Bill Walker is a Celtic

DorfonCeltics · Post #101 » by **DorfonCeltics** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:57 pm

I'm pretty happy with the C's getting Walker. Seems like a guy who can not only contribute right away but who has a pretty good upside if his knees hold up.

Albin · Post #102 » by **Albin** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:09 pm

There is going to be plenty of time for Walker to see the floor next year. It's just a question of whether Doc wants to play him or not. We have our core coming back, and we'll be seeing plenty of blowouts.

It's possible that we see Pruitt, Giddens, Walker all on the floor together in 4th quarters. We can put together a very athletic second unit.

Like many, many others, I was really in love with this kid coming out of high school - he was a very high lotto pick until those injuries. Lucky for us - and perhaps "lucky" for him, because now he's on a championship caliber team.

Learning under Pierce will be amazing for Bill Walker - I can't stress this enough. If he works hard and is healthy, we're going to love this kid and he can develop quickly. He's already got a pro body and his game is better suited to the pros then the college game.

Walker is not as dumb as Tony Allen either... this kid studies tapes, learns and wants to work on his game. What I want to see out of him is dedication to the defensive end.

You guys know I love the "kids", and I suspect he's going to be my favorite "kid" this year. For the record, last year I actually liked rooting for Gabe the most, although he didn't see much floor time.

It's destiny. Walker in Green.

eitanr · Post #103 » by **eitanr** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:22 pm

Tony Allen is officially gone....I wonder who picks him up? I smell another post.

Gant · Post #104 » by **Gant** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:27 pm

Don't bury Tony yet. I think they were drafting BPA, not to replace anyone.

DJToLarry · Post #105 » by **DJToLarry** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:30 pm

Love the Bill Walker pick. High upside with no risk what so ever. Hopefully at least one of Giddens/Walker pans out. And with DAs history, you have to think our odds are good.

Plus anyone who wants to be on the court so bad he pees in a couple of gatorade towels must have a love for the game.

nyhuskyfan · Post #106 » by **nyhuskyfan** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:45 pm

The confusing thing to me is why the Wizards would just simply trade him for cash to a team that's a conference rival. If two years from now the Wizards and Celtics are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals and Walker contributes anything whatsoever on the court, it'll be one of the dumbest moves in history. You'd give up a finals apperance for some petty cash.

At least trade for some cash and the #60 pick or next year's second rounder or something.

celticfan42487 · Post #107 » by **celticfan42487** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:55 pm

Umn, look at his injury history whoes really only great NBA asset was to be slashing. And then injured for workouts. There's a reason he droped this low and teh Wizards rather keep a roster spot open for another player. He's more of a longshot then anything at this point and will have to develop a lot of off the ball assets to become a real contributer. The ball isn't going to be in his hands in teh NBA like it was college.

Giddens seems to have some roelplayer ability though so maybe he'll see some decent time next year.

Post #108 » by **UGA Hayes** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:44 pm

Woot!!!! A+ draft. We have the added benefit of if our picks pan out it will probably be sooner than the unbelievably large number of potential prospect went early and the FO will look pretty good for picking some more ready players.

As a related aside I think the first round of this draft is going to look incredible dissapointing in retrospect.

buckner1976 · Post #109 » by **buckner1976** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:02 pm

celticfan42487 wrote:Umn, look at his injury history whoes really only great NBA asset was to be slashing. And then injured for workouts. There's a reason he droped this low and teh Wizards rather keep a roster spot open for another player. He's more of a longshot then anything at this point and will have to develop a lot of off the ball assets to become a real contributer. The ball isn't going to be in his hands in teh NBA like it was college.

Giddens seems to have some roelplayer ability though so maybe he'll see some decent time next year.

his latest injury scared a lot of teams off for sure but its really worth the gamble. a closer look at things shows that walker has regained most of his athleticism back from his first injury during workouts and was showing improved shooting from the perimeter when he went down. he had also lost over 25 lbs from his 235 playing weight in college and was looking spry and quick. the slightly torn meniscus he suffered was not on the same knee he previously injured. it required minor surgery and theres no reason he shouldnt be ready to go by training camp. both he and giddens are gonna soak up ray and paul like a sponge. i think giddens is more polished defensively right now than walker but walker absolutely has the tools to be stellar. walker projects more as a 3. hes the one who projects more like a taller tony allen(hes a legit 6'6, 210) as his game is 1-2 dribbles and then to the rack as a finisher extraordinaire where i think giddens can and will improve his ballhandling to the point of being able to handle the rock at times.

bmac · Post #110 » by **bmac** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:05 pm

^Yeah, I was just going to type this. He had a slight tear of his meniscus...He was very explosive last season and that was on 2 repaired ACL's, so I think he's more than worth the cash considerations.

Post #111 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:02 pm

Bill Walker right now is like Gerald Green with strength, intensity, lateral quickness, and the ability to slash....

I think without injury concerns he was a much better prospect than Gerald, and he actually seems like he will capitalize on his talent, especially defensively.

Dogen · Post #112 » by **Dogen** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:41 pm

QFT.

