Boston Celtics
Boston takes top-rated high-schooler Gerald Green, a 6-foot-8 forward with their first pick in the NBA draft.
10:04 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 29, 2005
WALTHAM, Mass. -- For all the talk about increasing the Boston Celtics'
basketball IQ and leaning toward both a college player and a big man,
Danny Ainge ultimately decided to stick to his plan to go with "the best
player available," selecting 19-year-old high-schooler Gerald Green with
the club's 18th pick in last night's NBA Draft.
AP file photo Gerald Green, the Celtics' first-round draft pick despite being only 19-years-old, shows his shooting form while playing in the KMOX Shootout last December in St. Louis.
A couple of hours later in the second round, Boston selected a local
favorite in Providence College's Ryan Gomes with its 50th pick, and then
obtained Orien Greene , a 6-4 guard from Louisiana-Lafayette, at No. 53.
Rather than choosing a player who might help Boston win a few more games
in the short-term, Ainge said he felt it was more important to use the
team's first draft pick to acquire a player with the kind of athletic
tools that with the proper guidance will pay bigger dividends down the
road.
This 6-foot-8 forward from Houston, Texas, is just that type
of player, the Celtics executive director of basketball operations said.
"He's the best athlete in the draft," said Ainge.
"We think he's got a tremendous upside. This kid can shoot and he can
fly. I will say on the downside that he's 19 and he's not ready to win
in the NBA, so I'd be surprised if he beat out our young guards in
Delonte (West) and Tony (Allen) and obviously Paul (Pierce) and Ricky
(Davis). He's just another piece for the future that's got some
tremendous upside that we're very excited about.
Ainge -- who was not able to get Green to come in for a workout, but saw
him play and practice a number of times over the course of his final
high school season -- said that he and his staff were sitting in "the
war room" at The Sports Authority Training Center with their fingers
tightly crossed last night, although they never imagined Green would
drop below 10.
But the Celtics camp saw a glimmer of hope when they heard over the last
couple of days that Portland, which had been extremely high on Green,
might instead opt for Seattle Prep guard/forward Martell Webster -- whom
the Trail Blazers took with the sixth overall pick.
Boston became increasingly hopeful when Green was still around after the
12th pick, which the L.A. Clippers used to select Russian forward
Yaroslav Korolev.
Ainge was also encouraged knowing that Minnesota and Indiana were
looking to draft guards, which the Timberwolves did by grabbing North
Carolina's Rashad McCants at No. 14.
The Celts began "celebrating," he said, when New Mexico's Danny Granger
and Green were still available at 16 "because we knew we had one of
those two."
"You should have heard our phone ringing with about two picks to go,"
before Boston's, said Ainge. "We had everybody drooling to get Gerald
Green."
"It kind of felt nerve-wracking," Green said of waiting for his name to
be called. "I thought I was going to be picked a little earlier. But
that's OK. That's God's plan, so I'll just go with it."
Rated the top high school prospect by
Rivals.com, Green did not play basketball his freshman and sophomore
years at Dobie High School in Houston. After playing his junior season
there, he transferred to Gulf Shores Academy, where he repeated his
junior year.
In his final high school season (2004-05), Green averaged 33.0 points,
12.0 rebounds and earned his second All-State selection.
The MVP of the 2004 Reebok ABCD All-Star Camp, he went on to score a
game-high 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting that included a 6-for-9
performance from the perimeter in the 2005 McDonald's High School
All-America Game. He also won the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest.
Green originally committed to Oklahoma State, then opted for early entry
into the NBA Draft.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers says he loves the pick, and though he hates to
put that kind of pressure on him, is already comparing Green to Tracy
McGrady.
"He's a freak athlete. He really is," said the Celtics coach. "But he
also shoots the basketball well, has very good range, handles the ball,
does a lot of good things. He has shown that he's a thinker on the
floor. So an athlete who can think is something that any team would
like."
Celtics draft picks
|
More Celtics stories
Wallace gets a nice surprise, as the Big Three attend his Celtics coming-out party
Most Viewed Yesterday
Pedroia misses game to be with pregnant wife
Imprisoned for murder, ex-Providence police officer will still collect disability pension
Providence woman slain, boyfriend arrested in N.Y.
Most active surveys
Should the R.I. Tea Party have been dumped from Bristol's Fourth of July parade?
What would you do about the two tent cities in Providence?
React to proposed toll changes on the Pell, Mount Hope bridges
Is Narragansett's policy of using 'orange stickers' to mark party houses unconstitutional?
Most e-mailed in the last 24 hours
Reader Reaction










You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!
You are logged in as screenname | Log Out
You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name