going to have to show that he can defend either this year or the next or he won't have a future if he is a 25 yr old who can't defend in the NBA

Realistically,how many players in the NBA can we honestly consider as "Kobe stoppers",so i think its a unrealistic expectation for this young man to shut Kobe down.

[lon3lytoaster]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

Ordinarily i would agree with you.

Giddens is however 23 and has played 4 years in college. thats not to say that Kobe wouldn't abuse him, however he is going to have to show that he can defend either this year or the next or he won't have a future if he is a 25 yr old who can't defend in the NBA

Realistically,how many players in the NBA can we honestly consider as "Kobe stoppers",so i think its a unrealistic expectation for this young man to shut Kobe down.

The funny thing is I still remember one specific play where Tony Allen was guarding Kobe a few years back and I think Tony played the best defense for one possession that I've ever seen anyone play on Kobe. He wasn't letting him get to the rim at all and I doubt Kobe even got more than a foot past Tony... then he still scored on him.

There isn't a player in the league who Kobe wouldn't abuse and while I like Giddens' potential as a defensive player (At least) he isn't going to guard Kobe for any time he might be on the floor with him unless it's on a switch.

[jay_jay54]

If we meet L.A. in the Finals next season, I can pretty much guarantee that we're not going to be using J.R. Giddens as our "Kobe stopper".  I don't care how good his defense is, he's still a rookie; Kobe would abuse him.

Down the line, though, Giddens has the length and athleticism to be a top notch defender.  I think he'll see some minutes next season, but I'm not expecting a lot out of him immediately.

Ordinarily i would agree with you.

Giddens is however 23 and has played 4 years in college. thats not to say that Kobe wouldn't abuse him, however he is going to have to show that he can defend either this year or the next or he won't have a future if he is a 25 yr old who can't defend in the NBA

Realistically,how many players in the NBA can we honestly consider as "Kobe stoppers",so i think its a unrealistic expectation for this young man to shut Kobe down.

The funny thing is I still remember one specific play where Tony Allen was guarding Kobe a few years back and I think Tony played the best defense for one possession that I've ever seen anyone play on Kobe. He wasn't letting him get to the rim at all and I doubt Kobe even got more than a foot past Tony... then he still scored on him.

There isn't a player in the league who Kobe wouldn't abuse and while I like Giddens' potential as a defensive player (At least) he isn't going to guard Kobe for any time he might be on the floor with him unless it's on a switch.

Pierce and Posey probably defended Kobe as good as its going to get,in the finals.

[SShoreFan 2.0]

nice, but I have learned to put zero credence into draft report cards.  Let's see what happens in October.

[Rida]

Agreed

Chad ford gave us a B and I believe SI.com gave us a C

ITs nice to see that A from Real GM because it shows that we do actually have two lottery talents under our wings (excuse the pun)

Giddens slipped due to character issues and Walker slipped due to the torn ACL's

If they overcome those issues, I think they will end up being two superb picks

[Rida]

Boston Celtics

Picks: J.R. Giddens (#30), traded cash considerations to Washington for draft rights to Bill Walker (#47)

B

Giddens makes a lot of sense here, as he surely has the talent and athleticism to warrant being drafted this high, granted he realizes how blessed he was to get a second opportunity. Playing alongside warriors like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, Giddens should fall right in line. He needed the security of a two year contract to give him a cushion until he’s truly ready to contribute anything more than spot-defensive minutes, so it will be interesting to see how well he takes advantage of this opportunity.

Bill Walker slipped deep into the second round due to concerns regarding his knee. He has a good deal of talent, but doesn’t look very close to being able to contribute at this point in time. It will be interesting to see if the Celtics hold on to him for long enough to see whether he was worth the cash they gave the Wizards for his rights. They are reportedly shopping him overseas at the moment, trying to get him to play in Europe next season and then try and make their team next year.

Draft Express give us a B

[stanthompsonismyhero]

So we seem to be averaging out as a B in the draft grades; not bad, considering where we were drafting. 

[rondohondo]

we already have our "kobe stopper" his name is Paul Pierce and he won NBA Finals MVP this year, why in the world would we put a rookie on Kobe Bryant in an NBA finals game when we already know what Paul Pierce can do against him?

[Bankshot]

Jay Bilas was interviewed on ESPN Radio and said the Celtics pick of Giddens puzzled him the most.  He said that Giddens has had nothing but character issues his whole college career and didn't think the Celtics should bring that kind of guy in their locker right after winning a championship. He said there was no way he would have drafted him if he was Ainge.

Bilas seems to do his homework usually, but is he using old information with regard to Giddens or does he know something that happened more recently that we don't know about?  From what I understand, the last time Giddens caused any trouble was his junior year, right?  Bilas made it seem as though he was trouble right up until the minute he was drafted.

I think Giddens is going to prove Bilas wrong, just like Rondo.  Isn't he the one that dogged the Rondo pick?

[rondohondo]

Jay Bilas was interviewed on ESPN Radio and said the Celtics pick of Giddens puzzled him the most.  He said that Giddens has had nothing but character issues his whole college career and didn't think the Celtics should bring that kind of guy in their locker right after winning a championship. He said there was no way he would have drafted him if he was Ainge.

Bilas seems to do his homework usually, but is he using old information with regard to Giddens or does he know something that happened more recently that we don't know about?  From what I understand, the last time Giddens caused any trouble was his junior year, right?  Bilas made it seem as though he was trouble right up until the minute he was drafted.

I think Giddens is going to prove Bilas wrong, just like Rondo.  Isn't he the one that dogged the Rondo pick?

Bilas might have bashed the rondo pick , I don't remember,but I know Dick Vitale said Rondo isn't going to be much of an NBA player

As far as Bilas saying that Giddens will mess up team chemistry and be a bad apple, I think that is complete BS. There is no way a locker room with KG,PP,RA and hopefully Posey will let a rookie walk in and effect the way they go about their business. If Giddins makes and waves in the locker room or anything like that I have no doubt Danny will give him the boot.

I think Giddins will fit in just fine and learn from the great Vets on our team.

[lon3lytoaster]

Jay Bilas was interviewed on ESPN Radio and said the Celtics pick of Giddens puzzled him the most.  He said that Giddens has had nothing but character issues his whole college career and didn't think the Celtics should bring that kind of guy in their locker right after winning a championship. He said there was no way he would have drafted him if he was Ainge.

Bilas seems to do his homework usually, but is he using old information with regard to Giddens or does he know something that happened more recently that we don't know about?  From what I understand, the last time Giddens caused any trouble was his junior year, right?  Bilas made it seem as though he was trouble right up until the minute he was drafted.

I think Giddens is going to prove Bilas wrong, just like Rondo.  Isn't he the one that dogged the Rondo pick?

Bilas might have bashed the rondo pick , I don't remember,but I know Dick Vitale said Rondo isn't going to be much of an NBA player

As far as Bilas saying that Giddens will mess up team chemistry and be a bad apple, I think that is complete BS. There is no way a locker room with KG,PP,RA and hopefully Posey will let a rookie walk in and effect the way they go about their business. If Giddins makes and waves in the locker room or anything like that I have no doubt Danny will give him the boot.

I think Giddins will fit in just fine and learn from the great Vets on our team.

"Danny Ainge HOW could you pick Rajon Rondo over Marcus Williams? That kid is FANTASTIC, BABYYY! All you get with Rondo is pounding the ball until the shot clock expires... Pound POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND! Marcus Williams blah blah godsend blah blah rondo sucks blah blah DA needs to be fired blah blah."

That's basically the jest of what Dick Vitale said about the Rondo pick.