Additional Thoughts On The Sullinger and Melo Picks

In general, the best possible way to look at this draft (and probably the way that the Celtics are already spinning it) is that we drafted the best players available (Sullinger is top 10 talent and Melo was projected in the lottery at times this year) and also managed to fill team needs (did you notice that we were short on bigs last year?).

Obviously I'm thrilled with the Sullinger pick. Worrying about injuries and being patient with players who are out for stretches at a time are old hat for us Celtics fans. When you are picking at 21 and 22, you roll the dice. Maybe he'll get hurt and never play a game, but there are plenty of guys picked in the 20's who won't make a major impact on their team. The upside is that Sully could be a long time starter for us.

Fab Melo I'm obviously less thrilled with but I understand the pick. He's a legit seven footer that has a talent for blocking shots. It sounds like he's going to be a project, meaning he might have to spend a year learning "the Celtic way." Fine. Again, we're getting used to that around here. If JaJuan Johnson can step up and play some more this year I'll feel a lot better about stashing Melo in Maine or keeping him around to replace Ryan Hollins (or at least Sean Williams) in the deep end of the rotation. He's not going to score much except by accident, but if he can learn the Celtics defensive rotations he could be a useful big down the line.

So the Celtics added two talented big men. Nobody knows how any of these draft picks are going to pan out, but this has the potential to be a good to great draft (pending Jared's health).