Would have preferred Vonleh and Harris to Smart and Young

[McHales Pits]

Would have preferred Smart AND Harris. Then S&T Bradley. I'm still shaking my head over giving him 4 years and $32M+.

[celticslove]

Vonleh is already hurt with a hernia.  I am just glad we did not get Exum after watching FIBA.

agreed to this. i've seen most (if not all) of Australia's game and i was wondering what the scouts has seen in him to gather that much hype. good job by his PR team. i also think that wiggins could be a bust or probably has jeff green ceiling but at least i can see some glimmer of good things to come from him.

marcus smart is also the pick i want, and i think can be a good-great player, you will love him come december. 

[loco_91]

Full disclosure:  I dreamed Embiid sliding, or at least grabbing Gordon.  When that didn't happen, made sense to me to take Vonleh at 6.  Yes, we have two other power forwards, but you could make the case for Vonleh, given his length and size, being 4/5, playing the 5, especially vs smaller lineups.  Also is somewhat of a rim protector.

Drafting Smart, I just don't see where we improved in our rotations much.  Is he any better defensively than Bradley? No. Is he better offensively than Bradley or Rondo? No. 

More importantly, I feel picking Smart at 6 forced us to pass on Harris.  Ainge said as much after the draft, saying they did not want another undersized guard. Jeez, you mean because you just drafted one in Smart?  Gary Harris is a much better two way player than James Young.  I feel Young is really going to struggle defensively. He has a pretty outside shot, but that's about it on the offensive end.  Really can't drive, goes left all the time, so easy to defend.  Gary Harris could have stepped in to start on the first day, would have been a much better back court mate with Rondo than Smart, he can really shoot the ball.

I wonder if the front office would have taken Smart at 6 had they known that Harris would be available at 17?

Smart is a far better prospect than Vonleh. Vonleh totally lacks the skills needed to play C. He has long arms, huge hands, and he might be an above-average shooter for his size... that's it. He is not a plus athlete. He's young, so he has upside, but I never understood the hype.

As for Garry Harris, he notched an 8' standing reach. For a defensive specialist, that's a really serious limitation. He is like Avery Bradley except that he can only guard PG's, and he is incompetent at getting to the rim (<1 ppp on just 1.6 shots per game). He can carve out a career as a 3&D SG next to a big PG, but he totally lacks upside.

[Celtics4ever]

He is not a plus athlete.

I agree with a lot of what you say here.  But not this.

Measurables

Height: 6'8" without shoes, 6'9.5" with shoes
Weight: 247 pounds
Wingspan: 7'4.5"
Standing Reach: 9'0"
Combine Numbers

Maximum Vertical Leap: 37"
Lane Agility: 11.45 seconds
3/4 Court Sprint: 3.28 seconds
Shuttle Drill: 3.29 seconds

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2014/6/6/5785826/2014-nba-draft-prospect-profile-noah-vonleh-reaches-for-the-stars

37" vertical isn't bad for a big guy.  With his reach he can probably dunk on a 11.5 goal.  It is not elite but it is better than say a Sully.  His arms are long too.

[Csfan1984]

I wanted Gordon, Smart and Hood. If Rondo was moved to Lakers for their 1st and Nash.

Gordon went high. Smart did land to C's. And Young slipped to C's. I was big on Young still am. Think he is better prospect than Harris, Hood, and others. He should have a chip on his shoulder now going so late.

[Irish Stew]

If we are thinking long term here and trying to build a championship contender, the thought of a backcourt of Smart and Rondo seems ludicrous. I have been trying to think of a similar guard tandem of poor shooters that won a championship and I can't come up with one. One of these guys, probably Rondo, will be moved or have his contract simply expire.

[aingeforthree]

Full disclosure:  I dreamed Embiid sliding, or at least grabbing Gordon.  When that didn't happen, made sense to me to take Vonleh at 6.  Yes, we have two other power forwards, but you could make the case for Vonleh, given his length and size, being 4/5, playing the 5, especially vs smaller lineups.  Also is somewhat of a rim protector.

Drafting Smart, I just don't see where we improved in our rotations much.  Is he any better defensively than Bradley? No. Is he better offensively than Bradley or Rondo? No. 

More importantly, I feel picking Smart at 6 forced us to pass on Harris.  Ainge said as much after the draft, saying they did not want another undersized guard. Jeez, you mean because you just drafted one in Smart?  Gary Harris is a much better two way player than James Young.  I feel Young is really going to struggle defensively. He has a pretty outside shot, but that's about it on the offensive end.  Really can't drive, goes left all the time, so easy to defend.  Gary Harris could have stepped in to start on the first day, would have been a much better back court mate with Rondo than Smart, he can really shoot the ball.

I wonder if the front office would have taken Smart at 6 had they known that Harris would be available at 17?

Let the guys play before you garbage their game

[indeedproceed]

Full disclosure:  I dreamed Embiid sliding, or at least grabbing Gordon.  When that didn't happen, made sense to me to take Vonleh at 6.  Yes, we have two other power forwards, but you could make the case for Vonleh, given his length and size, being 4/5, playing the 5, especially vs smaller lineups.  Also is somewhat of a rim protector.

