Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
One teeny, tiny silver lining for Celtic fans as they watch their team limp to the finish line of the 2012-13 regular season: Boston is aiding its draft status without sacrificing its playoff seeding (at least for the moment while keeping eighth-seeded Milwaukee at arm’s length).
ESPN Boston: One upside to losing
As is the case whenever things look bleak, many are resorting to looking ahead to the draft again; figuring this season is already over with, why not look ahead? Chris Forsburg accurately points out in his brief post that the NBA bases its draft selection on your regular season finish as opposed to your finish in the playoffs like other leagues do. This helped the Celtics a few years back if you remember, where a team that lost in the NBA Finals still drafted high enough to land Avery Bradley in the middle of the first round.
Forsburg details that since spots 15-30 are determined by overall regular season records, the Celtics would have the 16th pick in the draft right now. That is all well and good but everything I’ve heard on this draft class is that it is among the worst in recent memory. Usually I take that information with a grain of salt because really those predictions are only educated guesses at best with no accurate way to forecast a players growth in the NBA. But I personally don’t like the “build through the draft” attitude that many buy into.
The NBA Draft is likely the worst draft in the four major sports in America in the sense that it is used as a building tool for the future. Think about it, unless you fall in the top ten, you are using your 1st round pick nine times out of ten on a bench player. Even if you fall in the top ten you have to hope that it is a year that the right talent is coming out (Bargnani as 1st overall pick anyone?) There are WAY too factors that all need to align in order to have a successful draft pick. To add to the frustration, building through free agency isn’t much better or easier with the complicated and convoluted cap rules in the NBA. I don’t like the attitude that the Celtics are going to rebuild through the draft for these reasons. Yes this pick can be used to barter, yes it can land us a guy that would likely become trade bait, but to think that it would be another piece to the puzzle is nothing short of delusional.
The Links:
CSNNE: Blakely: Chance Garnett missed farewell in Minnesota | Green protects chest with padded gear | Boston Herald: Jeff Green’s this good | Herald: Big talk comes from the small guys | ESPN Boston: Bradley shooting way out of slump
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