Celtics 2024 First Round NBA Draft Preview | Garden Report

Celtics 2024 First Round NBA Draft Preview | Garden Report

hey by Manning here welcome to a Tuesday edition of The Garden report before the NBA draft we’re recording this just about 24 hours from draft day and it came fast Nathan grubo was here to help us break it all down and we need some experts because we haven’t had time in the Celtics World Nate uh to help us I mean to break down prospects to look at who be available who knows if the Celtics are even going to draft in the first round certainly possible like last year that they could trade back into the second round there’s many reasons to do that but for now they’re at 30 Brad Stevens talked a little bit today about picking at 30 if it’s a guy they like there same deal as last year I’d say so so if there’s a couple different guys they like that they think will be there in the second round can move back and do that and if there’s someone they really love there stay in pick I guess they could move up but I can’t really see that happening so want to toss around some names with you some of the guys you think could be there at 30 some of the guys you like at the end of the first round in that area uh already started look into a bunch of these guys um but uh who do you think is a name you like or a position you like that uh the Celtics should be targeting here well first of all Bobby thank you so much for having me on you you are correct I’m I’m sure Celtics fans are still popping champagne bottles everywhere even after the Parade’s over with with the championship so and well-deserved congratulations to the Boston Celtics for pulling it off I picked out five different names and I’m not sure how you want to do this if you want to kind of go back and forth style if you want me to just kind of run through some names and maybe stop me yeah we could do certainly do back and forth so first name I have written down and again these guys for me are in a range in that 30 to 45 right so depending on if the Celtics are drafting at 30 if they decide to potentially move back a little bit pick up an extra pick or two and draft somewhere in the 30 late 30s early 40s these guys were all in that 30 to 45 range so first name I have written down would be jayen Bridges out of Baylor curious if you’ve come across that name or if you’ve scouted him yet um six foot eight stretch forward played at Baylor last year made a significant percentage of his open Catch and looks and uh catching shoot threes Corner threes uh legitimate NBA athlete he can cover a lot of ground defensively can make plays within the team construct he is working to improve at making quicker decisions off the bounce when guys run him off spots that is something I know he is actively working on but I mean listen when you’ve got legitimate NBA athlete 6 foot eight 41% from three a nine and a half attempts per 100 possessions you know the volume’s very healthy you know the shooting splits are looking well in his favor he rided out in the 94th percentile offensively the 68th percentile defensively all these per Synergy of course shout out to my friends of synergy Sports uh 40.3% on his catch and shoot two threes 43.8% on his three-point shots off the dribble so any way you’re slicing it up this guy’s got touched for days he certainly fills a position of need that I would think the Celtics would be continuing to look at as far as filling out depth looking at that three four combo forward position I mean they’re going to want guys at the end of the day that can knock down open shots right that’s going to be the biggest thing you want guys primarily who can knock down open shots maybe they’re bringing a little bit of play making passing versatility which I’m sure I’m going to touch on with a few other guys that I have on my list and you want guys who are going to either defend their position very well or they’re going to be able to play defense within a team construct Jaylen bridg has proved that at Baylor he’s a guy who gets his hands on the ball can create steals deflections blocks showed a little bit of that at the NBA draft combine for anyone who hasn’t seen his Baylor film specifically but did get to watch some of the combine showed that off so I really like Jaylen Bridges as someone who knows what his role is he knows how to Excel and he’s going to be someone who can slot into an NBA role right away Off the Bench as someone you can trust to come in and do their job in in a culture and environment where the expectations are for you to do just that right the Celtics don’t have time to give someone minutes who hasn’t proven that they can knock down shots or or act comfortably in the role yeah and he’s an interesting one I think they’ve had him through for a workout I want to say yeah he’s on the list so they’ve looked at him they’ve had him in the gym uh I think he fits a mold that they need that they like they certainly always like Shooters there um who can be a threat on both ends of the floor uh he’s interesting in three aspects to me one they have to start to look at replacing Hower because on this roster the cost of it him becoming a free agent next summer those are the kind of guys that are probably going to shake loose from this roster if you want to keep that top five six together uh so I do think that’s you know even more than big man maybe and a position that they’ll be looking at with that 30 pick at the very least um so I like that name um other interesting thing to me about him and a bunch of guys I’ve looked at in this class is he’s a guy who was in college for five years so he’s coming out at 23 um obviously a new Dynamic with guys coming out of that covid era and you know getting extra years and stuff like that you talked about him slotting right in away right away is there a lot of upside here or is this a guy who pretty much is who he is you think at this point so that’s been probably one of the biggest challenges with evaluating certain players in this class is that I actually just did this with my big boorn I published it on social media before we came on this podcast but when you look at guys and you start breaking them down in tears in terms of evaluating their upside do you see them with All-Star