WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #22 Boston Celtics

We don't have many players signed, so we want to draft players who will fit our style no matter which players we pick up to round out our roster.  We also need guys who can give us key minutes in their roles right away.  We are the definition of a "win now" team no matter which players we bring back this season.

We suffered by not having a physical big man to replace Kendrick Perkins, and we feel we addressed that with Festus Ezeli.

To compliment him, we see a guy here who is unique and very much in the tradition of all-around forwards we have had success with in the past.  We are intrigued by his combination of passing, rebounding, ball-handling and mid-range shooting from the PF position.  This is a modern type of player who we feel every team needs to create mismatches and dictate who the opponent can put on the court.

This player has challenges (or we wouldn't be able to sniff him at #22).  He has some problems with anxiety, but we feel we have a strong organization that can support someone with that kind of issue.  He's also a bit of a tweener at only 6'8", but we view that as almost a positive because of his extraordinary skill.  We think he will be a nightmare to defend.  His questionable conditioning and poor free throw shooting are things he has to work hard on, however.

While this seems like a risky pick, we don't think so at all.  We just don't see a way a basketball player like this won't succeed in the NBA at some level.  He is a big, skilled man and he can really play.

The Celtics select Royce White, PF/SF, Iowa State

Thanks for nothing, Google Image Search.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #21 Boston Celtics

Everyone has known our team is on the older side of the league for the past few years. We've been trying to infuse younger talent into our lineup, and we like the future of our backcourt. Rondo is an all-NBA caliber point guard, and Avery Bradley looks like a promising young talent to pair with Rondo.

What we really need is some young big men and depth on the interior. We're not sure that Kevin Garnett is coming back, but we don't see a player with his passion calling it quits. We want him around to give us 200%, inspire our team and mentor the young big man that we want to bring in.

With the 21st pick, the Boston Celtics select Festus Ezeli, C, Vanderbilt.

  We love his chiseled frame.

We wanted a center with legitimate size and a defensive presence. We don't need anymore undersized forwards who play below the rim. We want a big bodied difference maker on the inside. Ezeli, even though he's a 4 year player, still oozes potential. He moves remarkably well for his size (6-10) and has only been playing basketball for about 5 years. He also gives us a rim protector, which we desperately need, as shown by his ability to block shots. We debated between Ezeli and Fab Melo, but a couple of red flags made us shy away from Melo, such as his academic issues and lack of offensive game.

WRG 2011 Mock Draft - #25 Boston Celtics

The reality of our situation is this - we have six players on our roster and we are over the cap.

That isn't a bad thing, of course.  We won a championship and were an elite team for several years, and that comes with a price tag under the current CBA.

Plus, our core is still capable of competing at a high level and may even be able to make noise in the playoffs with health and a little luck.

However, that won't happen if we don't add players that allow us to carefully monitor our starters' minutes and keep us in games while they rest.

So this pick is very important for us.  The player we add has to be an instant contributor.  No projects, no risks.

Position isn't a concern, since even if the new CBA allows us to sign our free agents we have a need at every spot.

That said, we were kind of resigned to taking one of several versatile combo forwards that we think are the strength of this draft.  In fact a few we thought would be gone by now have fallen.  But we see an opportunity here to take a guard who can do a lot for us and we never thought would make it to our pick.

Marshon Brooks is a pure scorer with a big body who we feel can play immediately.  He can take on a lot of the scoring load (something we don't think any other player available could) while we sit our aging stars longer and longer to keep them fresh and healthy.

And if we do that, we think we can extend the season well into June.

Remember when Kobe ate his finger? I can do that, too!

WRG 2010 Mock Draft - #26 Oklahoma City Thunder

 
The Boston Celtics set the blueprint for winning an NBA Championship.  Gather some young assets and high picks, trade them for veteran stars and those hungry players will get everyone to buy into defense and team play.  Being an instant contender is where it's at.  Only suckers wait patiently for their own players to develop into a contending unit.  Teams like the Trailblazers that try this route never get there.  You need the established stars to win.

Well, the Thunder is here to flip that blueprint - and we want to start this year.

We think we have as good a player as anyone, and we chose very carefully who to bring in to play with him.  They fit together.  They have similar personalities.  They know each others' games.  They are a unit.

This is the first year we made the playoffs, and we took the eventual champions to seven games.  Eventually, they beat us, but we made them work as hard or harder than anyone.  We think what eventually did us in was our failure to match their size.  Our team is talented and cohesive, but a team with a blatant physical advantage over us is tough to beat in a long series, and we don't want to be at that disadvantage again.

So the Thunder select Solomon Alabi, who is a legitimately sized center who fits with our team's demeanor and gives us a developing player who is specifically targeted at teams who try to wear us down with sheer size.  He has a terrific defensive presence right away, and some surprising little skills on the other end we think he can build on.  This is notice.  We are serious and we are not just going to draft a Eurostash here.  We are ready now.  We are the new blueprint.

 "You want me to stop the Lakers?!"

WRG 2010 Mock Draft - #19 Boston Celtics

You wish you were as smart as us. Finish in the middle of the playoff pack, get a nice draft slot, turn it on and go to the NBA Finals. It's a blueprint for success. Now all we gotta do is make a good pick.

We could use a backup point guard. A couple options are available for us. Eric Bledsoe and Avery Bradley are both solid prospects, but they have their question marks. They are both young and saw limited time at the point. We're not sure if they are capable. We'll pass on those guys.

We could use a wing off the bench who can score. Tony Allen is a nice rotation player, but a scorer he is not. We immediately notice that there's a scoring wing still available who played on a great team last year. That's the kind of guy we want. The Celtics aren't just a team, we are a family. Gordon Hayward was on the Butler team who went to the NCAA Championship game last year. We love winners, and Gordon Hayward is a winner. Plus, we need a white guy to be a fan favorite who actually plays (sorry Scalabrine).

We'll take that big pasty kid.