My SBNation blogger mock draft results

Every year the fine folks at SBNation like to run a blogger mock draft with all the team sites represented. It is a lot of fun and there’s good natured banter going back and forth and we make the picks weeks before they actually occur and everything changes before we even get a chance to post them.

Also, I must forewarn everyone that I’m not much of a draft expert. All my decisions are based off of scanning various draft boards and consulting members of the CB staff. Still, it is a worthy exercise if only to get the perspective of each fan base headed into the draft.

For example, the main event was an Anthony Davis trade. In our mock, he didn’t go to the Lakers but to the New York Knicks. That shaped things in the draft somewhat. I had an opportunity to bid on Davis as well. However, with Irving in doubt and Davis giving out flashing neon signs about his intentions long term, I took Tatum off the table in any talks. That essentially ended any serious discussions and I was fine with that.

On to the draft. For the 14th pick I purely focused on the best player available. My personal favorite Brandon Clarke (because all Clarks are awesome, even with a superfluous e at the end) was off the board. So I went with big man Jaxson Hayes.

With Anthony Davis traded to the Knicks and Kyrie Irving most likely headed elsewhere in free agency, the Celtics have pivoted to building around the strong, young core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. Jaxson Hayes is most likely a project big man but he can learn on the job and compete with Robert Williams for years to come. Hayes has great athletic tools and measurables and developed quickly at Texas. He represents good value at this point in the draft and is worth investing in for his high upside.

I know the Celtics don’t want to keep all three picks but if they must, I figured I’d swing for the fences with picks 20 and 22. Forget role players, I’m gambling on upside! So I selected Bol Bol and Kevin Porter Jr. with my picks.

With 3 picks in the first round, the Celtics can afford to roll the dice on a high risk, high upside kind of guy. Bol Bol has the potential to be a stretch 5 rim protector with more skills than a guy his size usually has. He’ll need to recover from his broken foot and spend some quality time with strength and conditioning coaches, but the talent is too much to pass up here. With Jaxson Hayes, Bol Bol, AND Robert Williams III, the Celtics are all stocked up on project bigs now. Forget small-ball, “chicks dig the longball!”

The Celtics 3rd pick is a 3rd bite at the apple so we might as well swing for the fences. Porter has the dreaded “questions about approach to the game” label and comparisons to JR Smith (ew). However, he has lottery talent and represents good value at this point in the draft. In the right situation he can provide outside shooting and dynamic scoring.

So now it is your opportunity to rip my draft apart. Give me a grade and comment on the picks down below.