Boston Celtics

Ask one person about Mason Plumlee and they'll tell you he has All Star potential in the NBA. Ask another and they will say he still isn't ready to be a professional despite playing four years at Duke. Plumlee has been an interesting topic discussion due to the disparity of reports on him. Despite the contrary reports, Mason Plumlee is expected to be selected anywhere from the middle of the lottery to around the 18th pick. Mason Plumlee Position: Power Forward Height: 6'11" Weight: 238 Age: 23 Mason Plumlee played significant minutes in all four of his seasons with the Duke Blue Devils, but it wasn't until his senior season that he cracked 30 minutes per game, with 34.7. He averaged 17.1 points on 59.9 percent shooting, 10 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game before Duke's season ended in the Elite 8 against the eventual champion Louisville Cardinals. Be sure to give me a follow on Twitter @Kevin__OConnor and let me know what players you'd like to see profiled next! Follow @Kevin__OConnor Offense Overview Mason Plumlee is an exciting player in transition, often finishing fast breaks with huge alley-oop dunks. He's efficient in catch and finish situations, which is the main reason he shot 59.9 percent as a senior. However, Plumlee is not a shooter due to a noticeable hitch in his shot release. Plumlee's a terrific screener, which makes him a threat in the pick and roll. Plumlee has the tools to get better on the offensive end and has improved on the post, but still needs to take his game to another level to proven he can play in the half court. Defense Overview Plumlee is an extremely athletic player but it doesn't exactly translate to the floor. He's not a shot blocker and is a very bad pick and roll defender. Mason often gets beat by ball handlers even when he has good positioning on them. Despite the concerns on the perimeter, he is a solid defender on the post. On the boards, Plumlee does a great job of boxing out and establishing positioning for rebounds. Keep an eye on the hyperlinks throughout this article, click on them to see videos of Mason Plumlee! Full Analysis Athleticism/Intangibles At the NBA Draft Combine, Mason Plumlee proved that he is an impressive athlete. Plumlee is a good leaper, recording an impressive 36-inch vertical. This makes him useful on the offensive end but his lackluster 30.5-inch standing vertical and short wingspan could hinder his ability elsewhere on the court. Running the floor, Plumlee shows great speed, frequently getting in front of the defense on the offensive break. However, when it comes to lateral speed, Plumlee is quite slow. This gets him into trouble on the defensive end since he can easily get beat by quicker players. Jump Shot Plumlee's most significant weakness on the offensive end is his jump shot. Mason looks like he "pushes" the ball towards the basket instead of actually shooting the ball. NBA teams would have liked him to make strides in his senior season but it didn't happen. Plumlee still shoots with no confidence around the perimeter and hasn't improved technically. Click here to watch DraftExpress' perfect breakdown of the problems Plumlee has when shooting the basketball. The hitch in his delivery forces him to shoot the ball flat towards the hoop. Considering his height, it almost appears that his shot is a line drive. If Plumlee simply removes this hitch from his delivery, he will create more arc with his shot, and a higher success rate. However, considering the lack of improvement since his freshman year, it's a wonder if that adjustment will ever be made. His lack of shooting ability is especially concerning because it doesn't make him a threat in the pick and pop. Plumlee arguably sets the best screens out of any of the bigs in the draft, so it's a shame that he doesn't have a jumper to compliment that. As a result, defenders will always play him to roll to the basket since he isn't a risk to hit the outside shot. H

Dan Gilbert's kid was lucky once again. For the second time since LeBron left, the Cleveland Cavs have the top pick. Most believe that they'll pick Nerlens Noel. Cleveland Cavaliers win 2013 NBA Draft lottery - SBNation.com Considering Varejao's fragility, Cleveland might turn to Nerlens Noel with their top pick. Noel is coming off of an injury as well and is expected to make a full recovery. Noel would make opposing teams consider before driving the lane on the Cavs. Cleveland averaged four blocks a game last season, good for second-to-last in the league. Noel averaged 4.4 blocks a game by himself for the Kentucky Wildcats last season. The other big winner was the Wizards who were slotted for the 8th spot but moved all the way up to number 3. On weird years like this one, I feel like for some reason the Wizards might walk away with the best pick in the draft when all is said and done. We'll see though. Oh yeah, and the Magic got the 2 pick. So what does all this have to do with the Celtics? Not likely anything, but at least we know the draft order now.

