Boston Celtics 2013-14 Season

The same things were absolutely not said about Beasley or Williams, two players whose ability to score inside at the NCAA level never translated against the size, length, and athleticism of NBA defenders. Wiggins faces an entirely different set of questions-- whether he can make the types of marginal improvements in the various facets of his game that will take him from an above-average regular (the Harrison Barnes comparison was a good one) to a superstar.

There are a lot of lottery busts busts because top draft picks are almost always one-and-done players and it's very difficult to accurately project 18/19-year-olds when pretty much all you have is one year's worth of tape. Very, very few players have both the upside and the present performance to make them a sure-fire superstar at the NBA level and slam-dunk #1 pick. Even Durant had questions coming out, mostly related to whether he would physically mature (remember his inability to bench 185 even once?). The other top draft prospects this year have their questions too-- it's not like Embiid is much more polished than Wiggins, for instance. If you want to argue for other prospects instead, go ahead-- there's an argument to be made for having Embiid or Parker or Exum ahead of him. But calling him an unpolished athlete and dismissing him on that basis alone is pretty ignorant.

I do question the want, and I've admitted its unfair to do so, but unfortunately with the NBA, the track record is long with players who lack the drive and killer instinct to be the best. And since we are all evaluating from the outside, we have to draw questions from the little evidence we have. Therefor, I have serious concerns about him in that regard. While t's an unknown for a lot of players at this point, we have a good bit of info on Andre at this time.

www.draftexpress.com/profile/Andrew-Wiggins-6191/

Guys with the killer instinct don't get nonchalant in drills and turn it on and off, based on the competition.

espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/83047/wiggins-excels-against-top-competition?ex_cid=espnapi_public

It's better that he plays better vs well competition then bad so perhaps he's like Hanley and gets bored at the lower levels and he'll excel in the NBA. In theory, he should be a safe pick. If he were a baseball prospect, we'd say, his floor is high, because at worst he should be a top defender and rebounder for his position (athleticism and length) with the ability to score in transition, with the potential to be a super star. Unfortunately, very few NBA guys have the maturity to settle into a role like that. For me the NBA is filled with great talents who's games could easily be better if they really cared for it to be. Egos, ignorance and a sense of entitlement usually get in the way. I think Danny is all over this stuff though so if he takes Wiggins I'd be confident at that point especially with Rondo and Stevens in tow.

I'm transitioning here, but this is why I think Rondo is vital for the rebuilding process and why I think he's going to be here long term. First, he's a smart dude who is comfortable in his routine and that's now being Stevens buddy and a second coach on the floor. He works his butt off in preparing both physically and mentally (film junky) and he will demand the young guys do the same. Rondo won't accept losing longterm, but he understands it will take a couple years. I think he wants to go through this with the team so the next team is his with his finger prints all over it. He's similar to Garnett and he had to be forced from Minnesota.

If Wiggins ended up here, I think it'd be a good environment for him or anyone else. Right now I'm very concern about him being another bust, but I am early in my scouting process so I'll back off that rhetoric for the time being.

Stauskas or Dawkins would be great, i'd love to see us get a sharpshooter. Personally i'd definitely take Parker or Embiid over Wiggins, while Smart and Exum would be a toss up, but they should probably go with Wiggins since we have Rondo at the point.

Seeing as Green and Bass are probably gone before the deadline passes, and the Suns are reported to be willing to add players no to make a run, how about this deal:

Bos: Emeka Okafor, '14 1st Rd Pick (Wizards), '15 1st Rd Pick
Phx: Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, '15 2nd Rd Pick

Rondo/Bayless/Pressey
Bradley/Blue/Bogans
Johnson/Wallace
Sullinger/Olynyk
Faverani/Okafor/Anthony

You figure we could use the Hawks Pick to move up in the lottery, and draft with the Wizards/Vice Versa. The Suns would still have 2 1st Rd's this year. It would also help to pile another pick for next year since next years draft will be just as good as '14 (Okafor, Alexander, Oubre, Mudiay, Turner, Looney, Johnson)

Is Bogans contract guaranteed for the next 2 seasons?

Gotta love the NBA only league where guys are paid millions to sit at home and it's considered a valuable piece

The NBA is just a joke and the game of basketball is terrible now. It was great 20 or so years ago, but now with all the new rules and all the freak athletes combined with the $$ these guys make, it's just an awful product. It's going to be very hard to fix as well.

I wish they'd go to the hockey draft model with their entry level contracts, etc. Use the NBDL as the AHL. Keep kids who aren't ready in college, but own their draft rights. The NCAA and NBA would both be way better off for it.

Find a new thread to post in?

I think the issue with the NBA isn't with the overall quality of the game. The issue is the same as its always been - there are very few teams in any given year that actually have a shot to win a championship. It is the only sport where 95% of the time you can name 3 or 4 teams before the season starts that have a chance to win. This isn't new though - it's been like that forever. It is extremely difficult to win a championship without one of the two or three best players in the league. Sure, it happens sporadically but it is the outlier.

I think this is where a lot of the frustration comes from. It incentivizes high risk decisions because - screw it you might as well shoot for the moon rather than get stuck in dreaded mediocrity. It also creates an incentive to tank. How many other sports do teams actively go out and try to lose as much as the NBA? That undermines the integrity of the game to some extent. The NFL and MLB on the other hand both have significantly more parody. Even the worst teams in the league are much more actively trying to win and there are significantly more teams that actually have a shot to win.

The magic won last night, but I have a feeling the Celtics are going to go on a winning streak at some point to separate themselves. Bradley is coming back, Rondo will improve, etc. it's so tight that one decent streak will hurt. Is this the year the Lakers get the next superstar?

The draft is deep with shooters and scorers. If the team ends up with a pick in the 5-9 range I'm just going to pray one is like Pierce.

Bradley is a guy who I try real hard to re-sign at $8-10m a year. His game keeps improving, and he just needs to extend his range a couple feet to start hitting above-the-break 3s at an efficient clip. He's also still only 23, has a dogged work ethic, and is already an elite on-the-ball defender. At the very least, he'll be a very good role player on a tradable deal, but he still has plenty of upside if he continues to improve. He could at least be an Arron Afflalo-esque third-best player on a title contender, and that's worth locking up.