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My top draft moments in Celtics history, Part I
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AP Photo/Eric J. Shelton: Danny Ainge ponders his limited options for Thursday.
With the 2009 NBA draft looming, I figured that I’d take some time to dim the lights, put on some smooth jazz, maybe throw on a pair of slippers and a nice robe, and genuflect over my favorite Celtics draft moments. It’s time to revel in sentimentality, to throw myself into the arena of subjectivity, and remember my Top Draft Moments in Celtics History.
8. 2003 Draft: Troy Bell, Dahntay Jones
As a Boston College alum, I have my fair share of BC sports memories. Of course, they’ve all occurred with me watching, not actually doing (other than a few big games on the Alumni Stadium field with my friends and some good touch football moments in the dorm parking lots). Watching Troy Bell when he had a good feel for his jumper was unreal. You literally felt like every shot was going to go in, and you did not think that BC was out of any game when Bell was on the floor. He was that good.
When the Cs drafted Bell in the first round, I was shocked, excited, and confused all at once. Did he really have an NBA game? Could he guard NBA players? Did he have the ball-handling and passing skills needed to play point in the NBA? Was he going to hurt his legacy at BC by quickly flaming out in the NBA?
The answers to the above are: no, no, no, yes.
It was disturbing to see Bell (along with Jones) instantly traded to Memphis on draft day, depriving me of even getting one glimpse of Bell in the Cs’ green and white. Of course the trade netted Kendrick Perkins, so in the long run it was a great move, but at the time, it was a swift jab to the gut of the BC/Celtics fanbase. However, the Celtics could have had David West, Marquis Daniels, or Travis Outlaw with this pick.
After failing in the NBA (here’s a shot of him in the NBA’s D-League), I feared for the worst. Did he give up basketball? Was he homeless? I one day decided to try and track him down on the trusty internet. Apparently, he has been playing overseas, so maybe we’ll see him in 2009-210?
7. 1994 Draft: Eric Montross
I remember watching this draft at home, in my basement, eagerly anticipating the Celtics getting Montross. I heard about this guy, and I thought that if there ever was a place for a big white guy who looked like Guile from Street Fighter (or for a more realistic comparison, Chris Mullin) to succeed in the NBA, it was Boston. Could the Celtics have used their pick on a better player, like Jalen Rose or Eddie Jones? Of course, but the Celtics needed a big man, and they already had Sherman Douglas and Dee Brown at their guard spots and Rick Fox at small forward.
Montross had a respectable rookie year, averaging 10/7, while starting 75 games (but only averaging about 30 mpg over the course of the year). Bump his stats up to your typical 36 minutes of playing time, and his numbers look even better (12/9).
Of course, Montross’ rookie year was actually his ceiling, not his starting point. It’s a rare accomplishment to have both in the same year, so kudos to him on that one. The Celtics wisely sold high on Montross, and dealt him to the Mavs, along with their first round pick in the ’96 draft, for firsts in ’96 and ’97. And with that, we move on to the next draft on our list…
6. 1996 Draft: Antoine Walker
Antoine Walker, founder and lone practitioner of the Walker Wiggle, was the Cs’ first round pick in the ’96 draft. After the Larry Bird Era, there was the ill-fated Dino Radja/Dee Brown Era. Fortunately, with the Cs’ drafting of Walker, they had a new franchise player to lean on, as he would lead them (along with Paul Pierce) back into the playoffs.
Walker, first and foremost, was fun. He had an unorthodox game, taking a ton of 3s and rarely using the post. He could bring the ball up, and offer the nice dish here and there, just to keep opponents on their toes. While his rebounding may not have been stellar, it was still quite solid, especially for a guy his size (6’8”). He blossomed into the team leader, and I’ll never forget his scolding of the team, particularly Pierce, during Game 3 against the Nets in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics were getting killed at home, and Walker lit into his mates. Boston eventually went on to win the game (but not the series), capturing one of the biggest playoff comebacks in NBA history.
