Rank your board and who you think will be off it

[cfoo]

On the board

1. Embiid
2. Gordon
3. Smart
4. Harris
5. Mcdermott

Off the board

1. Wiggins
2. Parker
3. Exum
4. Vonleh
5. Randle

Overall

1. Wiggins
2. Parker
3. Embiid
4. Vonleh
5. Gordon
6. Smart
7. Exum
8. Randle
9. Harris
10. Mcdermott

That's what I have for now. 3 days to go though. Embiid vs Vonleh is really tough. I'm still ranking somewhat. I think i'd lean towards taking a gamble on Embiid but that's probably the toughest part for me right now. Gordon I have ranked ahead of marcus smart. I also think I just like them better than Exum and Randle. Nice players for sure. But Exum is skinny and Randle has some injuries and is pretty much a scorer at this point. Both those guys are scorers. I think Smart and Gordon have more intangibles which I like and always preferred over those guys. Not the upside as far as scorers though.

[cfoo]

It kind of falls in those tiers for me though.

Vonleh vs Embiid = tough choice. Embiid is more developed and a true center and has more upside. Big gamble big reward. I'll take Embiid for now. Vonleh is a very nice prospect but very young. He's also from the area and a good kid. Both players may take some patience. Both are bigs and fill a big need. Embiid is a bigger gamble imo but might not take as long. Both players have major upside. Embiid might have more. Still a tough call. Hopefully the draft decides itself here. Otherwise we may be looking at moving out and other options abound.

Gordon and Smart vs Randle and Exum = I'll take Gordon and Smart in that order. Although that depends. I've liked them better and they have more intangles that fit what we need in ways. Exum and Randle may be better prospects in ways but how it fits the celtics might not. Smart is a player I liked, still do, and who grew a bit because of his leadership but is falling off for me. We could take smart but it depends. If we do it's it's not going to get us love. It will give us 2 pgs and a lot of question marks where one would have to be dealt ultimately.

Harris vs Mcdermott = I'll take harris although sort of a tough call. Sort of doubt we draft either. I've liked harris from the beginning though and prefer him over Mcdermott. Still hope the lakers take him in ways.

The draft may fall the way i want i too as well in a perfect world. I'm also taking into account the players i think fit the celtics.

[cfoo]

The Sac trade also makes sense and fits if this all works out. But still a lot of options. I still think drafting and building that way is probably the best option. But weighing that against KEvin Love is another ranking issue. I think the draft is still the best case scenario but other options may abound as well.

As it stands Kevin Love is still a great option until all this falls into place. But that's the issue is Kevin Love has it's own issues and making all that work. So does this. Either way we need some luck which i'm guessing ainge has many other scenarios he's looking at. Luck is fine but I'd like to hope there is more to this than magic.

Kevin Love vs Embiid alone or some other scenario isn't going to get it done necessarily.

I was just going to give my rankings and tiers and did originally but explained why I think what I do. That's all. No offense is meant in this stuff though. Just explained why I think what I do and expounded on it. I don't think that much about this stuff either. It's the internet to me. That sac rumor got me thinking how I've been seeing players and who I like and that's how I've been ranking players and scenarios in my head of late reading the news. No big deal.

It's tough because I say I don't like something someone says I just said I didn't like this. So I explain. But these things aren't the end all be all to me. I might not like something but I might like something else. Each situation is different too. We could take Vonleh at 6 and Embiid could go to the lakers and I'd be ok with that in scenarios for example. The Lakers could take Gordon as well or Smart. The same goes with drafting Exum or Randle. They could fit us in ways. I don't think I'm ruling anything out. The top 3 semi reasonable scenarios is a matter of opinion anyways. I thnk we'd all like to see a team built through the draft but what's plausible and what isn't is really anyones guess. Exum and Randle I have rated lower because I don't think he will be there, but Exum is still a player I very much like. If he is there at 6 and we are drafting I'd take Exum in a lot of scenarios. Same wth Randle. Over Gordon or Smart as well and Embiid. Players like that have an asterisk next to them. I realize they are better prospects in ways.

Hopefully it all comes together ultimately because i'll probably like what the Celtics do regardless. They seem to be doing what I want. Exploring options is just what it is.

The rumors are getting closer. They are starting to fit and make sense.

If there is a player you absolutely have to have this draft more power to you. I don't feel that way when I look at this draft. It's more a matter of a lot of scenarios to me and may come down to just taking the best guess and gut feeling when the time comes. I also still think Kevin Love is a strong possibility in that regard. If this team has a direction I understand where the draft may be that but at the same time I also think Kevin Love is as well. It's early in the process anyways and this is an important draft and offseason and I'd more like to see the Celtics come out of this and establish some sort of direction. I don't think that is set in stone yet either. It more just is what it is and the Celtics are weighing a lot of options and are trying to establish that.

[cfoo]

all I know is my track record is pretty good. I wanted Durant was the only I had to have and that was it. We ended up trading the pick. I had to have Avery Bradley. We drafted him. I picked Sully and Perry Jones when we were drafting 2 years ago. We took Sully and Fab. I was scouting fab pretty hard because I felt the Celtics might take him and was fine with it when we did. But I didn't like him originally when I scouted him and that my gut. my gut was right. I wanted a big last year. I looked at KO. I was more focused on S teven Adams because I thought we lacked toughness. I had trouble picking last year and said if we pick KO it would surprise me because I hadn't really looked at him. Said we could use that in ways and a scorer in a variety of ways. I think in theory i'm usually right on. The year we picked perk I was looking for sleeper centers. There was a guy from some mountain conference I was looking at who was a lot like perk and DA found Perkins. Really liked the perk pick and KO at the time but not the end all be all either. I was all over tony allen if I remember correctly. He was my favorite that draft if I remember correctly like Smart was this draft. I like those Oklahoma guards. They are usually pretty good and play tough defense.