The offseason is here for the Boston Celtics, and in just a couple of months, they will begin the process of putting next year’s team together.  We will take a look at the current Celtics and try to figure out what to do with each of them.  We continue today with Jared Sullinger. Red flag. Those two words might as well be tattooed onto Jared Sullinger’s forehead. The red flag gifted Sullinger to the Celtics at a point in the draft where guys like him don’t normally drop.  The red flag was openly mocked (especially by me) as Sullinger slowly became the Celtics best rebounder.  And the red flag smacked us in the face when the Celtics lost him for the season just days after Rajon Rondo went down with a torn ACL. Now, Sullinger is a 21 year-old recovering from back surgery.  It’s a surgery that may well correct the problem moving forward.  But it’s a surgery on a part of the body that freaks people out.  Back injuries are no joke.  And a chronic back issue can derail a career faster than just about any other injury. So what do the Celtics do with Jared Sullinger?  There really aren’t that many options. Trade him This isn’t a great scenario for a bunch of reasons. 1:  If a team passed on Sullinger in the draft, they’re not going to be begging for him in a trade.  They’ve made their choice, and a half year, regardless of the promise shown, plus back surgery isn’t going to convince most teams that they so royally screwed up that they must now rectify it by bringing him back. 2:  Teams that might consider him will lowball the Celtics because of the back surgery. 3:  His value to the Celtics FAR outweighs his salary.  Sullinger is on the second year of a rookie deal.  His contract this year is worth $1,365,720.   So Sullinger’s value in a trade scenario is simply as a sweetener to get a much more established player.  If the Celtics find a deal for a veteran big and it takes giving up a rookie like Sullinger as part of a larger deal, they might have to pull the trigger.  But when you consider the three points I just made, I’m not sure that’s something that will happen. Waive him Yeah, right. Keep him  You’ve got a 22 year-old who supplanted a guy who just got almost $20 million from the team in the starting lineup.  He immediately became your best rebounder, leading the Celtics on offensive rebounding percentage and overall rebounding percentage (before Shavlik Randolph came along). The Celtics are transitioning to a younger core, and it’s not a secret that Sullinger has worked his way into that group.  And the most he’ll make over the next three seasons is $2,269,260. When you’re operating under a highly restrictive CBA, a young power forward at that price that can rebound on a team that has largely been allergic doesn’t seem to be someone you give up all too easily. So to recap… They could trade him, most likely as part of a larger deal They keep him They could waive him, triggering me to lead a search for Danny Ainge that would look exactly like this: My Take If you can’t figure it out by now, I’m all about keeping this kid through the duration of his contract, and probably beyond. He’s a rebounder on a team that needs one desperately.  Not only that, he’s got the right attitude about rebounding: “As long as you rebound, you’re going to have a job around here.  That my whole goal is to keep my job.” But he’s more than that.  He’s willing to take charges, making him valuable on defense.  He’s also got a nice touch, which allows the Celtics to play a pick-and-pop game with him.  We saw him score without any plays really being called for him because he has a nose for the ball (code for: he’s smart about getting good position) and he can get you two or three baskets a game just off the offensive boards or finishing off the pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop after a broken play. Have I men

This is the time of year where GM's do a lot of window shopping and make sure the stuff they're trying to pawn off on to other GM's are front fixtures of their store. If you haven't heard, the marriage between NO and Eric Gordon hasn't been going well and the long time union between Paul Pierce and Boston might be coming to a close. Naturally, they make for a perfect wife swap right now. The only place this is getting traction right now is in the Twitterverse and in the forums, but here ya go: Just heard strange rumor from EC source: Celtics talking about possibility of Pierce and Bradley for Eric Gordon. — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 To be clear, if somehow this deal did go down, Pierce would never play for the Pelicans. Would be moved or bought out — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 Man, I hate how this game of telephone twitter gets played. Things just get exaggerated. Celtics discussing internall does not equal — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 "talking with Pelicans" about a trade. Celtics internally discussing multiple options, Gordon is one of them. Clear enough blogosphere? — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 There's more on on Michael McNamara's timeline if you're interested. As always, take these rumors with a grain of salt. What we do know is that Danny has roughly six weeks to make a decision on Pierce's contract. He'll listen to all offers leading up to the draft and that June 30th deadline. It's not secret that Eric Gordon's time in New Orleans has been bumpy and if they can somehow get out of the contract they inked him to last summer, they'll listen. As far as Gordon's fit on the Celtics is concerned, my take is that I'd rather keep Bradley long term. If we're just comparing young guard to young guard and not considering The Captain in the equation, I go with AB. We've still got him on the cheap for two more years and that's plenty of time to see if he can live up to his potential. And for what it's worth, here's a New Orleans beat writer's take: Source says rumors regarding possible Eric Gordon trade by #pelicans have no merit. — Jimmy Smith (@JimmySmith504) May 21, 2013 Now if we're talking a three-way deal that might re-route Gordon back to the Clippers for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan AND we get a lottery ticket for Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes, that's a different story. See what I did there? That's how rumors are born.

