J.R. Giddens
1. As a NBA prospect that people were calling a shaky character guy maybe he should have gone as Justin Ray for a little while. If he gets arrested for gambling on the streets all bets are off.
2. Paul Pierce changed my outlook on guys who were stabbed. I don't immediately write them off anymore.
3. Giddens is all over YouTube. I decided to link to this one. I'm not sure if I want to compare him to Kedrick Brown or Gerald Green. Hopefully has a better career path.
4. He's 23.
5. I was intrigued by Chris Douglas-Roberts and DeAndre Jordan. Still while Danny Ainge is by no means perfect I have to give him the benefit of the doubt in the draft. Also sometimes we get attached to "name guys" who are not necessarily better at the next level.
Bill Walker
Interesting deal. He's one of those guys that dropped significantly because of injuries and not because of his play. It's reminiscent of Leon Powe a few years ago right down to the late second round selection (Walker - 47, Powe - 49) and the draft day deal to Boston. It's not unheard of to get talent in the 2nd round - Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Gilbert Arenas. But that's rare. So in the words of Bob Cousy, it behooves teams to take a shot on guys like Walker. Long story short I'm on board with this one. At the very least Walker and Giddens could recreate some Tony Allen/Gerald Green showmanship. One more point. Walker loves the windmill.
Semih Erden
I'd much rather see a team take a shot on an international big that is going to stay overseas for a while late in the second round. There have to be a few fan bases around the league that are horrified with some of the international bigs going early. Seriously it reminded me of 5, 6 years ago. And while I did not get the chance to bring the Croatian Sensation nickname into play, which I argued for here, no one loses with The Turk.