The Celtics had two first round draft picks this past draft. The first selection led to cheers and applause from Boston fans as Commissioner David Stern called Jared Sullinger’s name. When it was time for the Celtics to make their second selection of the night, the fan reaction was quite different.

Fab Melo’s name was announced and there was a bit of disappointment and confusion among Celtics’ fans. Some local Big East basketball fans may have been happy with the Syracuse product, but many wondered why take such a project? These fans’ sentiments were only confirmed, as Melo played awful in summer league. So did the Celtics make a mistake?

There were plenty of other names on the board that could have looked good in Celtic green. Baylor’s Perry Jones, once projected a top five pick had slipped right into the Celtics’ lap. John Jenkins, the deadeye shooter from Vanderbilt was still on the board too.

Perhaps the Celtics wanted to take a true big man with this pick though. Well Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli were also both available when the Celtics picked. The question begs to be asked, should the Celtics have gone in a different direction with their 22nd pick?

Draymond Green was one of the most productive players in the draft, averaging 16.2 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game this past season. He played four years at Michigan State, and is the all-time leading rebounder in the school’s history. The Boston Celtics have desperately struggled with cleaning up the glass, and adding both Sullinger and Green would have helped resolve that weakness.

Green is also ready to contribute immediately. His experience in the college game makes him ready to play now. The same cannot be said for Melo, who will likely spend more time this year on the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate, than on the Celtics. For a team in a win now mode, wouldn’t a player who could help now be more important than someone who needs to be developed?

Ezeli is along the same mold as Melo. Both centers only started to play organized basketball in recent years. Ezeli is further along than Melo however; due to the fact he played four years in college, and redshirted his first year on campus. Melo declared for the draft as a sophomore and was more productive in his first two years of college basketball than Ezeli.

Ezeli averaged 3.8 ppg and 3.2 rpg after his redshirt sophomore year. Melo essentially doubled that production this past year with 7.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg.

Blocking shots are both the most effective parts of their games. During his junior year, Ezeli blocked 2.6 shots per game, his career best at Vanderbilt. Melo in just his second year at Syracuse sent back 2.9 shots a game.

For comparisons sake, Green averaged 9.9 ppg and 7.7 rpg in his sophomore year.

So finally should the Celtics have drafted either of these players instead of Melo? Well if Danny Ainge wanted a guy to help contribute now then he certainly made a mistake. Green is leaps and bounds ahead of Melo. If Ainge just wanted to find a guy that they can develop for the future then Melo was the clear choice against Ezeli.

Ainge has been one of the more consistent drafters in the league, but he is not without his mistakes either. Fans will have to hope Melo is more Leon Powe than J.R. Giddens.

Seeing that no matter what happens to the Celtics in these playoffs, the rebuilding period is inevitable. The window of opportunity closes for good on the Big 3 era when this season ends, whether that be by elimination or winning a championship.

For the first time in 5 years, this is going to be the most important draft for the Celtics. So without any further delay, here is whats happening on the NBA draft front for Boston

The Pre-Draft Workouts

As of today, only Draymond Green and Fab Melo have worked out for the Celtics. Currently both Green and Melo are projected to go late in the 1st round and the Celtics hold the 21st and 22nd picks.

In the upcoming weeks leading to the draft, I will be posting articles on possible draft prospects for the Celtics. Seeing that Danny Ainge has some interest in Fab Melo, he will probably be the next player that I will write about.

Celtics Draft Rumors

According to Sam Amico of Fox Sports and Fox Sports Ohio, the Celtics are looking to trade up in this year’s draft. Amico said there is no specific player that they are looking to trade for, but they do have a lot of interest in Jared Sullinger.

Sullinger, a 6’9″ power forward from Ohio State would definitely be a player worth taking. He’s a rebounder and is a good inside presence, something that the Celtics don’t have right now. Clearly, drafting a big man in this draft has to be a number one priority, and trading one or two of their draft picks to get a more NBA ready player would be a great move.

Another player that seems to be getting interest from the Celtics is UCONN center/power forward Andre Drummond.

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Spurs and Celtics are teams from outside the lottery that have interest in Drummond.

If the Celtics can pull off some trade for Drummond, that would be huge. According to NBAdraft.net, he’s being compared to Amar’e Stoudemire at his best, and DeAndre Jordan at his worst. I’d take either of his potentials. Like I said before, the Celtics don’t have an inside presence who can rebound and play tight interior defense other than Kevin Garnett.

While Drummond will be a project, I think he will be worth the time and effort. Trying to find a decent big man who can rebound and just be a force in the paint both offensively and defensively is hard. If Drummond works hard and can stay motivated, he could turn into a really good basketball player.

As we inch closer to the NBA draft, there will probably many more rumors and speculations surrounding the Boston Celtics. I will keep all you guys up to date, if any news should surface.

Green is not expected to be picks until the early part of the second round, so trading down might not be such a bad idea.  Green is a  bit small to play power forward in the NBA at 6’6″, so teams may be scared because he may lack the speed to cover NBA small forwards.

One thing about Green is that he is capable of big games, and knows how to score the ball.  He also played all four years at MSU, which should prepare him well to adapt to the NBA.  He’s 22, so teams are not going to like the fact that such gives him only about 5 years before he hits his prime, but he came out at the right time.  It just happens to be a loaded draft class.

Green would fit nicely next to Brandon Bass in the lineup, because both are good athletes and have a knack for moving to the right spot at the right time, which is a big boon when playing with a point guard as good as Rajon Rondo.  Rondo will get Green a lot of good looks on the baseline, and Green can both finish and hit the mid range jumper, as the defense allows.  The problem may be sometimes getting his shot off, lacking the length to shoot over a lot of NBA big men.  His ability to make nice ball fakes and pump fakes should play a role, as Green is very sneaky with defenders.  He also is adept at drawing fouls, something that never hurts in the NBA.