Rookie Rankings: A Bright Spot

by **bobheckler** Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:47 pm

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2013/11/rookie-rankings-bright-spot.html

Rookie Rankings: A Bright Spot

This season for the Celtics has to be about developing the young guys, whether as the core of a future Celtics contender or as chips to bring in a superstar. With that in mind, the NBA Rookie Ladder has to be a bright spot for Celtics fans as there are 2 Celtics rookies in the top 10.

Kelly Olynyk is ranked 5th among all rookies this season. Considering the fact that the Celtics were out of the lottery and got Olynyk with a trade for the 13th pick, this has to be encouraging.

With promising talent like Olynyk, Faverani and Sullinger, do you think Danny will use these players along with his draft picks to bring in a super star, like he did with Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and the draft picks used to bring in KG? Or, do you think Danny will build around young talent, like the Thunder have done? With Danny, you never know what he's got up his sleeve.

Also ranked in the top ten is Vitor Faverani, who has turned out to be a very good signing by the Celtics. He is an undrafted gem, who can only get better as he learns the NBA game.

On the other hand, David Thorpe, a very respected scout, has his NBA Rankings up and Vitor Faverani is ranked at #4 on his list.

4. Vitor Faverani, Celtics
Faverani continues to impress with his solid rebounding numbers and good perimeter shot with 3-point range. He made back-to-back 3s from the same spot (top of the key) against Minnesota, which is important because almost any player in the league can make a single 3 in a game, but making two straight is far more difficult. He blocked four shots in that game, too, and is averaging over one block per game. He's the rare big man who can rebound, shoot from distance and block shots well.

Kelly Olynyk isn't in the top ten but comes in at #13 on Thorpe's list.

Olynyk played well enough in the Orlando Summer League to suggest he'd be having more of an impact in the NBA than he he's had. It's an example, though, of how overrated playing four years of college basketball can be.

As documented here in previous reports, Olynyk still makes plenty of mental mistakes and his shot is not as crisp as Boston hoped it would be. That is not to suggest he can't make big strides. Of course he can. It helps that he's getting lots of minutes so he can hopefully be able to figure things out in time.

Another interesting note in Thorpe's rankings is that former Celtic favorite, Dionte Christmas is ranked #15 on the list.

bob

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