Just heard strange rumor from EC source: Celtics talking about possibility of Pierce and Bradley for Eric Gordon. — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 We knew the rumors would be coming. Other than Stephen A Smith's inane mumbling, this is the first legit rumor that I've heard. We know that Danny has to make the decision on Paul Pierce first so it would be logical that he is taking and making offers for the Captain. We know that Danny had to at least see what was out there for Pierce before making his decision. Pierce and Bradley for Gorden works in the trade checker. Personally, I don't think Pierce would play for the Pelicans. If Danny were to make this trade, I think the Pelicans do it to get Bradley and would buy out Pierce for cap space. That would leave Pierce free to sign with whatever team he chooses. In Gordon, the Celtics would get a 6'3", 24 year old guard who can shoot the ball. He averaged 17.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists in 30.1 minutes per game last season. He shot 44.3% from the field, 36.3% from beyond the arc and 81.3% from the line. The one big question about Gordon is that he seems injury prone. He has missed significant time in every season except his rookie year. This wouldn't be the worst that Danny could do. But then again, he would be committing another 3 years to Gorden at $14.2, $14.9 and $15.5 million. That's a risky investment for a player who has the injury history of Gordon. According to McNamara, Danny is discussing a handful of scenarios regarding Pierce and that makes sense. The key is going to be whether any of those scenarios will net Danny a player he feels will help the team more than Paul Pierce will. [Discuss on CG Forums!]

Here’s a whopper of a trade rumor, courtesy of New Orleans Pelicans blogger Michael McNamara: Just heard strange rumor from EC source: Celtics talking about possibility of Pierce and Bradley for Eric Gordon. Pierce’s contract is only partially guaranteed. Best case scenario: Pelicans can move Pierce for something. Worst case: Buy him out for Five million and have even more cap space this summer plus the young perimeter defender they crave in Bradley. Interesting Apparently Celtics discussing a handful of scenarios regarding Pierce. Would rather get something as opposed to buying him out To be clear, if somehow this deal did go down, Pierce would never play for the Pelicans. Would be moved or bought out About 90% of Celtics fans are disgusted with this idea even being discussed. Cant say I blame them. Pelicans fans about 80% in favor. My initial reaction to this rumor is… NO. Eric Gordon may be a young (24), high-scoring (17 ppg) guard, but his injury history is frightening. Check out this injury outline via Bourbon Street Shots: 2009-10 Season (62 out of 82 games) November 2009 (8 games) – Strained groin December 2009 (1 game) –  Precautionary (hamstring tightness) January 2010 (3 games) –  Sprained left big toe March 2010 (5 games) – Groin injury April 2010 (3 games) – Viral infection(final 3 games of the season; Clippers tanking?) 2010-11 Season (56 out of 82 games) November 2010 (2 games) – Bruised left shoulder January 2011 (18 games) – Right wrist bone chip fracture(which he played through for 17 minutes after first suffering the injury) March 2011(6 games) – Re-injury to right wrist 2011-12 Season (9 out of 66 games) December 2011 (57 games) – Right knee injury 2012-13 Season (18 out of 53 games) October 2012 (29 games) – Right knee injury January 2013 (5 games) – Rest (back-to-back games) February 2013 (1 game) – Sprained right hand (precautionary due to prior wrist injury) And let’s not forget Gordon’s in-game shouting match with head coach Monty Williams, who happens to be a close friend of Doc Rivers. Gordon isn’t cheap. He has 3 years and $45 million remaining on his contract. This is a tough call because Gordon would be fuel-injection for the Celtics offense. Not only can he shoot with range, but he has the ability to get to the rim and draw fouls. I’m prepared for the Celtics to waive Pierce and get nothing in return. It’s Bradley’s inclusion in this deal that has me torn. And would Kevin Garnett return if this deal were made? So many things to consider… Take Our Poll

May 15, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) warms up before game five against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Grizzlies defeated the Thunder 88-84. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Kevin Durant donated $1 million to the ARC for disaster relief in Oklahoma City. By now, I’m sure you have heard about the tornadoes that have been through Oklahoma City. Durant embodies what we want a professional sports player to be. He’s so humble and caring, this only puts a stamp on everything that we initially believed. It didn’t take him long to donate at all and I’m sure he did it without hesitation. Its really hard not to like this guy. 101 people have been rescued from the rubble according to Oklahoma City authorities. Durant’s million dollars should give relief to many who desperately need it. I’m sure that he saved lives with that. If you would like to donate to the Red Cross fund text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. You can also go to redcross.org if you’d like to donate as well.