upside you think they have starter upside are they more so in the fifth starter specialist sixthman kind of group are they bench guys I see Jaylen Bridges as as like a key Reserve upside guy someone who you’re looking at as a seventh to ninth man coming off the bench so it’s tough to say is there going to be a lot more there to unlock he hasn’t shown up to this point that he’s going to be able to shoulder more of a creation heavy burden in terms of operating in pick and roll sets and being someone who you’re consistently kicking the ball to and looking to find other guys and make plays for others and someone who’s going to be knocking down a heavy amount of tough shots off the dribble not just one two dribble pull-ups if the defense closes out a little too hard on him in the corner so I think those are the types of shots the open Catch and shoot threes the one-w dribble pull-ups if he has a straight line drive to the basket he can get there he can finish with strength finish through contact I think you’re looking at him more in that role player archetype I’m not sure there’s a ton more to unlock with him but look around the NBA and try and find all the guys who are 68 610 knocking down shots at the volume that he was before he came into the NBA and that’s just such a valuable archetype to someone like Boston where you can I I actually love that you mentioned Sam Hower right off the bat you know they have like four or five guys who were reserves for them who we don’t know if the Celtics are going to be able to sign all of them given a lot of the cap constraints and and you would certainly know more about that than I would coming into this podcast but they have a lot of decisions to make and if you can find someone on a deal like a jayen Bridges you can negotiate his contract maybe even trade back you get him in the second round you’re able to negotiate a Team friendly deal with him that seems to me like such a valuable asset regardless of if you think he has higher upside or not yeah and it’s just going to be what they’re looking for do they want to take a swing on a guy who has upside who’s young at the spot or do they want a guy that can fit in right away that’s going to be the interesting thing to watch for obviously last year they went with the upside young guy who’s probably a year or two away in Jordan Walsh um so might make sense to with a guy who’s ready and bridges definitely fits that mold I’m glad you brought him up because I haven’t talked a ton about him yet uh who is number two on your list so number two on my list would be Jonathan mobo from San Francisco and he’s an interesting player because we talk about upper classman someone who has experience coming in he yes he has experience playing at the college level but I think he’s still raw a number of interesting areas when we talk about what he brings to the table as a 6’8 225lb forward one of the best athletes that we have in this class someone who crashes the glass incredibly hard transition threat grab and go type of guy he has some passing chops that he showed off at at San Francisco in a number of interesting ways had a really high assist rate 24 and a half assist percentage is incredibly high for a player in his archetype the playmaking aspect the ability to find guys on the move his ability to operate in a number of traditional two-point roles when we talk about as a pick and roll guy someone who’s cut into the basket uh lob catching guy transition finisher he has easy ways that he can score but he’s also consistently improving his handle and being able to break guys down and actually get to the basket on on assisted looks that part as well as I know the jump shot technically needs to improve but he’s started to make some real strides in that area and all of the workouts you’re seeing leading up to the draft he’s becoming a lot more comfortable not just hitting open shots from the corner but also really working on his pull-up craft and getting the shots on the Move rather than just spotting up uh from the corner on the wing so we talk about someone who is experienced he knows his role he fits the NBA really well in terms of athleticism size rebounding fits the type of culture that Boston’s built but has some upside of his own in in areas that are still a little bit untapped a little bit raw when we talk about scaling up to the NBA level so he would be a really interesting flyer for Boston to possibly look at in that late first early second round territory he’s about 66 right so I I think when I think when it’s all coming down to he’s about like six seven and a half six eight in shoes so okay yeah so that fits a little bit better if he’s gonna play some five and that’s probably where he fits in his that five position he can be a small ball five I do think he’s going to be viewed as a four as well right as long as he’s able to knock down some of those Corner shots how he’s being used as a short roll playmaker he can play alongside another big and hit them with a lob off of the short roll so I do think there’s ways to play him with another traditional big or in Boston’s case I mean Chris has porzingis Al Horford if you have another big who’s stretching the floor for someone like mobo to operate in a pick and roll scheme and then you’re able to kick it out swing pass to another shooter like chaps or Al Horford on the wing why can’t you play Someone Like mobo at the four so I think he can be used in in multiple different ways yeah would be interesting to see if he could develop a shot um especially if he wants to play four um and you know I don’t think 66 excludes him from the five um if he’s able to guard multiple positions and uh you know the passing the ability to pass on the roll specifically I think is something they really like you know you see cornette doing that cornet’s a guy who could sneak away this summer but uh you know cornett’s at seven feet so uh this is an interesting one maybe one of those guys that if they trade back you taking the 40s there where do you have them slotted number-wise so I have him like I said I kind of have him in that 30 to 45 territory I’ve actually moved him up he’s probably in like that 35 to 40 range for me so not terribly far off though in terms of first