Author Topic: The Celtics have signed Rodney McGruder and Christian Watford to one-year deals?  (Read 12173 times)

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Offline gpap

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Who???!!

Offline Waew

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Mcgruder is a 6'4 shooting guard playe in hungary and summer league teams, Warford is a 6'9 SF 23 yo who played in israel.


another shooting guard and another wing. Danny is ready for when someone gets traded.

Offline Surferdad

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 ???

Offline Jiri Welsch

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They are probably non-guaranteed deals that set them up for spots on the D League after training camp.

Though I am happy this thread was posted because some great images have cropped up.

Offline Rick Robeys Return

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More for the Red Claw/ Training Camp Roster?

From Oct 2012: <http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Top-NBA-Draft-Prospects-in-the-Big-12-Part-Four-4028/>

Rodney McGruder, 6'4, Senior, Shooting Guard, Kansas State

A top-100 recruit in the RSCI coming out of high school, Rodney McGruder emerged as Kansas State's leading scorer last season as a junior. Keying the Wildcats to a NCAA Tournament run, the talented shooting guard ended the year ranked 7th in the Big XII in scoring at 16.2 points per-game, earning All-Big XII 2nd Team honors in the process. Returning to Manhattan for his senior year, McGruder will look to build his draft resume in a new system under first-year Head Coach Bruce Weber.

A 6'5 shooting guard with an average wingspan and solid frame, McGruder is a good, but not great athlete for his position at the college level. He has good speed and can finish plays above the rim when he has a head of steam, but doesn't have the type of elite leaping ability and quickness that would put him on par with the average NBA wing.

While McGruder may not be a prototypical athlete by NBA standards, or have much flash to his game, he has great toughness, played hurt for stretches last season, competes every game, and can score in a variety of ways at the NCAA level. McGruder's role last season revolved around his ability to take what defenses gave him when spotting-up on the perimeter or running off of screens.

Seldom asked to create his own shot one-on-one or run the pick and roll, nearly 40% of McGruder's field goal attempts are catch and shoot jumpers according to Synergy Sports TECHNOLOGY. Knocking down 40% of his career three-pointers coming into last season, McGruder shot a respectable 38.5% from distance as a junior, getting fewer open looks than he did earlier in his career. Looking out of rhythm and missing badly at times, McGruder is at his best when he can set his feet with space in a spot-up situation, rise, and fire.

When he's forced to put the ball on the floor, the Washington, D.C. native is not a prolific pull-up shooter, but has deft touch on his floater and isn't shy about aggressively taking the ball to the rim. He takes some difficult push shots from time to time, but is not prone to forcing such shots into the teeth of the defense. If McGruder can become a bigger threat to create offense with the ball in his hands, or post a career year shooting the ball from deep, he should find himself ranked among the very best scorers in the Big XII.

Defensively, McGruder plays with good intensity, contributes on the glass, and holds his own at this level. Lacking great length and quickness, the rising senior will get in a stance and aggressively close out shooters, but isn't a major factor in the passing lanes and will get caught being a bit too aggressive helping his teammates at times. He does a nice job defending comparably athletic players one-on-one, but his ability to defend his position at the NBA level is questionable.

Rodney McGruder figures to once again carry the load offensively for Kansas State, and what development he's able to show as he shoulders that burden will factor heavily into where he stands this spring. A potential candidate for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, McGruder will have ample opportunity to show what, if anything, he's added to his game to solidify his standing among shooting guards in the senior class.

And from April 23, 2013

Christian Watford, 6-8, Power Forward, Senior, Indiana

Christian Watford is one of the best shooters in this year's draft, but will NBA teams be able to look past his limitations and give him a roster spot next season?

A player we've consistently profiled at length over the past five years, Christian Watford is a pretty well-known quantity as a prospect at this stage of his career, having clearly defined strengths and weaknesses as a player that haven't changed much over time.

The 6'8 power forward with a very good 7'0 wingspan boasts adequate size and athleticism for his position, and he hasn't shown much evidence to believe a transition to the small forward spot is in his imminent future as was believed early on in his career.

From an offensive perspective, Watford's clear-cut best strength is undoubtedly his spot-up shooting ability from three-point range, something he's consistently improved all four years in college, culminating in his shooting a blistering 48.4% on a career-high 3.4 attempts per game as a senior.

Top Catch and Shoot Jump-Shooting Prospects in NCAA (min. 60 poss.)
Name   Team   C&S Jump-Shots Per-Game   PPP on C&S Js
Doug McDermott   Creighton   3.4   1.45
Nik Stauskas   Michigan   2.8   1.44
Ian Clark   Belmont   3.6   1.42
Isaiah Canaan   Murray State   2.3   1.40
Christian Watford   Indiana   2   1.40
Scott Wood   N.C. State   5.1   1.38


Compared to the high schooler we first profiled in 2008, Watford has done quite a bit to clean up his exaggerated shooting motion, and while he still has a tendency to bring the ball down before going up into his shot, he's significantly hastened his release speed and shows little problems getting off attempts in tight quarters. Beyond that, Watford shows occasional ability to shoot off simple step-back moves or catching and shooting on the move in transition, being slightly more versatile than just a stationary spot-up threat.

