Are we overrating James Young a bit?

[piercetruth34]

I think he is going to be a deadly shooter with good defense too and athletic.  But I'm starting to feel like Bradley may make the cut as our starting  sg next to smart.  I think we are going to draft a center and wing starting caliber players where young may end up a rotation player.  Or a bench guy who can come in play 20-25 minutes and play efficient as a scorer off the bench. Crowder is a good hustle guy. Similar but different than Bass imo. Different players but Crowder is somewhat more versatile.  Thornton isn't bad either.  We have some nice pieces but I think those 2 guys are the next to go. Sully and KO are kind of up in the air.  I think we are going to fill spots and have a rotation with more talented players ultimately.  I think Sullinger is our best player right now. I think he and smart can be really solid starting quality players.  I think Bradley is moving into that realm. Zeller is as well where whoever we draft may not start right away anyways and develop where we can improve on the fly and over time. 

We may actually  make a run at a playoff spot this year where draft position isn't the end all be all.  We just n eed to add talent.  We have enough draft picks to do that regardless.

[jonaslopes]

I think so. He shoots well, but his defense is not only bad, it's horrible. People like to criticise Bradley here, but for me AB's ceiling is much higher than Young's. And say whatever you want, he's a SG, not a SF. Ainge only said that because he just resigned AB. Even Young says he's more comfortable at the 2. He can't guard the bigger SFs like James, George, Durant, Parsons, Melo, even Uncle Jeff.

I'm all for drafting a wing (Johnson, Winslow, Oubre with the first pick or Dekker with the second) and a center.

[hwangjini_1]

he's 19 years old and has next to no nba experience. why so eager to pass a defining and enduring judgement on young?

we.
dont.
know.

simple. it is currently impossible to really tell how young will turn out. we can see potential. we can see potential problems. we dont know which potential will be reached.

no need to rush to judgement, we will eventually see.

[krumeto]

I hated the pick but get to know the kid and like the potential.

His 3-pointers in the D-league are no-ring-nothing-but-net on a good %. Most of his in game shots in NBA games are way, way off.

To me, that looks like jitters. Avery had similar moments his first year.

We will know more after he had actually had a training camp at the start of next year. That would also be 1-2 months after the kid gets 20. Young indeed.

[CFAN38]

Like all young players fans on this and every other board get excited and dream of the best case scenario. Lets not forget at one point G Green was the next TMac.

Young maybe currently over hyped but he has teased us with great D-League showings and one offensive explosion.

The positives for Young are very obvious. He can shoot with great range, has good SF size and elite SG size, and is a good athlete who plays above the rim. This combination has not been present in a Celtics prospect since the aforementioned G Green. As a fan base we have been subjected (mostly do to draft position) to prospects with holes in their games that have restricted them from overly lofty expectations (lack of positional size, lack of length, athleticism, natural scoring ability). Young has the skill set to be a star, that's not to say he will be.

I ultimately think Young is going to be a very good wing scorer in the NBA. However he maybe best suited to apply this skill as a 6th man ala JR Smith. Like Smith his ability to score will get him on the court but may be best suited to backing up the 2 and 3 playing heavy minutes in the second unit.

Just a little theoretical situation. Say the Cs end up drafting S Johnson.

3 seasons from not

PG Smart      (15pt 6ast 5rb) projected growth
SG Avery       (13pt 2ast 3rb)
SF Johnson   (15pt 2ast 7rb) college stats
PF Sully         (18pt 2ast 9rb) projected growth
C  Zeller        (10pt 1ast 6rb) more PT < likely a spot to bring in a player>
6th Young     (12pt 2ast 4rb) JR smiths stats last year in denver
7th KO          (11pt 2ast 5rb)
8th Crowder (  5pt 0ast 2rb)
9th Pressey  (  4pt 3ast 1rb)

Now obviously other changes will occur in that time but for the sake of argument I think those roles are promising. That is a team 1-9 that's young and can grow together and I think on a roster of this type J Young is the perfect 6th man. 

[PaulAllen]

he's 19 years old and has next to no nba experience. why so eager to pass a defining and enduring judgement on young?

we.
dont.
know.

simple. it is currently impossible to really tell how young will turn out. we can see potential. we can see potential problems. we dont know which potential will be reached.

no need to rush to judgement, we will eventually see.

right on... correct me if I'm wrong but isnt he the youngest player in the league?

[Chris22]

Mike Gorman, "What about James Young?"

Tommy Heinsohn, "He's going to be a star."

[gift]

we can see potential. we can see potential problems. we dont know which potential will be reached.

I like this.

[kozlodoev]

"A bit", really?  

[Celtics4ever]

I think there is a lot of over rating going on here from draft picks to our assets.

Young is a project, I hope we move some other pieces and he gets PT.

[saltlover]

I'm hopeful Young will go back to Maine once we return from the West Coast trip.  He's not going to get meaningful minutes right now, so hopefully he can get some more playing time down in Maine.  Although I don't mind him getting to look at Tayshaun Prince up close so he can see all the little things that go into being an NBA player.

He was always expected to be raw, and he is.  He can certainly stroke it, and hopefully he learns the other components of the game as time goes on.

[Joe Green]

I have to say, I don't hate AB and think he is a decent perimiter scorer and above average defender but he has two HUGE knocks on his game:

A. His size, not just height. He is short, light and get bumped by bigger guys. Some players have been known to play around that (AI comes to mind as the toughest 160 lbs guy to ever play) but AB does not. He will always have trouble with big guards. He will NEVER be effective in the paint and he will always be one of the worst rebounding SG in the league.

B. His passing. Man its just painful to watch. Every time he passes the ball I hold my breath. We are talking bungled fast breaks and lateral passes that are begging to be intercepted.

I don't know if there is any way a guy can be a starting SG on a good team with bad rebounding, passing and severe handicapping against big players for his position...

[kozlodoev]

I think there is a lot of over rating going on here from draft picks to our assets.

Young is a project, I hope we move some other pieces and he gets PT.

What people don't realize is that under an absolute best scenario, this project will probably develop into someone like Jeff Green, broadly speaking. More likely he will be an even lesser player. I hope someone falls in love with him as an add-in in a deal for a more critical piece.

[kozlodoev]

I have to say, I don't hate AB and think he is a decent perimiter scorer and above average defender but he has two HUGE knocks on his game:

A. His size, not just height. He is short, light and get bumped by bigger guys. Some players have been known to play around that (AI comes to mind as the toughest 160 lbs guy to ever play) but AB does not. He will always have trouble with big guards. He will NEVER be effective in the paint and he will always be one of the worst rebounding SG in the league.

B. His passing. Man its just painful to watch. Every time he passes the ball I hold my breath. We are talking bungled fast breaks and lateral passes that are begging to be intercepted.

I don't know if there is any way a guy can be a starting SG on a good team with bad rebounding, passing and severe handicapping against big players for his position...

C. His driving layups. It's even more painful than even his passing; he will invariably get stuffed either by an opposing player, or by the rim. While it's a credit to him that he stopped trying to make that work, it's a fairly sizable gap in his game not to be able to be a threat to finish around the rim.

[Waew]

We overrate everyone naturally as fans. Remember when stiemsma was going to get a statue next to bill Russell?