Post by FLCeltsFan on May 29, 2009 8:38:02 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1175486&format=text
Danny Ainge deals with camp limitations
By Mark Murphy | Friday, May 29, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
Photo by Matt Stone
The NBA’s draft process is stuck in an identity crisis.
The league’s pre-draft camp returned to Chicago, and the Moody Bible Institute, this week after a brief stop in Orlando.
And the parameters have been as varied as the moving expenses.
With an increasing number of agents holding their clients out of any sort of head-to-head workout, this week’s camp doesn’t have scrimmaging. Only workouts or, as Danny Ainge put it, “it’s great if you want to watch a bunch of guys taking jump shots.”
Perhaps the NFL really is taking over the world.
“This has pretty much become the NFL combine with the way they do things,” said Ainge, the Celtics [team stats] executive director of basketball operations, who spent most of yesterday in interviews with players.
Beyond the stopwatch approach to evaluating talent, this is what general managers are left with. They get to watch jump shots and conduct interviews, the latter an especially inexact process for the Celts, who with only the 58th pick in next month’s draft can’t afford to limit their options.
Perhaps the most information will come from the physicals. The Celtics contingent includes trainer Ed Lacerte and two physicians.
“We’re interviewing anywhere from 22 to 25 people,” said Ainge, who downplayed the Celtics trading up for a higher pick. “And because we only have a second round pick, we’re not exactly going to be tops on anyone’s list. There’s 30 teams doing these interviews, so we all have to wait our turn.”
There is also a good chance that the Celts don’t even use the pick.
“We might have to use that slot on a free agent this summer,” said Ainge.
The Celtics don’t need to get younger. With a number of intriguing players about to hit free agency, they need veteran help. They also have one of two second round picks from last year - Turkish center Semih Erden - under contract in Turkey for one more season before he is eligible to make a stateside move.
All of these considerations carry more weight than Ainge’s current task.
“None,” he said of the value that comes with the Chicago camp. “I’ve already seen all of these guys play a bunch. Nothing I see now is going to change my mind about any of them.”
The big difference this year is that everyone, from projected No. 1 pick Blake Griffin to players fighting for first round consideration, has shown up now that scrimmaging has been taken off the board. They are present to be measured and timed. Nothing more.
And the process could change again, as the league struggles to find the right formula for its pre-draft process.
“They’re trying different things this year,” said Ainge. “But it’s just one little piece of the whole thing. There’s different ways to evaluate talent, and the league is trying to find the most effective way to evaluate players. So they’re just trying it this way this year. They’ve eliminated the competition. The year before they had competition but no workouts. This year they’ve given us a bigger window to operate in.”
Though the camp ends tomorrow, Ainge wasn’t sure if he would stay beyond today.