round interest and I mean shoot there’s another guy that I have on my list a little further down who I thought he would have been a 45 to 60 guy about two weeks ago and now all of a sudden you’re hearing first round buzz from him so if a team likes their guy I’ve always been of the philosophy don’t worry about the number pick just go get your guy that you like and bring him in right and that might be the case in this class more than any other it’s a ton of different projections on this one is this is this like the widest range of projections you you’ve seen covering the draft Yeah so th this class is is really interesting and I’m actually glad that you you’re probably the first host I’ve spoken with the cycle who hasn’t immediately ripped the Band-Aid off right away at the top of the Pod what’s the pessimism about this draft why don’t people like this draft well I would say that there’s a lot of interesting talent to be found there’s certainly wide ranges in terms of consensus and and what people are saying about where certain guys could go but I think the pessimism is more so when we’re talking about evaluating these guys they do have swing skills that have proven to be more and more necessary in the NBA nowadays like shooting like being able to hit someone make the next pass off of a live dribble some of these guys even near the top of this projected class have weaknesses in some of those areas to make you go are we sure that he’s definitely going to be an NBA player two three four years from now do they have these scary floors where the they could be out of the league I think there’s a lot more of those quote unquote scary floors in this class than you would usually see when I’m thinking about ranking guys as potential All-Star caliber players or starter caliber players so when you have those types of outcomes that people can easily talk themselves into you’re going to see a very wide range range for a lot of these prospects just based on that fact alone and for MBO it’ be the passing you would say would be that bankable skill you’re betting on with him so the bankable skills I’m betting on with him would be his rebounding his transition play his motor and then like we talked about the playmaking as a as a secondary or tertiary playmaker in the half court and even in transition as a live ball passer yeah and those guys are some of my favorites coming out of college in the past like it makes me think a Nigel hay way back makes me think on Williams a year or two ago now who I really liked who Boston brought in but you know ultimately didn’t have enough of an offensive game I don’t think or a scoring game I would say defensive question there too I think the upside play here with mobo is like what if what if Jared Vanderbilt could shoot I I think that’s I think that’s more so what we’re talking about the upside with mobo and I like where he’s at with his jump shot more than I ever like where Jared vanderbel ever was with his shot I remember valuating him in his draft class yeah so who is third on your list so third I have Dylan Jones at a Weaver State and listen I know plenty of Scouts who have him firmly entrenched in their top 20s in their first rounds on their boards really I know NBA Scouts who don’t necessarily want to look his way at all or have him in the 45 to 60 range on their board so it’s funny you just ask that question about wide consensus among rankings of these guys Dyan Jones is certainly a divisive Prospect but the way I see it is if you’re taking a look end of the first round you know 25 to 35 even in the 35 to 45 territory why not take a flyer on someone who is uniquely skilled power Wing he’s flourished in his career as a pick and roll ball handler both as a scorer and a distributor he’s Adept with his handle he Blends the ability to catch Defenders off balance and then power through them when they make a mistake to score around the basket both facing up and even out of post-ups when he turns his back on guys is another one of these players though Bobby shooting is again the swing skill for Jones at least as a catch and shoot threat but the good news is that he did knock down 34% of his catch and shoot threes his last year at Weber State so that is something that he’s certainly continued to improve upon and when you factor in how he’s able to finish around the basket someone who crashes the glass offensively someone who can set guys up make plays for others he also posted a 31 defensive rebounding percentage a 30 assist percentage 3.2 steel rate 55th percentile or above in all play types except for handoffs per Synergy so an incredibly versatile and uniquely skilled Wing who he’s not the burti of guys the jump shooting can be a question but you take a look at all of the other things he brings to the table along with his basketball IQ and how smart he is he’s one of the better interviewers and film study guys I’ve honestly seen in this class I think he could slot right into that Boston locker room pick up a lot of what Joe moula is putting down and and they I think they could find a role for him as early as this rookie season yeah that’s what I was going to ask with him is what what would he his role look like on a team on a good team especially I mean he’s just another guy who listen you’re you’re trusting him that when the ball swings his way he’s able to catch somebody take him off the bounce or power through him and he’s bble to either finish around the basket go to one of his patented turnaround uh hook shots or he’s able to swing the ball someone else’s way he’s just another one of those wings who he’s not necessarily taking anything from you off the table as long as he’s knocking down his jump shots again I’m confident that in a catch and shoot setting he’s going to so he’s certainly one of those guys you’re going to look for him to space the floor on the wings of the corners and then you’re going to be able to get him in a secondary action maybe you’re running him off a screen getting him into a a screen and roll situation put him in a secondary pick and roll action and then he’s able to spray it out to a lot of the other shoters that Boston has or finish at the basket yeah and the shooting’s interesting there uh they’re not opposed obviously