Draft night got strange

We had 25, traded back to 31, traded that for 34, traded that for 38 and 39.

I get trading out of the first to get better contract flexibility with second round picks, but then it got weird.

So we had James Nnaji and Julian Phillips for about 5 seconds and ended up with Jordan Walsh and Mouhamed Gueye?

A big center, Nnaji has good potential, enough that you could see him getting minutes at C with Zinger at PF. Phillips was a dumpster fire so no loss we didn't keep him.

Then we get two forwards. One, Walsh, a decent defender but can't shoot and the other, Gueye, who is like 6' 11" can board but only 213 lbs.

Bailey, Vukcevic and Lundy all taken after our two?

I'm not getting this, Brad.

He must have a plan, but it's a mystery.

The one thing I read is that by not drafting in the first round, we were guaranteed a 5 M exception???? Confusing as all heck. Thank God these guys are cap specialists, it is way too confusing for the. Ordinary person. Gyso?? Thoughts??

Yeah Rosalie, among the benefits of moving out of the first is the flexibility to give 2 way contracts instead of guaranteed deals to the picks, and we get to use our MLE this offseason. That part makes sense.

The strange part was selecting and trading a potential rotation center, then selecting and trading a disaster of a forward, and finally trading back to take two limited forwards while letting three (now make that four counting Jackson-Davis) solid players with skills we need go by to other teams.

The explanation I have seen is that Walsh is an extraordinary defensive player, both man and help, never gives up on a play, and frequently makes blocks from behind ala D White. They think a shooting coach can get him shooting from a better base.Evidently, Stevens likes him better than the other guys. He's only 19, so there is time for him to develop offensively. I'm not advocating a position here because I seldom watch college ball.Like Jaylen,(no I'm not making a direct comparison), he was a 5 star recruit who had a soso freshman year.Brad evidently sees something in him. We shall see.He has alopecia, so keep KG away from him.Has shown a level of maturity as an alopecia advocate. That's all the manure I have to throw up against the wall.I think we picked up something like 8 second rounders; maybe as possible trade filer.

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 1 hour ago
If you went to bed early (again) on Thursday, you missed Brad Stevens go full Belichick while making 4 trades to repeatedly move back in the draft. In the end, the 25th pick led to selecting Arkansas wing Jordan Walsh at No. 38 while adding these 4 future second-round picks:

Dallas 2024 2nd round pick
The Best of Detroit's, GSW's or Washington 2nd round picks
The Best of Minny's, NOP's, NYK's or Porland's 2nd round picks
Atlanta's 2027 2nd round pick.


Jordan Walsh.  6'6", 205#, 7'2" wingspan.  19 years old.

NBAdraft.net had him going #45.  NBA.com and Bleacher Report had him going in the first round @ #27.  So, picking him with #38 is looking like a pretty good consensus pick.  Gotta love almost any player that plays hard like they say this kid does and has a wingspan that is 8" longer than him.  I'm not sure I've ever heard of a player that is 6'6" and has a wingspan that big.  Centers, yeah, Ben Wallace and others for sure but wings?  To put this in perspective The Time Lord is listed at 6'9" and has a 7'6" wingspan.  That's 9", and he's always talked about as a possible DPOY.  Ben Wallace is 6'9", has a 7'2" wingspan and was a 4X DPOY.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 7 hours ago
Brad Stevens said Jordan Walsh's shot has looked better and they had him in twice for workouts. Said Walsh has been a hesitant shooter but they can see him shooting and attacking closeouts in the future.

(MY NOTE:  Shooting is the easiest skill to learn of all of them because it's all about being taught good mechanics, which he seems to have, and tons and tons of repetition)

Jay King
Jay King @ByJayKing
about 7 hours ago
Stevens said Jordan Walsh is “a good prospect” but expected to take time to develop. “He has a special ability laterally and with his wingspan to swallow people up defensively. He really creates havoc with his arms and with his energy and with his ability to move his feet.”

