Celtics Post-Draft Analysis

Jaylen Brown, SF… Round 1, Pick 3

Brown was not my guy. When Adam Silver was approaching the podium, I wanted to hear one of two names:
1) Buddy Hield
2) Anyone but Brown or Chriss

I sincerely hope he proves me wrong. I will gladly buy Danny Ainge dinner if Brown works out– he can have the most expensive thing on the menu while I eat my hat. Actually, Danny, if you’re reading this, I’ll buy you dinner any time.

This probably wasn’t that bad a pick. Ainge and his legion of scouts undoubtedly know more than me and the rest of the backseat Celtics fans out there. That being said, here’s why I hate it.

Let’s start with who we missed out on. Chiefly, there’s the aforementioned Hield; that’s the one that pains me the most. I wanted badly to see Buddy Buckets play in Celtic Green. The arguments against him frustrated me, particularly those regarding his age. He’s twenty-two.

For one, I believe that those discussing the championship ‘window’ are talking nonsense. This idea works with LeBron James, who you’re clearly building your team around, or in the sense that you’re not going to bring in a forty year old to a young, rebuilding roster. However, it has been repeated ad nauseam that the Celtics are succeeding without a star. Who exactly are we basing our window around? Isaiah Thomas? He’s 27, with two years left on his contract– and, if his Boston love letters are to be believed, likely to resign. Even if not, we can live without him. 

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Others say that his age limits his upside potential. That’s the criticism that, to borrow a phrase from the incomparable Peter Griffin, really grinds my gears. Lest we forget, Steph Curry waited until after his Junior year to enter the draft. He was 21. Brown and Simmons are both 19. Are proponents of this theory telling me they’d draft Ricky Rubio or Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry for that extra year or two? (Sorry, Minnesota).

Speaking of Curry… Buddy is a pretty good shooter. The modern NBA is clearly starting to favor perimeter players more and more– the type of player, arguably, that Boston lacks the most. Relying on Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko to shoot your threes does not spell success in today’s game. Why get the guy with no jump shot instead of the best pure shooter in the draft?

Anyway, enough about a guy we didn’t draft (for some reason). From what I’ve seen, Jaylen Brown is a great athlete with an equally great head on his shoulders; a la Karl Anthony Towns, for one. I’d much rather have Brown in my locker room than Ben Simmons or Boogie Cousins. Obviously, though, while personality is important, it’s not everything. How does Brown fit in on the court?

If you ask me, not very well. The Celts are not like most of the early-draft teams. They have a very sound base. They don’t need a freak talent to take over the game– they need a game-changer. Those might sound identical, but there are serious differences. It’s the difference between, to open up some recent wounds, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver. Teague’s a player that you can arguably build a franchise around. Korver can shoot the three. Most teams in our draft position need a Teague. We needed a Korver.