taking was last year to drafting a guy who’s got some shooting questions need some shooting development but the free throw numbers are good here which is like what you always like to see in terms of maybe developing one but I guess the tough part with him is he he went four years without getting above 35% you know which was his height in the second year there sure but at the end of the day like you said the free throw numbers are good his willingness to to get downhill and get to the line and really put himself in position to make the types of shots that he knows he can make and I think that that’s one of the things with guys that sometimes goes a little bit under the radar is do they put themselves in position to take shots that they likely aren’t to make or are they guys who they understand their strengths their weaknesses and they’re going to set themselves up for good looks almost all the time time and and when you’re a guy like Jones who averaged 21 points per game on efficient shooting All Things Considered I think you can trust someone like Dylan Jones to come in and provide a role for You Off the Bench I I I think a good comparison to him would be someone who I I know this guy didn’t get a lot of burn in his rookie year but the minutes he did get and then in the g- league Colby Jones in last year’s draft was a very similar player to someone like Dylan I think Dylan’s bigger I think he’s stronger I think he fares Better In terms of actually being able to guard up and guard Wings he’s not just someone who you’re sticking on an opposing backourt matchup but very similar offensive rle someone who again he’s not taking anything away from you off the table and as many of these guys you can put on the floor as possible who can be you know triple pass shoot types of decision makers and shot makers I mean those are the types of guys every single NBA team’s looking for and Boston in particular is looking for that skill set along with guys who are very much willing to rebound for their position crash the glass offensively when they have the opportunity to Sprint at The Rim from the corners that’s something that Dylan Jones I think can do for you at a good enough level in his rookie year and if he continues to improve his shooting if he becomes a better shot maker off the bounce we’re talking about someone who could be much more than a fifth option for you offensively just given his playmaking acument yeah and that’s another type of player they’ve liked in the past you know those bigger guards um guys who have that size of that position um so he’d be interesting especially where they try to fit him in it’s a crowded back court here in Boston so that’s something they’re gonna have to figure out in terms of bringing guys in and how those guys might fit in but they gave JD Davidson those couple developmental years uh in the you know main system and he never really broke through in terms of getting NBA minutes so maybe they’re looking this year to get a different guy in that position I know looking at some two-way options they might draft multiple guys so you know maybe this is a guy in that second round range that they end up either moving up for or could maybe even fall again there’s a wide range on all these guys so you don’t know where any of these guys could end up um how how high could you potentially see him going I could see Dylan Jones going in the in the 20 to 25 range I really could I think he could be one of those guys who is a absolute surprise on draft night and we will see no short of surprises on draft that’s what I’m excited for yeah like there’s gonna be just some guys that pop up in the 20s and you’re like whoa we’re we’re gonna see a lot of wild stuff uh if people thought Ben Shepard was a riser last year then then just wait for some of these guys who could pop up at the end of the first round uh Wednesday night all right want to take a quick second shout out our sponsors here check out prize picks WNBA still rolling along I got baseball this summer the finals are over but still plenty of great players to choose from on prize picks our official daily fantasy sports partner here at the Garden report and clns you can go over there and 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from two weeks ago all the way up through now the more and more gyms he’s gotten in I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews on his workouts that would be Enrique Freeman the ACD forward who and has been in Boston Jim listen December January my good friend in No Ceilings Maxwell Bach pointed him out as someone who could be a real sleeper in this class and I agreed with him then I thought he was going to be someone who would be able to show out at Portsmith he excelled at Portsmith made his way to the NBA draft combines showed out there and now he’s tearing up workouts and everyone’s loving his story in the draft as someone who worked his way up from the bottom at at akan became a multifaceted rebounding forward he’s added to his face up game each season offensively he’s continued to show progress as a spot up shooter who’s becoming respectable enough to pull out Defenders so can get downhill and attack that’s really been the biggest thing he’s been showing in the workouts he’s been shooting the cover off of the ball that’s really enticing a lot of teams to look at him potentially in the late first round as someone who I think originally he would be thought of as a small ball five another another forward similar to like a Jonathan mobo for example who we just talked about but there’s more and more opticis that as he’s rounding out his face up game and improving as a shooter he could be a bigger Wing someone who can take guys off the bounce as he’s improving proving as a decision maker he’s already a good finisher around the basket he can turn somebody around post them up finish over either shoulder I I really like the upside here with someone like Freeman and it’s not again he’s an older player coming in he would be an older player drafted for sure but you talk about these guys who haven’t been in these Blue Chip environments where you kind of get a feel for someone by the age of 2021 you know what is their NBA career potentially going to look like if they