Trying to pinpoint exactly who we should draft is not easy. There are a lot of players this draft too where it probably will come down to a best guess and who feels right at the time anyways. The Rondo draft I think I completely missed. I was off doing other things that draft. I remember when he came in really liking him though. Gerald Green, Al J were kind of the same things. I remember Ainge really liking that guy who ended up being a bust and he was trying to trade up to get him but ended up taking Al J and Al J ended up being better than expected. I still don't think Al J was the guy Ainge wanted that draft and he lucked out. He traded AL J too because I don't think he wanted him and didn't expect him to be that good. Worked out good for us because had he drafted the other big he wanted that draft Kevin McHale might not have wanted him and Ainge would have been dead in the water.

I think Ainge is kind of overvalued as this poker player too. I think he usually tells people what he thinks in ways. He's not going to say exactly who he likes but he's not perfect himself and makes bad picks. JJ, Giddens, etc these were not guys I had rated at all and he drafted so whatever. Marcus Banks was kind of the same thing. MAde sense at the time and I went with it too but that draft was pretty weak. I remember having fun with Banks in summer league too because he was beasting. Never been someone to take this stuff that seriously.

The Rondo draft I don't even remember scouting that draft though. I don't think I did at all. This draft to me there is a lot of either or. If Exum and Gordon are sitting there at 6. I think we need a big man but if it comes down to those 2, I'd probably take Exum even though I like Gordon better in ways. I think Exum has more upside as a scorer but even that depends right now. Gordon I like a lot but doesn't have the upside like that right now. He could. I think potentially he is a more complete player. His offenseive defiencies are really glaring though. Still a tough choice for me though. I like Aaron Gordon better. My gut says him even though Exum might be the better prospect.

I don't think there is one guy in this draft where I can say this guy is it. It's also why i'd rather trade for Kevin Love in ways. Embiid is really good and the first guy I liked this draft because we need a big and he has potential to be special but the injuries don't help me make that pick. Wiggins might have more potential as best overall but Parker fits the celtics better.

I think what I think is pretty rational and I trust that though. I'm not overly jumping on any bandwagon this draft. There are players I like though. It's a good draft though and deep with a lot of good players. That's basically what I think. I also think anyone who disagrees with that isn't really making any sense. Because what I think is pretty rational and practical. I'm all for saying get Embiid and being excited about it too. I get that. I am that way about Embiid but the injuries are kind of not making me feel that way right now. Getting him at 6 would be pretty good though. Still like Vonleh and am just as excited about him too though.

This is what I do for work anyways and have. I do the same with the draft and it's not really a big deal to me. I worked for the state and a lot of what we did was preparedness for certain scenarios and communicating between various agencies. The internet doesn't really hold that same weight to me. I get what people are saying but most people just say what they want in ways and that's fine and I do too. There are better ways to communicate and I'm more than capable of that but at the same time regardless of what you do on the internet people don't know what you are saying half the time anyways and if I've learned one thing from the internet it's that and not to worry about it overly. I've had a lot of friends in other ways. People ldon't say the things they do over the internet to me in reality either. Met a lot of nice people early on on my time on the internet as well but I've met a lot of people that are in their own worlds too and have no clue who they are speaking too either at times. I can try to fit in too and ultimately people are going to be what they are regardless. Which is understandable because it's the internet.

this post isn't me ranting either. I'm actually just typing and it makes sense to me. Sry about the wall of text though. Maybe could have made it shorter, but just my thoughts though. This draft is more just practical to me. I'm not on any one players bandwagon. I like quite a few of them this draft because that's how this draft is. Ultimately we can only pick two but hopefully Ainge has something worked out where we can do better than that.

[cfoo]

The last 2 drafts I would have taken Sully, Perry Jones and Steven Adams. Ainge took Sully, KO and Fab. Kind of the same but roundabout way. I don't know who wins that one. I really like the Ko pick and think he did good. Ainge probably did his homework more on KO. Adams is 20 years old though.

We can always go and get Wiggins too. I think this draft is that way where I don't know what to expect. I think teams might be open to that. Wiggins vs the sac trade I'd be pretty excited about wiggins.

Wiggins
Parker
Embiid
Gordon
Exum
Smart
Randle
Vonleh
etc

I li ke all those guys. My gut leans certain ways on some of them

[Roadrunner]

There are like 7 players, where Danny will select BPA which could be a range. Now, I think if Saric is available @17, he selects him too. The Saric camp was like "only BOS or LAL", and because he signed a 2-year deal overseas, he is going to drop.

[cfoo]

Randle isn't helping his case. He apparently skipped a 2nd workout opportunity for a meeting with GQ. We could select him anyways but seems like he could go to Utah to me. The Lakers could take Randle too.

I like Gordon and Smart because they appear to be focused and hardworking. Talentwise there isn't a huge difference. Exum also seems like a good kid and Vonleh but hard to tell on players like that. Vonleh is young and Exum has been in another country.

[cfoo]

Also of course the Celtics are talking to the cavs about the #1 pick. Posted 30 minutes ago on celticsblog.

www.celticsblog.com/2014/6/24/5839724/celtics-talking-to-cavs-about-acquiring-number-1-overall-pick

That stuff is just weird lol.

[cfoo]

Think about ti though if we are looking at embiid or player at 6 why not try to swap that for wiggins? vs having all these question marks. that's how my brain works. Maybe we can get Wiggins vs Kevin Love at a better price or whatever. We have a ton of assets where we have that flexibility to really look at anything and aren't pigeonholed to saying we have to do this or that or forced into making these moves. They are more just ideas.