Feb 2, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) defends New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert (21) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

With the NBA season coming to a close, teams who are not advancing to the playoffs will be looking at prospects for the upcoming draft. It has been said that this year’s NBA Draft is one of the weakest in league history, and that only a few teams who are positioned to get lottery picks will have the best chance of selecting a good, talented player. However, there was another “weak” draft not too long ago that was supposed to be lacking in talent, but some teams outside of the top 10 picks walked away with a great player that is now part of the main rotation for their respective organizations.

Let’s take a look at five players from the 2011 NBA Draft who are either starters or important role players that weren’t expected to make that big of an impact.

1) Kenneth Faried – Denver Nuggets 11.7 ppg 9 rebounds

Before draft night, Faried was someone to watch for as scouts and draft experts had him on their radar for being a potential steal. They were right, but I don’t think they fully knew the effect he’d have on the Denver Nuggets. In his first two seasons, Faried has almost averaged a double-double, and in the first playoff series of his career, he averaged 10.4 ppg, grabbing 10 rebounds as a rookie. He was going to be one of the bright spots in the very dim 2011 draft, but he’s out-shined everyone, being an important asset to Denver. He’s a game changer for sure, and his toughness and ability to grab rebounds shows his worth. Most franchises only dream of having a hard worker like Faried, and on draft night 21 teams ahead of Denver missed out on a talented player.

2) Kawhi Leonard – San Antonio Spurs 11.7 ppg  5.7 rebounds

Coming into the draft, it was predicted that Leonard was going to be a great role player, and that he is. He was traded by the Indiana Pacers and sent to San Antonio for George Hill. It was a great acquisition on the Spurs part and from day one, Leonard has stepped in very veteran-like. This season he was given the starting job as a forward/guard and has been a main contributor for the currently number one seeded Spurs. He’s not superstar caliber, but he’s an important piece to the veteran team.

3) Iman Shumpert – New York Knicks 6.2 ppg 2.6 rebounds

It’s not the stats that show Shumpert’s worth to the New York Knicks. The defense that he supplies changes the complexion of games and has been known to shut down some of the best guards in the league. He’s highly underrated on both ends of the floor. Shumpert is an excellent three point shooter making 42% of his shots beyond the ark, and on a few occasions can finish games with double figures in points. However, it’s his defense that makes him stand out. He’s given the Boston Celtics a lot of trouble, especially when he’s going up against Avery Bradley or Jason Terry. His size makes him a combo guard who can keep up with point guards, but he’s big enough to take on decent sized shooting guards. When New York selected Shumpert Knicks fans booed and weren’t sure what he could bring to the team. One year later, they’re not questioning the organization after what he’s displayed on the floor.

4) Tobias Harris – Orlando Magic 9.6 ppg 4.6 rebounds

March 27, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris (12) drives to the basket while defended by Charlotte Bobcats forward Josh McRoberts (11) during the game at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

After being sent to Orlando in a trade during this year’s trade deadline, Tobias Harris has impressed a lot of people. When he was with the Milwaukee Bucks, Harris didn’t get much playing time, and his talent was rotting on the bench. Since arriving in Orlando, his scoring totals have soared and is now averaging 16.4 ppg, scoring 15 or more points in 12 out of 20 games with the Magic. Orlando is currently going through a rebuilding period, and it’s very possible that they may have found their centerpiece of the organization. For a player picked 19th overall in the draft, no one expected him to emerge as a scoring threat.

5) Jimmy Butler – Chicago Bulls 7.8 ppg 3.6 rebounds

Due to injuries, Tom Thibodeau has had to look to the bench for players who can come in and temporarily fill the shoes of key rotational players, and Jimmy Butler has been that guy. Selected at the 30th pick overall in the draft, Butler wasn’t expected to be a big time scorer, but in the month of March he’s put up two 20 point night’s against the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves. Butler is a hard worker, just like Leon Powe when he was with the Celtics. It’s been great watching him be successful with Chicago, and the team needs him, especially with all the injuries they’ve endured.

Time will tell if this year’s NBA draft will have any hidden talent late in the first round. It’s never wise to overlook drafts, because there is always the chance a rising star could be born. Kyrie Irving only played 10 games with Duke, and now he’s one of the best point guards in the game today. This draft may not be as good as last year’s, but it’s up to GM’s to evaluate talent correctly and come away with a great player.

May 21, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Celtics logo lies in the center of the floor before the game five between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers of the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

With plenty of moves this busy offseason, some by addition and some by subtraction, the Boston Celtics roster has been almost completely turned over. Take a look at Avery Bradley’s twitter avatar. Not one of those faces will be returning to the Boston Celtics this upcoming season. Outside of Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett–officially the Celtics new “big three”–no one on this roster has been there for more than three years.

Below, I’ll break down the new roster for you and we’ll go over how the minutes will likely be allocated. The roster is currently made up of 15 players, which is the maximum that an NBA team can have. However, I don’t think that everyone will earn a final spot on the roster after its all said and done.