keep putting in the work I’m not sure we have a ceiling in place yet for someone like Freeman or some of these older players who have transferred up from the jco ranks and then they’ve gotten themselves in a college situation like dton connect is a very good story of that in the lottery I’m not sure we have firm ceilings on some of these guys and so if I’m looking at someone like Freeman who is a Relentless worker Motors off the charts plays much bigger than his size good luck keeping that man off the glass awesome interior finisher 6% block rate 57% free throw rate so he’s getting inside he’s crashing the glass finding ways to get to the line get good shots Relentless rebounder very similar in terms of his offensive percentile rankings to mobo someone who rates out well across the board any of those traditional categories you would expect to see from two-point range and then this last season he hit 40% on all of his jumpers and 34% on catch and shoot 3es 39% on unguarded catch and shoot 3es so these are all numbers these are all metrics that a Boston Celtics fan would want to see in terms of if we’re going the combo forward route who would be some names that we’re looking for and I think those are a lot of reasons why Freeman’s popping up boards and and and rising up mocks very rapidly to the point where I feel pretty good about him even even I feel good about him going in the first round even if he doesn’t at this point I think he’s definitely gone by 35 interesting yeah uh again it’s crazy how many different um opinion to he on where these different guys can go um so you look him is more of a 30 guy than a 54 huh when it yeah he was and and listen he was he was in the 45 to 65 45 to 60 range for me not that long ago man I’m I’m telling you he is really worked his tail off he’s been impressive and a big part of this evaluation process is not just the scouting and and what your eyes tell you on tape and what you’re seeing in the numbers but it’s also the Intel and what you’re able to hear behind the scenes when you talk to NBA Scouts and Executives and agents and every single person involved in this wonderful disaster that we call the NBA draft that Intel becomes a part of your rankings and it becomes a part of how you’re starting to view players through certain lenses and and the more and more I talk to people about Freeman the more good I’m hearing so there there’s no reason for me to have him in that range when I was already optimistic about his game I’m hearing nothing but good things about him why am I keeping him in that 45 to 60 range why am I not moving him on my board and sort of setting the expectation for him to surprise some people when he hears his name called on draft night so you talked about him being a center at that college level there’s potential for him as a wing what do you think that role will ultimately be for him I think ultimately he’s settling in as like a four like a four five uh so someone who can play like a small ball five role But ultimately I think he is a power forward at the NBA level the good news is is again the progress he’s making with his jump shot is going to be able to spread the floor so he is going to have that stretch forward capability someone who’s not hampering your offensive efforts from that spot and again as he improves as a live dribble decision maker someone who you can trust in a number of different areas screen and roll guy uh someone who can certainly get the right mismatch off off the dribble in like a short roll scenario so sets hard screens crashes the glass gets out runs the floor and shoots it that’s the type of play that you know you would want to be able to bring off your bench as a fourman in the NBA yeah you do see the Improvement each year too when you look at the shooting he added free throw going up to 7 73 last year and you know trying 54 threes last year and hitting 37% of them that’s all you know stuff encouraging stuff yeah but another guy coming in four five years there you’re like all right what’s what’s the growth ability here H for a guy like this and you at 30 it’s so tough because you’re Boston you want a guy that could maybe SL slide in right away but you’re willing to wait on a guy who could take some development and you know take some time up in Maine and they’ve done that with a number of guys at this point I like their ability to work with big men um now so that gives me a lot of confidence in them picking a guy who maybe can fit any different mold at that spot like they’ve been able to produce a variety of different big men within the system and they’ve had a lot of different skill sets at that position over the years too so I’m always excited to see them go with a big man Robert Williams was a really exciting guy to watch develop over the years he was in Boston um so that’s where I’m hoping they go at this spot so whether it’s Freeman mogbo some of the other guys that are potentially at that spot that to me would be the most exciting the most interesting over the next couple years to see how those guys would fit in Boston system um but you have one more name on the list who is it I got one more name that would be Kevin mcculler out of Kansas who listen his injury concerns aside because I I don’t have any concrete information on any potential Medical Red Flags I know I’ve been been dropping a little bit of information on this pod but I am not a reporter nor do I expect to to know everything that’s going on behind the scenes but if we’re just evaluating his game up until he had some of those injuries in in January February he was having one of the best two-way Wing seasons in college basketball was on his way to potentially being a player of the year for a Kansas team that that was firing on all cylinders certainly at that time he’s improved his spot up shooting year-over-year he’s showed a knack for hitting big tough shots late in games and in clutch situations so if you’re kicking him the ball late in the shot clock he was actually hitting a good number of those shots for Kansas and was proving himself to be the type of clutch shot maker and I think the interesting demension about someone like mcculler I know you’re looking at him for a lot of the defensive upside which can certainly