I can see the Celtics drafting Domantas Sabonis

[kozlodoev]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

If I were you, I wouldn't bet the house on a nbadraft.net prediction.

nbadraft.net , draftexpress, espn etc.

This is going to be a "wild" and "unpredictable" draft to say the least

after Simmons and Ingram, it's open season

Draftexpress is usually never close, especially when they make wildly unorthodox predictions.

[mr. dee]

If Amir Johnson can look good on his role with the C's, I don't see any problem on putting Sabonis as a center.

[crimson_stallion]

If Amir Johnson can look good on his role with the C's, I don't see any problem on putting Sabonis as a center.

The big difference is that Amir Johnson has a 7'1" wingspan, and even in his current state (with the foot problems, etc) he has a pretty good leaping ability.

His length combined with his vertical allows him to really bother shots in ways you wouldn't expect of a 6'9" guy.  That wingspan allows him to get shots off against average NBA length quite well, and he only really struggles when he is up against guys with crazy length (e.g. the Aldridge's and Cousins' of the world).

My concern with Sabonis is that (like Olynyk) his wingspan is only 1" longer than Marcus Smart's, and only 2" longer then Terry Rozier's, and is actually a little shorter then Jae Crowder's.

If you look at Kelly Olynyk, he has the exact same wingspan as Sabonis and has similarly limited jumping ability - and you can see how much his post game faded when he moved from college to the NBA. At the college level Olynyk was an outstanding post player, because he was able to rely on his size to score over your average college bigs.  Once he came to the NBA his length became a limitation, and his post came all but vanished. Luckily he has excellent ball handling skills and a very good outside jumper, and those skills have helped him get by despite the loss of his post advantage.

Sabonis also relies a lot on that "physical advantage" for his offence, and so I expect his posts game will also fade a lot in it's effectiveness at the NBA level.  Unlike Olynyk though, Sabonis doesn't really have a lot of other offensive talents he can fall back on - he can't really depend on his handle or his jumper, as neither is anything special.  That means if you take away Sabonis' inside game, you pretty much take him out of the game completely.

Maybe in time he could develop a nice jumper and that would help, but I still don't see him becoming much (if any) better then Kelly Olynyk, and you want more than that from a high lottery pick.  From a late lottery pick, it's fine.

[Future Celtics Owner]

If Amir Johnson can look good on his role with the C's, I don't see any problem on putting Sabonis as a center.

The big difference is that Amir Johnson has a 7'1" wingspan, and even in his current state (with the foot problems, etc) he has a pretty good leaping ability.

His length combined with his vertical allows him to really bother shots in ways you wouldn't expect of a 6'9" guy.  That wingspan allows him to get shots off against average NBA length quite well, and he only really struggles when he is up against guys with crazy length (e.g. the Aldridge's and Cousins' of the world).

My concern with Sabonis is that (like Olynyk) his wingspan is only 1" longer than Marcus Smart's, and only 2" longer then Terry Rozier's, and is actually a little shorter then Jae Crowder's.

If you look at Kelly Olynyk, he has the exact same wingspan as Sabonis and has similarly limited jumping ability - and you can see how much his post game faded when he moved from college to the NBA. At the college level Olynyk was an outstanding post player, because he was able to rely on his size to score over your average college bigs.  Once he came to the NBA his length became a limitation, and his post came all but vanished. Luckily he has excellent ball handling skills and a very good outside jumper, and those skills have helped him get by despite the loss of his post advantage.

Sabonis also relies a lot on that "physical advantage" for his offence, and so I expect his posts game will also fade a lot in it's effectiveness at the NBA level.  Unlike Olynyk though, Sabonis doesn't really have a lot of other offensive talents he can fall back on - he can't really depend on his handle or his jumper, as neither is anything special.  That means if you take away Sabonis' inside game, you pretty much take him out of the game completely.