Translation:  Welcome to Portland Maine, Jordan.  Maybe a two-way.  Brad has to decide what to do with JD Davison and Kabengele.  My gut tells me Davison will stick around, either as a two-way or as a Celtic, but Fi's gone.  If I'm right then a two-way might be available for Walsh.

I watched this scouting report film.  His #1 strength is his defense, obviously.  I realize that if a scouting report says a player's X is his strength they're going to show the best examples of X they can find to prove their point, but wow!  His defense is absolutely ferocious!  This kid is a dawg on defense.  He could be our Matisse Thybulle, who was another "all defense, no offense" player for Philly, currently with Portland.  He's turned into a 2X All Defense Second Team player, that's not too shabby for a #20 pick and Walsh is #38 and would be even more of a diamond in the rough.  If Walsh can become a more confident shooter he has a real shot, no pun intended.  He doesn't have to become a 40% 3pt shooter (Jason Kidd was a mediocre shooter his whole career.  His career fg% is 40%, his career 3pt fg% is 34.9%) he just can't be on the floor and be such an offensive liability he turns our offense into 4-on-5. But his defense! It's a 9+ minute video. If you don't have that long to spare then at least watch the first 3 minutes.

And tell me he doesn't look a bit like Popeye Jones.





Man, what a flurry!  And we called Ainge "Trader Danny"!?  How about Belichick Brad?  How much caffeine had he had the last 24 hours?  Not only did he have his primary deal fall through with only a few hours left for Zinger to opt in, and he scrambled to put together another deal, he then rolled and rolled and rolled the pick he got in the Zinger trade.  He got his man, presumably, because Walsh was available at #31 and could have been taken then too (either way, as a 2nd rounder, there would be no contractual commitment whether taken at 31 or 38.  So there was nothing saved by taking him with #38) but kept spinning until he picked up more 2nds.  2nds rarely make the NBA but they are valuable for situations exactly like this, you can get out of a mandatory 1st round contract by trading for a couple of 2nds, and now we have them to offer.   

Here's the final tally over the last 24 hours:


Zinger + Walsh + 4 2nd round picks for Smart + Muscala + Gallinari + #35.

Nobody is crying more over the loss of Smart than me, he was my favorite Celtic (not the Js) but it's hard not to see this as a win if Zinger stays healthy.  Moose and Gallo are spare parts.  If you see the Walsh-for-#35 as a wash then it boils down to a bordline All-Star plus 4 2nd rounders for Smart.  And we need someone like Zinger, we needed to balance our team with another bonafide center.  I would much rather have given up Malcolm than Marcus but that's not how it played out, much to my remorse.  Nevertheless, how it did play out is still to our advantage.


Bob


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gyso wrote:Mouhamed Gueye

It is beginning to look like this guy was traded to the Hawks for the 4th 2nd rounder in 2027?

Bob


.

Some more Jordan Walsh stuff to get you drooling:

He has a 41' vertical leap.  For comparison Tatum has a 32.5" vertical.  Jaylen's vertical was measured at 43".  So, the same height as Jaylen with only 2" off of uber-athlete Jaylen Brown's crazy 43" vertical. High flyer Tracy McGrady's vertical was 42".

Work on your catch-and-shoot, kid.  Defense may (may!) get you on the team, although Joe prefers offense over defense, but it won't get you on the floor except in specialty circumstances.

Although making a steal and then running the floor works too.


Bob


.

I was thinking "what they hell is he doing out there"

The trade out of the first round means no 2 year guaranteed contract.

It opens up the Tax Payer MLE for the team to use.

The series of trades were used to add future 2nd round draft assets

The Celtics drafted a very long and athletic wing defender which we really needed especially with Smart traded away.

Brad has yet to draft a player in the first round.  

In sum, Brad addressed a defensive need, secured the ability to use the MLE and played the long game in anticipation of future moves where a 2nd round pick or 2 can close the deal.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2023/06/nba-draft-2023-what-experts-are-saying-about-celtics-jordan-walsh-pick.html


NBA Draft 2023: What experts are saying about Celtics Jordan Walsh pick


Updated: Jun. 23, 2023, 12:59 a.m.|Published: Jun. 23, 2023, 12:59 a.m.