Apr 12, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets guard Eric Gordon (10) is defended by Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) during the first half at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports There is a rumor going around that the Boston Celtics could be looking to trade for  the New Orleans Pelicans swingman Eric Gordon according to Michael McNamara of ESPN’s Truehoop blog Bourbon Street Shots. Just heard strange rumor from EC source: Celtics talking about possibility of Pierce and Bradley for Eric Gordon. — Michael McNamara (@McNamara247) May 21, 2013 Keep in mind that EC stands for Eastern Conference here. So the source is closer to the Celtics than the Pelicans. If the trade does go down, the Celtics would have moved Pierce’s contract and Avery Bradley for a swingman coming off of an ankle injury. Gordon has only played in 51 games in the past two seasons, but many believe that is because he didn’t want to play for the Hornets. If there is any truth to that, the Celtics could get some value in Gordon. Gordon’s best season was his third year with the Clippers. He averaged 22.3 points on 45% shooting. He also shot 36% from three that year–just near the league average. Gordon would insert some much needed offense for a team sorely lacking just that. They’d miss Avery Bradley’s defense on the perimeter, though. Bradley was easily the best perimeter defender for the Celtics this season. Once he made his return, he took what was a bottom 10 defense and turned it into a top 10 defense. The Celtics allow 1.9 less points with him on the court. We also have to remember Bradley was coming off of shoulder surgery to start the season. He has an injury history, too. So if this deal does manifest, its likely that Bradley will not be the only thing leaving the Celtics.

Herald Terrence Williams posts bail following arrestTerrence Williams up on charges Celtics Green A Possible Draft Target: Giannis AntetokunpoTerrence Williams UpdateCelticsBlog Level setting expectations for the 16th pick in the NBA Draft NBA Draft Combine observationsCLNS Radio Celtics Draft Prospect: Gorgui DiengReport Card: Paul PierceESPN Williams Tweets after posting bail Report Card: Courtney LeeSomeone to lean on? Jeff Green must show Boston Celtics he can deliver promise Lex Nihil Novi John Havlicek : Merchandiser NonpareilWas Bill Walton Overrated?Red's Army Photo Gallery:The 2012-13 Boston Celtics What do we do with… Jordan Crawford? Your Morning Dump… Where Terrence Williams gives his side of the storyNESN Syracuse Guard Michael Carter-Williams Wants to ‘Play Somewhere Else’ Than for Hometown CelticsTim Duncan Would Have Looked Surprisingly at Home in Celtics Jersey Without Draft LotteryPro Basketball Talk Durant, Thunder players tweet out support for Oklahoma City CSNNE The night Celtics landed fifth pick in NBA lottery Celtics Hub Update: Terrence Williams Out on Bail, Will Be in Court on WednesdayMass Live Terrence Williams tweets about gun-related arrest; in court, Boston Celtics guard disputes some detailsBoston Celtics rumors 2013: Greg Oden still someone the Celtics will monitorBleacher Report Kevin Garnett's Boston Celtics Future Hinges on Paul Pierce's Fate What's Next for Paul Pierce Heading into Uncertain 2013 Offseason? Yahoo Lakers Vs. Celtics Offseason 2013: Who's Got it Worse?

Herald Terrence Williams posts bail following arrestTerrence Williams up on charges Celtics Green A Possible Draft Target: Giannis AntetokunpoTerrence Williams UpdateCelticsBlog Level setting expectations for the 16th pick in the NBA Draft NBA Draft Combine observationsCLNS Radio Celtics Draft Prospect: Gorgui DiengReport Card: Paul Pierce ESPN Williams Tweets after posting bail Report Card: Courtney LeeSomeone to lean on? Jeff Green must show Boston Celtics he can deliver promise Lex Nihil Novi John Havlicek : Merchandiser NonpareilWas Bill Walton Overrated?Red's Army Photo Gallery:The 2012-13 Boston Celtics What do we do with… Jordan Crawford? Your Morning Dump… Where Terrence Williams gives his side of the storyNESN Syracuse Guard Michael Carter-Williams Wants to ‘Play Somewhere Else’ Than for Hometown CelticsTim Duncan Would Have Looked Surprisingly at Home in Celtics Jersey Without Draft LotteryPro Basketball Talk Durant, Thunder players tweet out support for Oklahoma City CSNNE The night Celtics landed fifth pick in NBA lottery Celtics Hub Update: Terrence Williams Out on Bail, Will Be in Court on WednesdayMass Live Terrence Williams tweets about gun-related arrest; in court, Boston Celtics guard disputes some detailsBoston Celtics rumors 2013: Greg Oden still someone the Celtics will monitorBleacher Report Kevin Garnett's Boston Celtics Future Hinges on Paul Pierce's Fate What's Next for Paul Pierce Heading into Uncertain 2013 Offseason? Yahoo Lakers Vs. Celtics Offseason 2013: Who's Got it Worse? [Discuss on CG Forums!]