If Ainge picks Dragon Bender

[PaulP34]

If the Celtics brass picks Dragon Bender with the 3rd pick and decides to keep him and make him their guy for the future. Now I don't like this pick for the immediate term but let's say we do go with him. What's his buy out gonna cost and do any of you have a number on that ?

Also, if Dragon Bender is our guy and he develops in 2-3 years, is he gonna be our version of Kevin Love or do u guys see him more as a Dirk Nowitzki ? I mean a lot of people are pretty high on this kid so I figure if he's the guy we take I just wanna know what the people who like him expect his game to resemble.

[PhoSita]

His buyout is, I believe, 1 million.  It's not much.  Should not at all be an impediment to him coming over right away.  That's my understanding from what I've read.

From the scouting and analysis I've read about his game, you should picture somebody kind of like Kirilenko on defense and kind of like a rich man's Jonas Jerebko on offense ("Good" Jonas anyway, like we saw in the playoffs).

[mr. dee]

I see him as a poor man's KG and that is not a bad thing. He can stretch the floor, protects the rim even if mismatch and not afraid of contact. He got the work ethic so I believe he will get there.

[loco_91]

I don't really like Nowitzki or especially Love as comps. Best superstar comp imo, if you must make one, is Draymond Green. Obviously their bodies are way different but their skill sets are reasonably similar.

[PaulP34]

So even if we draft him, he's going to stay overseas for a year ? Two years ? I wonder how that works. Do we take him in for summer league ?

Then I guess there's a bunch of questions that come after that. Like if he gets hurt playing for his overseas team we just lose the pick for drafting him and I guess the million buy out ?

I don't even know how these buyouts work but it seems like we should get him as soon as we draft him so we can groom him.

[BitterJim]

His buyout is, I believe, 1 million.  It's not much.  Should not at all be an impediment to him coming over right away.  That's my understanding from what I've read.

From the scouting and analysis I've read about his game, you should picture somebody kind of like Kirilenko on defense and kind of like a rich man's Jonas Jerebko on offense ("Good" Jonas anyway, like we saw in the playoffs).

I've seen $1.3 million, twice the ($650k) NBA max for buyouts, so the other $650k will come from his salary

[alldaboston]

So even if we draft him, he's going to stay overseas for a year ? Two years ? I wonder how that works. Do we take him in for summer league ?

Then I guess there's a bunch of questions that come after that. Like if he gets hurt playing for his overseas team we just lose the pick for drafting him and I guess the million buy out ?

I don't even know how these buyouts work but it seems like we should get him as soon as we draft him so we can groom him.

No. He's coming over immediately I think.

[BitterJim]

So even if we draft him, he's going to stay overseas for a year ? Two years ? I wonder how that works. Do we take him in for summer league ?

Then I guess there's a bunch of questions that come after that. Like if he gets hurt playing for his overseas team we just lose the pick for drafting him and I guess the million buy out ?

I don't even know how these buyouts work but it seems like we should get him as soon as we draft him so we can groom him.

Everything I've seen points to him coming over this year.

If he didn't come over, though, we would retain his rights for 1 calender year after he stopped playing professional basketball (or maybe it's 1 year without a professional contract, but it works out essentially the same).  If he were to get injured while playing overseas, there are a few possibilities:

1.  The injury is career ending.  In this case, he's done, and we get no compensation for losing him.  However, we wouldn't be out $1 million (since we can only pay, at max, $650k of the buyout, and, more importantly, if he's still playing overseas then we clearly didn't buy him out)

2.  The injury is serious, but his overseas team wants to keep his contract.  In this case, he recovers with that team and we could sign him or buy him out later.  Contract-wise, it would be like there was no injury

3.  The injury is serious, and his overseas team cuts him.  In this case, if the injury isn't career threatening, we could sign him like normal.

None of those are likely to happen, though, since he plans on playing in the NBA this season (even though it will cost him and the team $650k each)

[max215]

1. He'll be over immediately
2. His buyout is $1.3 million
3. I see him as very similar to Pau

[PaulP34]

So even if we draft him, he's going to stay overseas for a year ? Two years ? I wonder how that works. Do we take him in for summer league ?

Then I guess there's a bunch of questions that come after that. Like if he gets hurt playing for his overseas team we just lose the pick for drafting him and I guess the million buy out ?

I don't even know how these buyouts work but it seems like we should get him as soon as we draft him so we can groom him.

Everything I've seen points to him coming over this year.

If he didn't come over, though, we would retain his rights for 1 calender year after he stopped playing professional basketball (or maybe it's 1 year without a professional contract, but it works out essentially the same).  If he were to get injured while playing overseas, there are a few possibilities:

1.  The injury is career ending.  In this case, he's done, and we get no compensation for losing him.  However, we wouldn't be out $1 million (since we can only pay, at max, $650k of the buyout, and, more importantly, if he's still playing overseas then we clearly didn't buy him out)

2.  The injury is serious, but his overseas team wants to keep his contract.  In this case, he recovers with that team and we could sign him or buy him out later.  Contract-wise, it would be like there was no injury

3.  The injury is serious, and his overseas team cuts him.  In this case, if the injury isn't career threatening, we could sign him like normal.

None of those are likely to happen, though, since he plans on playing in the NBA this season (even though it will cost him and the team $650k each)

Thank you TP for the info. I gotta say I've only seen a few videos on utube and I just don't know much about him to say" Yah this kid is worth using the 3rd pick on. But I tell you, if he becomes a guy like Love who can shoot from the outside, he's 18 years old and time to improve, I wouldn't mind him hitting his prime as Lebron gets ready to take a step back from age. I don't know might be good timing. But that does seem like a risk if he stays overseas and we use a draft pick on him. Anyways I feel better knowing the facts about his contract situation. He's still kind of an unknown at this point.

[86MaxwellSmart]

1. He'll be over immediately
2. His buyout is $1.3 million
3. I see him as very similar to Pau

Pretty much what I was going to say.

IF The Celtics get lucky with this kid--it would be like having a Pau Gasol on the team for at least the next 15 years. He would still only be 34 in 15 years...Good gamble for Ainge to take-we still have tons of other picks and cap room. Take him.

[PickNRoll]

His buyout is probably immaterial.
His game is roughly a poor man's Jerebko or Omri Casspi.

[CFAN38]

I see him developing into a Kirelinko like player. His body type and athletic ability remind me of a young gasol, looking back at pictures there is a definite physical resemblance. At his size I expect him like KG did years ago to start as a primarily perimeter big man and as his body develops he will play inside and eventually work his way into a 4/5 type role. If this occurs he becomes an incredibly dynamic and valuable player.

[PaulP34]

In this case Danny should stay the course with this kid and forget about trading for Kevin Love if that opportunity did come up.

[Roy H.]

Of the comparisons I've seen in this thread, a Kirilenko-like player seems most accurate to me.  Everything I've read and seen suggests that he's a jack-of-all-trades type, not an elite scorer like Dirk or Love or even Pau.  (I personally don't see the Pau comparison, in terms of game.  Bender seems a lot more perimeter-oriented.)