Did the C's make mistake not drafting McNeeley

[Waquoit]

I liked Scheierman at Creighton but that's quite the slight to Liam.

Not to someone who follows the NBA.

 

[RuffRuff]

Not to someone who follows the NBA.

Would actually like to know what McNeeley’s plus traits are over Scheirman? He’s got an inch but BS has 2.5 inches on the standing reach. I’d call them an even heat physically. So then it becomes about intangibles and skills. I honestly don’t see them being all that different. Similar athletes.

 

[superjohn]

Would actually like to know what McNeeley’s plus traits are over Scheirman? He’s got an inch but BS has 2.5 inches on the standing reach. I’d call them an even heat physically. So then it becomes about intangibles and skills. I honestly don’t see them being all that different. Similar athletes.

Well for one thing it took Scheierman 5 years of college to be ready for the NBA. He's a little over 5 years older than McNeeley. Their sizes aren't much different, Liam is a little bigger and he's a significantly better athlete than Scheierman.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I don't think it was so much Liam being selfish. AK was slumping much of the year and Diarra was banged up. I think he felt the pressure to be a third scorer to go with Ball and AK.

 

[Mr. French]

Well for one thing it took Scheierman 5 years of college to be ready for the NBA. He's a little over 5 years older than McNeeley. Their sizes aren't much different, Liam is a little bigger and he's a significantly better athlete than Scheierman.

I would agree that Liam is a better prospect than Scheierman, although they are somewhat similar.

Baylor is more of just a catch and shoot guy who brings some good intangibles. Liam can be a more effective creator, passer, and the potential is there to be as good a shooter. Also, with shooting, I think Liam could possibly have more potential as a movement shooter. Baylor isn't as fluid on the movement, but he can stick it on a spot up.

 

[RuffRuff]

Well for one thing it took Scheierman 5 years of college to be ready for the NBA. He's a little over 5 years older than McNeeley. Their sizes aren't much different, Liam is a little bigger and he's a significantly better athlete than Scheierman.

Is he a better athlete? I’m not so sure. The years don’t mean much when you talk about potential. What will McNeeley be doing better than BS in 5?

 

[superjohn]

Is he a better athlete? I’m not so sure. The years don’t mean much when you talk about potential. What will McNeeley be doing better than BS in 5?

A 5 year head start in development doesn't matter much?

McNeeley set a combine record in the shuttle run. McNeeley's standing vertical 30.5 inches, max vertical 36.5 inches. Scheierman standing vertical 27.5 inches, max vertical 32 inches.

I think 5 years matters tremendously and I think McNeeley will have a significantly better NBA career than Scheierman.

 

[Waquoit]

A 5 year head start in development doesn't matter much?

McNeeley set a combine record in the shuttle run. McNeeley's standing vertical 30.5 inches, max vertical 36.5 inches. Scheierman standing vertical 27.5 inches, max vertical 32 inches.

I think 5 years matters tremendously and I think McNeeley will have a significantly better NBA career than Scheierman.

It's all moot, though. The C's already have a player for that slot. If McNeeley shows the growth we'd all love to see and can help the C's down the line; Stevens will figure out something.

 

[RuffRuff]

A 5 year head start in development doesn't matter much?

McNeeley set a combine record in the shuttle run. McNeeley's standing vertical 30.5 inches, max vertical 36.5 inches. Scheierman standing vertical 27.5 inches, max vertical 32 inches.

I think 5 years matters tremendously and I think McNeeley will have a significantly better NBA career than Scheierman.

I guess - there are combine measurement then there is how a player uses them functionally. Solo apparently has a ridiculous vertical but we never see him elevate over anyone.

I won’t be surprised if they have similar careers.

 

[Zonepress]

I don’t see any similarities in their game
only similarity I see is there a skin color

 

[Husky68]

I guess - there are combine measurement then there is how a player uses them functionally. Solo apparently has a ridiculous vertical but we never see him elevate over anyone.

I won’t be surprised if they have similar careers.

Sols had some serious blocks at the rim.

 

[Martin84]

Charlotte just traded for Sexton. Seems like less available minutes for Liam.

 

[Dogdeacon]

The kid Gonzalez was projected top 5 a year ago. Real Madrid is way better than any G League or college team this kid could have played on. He was sitting on bench because he was 18 and the players on Real Madrid are good.