However, his act wore thin with coaches, management, and fans. I even wanted him gone after his one millionth wiggle, especially when at least half of them came when the Celtics were LOSING. When Walker wouldn’t adjust his game to incorporate more low-post offense, and couldn’t get into better game shape, Boston traded him after the 2002 season. Boston knew that the team needed to be blown up and constructed around Pierce, and that was a wise decision. The poor decision in this case was who the Celtics got in return. The Celtics traded Walker and Tony Delk to Dallas for Raef LaFrentz (ugh), Jiri Welsch (double ugh), Chris Mills (seriously?) and the Mavericks' 2004 first round pick.
Boston actually traded back for Walker in 2005 to help them with their playoff stretch run. The deal worked out (relatively speaking), as the Celtics made the playoffs, but they still lost to Indiana in the first round. However, Walker was able to reunite with the fans, whose love for him actually was reignited with his trade out of town.
At the end of the day, the Walker selection was a good one. Did he immediately turn the franchise around? No, as the Celtics lost 18 more games his rookie year than they did in the previous season, and they didn’t even reach the playoffs again until 2002. Paul Pierce can be credited with doing more for Boston than Walker can, and they basically played on the same teams up until Walker’s trade. But he was a good player who probably would have had an even better career if he had played on a team with an established center and/or point guard. He won a ring with Miami in 2006, and as a Celtic fan, I was happy for him. It’s just too bad that he wasn’t with Pierce on the podium in 2008.
5. 1997 Draft: Chauncey Billups, Ron Mercer, no Tim Duncan
The Celtics were stuck in an oil pit of losing, unable to get out without the assistance of something greater than the sum of their pitiful parts. That thing, or man, was supposed to be Tim Duncan. The Celtics earned the worst record in the league, and thus had the most ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. The Celtics did not score the top pick, and the entire state of Massachusetts let out a collective “What the %&*#?” Boston was stuck with picks #3 and #6, which is still a nice pair of picks, but still not going to net Boston the draft prize, which was Duncan.
Boston ended up with the potential point guard and shooting guard of its future: Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer. I knew nothing about these guys, but heard good things about them, and Boston needed all of the help that it could get.
Well, apparently Rick Pitino didn’t exactly love his draft selections. Maybe he just spent practice time staring at the door, waiting for Duncan to roll in wearing a Celtics green practice jersey, telling Pitino that he had just gotten punked. Maybe he couldn’t deal with the let-down of the draft, constantly comparing his selections to the assets that Duncan would have provided, kind of like pulling a pros and cons of his expected scenario versus his new, depressing reality. Regardless, Pitino wasted no time in getting these players out of his sight. He traded Billups to Toronto for Kenny Anderson, and Billups would eventually go on to win the 2004 Finals MVP, and make 4 All-Star teams. Mercer was traded in 1999, getting Boston one of my favorite all-time Celtics, Eric Williams, along with Danny “I will kill you in your sleep without hesitation” Fortson.
Billups was selected as a sophomore out of Colorado, and he clearly wasn’t ready for Pitino’s demanding style. That’s not entirely his fault, and that’s definitely not a good enough reason to ship him out before his rookie season is even over. Has he bounced around the league a bit, semi-justifying Pitino’s trade? Yes, but just because he ended up being a fairly late bloomer does not mean that he wouldn’t have succeeded earlier with Boston if Pitino had just shown some patience.
Mercer was a decent pro, and stayed in the league long enough to have a respectable career, but he failed to accomplish anything noteworthy. He had a few injuries derail his career a bit, but the bottom line is that he was simply drafted too high, and the Cs would have been better off with the likes of Tracy McGrady or Tim Thomas, both of whom were drafted soon after the Celtics picked Mercer.
This draft was an embarrassment from the day of the ping pong balls all the way through the end of the 1997-1998 season. Pitino couldn’t have handled it any worse, and he did his best to make the worst out of a bad situation. Thanks for setting the franchise back a few years, Rick.
Tomorrow: Part II...stay thirsty my friends
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