Maybe in time he could develop a nice jumper and that would help, but I still don't see him becoming much (if any) better then Kelly Olynyk, and you want more than that from a high lottery pick.  From a late lottery pick, it's fine.

Sabonis at Center would not be very good if his wingspan is really just 6'10'' and he lacks athleticism that would compensate for that.

Look at the 2017 draft. These are some guys that are very realistic where they are ranked right now.......IMO Bam Bam and Bryant will make a jump and Bam Bam could be the #1 pick.
Thomas Bryant
EDRICE ADEBAYO
Jonothan Jeanne (stash maybe)

[Tr1boy]

If Amir Johnson can look good on his role with the C's, I don't see any problem on putting Sabonis as a center.

I feel the same way. 

Amir and Sabonis are pretty much the same size. Amir is no doubt more athletic but Sabonis has a higher level of skill

both welcome contact and thrive when things get physical. 

We will see what happens after interview/workouts

[Tr1boy]

Updated scouting video(draftexpress) on Sabonis

He won't be there at 16

https://youtu.be/SzMGFCgMdNI

[Smart457]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

If I were you, I wouldn't bet the house on a nbadraft.net prediction.

nbadraft.net , draftexpress, espn etc.

This is going to be a "wild" and "unpredictable" draft to say the least

after Simmons and Ingram, it's open season

Draftexpress is usually never close, especially when they make wildly unorthodox predictions.

Another thing is that yes Kevin O'connor seems like a nice guy but he's one of the talent evaluators for that site and I don't see that kid as having any more insight than any other avid fan who watches basketball. Yes he puts together a long draft evaluation and I've read it and it's just a fan of basketball making guesses. He's better than the casual fan but he's no different then any of us who are college bball junkies. The rest of the writers for that draft board are probably the same

I would rather trust Chad ford who at least hears rumors from teams on who may go where in the draft.

[Tr1boy]

Very very strong hands. 

Domantas Sabonis Best Plays in NCAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEXvO2NaBjE

[moiso]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

This is something that keeps popping up and it seems pointless to me.  Does it matter who his dad is?  Michael Jordan's son didn't get drafted.

[alldaboston]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

This is something that keeps popping up and it seems pointless to me.  Does it matter who his dad is?  Michael Jordan's son didn't get drafted.

TP

[loco_91]

I've cooled on Sabonis. He's a unique prospect and he should go in the first round, but I just can't think of a single really good NBA big man with such pedestrian physical tools. Really tough to see his pretty post moves translating vs long defenders who have seen those moves 1000 times before. If he develops a jump shot and his post game translates better than expected, he's still like a skinny Jared Sullinger.

[Eddie20]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

This is something that keeps popping up and it seems pointless to me.  Does it matter who his dad is?  Michael Jordan's son didn't get drafted.

And Bill Walton, who's mentioned above, son sucked too.

[moiso]

Check out this link:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/domantas-sabonis

NBA draft net has Sabonis going #7 to Denver in their mock draft.  What better big is there?  Bender?  Seriously?

Bill Walton said that Sabonis dad is the best big man he has ever seen - bar none.   You draft the kid with your first pick.

This is something that keeps popping up and it seems pointless to me.  Does it matter who his dad is?  Michael Jordan's son didn't get drafted.

And Bill Walton, who's mentioned above, son sucked too.

Maybe you wanted Patrick Ewing, Jr. on the Celtics.

Oh, I thought you were being sarcastic at first.  Sorry.

[Eddie20]

Very very strong hands. 

Domantas Sabonis Best Plays in NCAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEXvO2NaBjE

Triboy you're single-handedly making these Sabonis videos go viral. However, people would value your opinion more on a player if you didn't consistently try to force it down everyone's throat. 15 pages into this thread and links to countless youtube highlight videos where shockingly these highlights show him doing well, I think we get it, you really, really, really like Sabonis...a lot.

[Celtics4ever]

I too think he is a gamer in some ways.