Stevens drafted athleticism here and this guy has been essentially a professional since he was 9.

That's my point, Stephens drafts Spanish athleticism, but passed on AJax athleticism due to shooting. A legit reason for sure with respect to AJax.
But notwithstanding limited playing time this year and bad shooting I've heard (on a draft reaction podcast I think?!) historically Hugu is a high 20's low30's 3pt percentage and in the 70's on FT's. Arguably inconsistent but time will tell. Ajax brings athleticism and defense. We knew then and now that AJax is far from a knock-down shooter and therefore doesn't fit in Joe Mazz's system of everyone shoots 3s when open. Hugo very TBD.

 

[Lafayette]

As a UConn fan, yes along with 20 something other teams.

But judging Liam based on one season where he was used more as a guard and a facilitator than a pure is tough to gauge his true potential as a 3pt sniper but lends maturity to his facilitation out of the wing position.

Some teams want that maturity, others want the 3pt shooting Liam.

 

[CL82]

I think Brad Stevens is smarter than the Boneyard

Well, in 2011 most of us felt pretty confident that we would beat Butler so... maybe not?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't know the Celtics situation all that well but I did read that a couple teams, due to the apron would likely draft euro players and keep them overseas for a couple years instead of having a low minutes guy in their roster with a guaranteed contract.

It's possible that even with the two contract dumps (Holiday, Porzingas) they didn't want another contract counting against the apron.

They said he will play in the U.S. this year. But we will see.

I think they are just looking at the roster and seeing more upside that Hugo can become an impact starter in two years when JT is back. I wanted Liam, but I can't fault them for going with Garcia. If they keep Hauser and if Baylor lands a role in the rotation, there wasn't much room for McNeeley.

 

[REB1094]

I guess - there are combine measurement then there is how a player uses them functionally. Solo apparently has a ridiculous vertical but we never see him elevate over anyone.

I won’t be surprised if they have similar careers.

We'll know a lot more coming out of Summer League and once the season starts. But if Liam is one of the first forwards off the bench, he's already in a better NBA situation than Scheierman was with a similar spot taken in the draft

Let's say Liam averages 10 minutes a game (which is lower than we all hope/expect), that would be over 2x the minutes Scheierman played last year. Scheirman played great in March (6 points on 49/47% shooting in 10 games) but balanced it with a mostly horrible April (6 points on 33/24% shooting in 6 games). He'll probably get good minutes this coming year with the Celtics taking a down year, but year 1 was overall forgettable

Scheierman is 2 years younger than Anfernee Simons (7 year NBA player), 3 years younger than Jayson Tatum (8 year NBA player), 4 years younger than Jaylen Brown (9 year NBA player). Even if Liam's production is 1:1 equal to Scheierman's, he will be in a MUCH better spot career wise since he has 5 years to catch up

 

[JohnFSilver]

That's my point, Stephens drafts Spanish athleticism, but passed on AJax athleticism due to shooting. A legit reason for sure with respect to AJax.
But notwithstanding limited playing time this year and bad shooting I've heard (on a draft reaction podcast I think?!) historically Hugu is a high 20's low30's 3pt percentage and in the 70's on FT's. Arguably inconsistent but time will tell. Ajax brings athleticism and defense. We knew then and now that AJax is far from a knock-down shooter and therefore doesn't fit in Joe Mazz's system of everyone shoots 3s when open. Hugo very TBD.

Kid has good form. Mcneelt hair 32% from a shorter 3, which is why he dropped. Gonzalez is 19 and has good mechanics

 

[gtcam]

Stevens and Co. see a larger upside in Hugo.
Hugo was playing in the Real Madrid system since his early teen years and playing with and practiced against grown men. Even if he doesn't play in Boston next season he will probably play another at Real Madrid which is far better than the G League.
He was highly rated for the past 3 years and finally he became eligible for the NBA draft. Why he didn't go higher is a mystery but I would bet that if Boston took Liam, Charlotte would have scooped up Hugo. Both kids are good players with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Not even worth the argument.
Thank God Charlotte took Liam because Brooklyn wasn't going to and it would have been a complete embarrassment to Liam, the program and Dan Hurley if Liam was last man sitting after the end of Night 1.

