rlucas4257

if I may, as an outsider looking in, I think Ainge takes a ton of international players in this crop. I really do. I also think he will take atleast one guy and leave him in Europe. That guy will be either Tiaggo Splitter or Kosta Perovic. Both have monster buyouts this year, and both have been told by their teams they wont be leaving. So I see Ainge taking atleast one of those guys. Ainge might package the other 2 picks and move up. I am sure Okafor is on your wish list. he is on everyones wish list. Josh Smith might be interesting. Looks like a good player. As does Deng. Biedrins is interesting. Ainge has scouted Europe heavily. a minimum 2 of those 4 picks will be internationals I believe. one college kid, and one hs kid. that sounds about right to me with one guy being hid internationally for a year. also look for ainge to make a run at international FAs Arvydas Macijauskas or Andres Nocioni. Rumor has it that Ainge is very high on these guys. He seems to be trying to create Sacramento east in Dallas. Might not be a bad place to go. Seems like you guys have done very well with Welsh, so Id learn more about the international guys if I were you.

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NBA CHAMP- Phoenix.

Its their year. If Amare comes back (a big if) then they will have it all.

NBA FINALS- Phoenix 4-2 Chicago (Since Tmac has gotten to Houston, I always take them, but not this year)

Yes, the Bulls are in the finals. They beat the Cavs in the eastern finals in 7 games. Might be the Bulls best chance before Lebron goes all Jordan on us. But with Detroit weaker, and Miami a year older, this leaves Chicago

MVP-Lebron James

I just cant even think of a guy who could be close. Bosh and Yao are 2 and 3.

Most Improved- I dont know.

It will come from the following 5 players. Mickael Pietrus, who should be perfect under Nellies weird system. Darko Millicic, really impressive in Orlando last year. Tyson Chandler, Just a feeling, might have that year we have been looking for. JR Smith. The only thing I didnt think Pax needed to do this summer. This guy has a real shot at stardom. Leandro Barbosa

Rookie of the Year. Mickael Gelabale Seattle. This kid is NBA ready, can play 2 spots, though spots that Seattle has good players and a real motor. Will beat out Chicago Bull Tyrus Thomas (2nd), Rudy Gay and Seattle teammate Mouhamed Sene.

Defensive Player of the Year. Mouhamed Sene. Reach, athleticism and desire means he will be the first rookie to win this award. Might have a problem with the fouls early this year, but his ability to cover ground and his length mean something special on the way.

6th man of the year. Leandro Barbosa. Second team all defense and scores in the mid digits. Could be the best point guard (if you can call him that) from his draft class, yes Hinrich and Ford, that includes you, if Nash wasnt the MVP.

Surprise Team
West-Seattle. They have two outstanding rookies and 2 more young bigs. I believe Petro and Sene make a great upfront combo, Swift will be dealt for the other things and Gelabale will be special.

East- Toronto. Bargnani will help, but Bosh will be the MVP runner up to Lebron. Orlando a close #2

Disappointing Team
East- Miami- Shaq is just getting older and Wade can only carry the team so far. They were pretty flawed last year and won the individual brilliance of Wade and Shaq. Take one out of the equation and they might not be the best team in Florida

West- LA Lakers. Unless Andrew Bynum makes the next big step this team might not make the playoffs. Kobe was hurt all summer and I just think they played over their head. I wasnt blown away by their offseason. LA Clippers are #2 here.

Executive of the Year. John Paxson. Just a super offseason. Gets Ben Wallace, which no one thought he could do. Drafts a guy in Tyrus Thomas who is outstanding and promising rookie Thabo Sefolosha. Gets rid of Chandlers contract. Only mistake was giving JR Smith away.

2007 Draft- Oden is the guy but Thabeet will make it far closer than most thought was possible.

Coach of the year. Don Nelson. GS goes back to the playoffs for the first time in about a century (or since he was the coach). Sure they make it as a 7th seed but thats good enough for him to get the award.

