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We've got more than a month to go before the NBA Draft but now that the Lottery has established who will pick where, the NBA "experts" are rolling out their updated mock drafts. Here's a few picks from some of the better mock drafts out there.
Ford's Mock 3.0: Schroeder the pick - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston
With the draft lottery completed, Chad Ford's Mock 3.0 was unveiled on Tuesday evening. His latest pick for the Boston Celtics at No. 16 is Germany's Dennis Schroeder: The Celtics missed Rajon Rondo so much during the 2012-13 season, why not get a clone?
2013 NBA draft - Chad Ford Mock Draft 3.0 - ESPN
Analysis: With Rajon Rondo's future up in the air, could the Celtics take the guy who many scouts compare to a young Rondo? Both are quick, long and have huge hands. Both play a frantic style of basketball and both have swagger. The rumors flying around Chicago were that Schroeder had a promise from a team. The Celtics seem like just the sort of team that would try to lock him down.
(In his prior 2 mocks Ford had the Celtics picking Michael Carter-Williams and Kelly Olynyk. Interestingly Ford has Carter Williams jumping up to the 7 spot in his latest mock and Olynk falling right out of the first round.)
2013 NBA Draft - CBSSports.com Basketball (Jeff Goodman)
Rudy Gobert, C, France: Danny Ainge loves length and needs a rim-protector. Gobert is extremely raw on the offensive end, but he's ultra-long and can be a factor on the defensive end in time. (Previous: 11)
NBA.com also has the Celtics picking Gobert.
Noel claims top spot in first mock draft | NBA.com
Gobert had an underwhelming 2012-13 in France, but front offices see real potential and was impressed he participated in Chicago while also planning to play with many of the top international prospects next month at the adidas Eurocamp in Italy.
Draft Express has the Celtics picking Steven Adams
DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Steven Adams, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook
All in all, Adams is clearly a long-term project who a team will need to invest a few years of solid coaching in order to be able to expect to reap benefits from down the road. He may never develop into anything more than an average player offensively, but has excellent potential defensively thanks to his terrific physical tools, which could convince a NBA team to invest a pick on him somewhere late in the first round.
NBADraft.net interestingly has Shabazz Muhammad falling all the way to the Celtics at 16 despite having this note in his profile.
Shabazz Muhammad | NBADraft.net
Despite a decline in his draft stock from his early season standing as a top 3 pick, Shabazz is still a desirable prospect and should be taken in the top 10 in a weak draft class. If he falls much further than 10, teams could ultimately regret it .
Let me know which ones I've missed and I'll add the best ones to this list over time.
Also, I may have to put the top 25 names on an actual dart board and start throwing actual darts at it to see if I can come up with a better mock draft. Of course I don't own a dart board, so... problem there.
Also note: Ainge does not have a 2nd round pick, but he's still keeping a close eye on all the prospects - even in the lower end of the talent pool.
Danny Ainge evaluates all options | Boston Herald
Though the Celtics don’t have a second-round pick, Ainge still wants to see those players. “Things change day-to-day, because guys are trying to manage things,” said Ainge, who will soon start working out prospects in Waltham as well. “We’ll have workouts for second-round players, too, even though we don’t have a pick,” he said. “We’re evaluating the whole draft.”