Re: Wow! Boston Herald Early Draft Positional Breakdown

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Thanks for posting this Ray. Interesting stuff.

A few things... 

1.)	The Herald continues to be the only publication talking about Dejuan
(Dajuan? DaJuan? DeJuan? Dujuan?) Wagner. I'm assuming the story quoted
anonymous NBA scouts or GMs, so you'd think they know something about this
kid that hasn't come out yet. Let's hope they're right and he's in the
draft. He'd be an interesting pick. I'm not surprised to see Tinsley
slipping, because he just isn't very athletic and he isn't a good shooter.
He's a good ball-handler and floor general-but so was Sherman Douglas (and
that's not a knock on Sherm, who maxed out on his limited physical gifts).
2.)	Based on my personal opinions, these evaluations would almost assure
the Celts get a good player at 10/11. I've been counting Curry, Brown,
Griffin, Chandler, Richardson, Randolph, Diop and Battier among the "elite
eight." But if Rodney White really is better than Richardson or Battier, and
if Gasol really is better than Randolph, that deepens that pool to 10. Throw
in Wagner, and you have 11. If the Celts end up with two players from that
group, I'd be thrilled. I haven't even counted Brendan Haywood, who I also
like.
3.)	Having said that, it's still ridiculously early. Remember Jamal
Crawford's meteoric rise after the Chicago camp? And Keyon Dooling's climb
after individual workouts? If anyone had suggested those guys as top-10
picks at this time last year, we would have rolled our eyes. Also, Gasol's
contract status might change things... remember how much Tsakalidis slid
last year because of the possibility of having to wait a year? Teams don't
like to wait, however short-sighted that approach may be.
4.)	Some other surprises... Kenny Satterfield is an athletic point
guard, but I wouldn't call him a natural point by any means and he's a lousy
shooter. But I think he falls in that Dooling category of high-upside guys
with size and athleticism... Where's Loren Woods on the center list?
Personally, I don't like the guy and think the list is dead on, but so many
of these "experts" have Woods rated behind only Curry and Diop... Also,
where's Michael Bradley? I thought he generally was rated higher on most
boards than Murphy... Finally, don't we have anyone on the list from the
Charlotte area or a big Conference USA fan who can tell us more about Rodney
White? Talk about a mystery. If his stock continues to rise, we're talking
about a top-five pick.

Mark