Most likely big name to be dealt. Chris Webber, Rashard Lewis, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson/Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Emeka Okafor, Lamar Odom, Jermaine Oneal.

Superbowl- Bears this year
SI Sports Man of the Year 2007- The city of Chicago
Champs League Final Chelsea vs Arsenal. Arsenal are the winners.

And one final prediction. Jay Williams, whom I predicted a few years ago would play in the NBA again (too alot of ridicule, Songcycle, are you reading that?) will be good enough, along with Marcus Williams, that the Jason Kidd trade rumors will pick up some steam.

agoo101284

Why is everyone so hung up on getting a point guard to replace Banks? We just drafted the guy, lets give him a chance, who do you all think he is, Chauncy Billups?

If we do take a point guard, it will be one of the combo guards with the Dallas pick (Vujacic) or someone who falls to our second round pick. I'd go for Chris Duhon. I know Dukies don't end up as great players in the league, but they're generally very serviceable players (Brand, Battier, Boozer, Laettner). Duhon probably won't be a threat to unseat Banks as the future point guard, but he will be a good backup in the league.

I think this team needs to dedicate itself to the direction that Ainge wants to go in. He's looking for versitile players who fit in a running system. That means three guys. Rebounders at C and PF, athletic shooters at SF and SG, and an up tempo passing point guard who can hit pull up jumpers.

At C and PF we have Hunter and Perkins (Mihm too assuming we resign him), for SF and SG we have Davis, Welsch, and Jones (Pierce too, whenever he gets around to running), and at PG we have Banks.

It seems to me that we need to get a C/PF as LaFrentz is NOT going to help in a fastbreak system. Emeka Okafor would be perfect there because he is a rebounder who can also run. Rafael Araujo seems like that type of guy based upon what I've read. Kris Humphries could also be that guy. Should we hold off on that and go else where with our pick, David Harrison could fall and be that guy for us. Robert Swift as well, should we go for another high school big man. Anderson Varejao and Ronny Turiaf could work in the second round.

At SF/SG, Andre Iguodala would be an interesting guy to see with the lottery pick. Luol Deng would also be terrific, but unlikely. With the later picks, Viktor Khryapa and Josh Childress could fit. Christian Drejer sounds interesting, but he seems sort of flaky by leaving Florida to go not play for FC Barcelona. I know the knock on him is that he has no jumper, but if Hakim Warrick comes out and falls to the Detroit/Dallas range, he could be a good pick as well. Darius Rice works quite well here as a second rounder.

For PGs, there's no reason to go after one in the lottery. Banks was a lotto pick. While Ben Gordon and Sebastian Telfair (if he comes out) are likely to be good players, there's no reason for us to get them. If Jameer Nelson falls to the Detroit/Dallas range, there's no reason to not go for him. Other than that, the second rounder will end up being a point guard. I like Duhon, though I'm unfamiliar with his game and I'm solely basing this on what I read.

Unless we get lucky and win the lottery and are handed Okafor, I think Araujo is the first pick. He is a BYU guy, which Ainge also is, and he's a big rebounding post player that we need. The Dallas/Detroit picks (assuming we keep both) will the guy who falls (whether it be Humphries, Nelson, or the most likely guy Harrison). If none of them fall, I could see Childress and Swift here. Perhaps Vujacic to get another PG in town. The second rounder will end up being Duhon or Rice, depending on whether or not we get Vujacic or Childress.

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Big John

This team is not so good that it can afford to pass up the best player available with any given pick. What's wrong with having Banks AND Telfair or Nelson? You'd be set at pg for the next 10 years.

Enough of passing on a player like Eddie Jones to take Eric Montross because they "needed a center." I'm confident that Ainge is smarter than that.

PatBateman

What about Ben Gordon?

also, nbadraft.net has iguodala from Arizona going high.



Finally, people get used to picturing this sight: Dwight Howard in Celtics green.

Big John

Ben Gordon=DeJuan Wagner. He's an undersized 2. Not a great passer.

Iguodala is a 6-6 sf with no outside shot. Not what the Celtics need.