New Editions

Again, the Boston Celtics lost a lot of pieces this summer, but they gained more than they lost in my opinion. Position by position, I’ll explain what each addition brings to the team.

Guard Position

At this position, the Celtics have added plenty of overall depth after losing Ray Allen to the Miami Heat this offseason. They knew that there was a strong possibility that Allen would walk and were proactive about making up for his loss. He had lost his starting position to Avery Bradley during the start of the season, so there wasn’t any question about who would start at the position. The question was who would back Bradley up? The Celtic have plenty of options here.

The first addition I’d like to go over here is Jason Terry. In my eyes, Terry is an upgrade from Ray Allen. He isn’t as good as a three point shooter–no one really is. Allen shot 45% from beyond the arch this past season. Terry shoots significantly less from that area of the floor at 38%, but that’s not a bad clip to replace Allen with. The thing that puts Terry above Allen at this point in their respective careers. I’ve done a post previously on what Terrywill bring to the table in a Celtics jersey. Terry has no problems with coming off of the bench and you are able to run more sets through him because of his ability to play off the ball, as Allen did, but also on the ball. That’s something that Allen lacked as a Boston Celtic really.

Courtney Lee 

April 22, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard Courtney Lee (5) against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Lee has been brought in to bolster the three point shooting of the Celtics. Outside of Ray Allen, there really wasn’t a very consistent threat from beyond the arch suiting a green uniform. Lee shot 40% from that range last season though. And he can be an above average defender at times as well. He worked well defensively in Stan Van Gundy’s system in Orlando a few years ago. The Celtics know about that first hand. Now that he’s on their side, I’m sure they’re more than happy.

Dionte Christmas

Christmas came along as a surprise to most Boston Celtic fans. Hailing out of Temple, Christmas has always been a streaky shooter. He knows how to score points and shoot from beyond the arch–his game fits the mold of a J.R Smith really. If he gets hot he can kill the opposing team on his own. If he gets cold he may shut it down for the whole game. He’ll likely lie somewhere in the middle of that on a consistent basis. He 36% from three last season for his Greek league team in Rethymno last season.

Jamar Smith

Smith is a 6’3 shooting guard that is capable of handling the ball as well. Similar to Jason Terry, if needed Smith will come off of the bench and be able to back up both guard positions. He has a knack for scoring the ball. With that being his specialty, he’ll need to work on getting his teammates involved in the offense more. With a coach like Doc Rivers I don’t think it will be impossible for him to learn though.

All of these additions to the shooting guard position will surely make up for Ray Allen’s loss and the possible absence of Avery Bradley. There have been reports that Bradley will be out until December. The Celtics have plenty of depth here so it looks like they’ll be alright for now.

Forward Positions

Kris Joseph

The Celtics added plenty of pieces through the draft. Kris Joseph is just one of the pieces that they added though. They were able to steal his tremendous talent in the second round of the NBA draft, which came as a surprise to many. The 6’7, 210 pound small forward out of Syracuse has tremendous talent and raw ability. He shoots the ball very well for his position. At Syracuse last year he shot 34%, which was down from the previous year’s mark of 36%. He must work on gaining consistency in his game, but that will come as he progresses through his career.

Jared Sullinger

The Celtics were able to snag Jared Sullinger out of the NBA draft with the 21st pick overall. This was after he was considered a top 5 pick at the beginning of the season and would’ve been a top five pick had he come out in last season’s draft as well. Team’s put Sullinger on the back-burner because of injuries that he had sustained to his back during his tenure at Ohio State. The Celtics decided to take a chance on him and I think it’ll pan out. He won’t have to play huge minutes initially, but he’s a good enough player to where he could start for some NBA teams at power forward. With Kevin Garnett and newly re-signed Brandon Bass manning the front court Sully can take his time to learn the NBA game at his own pace while also working on improving his back.

July 17, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger (7) drives to the basket during the game against the Chicago Bulls at the Cox Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Overall, he’s a tremendous rebounder and can also score with his back to the basket. He’s like Dejaun Blair except for with more offensive talent. He can step out and hit face up jumpers so the pick and pop game with Rondo will be awesome with him. I’m sure he’ll find more than his share of time on the floor as a Celtic.

You add these additions to the team while also pairing them with the experienced forwards that are already there in Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox. Kevin Garnett has always been a good role model for rookies also no matter what position. So I’m sure that both prospects will learn how to be a Celtic on and off of the floor rather quickly.

Center

The center position is something that the Celtics really struggled with last season. They found a diamond in the rough in Greg Steimsma, but he recently signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jermaine O’Neal saw plenty of time at that position last year, but he couldn’t hold up throughout the whole season. That turned out being the best thing for the Celtics because it allowed them to move Kevin Garnett to the center position and that ended up propelling the Celtics into the playoffs and putting them in position to possibly be in the Finals again.