 

[nomar]

I don't think the Celtics made a mistake. Just look at his game logs.

• 16 of 27 games with 15 pts or less.
• 7 of 27 games with 10 pts or less.
• 8 rebounds or more 9 times.
• Pretty poor assist numbers. 15 games with 2 or less.
• 61 assists to 50 TOs.
• Post season totals with 31.6 FG% and 4 for 24 (16.7%) from 3.
• After his ankle injury, his FG% dropped from 42.9% to 34.5% and his 3pt FG% dropped from 37.9% to 26.6%.

How many games in there did he really dominate? 5? 7?

You said it: "After his ankle injury, his FG% dropped from 42.9% to 34.5% and his 3pt FG% dropped from 37.9% to 26.6%." The injury hurt his play.

He didn't have a great season, or even a really good one. But he had some phenomenal games -- the type of games that only really talented players can have. Had he been healthy all season and surrounded by the right UConn team, he would have shined.

Charlotte's getting a bargain. I'm surprised nobody jumped on him earlier. Some of those guys that went in front of him were headscratchers.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

In the sense that they’ll look back and kick themselves for not drafting McNeeley, no. After next season they’ll still have Tatum, Brown, and whatever random shooters they’ll find to surround them with. They’ll be fine

In the sense that McNeeley could have been one of those movement shooters and instead they drafted a Euroleague wing that nobody has ever heard of, probably!

Pretty sure scouts heard of him.

 

[freescooter]

The hit rate for late first round (15+)players isn’t really that high. The number who get a 2nd contract is roughly 45-50%. So a 28-29 pick is a coin flip as to whether he will even last. With that in mind you have / choices. Pick the best available or the guy who best fits your needs. Unlikely you’ll find a guy to build around. More likely a bench piece with hope he becomes a regular in a few years. It is also why a fair number of the late round guys spend some time in the G-League to get playing time rather than spend time all their on the bench.

We all hope Liam is one of the group that becomes a regular at a minimum. We hope more. But in the larger universe the Celtics chose the guy they think has a better chance of being one of the 45%. Only time will tell whether one, both or neither become important pieces.

 

[JohnFSilver]

The hit rate for late first round (15+)players isn’t really that high. The number who get a 2nd contract is roughly 45-50%. So a 28-29 pick is a coin flip as to whether he will even last. With that in mind you have / choices. Pick the best available or the guy who best fits your needs. Unlikely you’ll find a guy to build around. More likely a bench piece with hope he becomes a regular in a few years. It is also why a fair number of the late round guys spend some time in the G-League to get playing time rather than spend time all their on the bench.

We all hope Liam is one of the group that becomes a regular at a minimum. We hope more. But in the larger universe the Celtics chose the guy they think has a better chance of being one of the 45%. Only time will tell whether one, both or neither become important pieces.

McNeeley underated. If he shot closer to 40% from 3 this past year he would have been a top 15 pick.

His shooting is Inconsistent, but form good. That means he has a little more development left in his game, and a risk of never getting there. 29 was too low, mainly because Brooklyn took 5 players.

 

[willie99]

I think Brad Stevens is smarter than the Boneyard

I love Brad. If he only texted Mazzella 1 play at the end of games one and two the C's choked away to the Knicks, they advance to the conference finals

But, I think Liam is going to be the steal of the 2025 draft. An injury that kept him out for a month and then had him underperform down the stretch hurt his draft position. I think he may very well play like the lottery pick he was heading towards before the injury

Time will tell, and opportunity matters

 

[freescooter]

I love Brad. If he only texted Mazzella 1 play at the end of games one and two the C's choked away to the Knicks, they advance to the conference finals

But, I think Liam is going to be the steal of the 2025 draft. An injury that kept him out for a month and then had him underperform down the stretch hurt his draft position. I think he may very well play like the lottery pick he was heading towards before the injury

Time will tell, and opportunity matters

That is possible. But , and this is the other thing about late picks, they generally get less opportunity. It’s why guys picked after 15 tend to spend time in the g-league, too.

Just like there are 2nd round picks and even undrsfted free agents who work out as really good NBA players, certainly late 1st rounders can and do. It is just really hard to predict their success going forward.