Premier

Iguodala is Athletic and is a Richard Jefferson Type Player..

Araujo is NOT a Top 10 Selection..If He Falls to Around 16..I think Ainge Would Trade up for Him..

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macro6

Okafor or D.Howard are perfect fit for your team in need of size.

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PatBateman

YOU GOT IT!! The ghost of M.L. Carr will be vanquished this draft with our snatching of D. Howard!!!

whiterhino

Well it's obvious a lot of you have NOT been listening to Ainge....he WANTS at least one (I think 2) high school players. I'm not happy about it but that's what he's planning on and he said it in a live interview before the game against the Clippers. So given that fact here is how I think it shakes down....I think that Jones is gonna get taken in the expansion draft and Mark Blount will sign somewhere else. Lindsey Hunter's contract expires at the end of this season, Vinny is gone one way or another (his money may not be though) and I also think that Ainge will get rid of either Walter or Stewart some how over the Summer and I think he'll get rid of them for cash or a future 2nd round pick, not a player on the roster. That leaves our roster to include

1. Peirce
2. Davis
3. Atkins
4. Lafrentz
5. Banks
6. Welsch
7. Perkins
8. B. Hunter
9. Mihm (they will get him to stay)
10. Stewart or McCarty

That leaves 5 spots, I don't think Danny will be able to move up in the draft, I think no one wants to go lower in this one that's above us.

I think with our pick we take Tiago Splitter who may or may not come to us in year 1, he may have to wait a year but I think we'll have the roster spot for him and Danny will try to get him here, if it's not him I think it will be Perovic.
Now with Dallas & Detroits picks (yes I think we end up with them both), he'll take his high schoolers and I think they will be LeMarcus Aldridge and possibly Sebastien Telfair...if he can't get Telfair he may settle for the one high schooler and take Ha from South Korea but I think he wants another young PG to compete with Banks and push him. I think he only takes Ha if the high schoolers are all gone.
With our second rounder I see us taking Mo Ke of China (Ainge has scouts there a couple times and Mo is the only guy it could be) but I think he won't come over in year 1.

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I dream in Green : ) WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU DJ, You will be in the Hall Of Fame]
I AM A CELTIC

PatBateman

you made no mention of Dwight Howard. Drafting #1 we will have a pretty good shot at him.

agoo101284

If we draft number one and take Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor, Danny Ainge should be tarred and feathered.

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Zalgirinis

Really?! So why Ainge gave up Songaila's rights, if he likes Europe so much. Or he just now realised that he made a mistake with this one.

I just hope Macijauskas will not sign with Celtics, unless any (or both) of Pierce and Davis are gone. Macijauskas needs ball (and playing time of course) and he will score 15 ppg in his first season, but he wont get ball with those guys in lineup.

Welsch was nowhere near in Europe as Macijauskas was/is. Macijauskas just played in quite small team and not best league, so he wasnt noticed or considered by European scouts. Seeing him playing every week I knew what material he is. Now when he went to better team into best league in Europe, his stats even rised up!!!

I havent seen much of Welsch play in NBA, but I doubt he made huge improvement from what he was in Europe and some of you consider him a decent player... The only Welsch advantage over Macijauskas is height and, as conected to it, defence. Macas simply is a shooting-killer, maybe one little-little step back than Peja.

About other players you mentioned in this thread. Kosta Perovic is very hyped these days, I havent seen him play, so I cant bash him, but the impression Im geting is like hes 3-4 years from NBA level player. I mean normal player and not Bagaric, Przybila or that type of Euro's.

Andris Biedrins could really be considered as top pick... but hes in Darko's situation. Too young to contribute right now in such league as NBA.

Damian Necronamous

Whose picks do the Celtics have this season?

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Chick Hearn: This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are gettin' cool, the butter's gettin' hard, and the jellooooooo's jigglin'!

Current 2008-2009 LA Lakers Roster
PG: Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG: Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, Sun Yue
SF: Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF: Pau Gasol, Vladimir Radmanovic, Josh Powell
C: Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, D.J. Mbenga