Boston Celtics Daily Dish: 2014 NBA Draft Reactions

Good morning, Boston Celtics fans!

Well, the 2014 NBA Draft has come and gone.  As is the norm following such an event, optimism abounds around the NBA.  Most teams feel like they improved their roster in one way or another, and many fans are now dreaming championship dreams.

The fools!

Let’s see what kind of reactions we can find around the World Wide Web now that the draft results have been digested.

Did you notice that all three of the top -three picks in this year’s draft – Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Joel Embiid – all went to Eastern Conference teams?  of course you did!  So of these three, which one becomes the new beast in the East?  Stu Jackson and David Aldridge analyze!

Speaking of Stu and DA, what did they think of the Boston Celtics’ 2014 draft?  Yeah – you’ll want to check that video out!

For those of you who were pleasantly surprised by the season the Phoenix Suns put together last season, the surprises continue: the Suns walked away from the draft one of the night’s biggest winners.

"No NBA general manager worth the many lies he’s told and heard in the days and weeks leading up to the Draft will tell you anything other than he got exactly what he wanted on the big night.When Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough says it, he actually means it. The Suns walked away from the Draft the same way they did the 2013-14 regular season, the surprise winners without any actual hardware to show for it. You don’t need it when you continue to exceed expectations the way McDonough and his crew have.They finished the regular season with 48 wins, one game out of the playoffs hunt in the rugged Western Conference, and we were rewarded with three first-round picks in a loaded Draft."

You know who didn’t walk away from the draft big winners?  The Philadelphia 76ers.  Or maybe I should say 76ers fans?  Hard to tell – many analysts are calling the 76ers’ rebuild strategy anything from sadistic to genius (SI.com’s Chris Mannix gave the 76ers an A, while USA Today, an A+!).  Kurt Helin over at NBC Sports explains why the 76ers fans were one of the night’s biggest losers:

"This team lost 26 games in a row late last year and isn’t going to be much if any better next season. Embiid could pan out to be a great pick (and is likely at least a good one) in a couple years, and when Dario Saric comes to the NBA in a couple years he could be a big boost. But neither of those guys is playing next season. It’s going to be the largely same tanktastic roster in Philly, and that sucks for fans asked to sit through another year of it. Intellectually Sixers fans get the building plan, but it’s hard to watch right now."

Personally, I don’t get the high grades for what Philly did.  Sure, they have players who MIGHT be good a few years from now . . . but didn’t other teams get players who PROBABLY will be good, next season?

Sorry, 76ers fans – I think you got boned.

Finally, most people agree the Celtics had a good draft . . .

. . . but as this piece points out, there are still holes that Boston needs to fill.

As I’ve already said, the fun is just beginning!