be part of the conversation we have here but past the spot up shooting improvements he actually shouldered a bit of the playmaking burden for Kansas when someone like a Dean Harris wasn’t on the floor right he ended up being the guy who handled the ball made a lot of decisions for them uh had a 22.9 assist percentage rated out in the 72nd percentile offensively 84th percentile defensively average 186 and four on 45% shooting 33% from three 80 and a half from the free throw line so again from where he started at Texas Tech which was virtually non-existent as a shooter to where he ended his career at is coming into the NBA his live dribble decision making his ability to defend multiple positions crash the glass get his Ms on the ball make plays create steal opportunities deflections to get his team going in transition High motor player High character Communicator if Kevin mcculler is there in the second round someone’s goingon to take a chance on him in my opinion within the top 45 he could go as early as 20 to 25 he could end up in the 40 to 45 range I highly doubt he falls further than 45 but if you’re Boston you believe a lot of the Intel’s good at pick 30 you trust his character how hard he’s going to come in and work and you trust the improvements that he’s made each and every year in college why wouldn’t you try and take someone like that at pick 30 because again we talk about these dribble pass shoot defend players who crash the glass who have a high motor they’re willing to do the little things they’re coming in putting in the work every single day mcculler fits that to a T I think he would fit in with that Boston culture incredibly well if they want to go for that you know two three kind of Swing wi type of position yeah and they obviously had a guy who helped them a lot at that position this year in different spots and oh shabet um so maybe that’s a position they try to fail on the backline there and have a guy who crashed the glass can hit some shots but it’s more you know overall an energy guy at that Wing Spot with good size so that’s a position they liked having last year again a little bit of a luxury you know Shay just opted out so uh you have to fill that with young guys do you have to fill that with veterans you know those are all interesting spots on their bench into the future some of these other guys maybe go and get bigger contracts or different opportunities opportunities to play more that’s the other thing too with with Boston here is these guys coming in the difficulty the challenge for them is going to be finding a way to succeed without a ton of minutes obviously Payton Pritchard had his challenges in this situation through that Aaron Smith especially who went on to have greater success in Indiana didn’t get a ton of run here Romeo Langford some of those guys the biggest challenge in Boston overall for a lot of the draft prospects even some of the guys who have been in Maine the last handful of years here is that limited playing time and some guys can handle that well some guys can’t and that’s probably going to be the toughest thing to project for some of the guys who are going to some of the better teams is that you’re just not going to get as many shots you’re just not going to get as many minutes and opportunities Your Role might even change so that’s going to be a big part of the consideration for them too as a guy who can adapt to a new role a smaller role or just kind of persevere through that development track no I agree 100 perc I mean you look at the Celtics they’re they’re locked they’re locked into a seven-man rotation at this point we know who the five starters are we know Al Horford’s the super six man and with pyton Pritchard being on an extension we know those are the seventh guys playoff rotations as we can see year to year they’re about eight players Max and and usually you are sticking to about six or seven guys as you get deeper into the playoffs so it’s not necessarily about utilizing this pick or picks to find guys who are going to play for you immediately next year in the playoffs but if you can find Opportunities to get guys minutes during the regular season and you’re able to get them to buy into the culture and what the Celtics are continuing to put together long term as some of these guys move on to other opportunities they have to make some tough decisions ISS just given the roster and the salary constraints you’re hoping to have some of these young guys waiting in the wings like a Jordan Walsh who you you mentioned towards the top maybe you use one of these other picks and you have someone like one of the names we have on this list or whichever direction they go in the draft this year making selections you’re hoping to have some of those young guys for the future to be able to slot into those roles again they’re not going to be your star players they might not even be your third option on offense but you need other guys to fill out those fourth and fifth spots and even be reserves Off the Bench and that’s what you’re really looking to use these picks for it’s more so about next year’s regular season and then you know two three four years down the road from now who are the guys who you can count on to to play key Reserve minut I think a lot of the names that I ran through on this this list of M I have here I think a lot of them can certainly are are more than capable of buying in filling a role on a contender and fitting into the culture and the playing style of what Boston’s built both these last few years and then as we head into the future so I’ll throw a few more names at your rapid fire here guys who have been in the building for Boston just see where you’re at of them higher than consensus lower than consensus you know do you like this guy are you not as high on him um so couple of the other names you see here on this list and a lot of the guys you mentioned have been through Boston which is which is good which is fitting um but some of the other ones you see there Ryan Dunn obviously another divisive guy guy people have a lot of opinions on are you higher on him or lower on him than you feel the consensus ironically he’s number 30 on my board so how how about them apples right uh he’s literally slotted right