Danny Ainge is Due for Draft Success

Danny Ainge has to hit big eventually, right?

Over the past 15 years during Ainge’s tenure with the Boston Celtics, he has made several first round picks. Some good, some terrible, but he has never landed an outright star through the draft. There have been plenty of players he could have went all in on, but he has routinely been swayed in another direction.

Some of the good players that were drafted are perhaps capable of making the leap to stardom. Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart for instance were good picks, and the case is still there to be made regarding how high each one’s ceiling is.

Overall, Danny Ainge has not had much luck in the draft and most of it really is getting lucky, especially when it comes to the middle to late first round picks. Although, this year feels a little different.

Obviously in this year’s draft Danny Ainge had a lot of room to work with, coming in with eight picks, three being in the first round. The consensus number three pick was widely regarded to be Kris Dunn out of Providence College, For whatever reason Ainge and the Celtics felt more inclined to take a more raw but athletically gifted player from the University of California, Jaylen Brown.

Like most of the other top ten picks, the potential for greatness is what lured the Boston Celtics to him. There is no denying, after watching some highlight reels of Jaylen Brown, I too became intrigued by his upside. If this pick however ends up falling through and not working out for Boston, Wyc Grousbeck may need to look into hiring a draft specialist.

I’ll gloss over the other two first rounders, the second round picks are what have me excited. Much like the Jordan Mickey pick last year, the guys picked up in the second round have nearly the same upside as the first rounders.

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Demetrius Jackson and Ben Bentil have the type of game needed for an easier transition into the NBA. Up-tempo, out in transition, and isolation pick and pops are all main components of today’s game, and at first glance they look to be able to play the part. Defensively, is what will determine where and how much they play next season.

The potential is undoubtedly there, these picks seem very capable of landing a spot on an NBA roster. The Boston Celtics are due to strike gold as more and more teams seem to be doing with late picks. I am optimistic either might actually carry higher value than where they were picked.

It is scary however that all the picks Danny Ainge has made have just as much potential to flop as they do to succeed. I have said I do not believe that to be the case but, like Ainge I have been wrong before. The mere fact that Danny Ainge was the one behind each pick is enough to keep me grounded and more of a realist until we see each up close.

Next: Celtics Continue to Search For Versatile Bigs

I’m ready though, I’m ready to dance in excitement on the first glance of greatness. We have learned there is value all throughout the draft, it’s just hard to find and the Celtics with more picks gave themselves a better chance of striking gold. There are too many roster decisions to be made now to even think about free agency that is, except for you know who.

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