2020 Celtics Offseason

To each their own. Anthony was really only healthy for the first few unc games and he made some great plays. His block against Oregon was nuts. Thats just one play I know but he got hurt shortly after. Its a big if but I think if he can stay healthy he will be a good player.

Nesmith had one of the highest floors in this draft i think though. At the very least hes a sharpshooter which every team needs. Hes a better fit for the Celtics right now.

Damn the 76ers new GM, that's a great Draft!

As I predicted.

My day after draft thoughts... my biggest needs going into this draft were shooting, bench shooting and a backup point guard.

Not having scoring and any real snipers off the bench really hurt the team and at some point you need to go with team building and put the pieces together. How many raw shooting, defensive athletic guys can you try and develop at once? Unless they are giving up on Langford (they aren’t), then the Nesmith pick makes a ton of sense. I know many wanted Anthony or Maxey here, but neither fits as well into the Celtics roster as a long knock down shooter. Obviously, this depends on Nesmith’s shooting translating. I like that he’s a gym rat and a hard worker and he’s not lacking for confidence which is also great. So sign me up for Nesmith, I think his length and intelligence will make him a solid enough defender that he’s not a negative there and he can actually be good off the ball in a team concept. If he’s a deadeye shooter off the catch and off screens, just imagine the space Tatum and Brown will have. We’ve never had that here.

Pritchard, not at all who I wanted or would have taken, but again, shooting will translate. Also; I always bet on work ethic and winning mentality on the court and this guy has it in spades. He’s not a sexy player, so people are down on him, but we’ve seen these types of guys overlooked constantly and they go on to have roles in the NBA. Part of me wishes they got more or a long term Kemba replacement but this is the end of the round and they needed a second unit guy who can shoot now. Point guards are always the deepest position in the draft, and teams are always trading starting caliber PGs around the league so I get going with this guy.

The draft and stash dude, I’m cool with - actually looks like a future player even if it’s in the Shane Larken role for a couple years. Dotson went undrafted, maybe they can get him on a 2 way...

I am not sad they didn’t draft a big... with a Theis and Williams and Williams when would he play? They will likely target a big in a trade of Hayward or with their MLE money which is what they should do because they need a big who can play now in a specific role.


I don’t want to grade the draft because we always knew this was a draft for role players but since we had so much hype due to the wait, we feel we got short changed.

Oh last comment on Nesmith... let’s not act like he has no upside. He’s very Middleton esq with the size and athletic ability so there’s some upside with him too that will all stem off how well he shoots it.

My issue with Nesmith is I’m not sure the Celtics generate enough driving gravity to utilize his skill set. Tatum is an otherworldly outside shooter, but really not dynamic as a driver/finisher. Same for Kemba. Having a player like Maxey who has great finishing/floater equity plays so well off Tatum and Kemba’s skill sets.

What you saw last year in the playoffs was the Celtics falling into stretches where their offense stagnated while the Heat and Raptors took away their outside advantage creation through box and one and zone. Now the rest of the league is on notice, and Nesmith probably doesn’t help a whole lot to neutralize the problem. Nesmith is not an answer to the problem. Nesmith is an answer once the problem has been solved.

The thing I liked about Hampton and Maxey is that they offer real ability to penetrate such schemes in such a way that they reopen Tatum’s splashy outside shooting and advantage creation for Kemba and Brown.

Edit: and I’m not gonna get into why picking a fourth year, undersized, unathletic point guard is a bad use of a first round pick.

Prichard feels like using the 26th pick to fill a need instead of getting a free agent. It's not a BAD use of a 26th pick in general, but I'd have rather taken a bigger swing in the context of THIS draft. A smidge more upside and downside than working the market. Cheaper I guess.

I really can’t disagree more with this analysis. The teams biggest need was perimeter shooting off the bench and Tatum Brown and Walker will all benefit from a sniper on the perimeter more than from a guy who can’t shot but has a floater.

Regarding Pritchard, if he turns into a solid rotation piece then he’s worth a late first round pick. Most of those guys don’t amount to anything. Also, it’s better for them to use a first round pick on him than have to use exception money to sign a second rd pick. Let’s see what happens.

I don’t disagree but if Pritchard can come in and play right away and give 12 good minutes with 40%+ from 3 then I’ll be happy with the pick. I get the argument to go Riller over him, but I understand why they didn’t go with more of an upside play. It’s hard to develop guys if they aren’t playing and on a team that has high expectations it’s hard to develop guys. Trust me, I love Tyrell Terry and think not taking him was a mistake and possibly a huge one.

That report regarding Kanter makes little sense to me as the option is his. VP was complaining about playing time. Kanter has some real value too so I think that report is up to late speculation. I'd bet it's VP.

From The Athletic on Prichard:

More here ($). I like the back-and-forth format. I hadn't heard of Sam Vecenie of The Athletic before this draft but his reports and draft guide (an NBA version of Dane Brugler's NFL Beast) were awesome.

Kanter has the option but he may not get as much money on the open market so his decision comes down to if he wants the money or not. If he does - Danny can trade him - KANTER. Has no control over that part