there um listen it’s it’s everything with him is going to come down to what type of offensive role is he going to be able to play for you because we know everything about the defense there’s nothing new I can say on this podcast that everyone hasn’t heard before I think the interesting with him is that everyone’s looking for him to develop this incredible jump shot which he may or may not develop but I would invite people although they’re not similar athletes done certainly isn’t a slouch athletically I would invite people to look at the type of role that amend Thompson played last year for the Houston Rockets for example right playing playing defense across the board but offensively acting more of that that fiveman role where you’re finding him on Cuts you’re finding him in transition you’re utilizing him as a screen and roll type of player I think if you’re able to find ways to use Ryan Dunn in that type of role offensively and it’s not killing the rest of the spacing around you I think everything you’re going to get from him defensively could be a plus and you know if the creativity is there if the vision’s there to get him comfortable in that style of role while you’re working on the jump shot behind the scenes I think there’s absolutely room for Ryan Dunn to be an NBA contributor within his first or second year wouldn’t shock me to see him go in in the late teens wouldn’t shock me to see him go in the early second round he has a very wide range Baylor shyan are you higher or lower on him than the consensus I’m probably probably technically a little lower because I have him slotted in that early second round territory on my board but he’s another guy who I have Supreme confidence based on what I’ve heard he’s going to go in the first round so technically lower I think he could absolutely play a role for Boston as a big-time shot maker I I I think the thing we we want to look for in prospects when we’re evaluating them for the draft is who have these Elite may not always be the best word but who has these bankable translatable skills that know he can come into the NBA and do this from day one we sometimes throw around the word shooting a little too Loosely but with Baylor that is a solidified strength for him he’s not just pulling up from you know one foot behind the NBA line or one foot behind the college line he was pulling up incredibly deep from range last year at at uh at kraton and knocking down those shots with consistency and with ease so someone who again plays bigger than he is average nine rebounds a game in college was someone who plays with toughness plays with tenacity plays with character you can Bank on the shooting he may hurt you a little bit defensively but Boston has so many guys who can defend their positions and and help each other out and switch in different schemes I don’t think Baylor you know giving him 10 12 14 minutes a night whatever it could possibly be in his rookie year I don’t think he would incredibly tank them on that end and and getting his type of shooting in different scenarios off the catch off the dribble would be a plus uh Pome daier an exciting name right now an exciting watch too he’s a guy I’ve gotten to watch a little bit this week seeing that Boston’s worked them out and ESPN has them slotted to Boston at 30 are you higher or lower on him I’m technically higher on him than consensus I wouldn’t say by a ton but he is a player who I’ve had mocked inside the top 20 on some of my more recent mocks I I think he’s he’s going to be one of those surprise picks that jumps up you know may maybe someone like KC shocks the world at 12 and looks his way maybe Toronto at 19 I think he’s going to go earlier than than pick 30 and the reason why I say that is that he has a lot of your prototypical wing build and and and skills that you can look for but the thing that he excels at more than some of these other Wing prospects you’re looking at in the mid to late first round is he showed a real mid-range game overseas and I don’t think that can be understated I’ll reference my friend Maxwell again here but he he likes to say the mid-range is for stars and and I tend to agree with him right a lot of role players nowadays you’re expecting to spot up from three Jaylen Brown there you go Jaylen Brown Jason Tatum these guys who can create their own shots and are comfortable not just the ability to hit them but they Comfort level and actually taking those shots before we’re even thinking about making them I think doer certainly has that capability in his bag and it can be a separator skill for him as he continues to grow in his NBA career and it it’s it’s a big swing skill between just being a starter or a key Reserve versus there might actually be some like second third option potential upside here all right let me Loop these last couple here together you can pick your favorite we got Justin Edwards we got Harrison Ingram we have Antonio Reeves we have Trenton flowers Harrison Ingram easy I have him in I think around 35 36 on my personal board very very underrated College season in North Carolina and by the way before this season I was one of his biggest detractors because I just didn’t think he had the ability to score the ball in any way shape or form right he would struggle on some tough bunnies around the basket he didn’t show a lot of proficiency in creating in the mid-range wasn’t a reliable three-point shooter but he shored up all of those concerns this past season in North Carolina I’m buying the long-term Improvement and then when you factor in how strong he is as a screen Setter as a combo forward someone who you can have love that they’re big on screening absolutely dribble handoff scenarios someone who can either roll to the basket or pop back out someone who you can run some really fun inverted type pick and roll stuff with him as a ball handler finding guys off the dribble I think Harrison Ingram has a lot of Versatility he’s not he’s not an elite athlete in terms of the burst and breaking guys down but he is incredibly strong another one of these guys who rebounds very well for his position I buy a lot of what he brings to the table it would not Shock me if he goes in the first round I think ultimately he goes in like that early