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.
Noah Vonleh:
[The Boston interview] went pretty well. It was real quick and brief. They told me they want me to come in for a workout and they’ve been watching me since high school. I’ve been watching Boston growing up [in Haverhill]. I’ve lived in Boston my whole life. It would be great to play back at home in a great organization. They’re not a championship team right now, but they’ve had a lot of championships raised over the years. [Stevens is] a great coach. I watched him when he was at Butler. Now he’s at the Celtics. I think I would fit pretty well into his system.”Aaron Gordon:
“The [Celtics] just asked about my personal life. They pushed away basketball, then brought basketball back and asked questions about just certain aspects of my life. I got a really good vibe from the Celtics. They seem really family-oriented. They seemed like really good people that have my best interest at heart. I got a good vibe from them. We talked about [Gordon’s position]. We just went over my strengths and my weaknesses. We talked about what I can bring to the game every single night. Nothing too unusual [for questions]. It was pretty straight forward. It’s not like it was uptight. It was very light. It was relaxed. People were smiling. I got one question [from another team] about how many pennies were in $1 million dollars. I got it right in 22 seconds. They timed me. I made a joke to stall it so I could think a little bit more and I came back and answered it correctly.”
Nik Stauskas:
My interview with [the Celtics] was actually very short, but it was all positive. I lived in Boston the last few years of high school [while attending St. Mark’s in Southborough, Massachusetts] and Danny Ainge was telling me he actually saw me play a few times in high school and AAU because I played against his son [Cooper]. So he’s seen me for a while. And Brad Stevens is obviously a great coach. He’s also very close to my assistant coach at Michigan, LaVall Jordan — they were at Butler together. [The Celtics] just had a lot of good things to say about me … they questioned my defensive ability, that’s kinda been the main thing with every team.
Julius Randle:
[The interview with Boston] went well, just getting to know those guys, their coach, and it just went well. The Celtics have a lot of tradition, and it was just an honor to be talking to those guys. A lot of teams are just trying to get to know me as a person. They’ve heard a lot of good things, as far as my character and things like that, and they obviously know me as a player and what I have the potential to be. They just want to get to know me and my family as well. The Celtics are a young team, [Stevens] is able to relate to young guys and he kinda knows the adjustment, because he’s making that adjustment as well, making that jump from college to pros.”
Draft hopefuls give glimpse of C’s interviews
Nice to hear everyone’s getting good vibes from their combine interviews with the C’s. Unfortunately these are all guys we likely wouldn’t be drafting ’til the five-spot or later. Still, if we do miss out on a top-four pick , it’s good to know they’d be interested in playing here. Say we did land at the five-spot, and Wiggins, Parker, Embiid and Exum were gone, who’d you take? Getting a wing scorer would be best in my opinion, but Ainge already hinted towards drafting the best available talent. In all likelihood, that’d be a power forward (Vonleh, Gordon, and Randle). Gordon fits into the tweener category of being a PF or a big SF, but he’s indicated interest in guarding the league’s best small forwards. Personally, I’d probably take a chance on him and hope Ron Adams can work on his shot this summer (like he did with Rondo). Not to mention, his 39-inch vertical at the combine was the third best all time for a power forward/center. Who’d you take?
On Page 2, the C’s passed on Birdman ’cause of his tattoos and mohawk
For instance, in January 2013, the Celtics were in the process of making one final run with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Only they desperately needed another big man. A long, athletic rim protector to spell KG and bolster an undersized bench. They needed Chris “Birdman” Andersen, a free agent at the time, and the front office knew that. The only problem was that Birdman has a freaky mohawk and a body covered in freakier tattoos. That didn’t sit well with ownership, and the Celtics passed. Shortly after that, Andersen signed with Miami and neither has looked back.
This quote comes from a pretty good Rich Levine piece, which he wrote after Aaron Hernandez was indicted on another (double) murder charge this week. Maybe the C’s did miss the boat on signing Birdman last year, but I’m not sure it really made a difference for us either way. Also, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and a million other NBA players are covered in tattoos, so I’m not sure that would ever be a determining factor in adding a guy who can help you win.
Perhaps Ainge has mohawkaphobia.
The rest of the links:
Yahoo – Thunder’s Serge Ibaka out for playoffs | Clippers’ season ends, but fight with Sterling looms | Sterling says he wont pay fine
CSNNE – Draft players rave about playing for Stevens | Could Hairston, Warren fill C’s need for scorer? | Stevens on Rondo trade: It’s all speculation
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