By Matt Vautour | mvautour@masslive.com



As of Wednesday morning, the Celtics had a second-round pick and no first-round pick in the NBA Draft. As of Thursday morning, they had a first-round pick and no second-round pick.

Over the course of Thursday night, it felt like every pick in the second round belonged to the Celtics at some point but didn’t belong to them anymore by the time the pick was in. It sparked a whole lot of Bill Belichick jokes.

At the end of the night, the Celtics got one new player. Arkansas small forward Jordan Walsh at No. 38, a pick that at one point belonged to Sacramento and Indiana.


While nobody is projecting stardom, national media experts seem to like their pick of the 6-foot-7 forward:


ESPN

Before the draft Jonathan Givony said this:

“At 19 years old, featuring elite physical tools and the ability to guard point guards through power forwards, he still has considerable room to improve his jump shot, and his overall offensive game continues to gain consistency.”

After the draft, Jeremy Woo said:

“Walsh is very much a work in progress as a player but offers an active motor and strong measurables at 6-foot-7 with a nearly 7-foot-2 wingspan. His frame and defensive upside intrigued some teams, but his offensive game is pretty far off right now, primarily relying on hustle plays and the occasional open jumper. Walsh is also a good athlete and offers some tools to work with, but this is a long-term development pick for Boston.”


The Athletic

Kyle Tucker, who covers Kentucky for The Athletic, likes Walsh’s potential. He wrote:

“You want a high-ceiling, switchable wing defender in an NBA-ready body? Meet Jordan Walsh, the 6-foot-7, 215-pound former McDonald’s All-American with a 7-2 wingspan, 8-11 standing reach and an aggressive disposition who was selected No. 38 overall by the Celtics. He’s raw (at best) offensively and his stats don’t sing — 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, less than an assist per game and 28 percent 3-point shooting as a freshman at Arkansas — but he absolutely impacts winning.

The Razorbacks scored nine more points per 100 possessions with him on the court than when he was off, which led the team. Arkansas was 10-3 in games he scored more than eight points, 12-11 in all others. On the other end, he’s a high-motor, physical defender who never backed down and had the athleticism to guard on the perimeter or bang in the paint. ... It’s not hard to envision him as a longtime NBA role player.”


CBS Sports

“One scout I talked with at the NBA Draft Combine suggested Walsh could be a first-round pick if he returned to school, so (Boston) snagging him at No. 38 in this year’s draft could wind up being a nice long-term investment. He came on late in the season for Arkansas and has the physical tools and smarts to be a jumbo wing who can be a 3-and-D type weapon. Grade: B”


Bleacher Report

After the early second round, Bleacher Report stopped doing full evaluations. They simply gave the Walsh pick a “B-”


Rotowire

“Walsh spent just one season in the collegiate ranks and averaged 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 24.4 minutes per game at Arkansas. The 19-year-old is an athletic defender with plenty of length, but he could require some time to develop before he sees consistent minutes at the professional level.”


Bob


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dboss wrote:I was thinking "what they hell is he doing out there"

The trade out of the first round means no 2 year guaranteed contract.

It opens up the Tax Payer MLE for the team to use.

The series of trades were used to add future 2nd round draft assets

The Celtics drafted a very long and athletic wing defender which we really needed especially with Smart traded away.

Brad has yet to draft a player in the first round.  

In sum, Brad addressed a defensive need, secured the ability to use the MLE and played the long game in anticipation of future moves where a 2nd round pick or 2 can close the deal.

He also closed the Porzingis deal which addresses a former weakness of ours into a bonafide strength. Zinger Timelord and Al sharing the 4-5 with the 2 J’s, White and Brogdon. Sick!!!! Add Davison who I think can play and the rookie may earn minutes just on his defense. Brad completely rebuilt this team going forward. Bad Brad can GM.