Boston Celtics Select JR Giddens at #30

[GreenGrizz]

His uniform # should be 30 because that is the number where he got drafted.

[The Rondo Show]

Interesting pick. I haven't seen Giddens play in years; saw him a few times at Kansas and that was the last I ever heard of him or saw him until I was doing a little research on this years draft. He seems to have a lot of talent and Danny knows a lot more than me, so I'll trust his opinion on passing on Chalmers for Giddens even if I wouldn't have done it.

I had Walker #2 on my list for the pick at 30, so I'm pretty thrilled about that pickup.

[billfromBoston]

...you guys will love Giddens in 6 months..wait...

[Man_Up]

This is actually the guy I wanted.

Didn't expect Danny to take him with the 30th though.

Count me on the Gidden band wagon from day one.

[DynastyInTheMaking]

This is the exactly the kind of player I wanted to take here, a four year collegiate wing player. Giddens can be a rotational guy now.

What confused me is if we were gonna go out and deal for Walker too (same position as Giddens) then why not take the flyer on DeAndre Jordan. I don't know what Jordan will amount to of if we would even need him but I feel under KG and Doc's tutelage we could have done something productive with the kid.

[wbc17]

...you guys will love Giddens in 6 months..wait...

Sounds like you know him better than us, bfb.

Did you scout him?

Will he ever be good enough to replace TA as a defender?

[GreenGrizz]

Bill Walker is more like a project. Ainge wants a role player out of a 4 years experience college player in Giddens. We are still a champiosnhip level team. I wouldn't be surprised to see Erden remain in Europe. After Posey and House, we still have two serious spots opening.

[Celtics_Champs]

...you guys will love Giddens in 6 months..wait...

I like him already.

[P2]

Giddens was projected to be a mid 2nd round pick and we selected him at 30, and Ainge was the one who has observed him for a long time, according to Doc. That can only mean good things.

[TheCelticTruth]

i like both of these guys. i cannot agree that giddens is the equal to walker athletically, unless youre talking long term injury effects for walker, which may not be the case.

walker was so highly regarded for a reason.

not to take away from giddens, who i see filling a rodney stuckey type role (not playing any point).

edit: nice to see that SI's draft analysis described giddens as an "athletic rebounding guard." i like it

[wetsthebed]

I like this pick. I know a lot of people thought it was a reach because of where he was projected to go by DX and nbadraft.net, but I definitely didn't feel that way when we drafted him.

[atsoc711]

not to take away from giddens, who i see filling a rodney stuckey type role (not playing any point).

edit: nice to see that SI's draft analysis described giddens as an "athletic rebounding guard." i like it

I could be way off with this, as I have never seen Giddens play, but from reading about him and watching his videos on youtube, he reminds me of a poor man's Andre Iguodala.

Hopefully I can dig up this thread during the season and gloat.

Or someone can pull it up on me and put me to shame.

[campybatman]

Bye Tony Allen.

Ditto. He could be a better version of him.

Interesting... Made me recall what happened to Pierce in that stabbing incident. But, Pierce was the victim in that case. So, I'm not comparing the two incidents. I'm only saying that reading this evoked memory of Pierce and that he went to KU as well.

Ask J.R. Giddens about his past. Ask him about May 19, 2005, the night he was stabbed in his right calf in a bar fight and the thirty stitches he needed. Ask him about how he transferred out of the basketball powerhouse that recruited him as a McDonald’s All-American. Go ahead and ask him; he has nothing to hide.

“I have no problems about answering the questions because I was a kid who made bad decisions,” Giddens said. “As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to make better decisions, so if people want to ask questions and find out all the details, they can, because I’ll answer them.”

Clearly no one can predict the future, but five years ago after completing a prep career that left him as one of the top twenty players in the nation, things looked anything but bumpy for Giddens. The Oklahoma City native would sign a letter of intent to play for the Kansas Jayhawks because as he said, “when Roy Williams offers you a scholarship, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/J.R.-Giddens-74/

[LongTimeFan]

Well, here's a thought from an old man with a lot of kids. (DA looks at the team as his family.) You know college is the place where they hopefully develope a career and where they start to leave the nest. They make their own decisions and they always make a bunch of bonehead decisions.

The problem with man basketball players in the NBA is they've skipped the bonehead decision part in order to get into the NBA. Now they have a million dollars and all expense tour of the country.

A lage part of DA's genius is that he can assess where these prospects are on the bonehead curve and whether and how it will affect their development. There's a reason Gidden is happy the Lord blessed him with these experiences. The reason is that he's a Boston Celtic.

The man will fit in to the team just fine.

[Kefa461]

A well rounded player that has been on DA's radar for a bit now.....I like the pick.....should fit in well....will play the D....good bbiq.......

[hiphop1]

At first I was dumb founded, but after reading about him in this mornings paper he sounds solid. at 6'5" he is not undersized, and he can create for him self which is always nice. But the big thing is his defense and rebounding, that is how he will get his playing time and make his bones on this team. And it just so happens to be his best atributes.

[Gomes3PC]

Giddens is a similar player to Tony Allen, but they have some key differences:

1) Giddens is definitely not as good a slasher as TA, although he is not bad in that respect.
2) Allen is a better dribbler; Giddens will likely get his pocket picked for a few years until this improves
3) Giddens is not as strong as Allen on the wing, but his length and superior quickness can make him an equal defender.
4) JR is a superior rebounder, though TA is no slouch
5) Giddens is also a significantly better 3 point shooter, with NBA range, although he needs to get better at spotting up rather than shooting off the dribble
6) Giddens has a clean injury slate, whereas Tony is a big risk with his knee

[spf211]

I think it's interesting because if this was the draft pool last year and the Celtics had this pick they never would have taken Giddens and probably would have gone for Walker outright here or traded to the early 2nd round to get him (for the non-guaranteed money).

The Celtics are now able to take a high upside but questionable character like Giddens because they know with the chemistry on the team he will have to come in and fall into place. Oh, and they end up getting Walker anyway.

When you consider the possible FAs and aging of this roster, the 2/3 is really where the Celtics needed help and they walk away with two players who could make the rotation over the next year or two.

[Gomes3PC]

Giddens is NOT NOT a questionable character. Definitely not. He was immature his first two years in Kansas, but if you read or see anything about him since moving to New Mexico, he has been a model citizen and leader of his team. Like a lot of players tabbed as future top 10 picks in the NBA, he had an ego the size of Texas and he needed some humbling.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Decent draft for the C's given the low picks. Let's see if any of these guys even make the team first, though!