to midc round but I I think he’s one of these guys who has a chance if we’re looking at guys drafted later who could sneak up and get one of those all rookie second team selections if they’re in the right spot they get the right minutes the right role I think Harrison Ingram could be one of those guys and I’ve been I’ve been much higher on him than I thought I would be through this particular pre-draft process all right three more quick ones rapid fire ones bigger picture in this draft who’s your favorite Prospect overall in this draft so he’s not my number one overall Prospect my number one Prospect is Alex SAR my favorite Prospect is is Stefon castle and he’s been for a while I was very high on Castle coming into this season I kind of stuck with him as the year progressed and he had some ups and downs particularly related to his shooting his unwillingness to take some jump shots but he definitely started to turn a corner as we got later into the year the free throw numbers ticked up his willingness to take some of those pullup threes some of those catch and shoe looks ticked up and when you factor in how strong he is around the basket his strength in general in terms of rebounding his on ball defense and how he just keeps guys in front of them and refuses to let anyone score over him his willingness to screen for others and how he could be utilized as a guard Skinner I think is a very underrated skill in today’s NBA game he brings so much to the table that I can’t let myself get down on the shooting because if I just look across the landscape of these top prospects and I start to put some of these skills and traits on a list and I I run down that checklist I’m checking way more boxes for Castle than I would some of these other prospects and that’s why I’m not going to let those shooting concerns get me down I’m going to hold them in high regard which is why I have him number two on my personal Big Board you mentioned your number one SAR how good can he be I think I if he hits his ceiling you’re looking at someone in between Anthony Davis and Evan Moy I I I know that’s an incredibly High bar but you take a look at what he brings to the table as a face up scorer as a jump shooter someone who you’re seeing him in workouts he’s very so working on putting the ball on the floor I think he actually showed a lot of that stuff off in in the exhibition games against g-league ignite before the season showed those flashes overseas in the NBL and then defensively he could be one of the more versatile defensive players we have in this entire draft class so I know he’s not good at some of the more traditional things for a big man like you know postup scoring he didn’t post incredibly High rebounding rates in in the NBL but that was also a tough League a tough situation for a lot of those next Stars guys not going to hold a lot of that production against him I’m gon to look at the raw tools I’m GNA look at the player I saw in person at overtime Elite and evaluate how he’s actually improved since I saw him and he’s improved Leaps and Bounds and I really do like his upside his ceiling I think if you’re going to take a guy number one if first of all if you’re drafting at number one you’re looking for the best potential star bet regardless you’re looking for best player available I think that ceiling belongs to alexar and that’s why if I were in the Hawks position I know there’s been a lot of Buzz about Donovan kingan I would take SAR number one we’ll see what happens on draft night yeah and that brings me to the last one most underrated slash biggest steal you feel like will emerge from this draft oh man oh man biggest biggest steal it’s a great question I think or most underrated if if the Spurs take Devin Carter at eight I think that could be one of the biggest steals in in this class and I was not very high on Carter through a lot of the process but the more and more I dug in the more and more people I talk to the more comfortable I felt about his immediate two-way impact someone who he’s not a traditional point guard but for everything that the San Antonio Spurs could possibly be looking for playing someone next to Victor I think he offers a lot of the skills that you’d be looking for in the back court he’s going to defend multiple positions he’s going to crash the glass he’s tough as Nails he’s going to finish over guys he’s going to hit his open jump shots I think if de Devin Carter would be one of those types of role players that you would want to pair alongside Victor so I think he could be the steal depending on the situation he goes to love it we put five new names on the list mogbo we got Freeman Bridges um who are the two other ones we threw there Dylan Jones and Dylan Jones and Kevin mcculler and Kevin mcculler so five new names to our list appreciate Nathan stopping by here where can the people check out your work Nathan over on Twitter at draft deeper check them out there anything else you want to shout out absolutely no draft deeper would be the best spot to find me on Twitter I’m publishing content leading up to the draft I will have some things coming out naturally after the draft but I do have a big project in the works it’s called youth movement NBA really excited about what that’s going to look like in the coming months we’ll hope to launch that in September of this year don’t quite know the final shape that that’s going to take but trust me when I say a lot of NBA fans if you’re a fan of the NBA and the young guys if you’re a fan of the NBA draft if you’re a fan of what’s going on in the g-league you’re gonna want to check out what I’m working on next so definitely stay tuned to my Twitter for all that information yeah love it love lot of these voices love that draft Community U appreciate you guys being here every uh every June for us so great to meet you great to talk to you here today and uh we’ll be looking forward to your coverage tomorrow thank you so much take care

Bobby Manning welcomes Nathan Grubel to the Garden Report to preview the 2024 NBA Draft and who the Celtics could select at #30 overall, along with Nathan’s favorite prospect, his most underrated/biggest steal and who will go #1 overall.

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