RE: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #218

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@sjbj.com>]

         Reply to:   RE: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #218
As somebody who's spent much too much time thinking about the Celtics'
draft, here's my Top Ten list of who we might come away with, in ascending
order of likelihood:
-Doleac: Celtics desperately need his size, and he's a good shooter. But
he's slooow as molasses and the team was not impressed by his workouts.
-Traylor: The only reason I have him so low here is that he's a virtual
lock to be gone by #10. If he somehow fell, my gut says the C's would take
him. Though only 6'7, he's got the girth to play PF, and his speed and
ballhandling would mesh well with Pitino's style.
-Bonzi Wells: I've been very high on him as a guard who can score in
bunches and come up with a lot of steals. But he's only 6'5, meaning Mercer
would have to switch to the frontcourt, which isn't likely. Wells also
refused to workout for the Celts, saying he wanted a chance to start.
-Brian Skinner: Said to be a great interior defender and rebounder, he
also worked on his jumper his senior year and scored 18 ppg. He's the same
size at Nazr M. and I see them as something of parallel picks.
-Garrity: First player on this list the team really might take. I love
Garrity's shooting, and he's big and strong enough to score inside. But he's
said to be slow and to have trouble staying in front of people. Too bad,
because he'd be a terrific complement to Walker.
-Sesay: He's my sleeper pick. Big for a SF at 6'9, he can run the court,
defend and hit the jumper out to about 15 feet. But he averaged only 18
ppg as a senior, leading me to wonder if he's enough of a scorer to force
McCarty to the bench -- or to bypass a center.
-Rashard Lewis: Pitino sez he won't take a HS player, but what does that
prove? Lewis has worlds of potential and is perhaps the best outside
shooter on this list. But will Rick want to wait for a kid who's only 17,
defensively challenged and seriously in need of bulk? He might.
-Keon: Has potential to be a superstar or the next Chris Washburn. He
would be the exciting pick, but besides his offcourt baggage, he is not very
strong and, maybe more important, doesn't have much of a low post game,
meaning he'd suffer in halfcourt sets.
-Mohammed: I've gotta side with the conventional wisdom here. Nazr won't
block as many shots as Keon, but he'll get his, and he's got a better post
up game. His familiarity with Pitino's system is the offsetting factor
when choosing among all these players.
Those paying attention will notice this is really a Top 9. The other
possible names I could see in here would be Nesterovic (downside: contract
situation and Euro defense), Nowitzki (ditto, though Don Nelson might take
him at #6 anyway) and Harpring (no real downside, but I don't see anything
to bump him ahead of Garrity or Sesay). Finally, I think it's entirely
likely one of the Big 8 could slip, probably LaFrentz or Jamison. Rick might
not get either of them at #10, but he might be able to swap up a few
notches. Don't look for anything as dramatic as a leap to the top three -- and
ignore the smokescreen about Patterson & McCoy. Have fun!