Walker isn't GG or Kedrick Brown, he's going to do some beasting for us, and I fully expect we'll see him at some point in the next year, walking off the court after the other team calls a time out to stop the Celtic's run, and KG will be screaming some thing in his ear, like "That's right, Mo****Fu****!!"

Post #113 » by **Spin Move** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:25 pm

Dogen wrote:QFT.

Walker isn't GG or Kedrick Brown, he's going to do some beasting for us, and I fully expect we'll see him at some point in the next year, walking off the court after the other team calls a time out to stop the Celtic's run, and KG will be screaming some thing in his ear, like "That's right, Mo****Fu****!!"

We will have to see how he recovers but if he does come back 95% plus he has the athletic ability to be an all star and the skills to be at very worst case scenario a good rotation player, the question is, will he come back at 100% and if he does can he stay healthy and continue to develop his game. He actually reminded me a bit of Paul Pierce in college early in his career. I am from kansas originally and watched alot of both of them play, I really hoped we would take him at 30, lets hope he gets back to 100%

dingodile · Post #114 » by **dingodile** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:36 pm

There's something more to this injury. We all know that he has recovered from 2 ACL tears/reconstructions in his right knee, but we really don't know the extent of his most recent knee injury (suffered during workouts). I haven't even heard which knee we're talking about now.

The part that gives me the most pause is the general consenus that he was a 1st rounder prior to this injury and now has fallen to the mid 2nd. It's been rumored that he tore his meniscus and that caused his stock to drop. But there's no way that's the whole truth. A player can undergo surgery on a torn meniscus and return to playing basketball at a high level within a month. So, I doubt we're only looking at a torn menicus and there's probably something else going on.

GuyClinch · Post #115 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:34 pm

Well if he comes back he can be like Powe. It's not like the C's are taking a huge risk here.. It's a low risk/high reward move. You have to like that.

Pete

jbs · Post #116 » by **jbs** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:52 pm

Some more insight into the draft process. Ainge says that he considered picking Walker with the 30th pick:

http://www.eagletribune.com/pusports/lo ... d=topstory

"We had considered Billy at the 30th pick," said Ainge. "This is as close to Leon Powe (who had a knee injury in college, thus dropping to 49th in 2006) as there is."

jbs · Post #117 » by **jbs** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:05 pm

Yet more quotes from Ainge regarding Walker:

(from the Enterprice news.com)

“I think the knee injury definitely hurt him,” said Ainge early Friday morning after the draft concluded around midnight. “This is a kid that was mentioned in the same breath a couple years ago with all the kids in the lottery. Those are his classmates.

“He has had a couple of injuries and now he has to make it from the second round. We love his potential.”

Walker returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament to have a solid season last winter, earning third-team All-Big 12 honors. He is a power player who can leap and is a decent outside shooter.

“I thought he played pretty well this year,” said Ainge. “I think he has a lot of potential. He’s not 100 percent.

“He’s big and strong and has big hands, long arms and he’s a power player. He’s a high energy player. I think he can be a better player than he’s been in his life with the right discipline and treatment and rehab.”

hiphop1 · Post #118 » by **hiphop1** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:09 pm

jbs wrote:Yet more quotes from Ainge regarding Walker:

(from the Enterprice news.com)

“I think the knee injury definitely hurt him,” said Ainge early Friday morning after the draft concluded around midnight. “This is a kid that was mentioned in the same breath a couple years ago with all the kids in the lottery. Those are his classmates.

“He has had a couple of injuries and now he has to make it from the second round. We love his potential.”

Walker returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament to have a solid season last winter, earning third-team All-Big 12 honors. He is a power player who can leap and is a decent outside shooter.

“I thought he played pretty well this year,” said Ainge. “I think he has a lot of potential. He’s not 100 percent.

“He’s big and strong and has big hands, long arms and he’s a power player. He’s a high energy player. I think he can be a better player than he’s been in his life with the right discipline and treatment and rehab.”

sounds great to me.

TheSheriff · Post #119 » by **TheSheriff** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:53 pm

jbs wrote:What position will he play in the NBA: SF og SG? Is he big enough to play SF?

He is 6'6", so he should be tall enough. Though if someone could find his standing reach that would be a better indicator.

TheSheriff · Post #120 » by **TheSheriff** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:57 pm

dingodile wrote:There's something more to this injury. We all know that he has recovered from 2 ACL tears/reconstructions in his right knee, but we really don't know the extent of his most recent knee injury (suffered during workouts). I haven't even heard which knee we're talking about now.

The part that gives me the most pause is the general consenus that he was a 1st rounder prior to this injury and now has fallen to the mid 2nd. It's been rumored that he tore his meniscus and that caused his stock to drop. But there's no way that's the whole truth. A player can undergo surgery on a torn meniscus and return to playing basketball at a high level within a month. So, I doubt we're only looking at a torn menicus and there's probably something else going on.

I read an interview with Walker this morning that said he was having surgery in early july and expect to be back playing 3 weeks after that.