Drafting Smart, I just don't see where we improved in our rotations much.  Is he any better defensively than Bradley? No. Is he better offensively than Bradley or Rondo? No. 

More importantly, I feel picking Smart at 6 forced us to pass on Harris.  Ainge said as much after the draft, saying they did not want another undersized guard. Jeez, you mean because you just drafted one in Smart?  Gary Harris is a much better two way player than James Young.  I feel Young is really going to struggle defensively. He has a pretty outside shot, but that's about it on the offensive end.  Really can't drive, goes left all the time, so easy to defend.  Gary Harris could have stepped in to start on the first day, would have been a much better back court mate with Rondo than Smart, he can really shoot the ball.

I wonder if the front office would have taken Smart at 6 had they known that Harris would be available at 17?

Let the guys play before you garbage their game

Here's what we know for certain:

1) Marcus Smart is exactly what each of us say he is and despite his non-existant professional body of work, our own personal scouting methodology is unimpeachable.

2) People who disagree with me are either uninformed, too quick to judgement, or have a personal agenda against me or a player I like.

/the internet.

[Silent Storm]

There were reports after the draft that the Celtics passed on Vonleh due to character concerns. He seems too laid back and lacks aggression, plus there were questions about his maturity and intelligence.

[kraidstar]

he same guy).

Fab Melo was a bad pick, no two ways about that.  How could the scouts not see that he couldn't play basketball?

the sad thing is that he CAN play basketball, i saw a game in the d-league where he had 14 blocks and 15 rebounds. his problems are between the ears; when motivated he's a dominant defender, but usually he's lazy and isn't engaged. put a competitor's brain in that body and you have an all-star. c's gambled with a late 1st pick, betting that his mind would develop. it didn't. and for some players their brain does develop, the human brain isn't fully formed until 25 years or so. any late pick is going to come with some flaws, and fab's work ethic and attitude nullified his chances to improve.

[kraidstar]

Vonleh is already hurt with a hernia.  I am just glad we did not get Exum after watching FIBA.

exum could be a huge bust, he's looked awful both in the summer league and in FIBA. 16 points in 6 games against mediocre competition in FIBA.
for some players, like avery bradley, they can look bad early on in some ways, but still contribute, like bradley did with his D and energy. i don't know that exum has enough overall talent to last long enough to get his offense in order.
could be a huge break for the c's that exum was picked early and smart fell to us.

[Celtics4ever]

16 points in 6 games against mediocre competition in FIBA.

His handlers were smart and hid him after that great one NIKE game.   it's early but I am glad we didn't get him from what I seen. 

[Celtics18]

We've now seen Dante Exum in Summer League and in the FIBA World Cup.  He was less than impressive in both.

Just wait until the NBA regular season starts, though.  He's gonna dominate!!

[Tr1boy]

We've now seen Dante Exum in Summer League and in the FIBA World Cup.  He was less than impressive in both.

Just wait until the NBA regular season starts, though.  He's gonna dominate!!

Exum unlike Smart is ways away physicially to compete in the nba. He is going to get crushed and i don't see him making much impact in his first two seasons. Then there are some concerns if he bulks up a little if he will still be as quick he is now.

Smart imo has the least bust potential out of anyone from the draft.  Very safe pick

[Celtics18]

Full disclosure:  I dreamed Embiid sliding, or at least grabbing Gordon.  When that didn't happen, made sense to me to take Vonleh at 6.  Yes, we have two other power forwards, but you could make the case for Vonleh, given his length and size, being 4/5, playing the 5, especially vs smaller lineups.  Also is somewhat of a rim protector.

Drafting Smart, I just don't see where we improved in our rotations much.  Is he any better defensively than Bradley? No. Is he better offensively than Bradley or Rondo? No. 

More importantly, I feel picking Smart at 6 forced us to pass on Harris.  Ainge said as much after the draft, saying they did not want another undersized guard. Jeez, you mean because you just drafted one in Smart?  Gary Harris is a much better two way player than James Young.  I feel Young is really going to struggle defensively. He has a pretty outside shot, but that's about it on the offensive end.  Really can't drive, goes left all the time, so easy to defend.  Gary Harris could have stepped in to start on the first day, would have been a much better back court mate with Rondo than Smart, he can really shoot the ball.

I wonder if the front office would have taken Smart at 6 had they known that Harris would be available at 17?

It's pretty clearly a backup plan for Rondo bolting from Boston at the end of the season, which he's going to do if this team rolls out a 20-62 or some such. The notion out of Causeway that Rondo and Smart can play together is laughably ridiculous. I'd love to game-plan a defense against a Boston five with those two in the backcourt.

A desperate plan that cost us an NBA-ready piece of immediate help in Julius Randle. I wonder, in fact, if Ainge has even vetted Marcus Smart. I suspect not.

That's a good one.