However, they lacked so much depth after KG at center. They weren’t as good defensively without him on the floor. Now, of course with your best low post defender out of the game you’re going to have a drop-off defensively, but there are numbers that indicate that when Garnett was off of the floor there was a tremendous drop-off defensively. That showed during the series with the Miami Heat.

Fab Melo

Fab Melo is a 7 footer from out of Syracuse. He’s a great weak-side help defender and excels at protecting the rim. His athleticism gives him plenty of perks defensively as he can cover a lot of ground. One on one he could use some work defensively, but that’s how most young players are. He’ll generally learn to single cover someone in the low-post as he grows as a player. Especially with Kevin Garnett on the team. Melo averaged 2.9 blocks per game at Syracuse and they suffered defensively with him off of the floor. Melo will play the same role in green as a rim protector and a pick and roll finisher.

Jason Collins

The Celtics definitely addressed their need of size this summer. They should, once again, be considered one of the biggest teams in the NBA. Their starting line-up doesn’t have a lot of size outside of Kevin Garnett, but once you get into the depth of the team they feature a lot of guys who are 6’10 and over. Jason Collins is another 7 footer at the center position. He’s never really stuck anywhere in the league, but he has a skill that some bigs sorely lack. He can compliment Kevin Garnett as a 4 because of his ability to single cover other bigs in the post similar to the way that Kendrick Perkins can. His height bothers many low post players and that’s something that you can’t get enough of in the NBA.

With all of these additions, minutes will be allocated differently this year in Boston. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will likely take a drop in their minutes per game this season because of their increase in age. With the lack of a back-up point guard Rondo will likely see his minutes increase if Keyon Dooling can’t fill this position for him. Also, there may be some roster cuts before the end of the summer and once Boston gets to training camp. We’ll go over all of these dynamics below.

Roster Predicitons

Its not often that a team carries 15 men on their immediate roster in the NBA. At most there are usually 13 or 14 on a squad. There has to be a minimum of 12, but a lot of NBA rosters don’t give minutes to their guys after the 9th or 10th man. The Boston Celtics will be no different next season. Though they have a talented roster, they’ll need to get used to playing a certain way and going through a certain rotation. Doc Rivers isn’t a guy who usually stretches his bench too far, so keeping 15 men on this immediate roster isn’t likely.

Roster Cuts

By the end of the summer these are the players that I expect to be left off of the Celtics roster.

1. Dionte Christmas
2. Jamar Smith

Minute Allocation

June 1, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) talks with point guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward/center Kevin Garnett (5) during the third quarter against the Miami Heat in game three of the Eastern Conference finals of the 2012 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

With those potential cuts, that leaves the Celtics with a 13 man roster including Kris Joseph. Doc Rivers is a guy who doesn’t generally go with more than 8 or 9 players in a rotation during a game though so some of them will have trouble finding some minutes. Below I will name the starters, with a healthy Avery Bradley, and I will name the first players off the bench. I will also allocate the minutes as the list goes along.

Starters

PG- Rajon Rondo MPG: 36

SG- Avery Bradley MPG: 32

SF- Paul Pierce MPG: 30

PF- Brandon Bass MPG: 33

C- Kevin Garnett MPG: 30

Bench Players

6: Jason Terry MPG: 22

7: Courtney Lee: 17

8: Keyon Dooling: 15

9: Chris Wilcox: 13

10: Jared Sullinger: 15

11: Fab Melo: 12

12: Jason Collins: 8

13: Kris Joseph: 10

Now, those are just approximations to what I believe that their averages will be. Somewhere within the range of each number. Some of these guys won’t play a lot, but I think that the minutes will also shift around as the season goes on. Once the players get comfortable with rotating for each other, there will be certain units that sync on the floor more than others. The perfect example would be Avery Bradley taking the starting position over Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett playing the center position. That leaves room for other moves and roster tweaks as the season goes along.

This definitely will not be the last time we go over the Celtics roster here at Hardwood Houdini. They aren’t even done making moves, likely. There could be more shaking up to come so stay tuned.

Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jared Sullinger (0) reacts during the second half in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

There’s a reason Jared Sullinger was at one point projected to be a top 5 pick.  His talent is immense, and the question marks that caused him to fall were in no way related to his ability to play basketball.  He made it very apparent yesterday by scoring 20 in his debut in the Orlando Summer League, as the Celtics summer squad won by 8 over the Thunder.  In addition to Sullinger’s 20, they also received 16 points from E’Twan Moore, who I mentioned could be a fixture in the future of the Celtics.

For the Thunder, Perry Jones III, another one who fell badly in the draft, threw in 16 points in a solid debut.  Bill Simmons of Grantland.com expressed his disapproval of the C’s passing on Jones to select Fab Melo, and it looks like Jones could be one of the steals of the Draft, and perhaps the least surprising of all the steals.  For now, Celtics fans can rejoice that Sullinger looked good in his first game and showed no signs of the lingering injuries that were partly to blame for his descent into the late first round.