Would have preferred Vonleh and Harris to Smart and Young

[Celtics4ever]

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.

After watching him in FIBA, I would suggest he builds up a callus on his backside.   Seriously, they were hiding him from the world to maximize his value for the draft.   Seeing him play some it looks like the NIKE game was a fluke.   As for his body, there are plenty of skinny guys out there doing fine so that is little more than an excuse.   Reggie Miller was rail thin and he did ok.

[loco_91]

I think it's pretty evident from the way the draft unfolded that most teams felt Vonleh did not match the hype, the very hype they probably created in the media themselves to pump up his value. During the workout period all we heard about what a great worker he was (the Disney World anecdote), his long wingspan and hand size, Bosh comparisons, how impressive he was in workouts, and even a quote about how he belonged in the conversation for the top 4 along with Embiid, Wiggins, and Parker. In retrospect I think most of the praise was just a smokescreen attempt and the top five picked was always going to be Parker, Embiid, Wiggins, Exum, and Gordon.

I'm also a little worried about Young. His ceiling doesn't seem so high because he has no skills beyond shooting. He's not a great athlete, is clueless on D, not a great driver, dribbler, or passer. His positives seem to just be that he MIGHT become a more consistent shooter, is prototypically sized, and he's young (Draftexpress lists "young" as one of his "strengths"!). The whole youth thing would make more sense to me if he were a great athlete who just hasn't learned the game yet. Also I haven't heard anything about him being a hard worker or fierce competitor which always gives you a little more confidence in how much a young player will improve.

I agree with everything here. The misconception that everyone has about Vonleh is that he is athletic, which he is not. The idea that he could play the 3 is laughable, he's a PF through and through.

Young has shown some skills besides shooting, but I'm worried also. In Young's defense, length+shooting is a nice combination of strengths, and he seemed to have pretty good feel offensively against better defenses. But he might be a defensive liability, and if so, it's hard to imagine his offense being so great as to justify starting him. The 'depth' of this draft was mostly gone by 17, but Capela might have been a better pick... similarly raw, but more potential. I'm still happy with Young over Harris who looks like he really lacks upside.

[indeedproceed]

The Exum talk is pretty classic overreaction theatre. He was a project, he's still a project, he was risky, he's still risky. He had star potential, still has it.

[loco_91]

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.

Doug McDermott posted a 36.5" vert. I really do not put much stock in these numbers. Watching Vonleh operating around the hoop, he looks very awkward. Takes a long time to get off the ground and frequently isn't balanced as he goes up, no fluidity. He certainly has the reach to dunk with ease though, no question about that.

If Vonleh makes it his calling card will be touch and finesse, not athleticism. More likely he'll be closer to Big Baby than to Chris Bosh.

[indeedproceed]

With the way draft processes are now, and the extremely focused and coordinated methods of training, you really can't trust the combine measurements anymore aside from height, weight, wingspan, and standing reach.

Classic examples of teaching the test, not the spirit of it.

[fitzhickey]

The Exum talk is pretty classic overreaction theatre. He was a project, he's still a project, he was risky, he's still risky. He had star potential, still has it.

Exactly. I'm not sure many people were expecting immediate stardom, but it's not like his potential has vanished.

[indeedproceed]

The Exum talk is pretty classic overreaction theatre. He was a project, he's still a project, he was risky, he's still risky. He had star potential, still has it.

Exactly. I'm not sure many people were expecting immediate stardom, but it's not like his potential has vanished.

To expand on this, imagine Marcus Smart being the starting guard for Mexico, Jabari Parker being the top scoring threat for Lithuania. Parker could maybe manage some volume, but his %'s would be atrocious. Smart would be keyed on and obliterated, also maybe managing some volume, but the fact is that 95% of the guys in the tournament have spent large parts or even the majority of their lives playing against grown men.

Exum doesn't have that, none of the class of 2014 really do, except Dario Saric.

[indeedproceed]

And Saric's 12 pts 6 boards and 3 assists are nice, but he's hardly a star here.

[nostar]

He thought Smart was the best player available and it's as simple as that as another poster said.

But even if he didn't want another short guy in Harris, why not Rodney Hood?  He seems like he is pretty much better at everything than young.

I was rooting for Hood too. Loved his play for Duke last year. Dude will end up being Trevor Ariza and I thought at #17 that we could have used that kind of player. James Young is your typical Danny pick. Scoring wing with loads of potential but tons of flaws. This is the part of Danny Ainge I sort of loathe. Thinking he's outsmarted every other GM because he sees something no one else could have. That is how Gerald Green, JaJuan Johnson and Kris Joseph got on this team. I'm not sure how Young differs from Joseph at all except that Joseph was a 2nd round pick who had the same stats and measurements while Young was #17 in a "packed" draft. I know there is an age difference and that Joseph played at Syracuse but their stats are scary similar for Joseph's Junior and Senior years.

I am less worried about Young because that pick wasn't the important one this draft. I'm pretty sure that Marcus smart will be a good pro, probably better than Vonleh. At worst he's Marcus Banks, at best he's Russell Westbrook. I know people don't love the RW comparison but he's got the height, the quickness and the mentality to match. If this kid improves his shooting he's an all-star.

