2011: Traded the 25th pick for JaJuan Johnson and a future second rounder. Forgettable. Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas, Chandler Parsons, and some other rotation players were still on the board. I'd say this is the second round where the selections were bad.
2012: Sully at 21 and Melo at 22. One great pick from the 2os, and one bad one. Still, I'd say this was a good draft given their position.
2013: Olynyk. Jury is out, and they traded for him, so you can't really say they passed on Giannis, who is the only one after Olynyk that is definitely better than him (jury is out on Schröder and Deng)
2014: Marcus Smart and James Young. Too early to say much about this. Doesn't look great, though.
2015: Rozier and Hunter. Didn't love these picks when they happened, but not a great place to be selecting. Still too early to evaluate.
Got to take exception. Danny has been pretty good on trades but not so good on drafts. For virtually none of the picks above have the player selected turned out to develop into more than expected based on draft position.
Just looking at the last several drafts, I think Rozier has proved to be a solid defender and rebounder at guard, but is not a great ball handler and is limited in getting to the hoop and in creating for others. I doubt Hunter will come to the top eight in the rotation. The best pick, with the most potential to exceed draft position, is Mickey. He could end up as a starting PF for years.
Young is a bust. All left hand, can't shoot under pressure, and not a hard worker. Marcus Smart is good, but he was a 6, he should be. Olynyk - 'nuff said. Sully has been decent but will always be limited to what he is - big body rebounder with short arms, average shooter, and a bad back. Don't get me started on Fab Melo. J. Johnson was a worse player than Brooks who was the original pick, and others were available.
Point is, you've got to be able to see what a player can become, not just what they are. Danny doesn't do this very well. Now, after they've been in the NBA for a few years he does see the development, and his trades show it. I would have liked Richardson at 16 - he's going to be really good in 2 years.[/QUOTE]
The last few drafts have not been good, but before that to say he did poorly you have to completely ignore draft position and the fact that everyone else passed over the same guys Ainge passed over.
Didn't like what happened last night. He clearly was left flat-footed and panicked at 16. Zizic was probably the best pick.