Watford's shooting touch shows up noticeably in other areas of his game as well, notably at the free-throw line, where he's eclipsed 80% shooting all four years in college, while doing so on over 4.1 attempts per game each season. He's also developed a respectable runner in the lane that he utilizes on his dribble-drive attempts, showing good touch and making it a nice bright spot in his otherwise disappointing inside game.

Beyond his shooting ability, however, Watford struggles to bring much in terms of consistently high-quality contributions on the offensive end, showing flashes in a variety of areas but never really putting it together in terms of developing a noteworthy complementary skill. Watford's ability to face-up and take his defender off the dribble on straight-line drives is likely the closest thing to this thus far, and it also would be the area most likely to translate in some capacity to the next level, but his inability to finish at an efficient rate inside is very troubling—he converted just 39% of his 2-point attempts, similar to his entire career-- and he's unlikely to draw fouls at anywhere near the strong 0.54 FTA/FGA rate he posted as a senior in the NBA.

Watford's post-up game poses similar concerns, as despite showing flashes of turnaround jumpers and hook shots, he posted an abysmal 0.689 points per possession on 45 back-to-the-basket attempts this season according to Synergy Sports TECHNOLOGY, and that's unlikely to improve in any way against better competition.

On the positive side for Watford, the 8.7 rebounds per 40 minutes pace adjusted was the highest rate of his career (barely), but it still ranks woefully low for a power forward prospect. He already plays a largely complementary role (he was Indiana's third-leading scorer this season), so it's tough to say he should be able to devote much more energy to this area of his game naturally looking forward. In order to maximize his chances at having a chance of sticking around in the NBA, shoring up this area of his game should certainly be among Watford's highest priorities, something we've been saying in some capacity for the better part of the last five years.

Watford could stand to make similar improvements on the defensive end, though unfortunately his average overall physical tools make that somewhat more difficult, as he lacks great strength for defending the interior and possesses just passable lateral quickness for defending the perimeter. Overall, he should have enough tools to be a solid defender of other small fours in the pros, but will likely need to be on a team that really gets dividends out of his shooting ability on offense to justify what will likely be at best a slight disadvantage on defense.

Watford made a curious decision in electing not to compete at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament earlier this month, a setting which he could have benefited from had he been able to display a more well-rounded game than he was able to show at Indiana.

Looking forward, Watford's clear-cut outstanding shooting ability for his position is definitely something that should give him some opportunities to find a home in the NBA, and finding a niche early in his career as a small four on an up-tempo, floor-spacing team is not out of the realm of possibility. Still, a more likely career path would involve going to Europe TO REFINE his overall offensive skill set, continue to improve physically and make some drastic improvements with his inside-the-arc efficiency, giving him a much better chance of finding a long-term home a few years down the road.

Offline Surferdad

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They are probably non-guaranteed deals that set them up for spots on the D League...
Don't think that can be the case. They would each consume a roster spot and we haven't even gotten to training camp yet.


Offline kg is king

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Offline Rick Robeys Return

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They are probably non-guaranteed deals that set them up for spots on the D League...
Don't think that can be the case. They would each consume a roster spot and we haven't even gotten to training camp yet.

A sign of a bigger move to come?

Offline Tr1boy

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They are probably non-guaranteed deals that set them up for spots on the D League...
Don't think that can be the case. They would each consume a roster spot and we haven't even gotten to training camp yet.

A sign of a bigger move to come?

Can the celts d league team sign them as FAs and not take up roster space on the celts roster?

If not then yeah these guys arrival signal some kind of moves to happen soon.  Release johnson, babb, 2 for 1 trade or waiving guys like faverani

Offline fairweatherfan

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Who???!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xbbrLBX0rk

The D1 equivalent of the Jeff Green vs Miami shot, baby!!

Offline moiso

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McGruber!

Offline Rick Robeys Return

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They are probably non-guaranteed deals that set them up for spots on the D League...
Don't think that can be the case. They would each consume a roster spot and we haven't even gotten to training camp yet.

A sign of a bigger move to come?

Can the celts d league team sign them as FAs and not take up roster space on the celts roster?

If not then yeah these guys arrival signal some kind of moves to happen soon.  Release johnson, babb, 2 for 1 trade or waiving guys like faverani

Though more likely to be a camp contract ala Frazier....

Offline Tr1boy

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbWSeRbK-cI

I was thinking another Steve Novak but looks to have some extra tricks. Kind of athletic, looks like has strength.  Maybe like a Robert Horry later in his career?  looks like a deadly shooter

Offline Tr1boy

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