I wouldn't mind having Vonleh though. Ever since we missed out on getting Love I've set my mind back in to tank mode. For example: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=kz88hgj

No reason for Rondo to hang around and blow the rest of his prime on a rebuild. Much as I love him he's due for a raise and we aren't competing for the next 2 years. Basically all of the 2015 FAs are staying with their teams. Gasol in Memphis, LMA in Portland, LBJ/Love in Cleveland. Not thrilled about the prospect of paying Jefferson/Rondo/Ellis (BPA) max deals to get bounced in the 1st round. If we trade him and Green to Charlotte their team looks really good. Rondo/Stevenson/Green/???/Jefferson is a really interesting team in the East. Millsap or David West (Josh Smith?) make them a top 4 team in the East. At least as good as Washington and Toronto. If they got the right match up (Knicks/Nets in the 1st round, Miami in 2nd) they could end up in the East Finals.

Back to us though, let's build. Next year's draft has at least 3 centers and 2 wings that are worth a look. This might be the last season the league puts up with tanking so it's probably worth another bad season to get Karl Towns or Okafor, consolation prizes in Mudiay, Oubre or, at worst Stein.

I will forever love Rondo but I'm finally on the train. Smart is the future PG for the C's and we should all start accepting that. Basically everyone else in the NBA world has. If Charlotte will give up Vonleh and MKG for him I'm sold. If not I'd call Phoenix about Bledsoe or the Lakers about Randle/Nash/1st.

[Future Celtics Owner]

With the way draft processes are now, and the extremely focused and coordinated methods of training, you really can't trust the combine measurements anymore aside from height, weight, wingspan, and standing reach.

Classic examples of teaching the test, not the spirit of it.

Actually I have heard reports of guys that did not reach as high as possible(on standing reach) in order to make their verticals test higher.

....I'd rather the standing reach. Also Tyler Zeller may be one of them.

[MBunge]

The Exum talk is pretty classic overreaction theatre. He was a project, he's still a project, he was risky, he's still risky. He had star potential, still has it.

Exactly. I'm not sure many people were expecting immediate stardom, but it's not like his potential has vanished.

Why, exactly, does Exum have so much more "potential" than Doug McDemott?  Or more accurately, why is his "potential" so amazing that he's on the same level as a player who dominated for several years at a level of competition far above anything Exum has faced?

Mike

[chambers]

I think it's pretty evident from the way the draft unfolded that most teams felt Vonleh did not match the hype, the very hype they probably created in the media themselves to pump up his value. During the workout period all we heard about what a great worker he was (the Disney World anecdote), his long wingspan and hand size, Bosh comparisons, how impressive he was in workouts, and even a quote about how he belonged in the conversation for the top 4 along with Embiid, Wiggins, and Parker. In retrospect I think most of the praise was just a smokescreen attempt and the top five picked was always going to be Parker, Embiid, Wiggins, Exum, and Gordon.

I'm also a little worried about Young. His ceiling doesn't seem so high because he has no skills beyond shooting. He's not a great athlete, is clueless on D, not a great driver, dribbler, or passer. His positives seem to just be that he MIGHT become a more consistent shooter, is prototypically sized, and he's young (Draftexpress lists "young" as one of his "strengths"!). The whole youth thing would make more sense to me if he were a great athlete who just hasn't learned the game yet. Also I haven't heard anything about him being a hard worker or fierce competitor which always gives you a little more confidence in how much a young player will improve.

I agree with everything here. The misconception that everyone has about Vonleh is that he is athletic, which he is not. The idea that he could play the 3 is laughable, he's a PF through and through.

Young has shown some skills besides shooting, but I'm worried also. In Young's defense, length+shooting is a nice combination of strengths, and he seemed to have pretty good feel offensively against better defenses. But he might be a defensive liability, and if so, it's hard to imagine his offense being so great as to justify starting him. The 'depth' of this draft was mostly gone by 17, but Capela might have been a better pick... similarly raw, but more potential. I'm still happy with Young over Harris who looks like he really lacks upside.

I don't agree with you about Vonleh. I think he's actually got quite a bit of fluidity to his game and it's going to be his calling card. If he can become a consistent shooter from 15 feet+, they way he's developed his handle will make him an absolute weapon.
 I think it's important to remember that this kid is 18 years old and has the biggest hands on the team. He's probably still growing into his body and his wingpsan is already enormous.

I do agree with you on James Young. He reminds me of a poor man's Jeff Green. A straight line drive guy without any dribble break down ability. In fact I'd say Vonleh's currently got better handles than Young in a 1v1 breakdown sense. Young's shooting is going to be lethal in the NBA so I guess that could be used for justifying the pick. I too would have rather taken Capella or Hood.

We are as usual, just speculating with our own opinions so I could be completely wrong. So much has to go right with these young kids, and someone like Smart has such an advantage over the average rookie because of fundamental core, and his insatiable hunger/attitude.

I can't stress Vonleh's age factor enough though. His summer league was tough, and he had a lot of turnovers, but at age 18 with his skillset, footwork and strength he could be an absolute monster in the NBA in 3-4 years. Like a tougher version of Chris Bosh with a little less finesse, but still more finesse than most NBA bigs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eooYaYYVZ8s

[dreamgreen]

Way to early to predict who is going to be good or better at this point.

[Celtics4ever]

Like a tougher version of Chris Bosh

Is that even possible?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im_iBTSkqTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHbiQlPGpQU


Bosh is as soft as they come, you got no where to go but up when at his level of toughness.

[D.o.s.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R33IEQjI1l8