Interview with Ronald Agers From True Hoop Network at ESPN.com
By Jeremy Karll
Ronald Agers was kind enough to answer a couple of questions about the Boston Celtics and what he thinks they should do this off-season
First off, a big thank you goes out to Ronald Agers who writes for True Hoop Network at ESPN.com. He was kind enough to take time to answer a few questions about the Boston Celtics and what he believes they should do this off-season.
I asked him his opinion about the draft, certain draft prospects and the upcoming free agency period. He was able to give an outsiders view about how close Boston is to competing for a title and how their roster is shaping up.
Who should the Celtics draft with the third pick?
If the Boston Celtics don’t trade the pick (Which they shouldn’t by the way), I would start looking at Buddy Hield out of Oklahoma. Looking over this roster, one might think the Celtics need frontcourt help, but in this new-day NBA, the days of drafting big is gone unless you have a slam dunk pick. There are none.
Buddy Hield with his scoring can take the pressure off of Isaiah Thomas and preserve the health of Avery Bradley. Thomas was a total beast in his All-Star year last season. But with that great year means that teams put him at the top of the scouting report. He is going to find different looks geared specifically to stop his scoring every night. Avery Bradley is a good player, but he gets hurt from time to time. After those two who’s left?
Marcus Smart is not the answer. It was rumored that he was on the trading block. How much weight does that hold considering that Danny Ainge is in the front office. I mean Jeremy, you might have been rumored to be traded to another website if it was up to Ainge. But seriously, with Evan Turner as your most noted shooting guard, who is a unrestricted free agent anyway, Hield is the answer to upgrade the shooting guard position.
Hield can score and create his own shot. In the NBA, that is huge. It is reported that he has a great upside and attitude. What does that mean? He’s coachable. The one thing that the Celtics have is coaching. If he buys into Brad Stevens‘ system, Buddy Hield will be a good player in the NBA.
What are your thoughts on Dragan Bender.
It seems that everyone is trying to find the next Kristaps Porzingis already. As a Knicks fan, and a NBA analyst I ask one question…
WHY?!!!
The Knicks were a very bad team last year. The dysfunction in the front office is palpable and the Brooklyn Nets are looking like a team on the rise compared to New York (Yes, it’s that bad!).
My point…
Porzingis had a good year last year. But it was ONE YEAR PEOPLE! No one knows what this guy will do after one year of film is watched by the other teams in the NBA. Do you think Carmelo Anthony will sit by and let this guy be the toast on New York? Look, Phil Jackson was very lucky when Porzingis panned out. Justise Winslow was a better pick in my opinion.
If Bender is available…RUN! I’m just not a fan of players overseas coming over as saviors. Especially a player that did not play very much in Israel.
Is trading the third pick (and others) to land a player like Jahlil Okafor a better option?
With Philadelphia’s fire sale trying to trade Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel out of town, it looks like a coup for the Celtics…
It’s not.
Okafor was a bad draft pick for the Sixers. I mean weren’t all of Sam Hinkie’s draft picks bad? The process is a bad statement in Philly these days. The fact that the Colangelos are getting rid of these two is sending a message to the fans and the Sixers marketing department…
We are going to distance ourselves TOTALLY from anything tied to the Sam Hinkie era… period.
We could go into what Okafor did on the court. But that would be a two second conversation. Let’s delve in the off court situations. How does a nineteen year old keep getting into situations off the court? He was suspended and looked like an entitled rich kid thinking the world owed him something.
Okafor looked out of shape on the court (Something that Jerry Colangelo hates) and couldn’t guard Michael Jordan’s statue in Chicago or Magic Johnson’s statue in Los Angeles. The fact that he’s on the block at this point shows that he is going to be a bust. Jerry and Bryan Colangelo are very respected around the league for their knowledge of talent. If they have given up already on these two, I have an opinion that Ainge should share…
THEY STINK!
Think about it, what Duke player has come in and dominated (Look, Kyrie Irving played on bad teams before LeBron showed up) to the point the team showed drastic improvement? You could say Grant Hill, but he’s at TNT these days.
Nerlens Noel played at Kentucky and is tall. Nuff said.
Who is a realistic free agent the Celtics should target this off-season.
Let me quote Rick Pitino and do a remix…
LeBron James is not coming through that door gentlemen. Kevin Durant is not coming through that door gentlemen. And if they do, the entire NBA would be shocked and the Boston Celtics will win the NBA title
But check this out. Al Horford, who the Celtics coveted for the last couple of seasons is an unrestricted free agent. Grab your chips, and sign him and reward yourselves for not giving up assets by being patient. Something NBA teams never do. Ask the New York Knicks with the Carmelo Anthony trade years back.
With the 2017 free agent class and draft supposedly stronger, should the Celtics gear up for next year instead? (Not signing 2 max-level players this year, trading picks to wait for a player like Harry Giles)
From what I’ve seen from the Boston Celtics, they don’t gear up for big name free agents. They have built their team successfully from the draft while staying miles under the salary cap. With the Nets giving this decade away in draft picks, Danny Ainge will take advantage of that (wisely in my opinion) and stay the course.
Next: Noah and Horford, a Florida Reunion in Boston?
Once again, a big thanks goes out to Ronald Agers for answering some questions. You can follow him on Twitter @SportWorldOrder and definitely go check out his work at True Hoop Network at ESPN.com.