[Causeway]

I know it's 20 days, 486 hours, 29201 minutes, and 1752076 seconds away (at the moment)...but I can not wait.

Who do you like - Oden or Durant?

Who do you like in the even we don't get 1/2? Trade the pick?

[Premier]

Oden. If not one or two, trade the pick or trade Pierce for value and draft Wright

[DaBosox]

Get the second pick. Trade Wallyworld and the pick for the 11th pick and Eddy Curry. Draft Josh Mcroberts. Proclaim a victory over the draft as well as acquiring the best center available and the next Larry Bird, start selling season tickets to gullible Bostonians. Plan May vacation in 2008 to China to find posible first overall selections.

--DA.

[#1AntoineWalkerFan]

i almost would rather have the number 2 pick than the number 1...it makes the decision making part of the pick not applicable, which is good since we have ainge making the decisions...then you just take the one of the two (oden, durant) thats still there...win win situation to me...although i would slightly rather have oden

[Premier]

It's foolish to want the second selection. We could always trade down from one to two and with one you get to decide on who to draft in advance and plan your offseason accordingly.

[ehmunro]

If they don't win the lottery they're going to trade down with anyone willing to eat Wally's salary and draft Al Thornton. Ye Olde Tyme Basquetteballe fans everywhere go into mourning.

[DontTradePaul!]

Ye Olde Tyme Basquetteballe
-ehmunro

easily the funniest thing i've read online in a good long time.

as for the draft, i'm hoping for Oden but i can live with Durant.

if we get lower than 1 or 2, Celts try to salvage the draft through a trade of some sort ... or bite the bullet and take Brandon Wright.

[silverpaw1786]

Originally Posted by DaBosox

Get the second pick. Trade Wallyworld and the pick for the 11th pick and Eddy Curry. Draft Josh Mcroberts. Proclaim a victory over the draft as well as acquiring the best center available and the next Larry Bird, start selling season tickets to gullible Bostonians. Plan May vacation in 2008 to China to find posible first overall selections.

--DA.

Not that I don't love the trade idea (i.e. I understand it was sarcasm), but Eddy Curry is on the knicks. The Knicks have no chance at the 11th pick, it belongs to the bulls.

[silverpaw1786]

If we get 1: I'd take Oden who goes perfectly next to Al Jefferson.
If we get 3 or lower:
I understand the case for trading the pick, but no team is going to pay more than 30 cents on the dollar for a 3-5 pick in this draft. It just won't happen.
1. Horford
2. Brandon Wright
3. Brewer
4. Conley
5. Noah

[aquaitious]

Originally Posted by silverpaw1786

If we get 1: I'd take Oden who goes perfectly next to Al Jefferson.
If we get 3 or lower:
I understand the case for trading the pick, but no team is going to pay more than 30 cents on the dollar for a 3-5 pick in this draft. It just won't happen.
1. Horford
2. Brandon Wright
3. Brewer
4. Conley
5. Noah

Explain please.

[silverpaw1786]

Al Jefferson has a rapidly developing offensive game, especially with his back to the basket. However, from everything I've heard from those of you lucky enough to still be in Boston and/or watching every game, he's been (sometimes) getting beat inside by skilled big men. In my mind a shot blocker who can change shots and help Jefferson on the boards would be ideal to allow Jefferson to make those infrequent mistakes.

Some people have doubted Oden's offensive ability, and I don't see him as a player with enough breakout ability to have an offense built around him, but he is great on tipins. With two players who are forces on the glass (Kendrick Perkins doesn't quite count because I don't believe he can ever get better than he is at rebounding due to his height, or lack thereof) and can score off those rebounds, players like Pierce, Delonte West, and (the hopefully injured) Wally Szcerbiak can just bomb away without a conscience.

I will be happy to back this up further if you have questions or problems with the things said above.

[Premier]

Originally Posted by me, Premier

Modern NBA defenses require either the power forward or the center to have the ability to defend the pick and roll, along with the more perimeter-oriented players in the league, namely Chris Bosh, Pau Gasol, Mehmet Okur, etc. Oden has the ability to do so, but he is more effective as an interior defender, closing off penetration and defending the low post. Jefferson is best, defenisvely, at center because he doesn't have to worry as much about defending his man, so that he can hide his weakness in defending outside the low post and defending stronger, quicker opponents, since Jefferson is not nearly conditioned enough to defend Elton Brand or Kevin Garnett, for example. In a possible Oden-Jefferson tandem, the need to defend outside the low post would require Oden to guard the pick and roll and the high post big men, negating his defensive impact that would have improved the Celtics if he could stay down low and play more team defense. So, in this situation, the Celtics would not be able to use Oden's biggest attribute and since he is superior to Jefferson and infinitely more valuable, that does not make much sense to me. The Celtics are best suited to match Jefferson with a quicker power forward that can play excellent defense against the opposing big men who prefer to stay outside the low post, but still strong enough to adequately defend the bruising power forward generation that is seemingly dying out. Since Oden is a better player than Jefferson, if the Celtics end up with the first selection and elect to take Oden, it makes more sense to utlize Oden and accomadate his needs rather than construct a defense that would best serve Jefferson.

In addition, it's difficult for a slashing team to have two low post players on offense. Oden and Jefferson both are less effective ten feet away from the basket, so to have one of them there in a less comfortable area doesn't best use their offensive talent. Primarily, Pierce is a slashing wing player that is at his best when he is using two-dribble drives to draw fouls and get to the line. With Jefferson and Oden both in the post, it's easier for the big men on the other team to shut off penetration and limit the Celtics offensively to a grind-it-out game that places emphasis on something they do not do well, perimeter shooting. You do not have someone to spread the defense. In modern NBA, more teams are shying away from the bruising power forward and center combination and you see more teams having at least one of their starting big men have the ability to step outside to about sixteen feet, at least, and hit the jump shot. This removes a help defender from the interior, giving Oden or Al more room to work and allowing Pierce and company more lanes to penetrate.

Oden and Jefferson is not the best combination possible.

...

[silverpaw1786]

If we can force a team into having 4 perimeter players instead of 2 or 3 on offense then that's a victory for us. Any non-suns team wants to post up at least 2 players. Oden and Jefferson can combine to block that.