Should the Celtics have taken Buddy Hield over Jaylen Brown?
Debate the answer with Chad Finn and Boston sports fans at The Sports Q.
COMMENTARYWelcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, email, his Friday chat, and any other outlet you prefer. He’ll pick one each day (except for Saturday) to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments, where the mission is to have a sports conversation with occasional controversy, but without condescension or contrarianism. Chad will stop by the comments section several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation.I keep wondering what would have happened if the Celtics drafted Buddy Hield instead of Jaylen Brown. Should they have? – TheRumSmuggler
Nope. Uh-huh. Never.
I’m tempted just to leave my answer at that. I mean, the only theoretical reason Danny Ainge might have taken him with the No. 3 pick is if he knew that Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has a Warriors fixation and believes (laughably) that Hield’s ability to make a long jumper once in a while makes him the next Steph Curry. Then Ainge – again, theoretically – could have drafted the Oklahoma gunner and used him as a piece to pry DeMarcus Cousins from the Kings. Right, like the Pelicans just did.
Of course, we found out Monday that the Celtics have never had serious interest in Cousins. Sooooo … no, there was no reason to take him over Brown.
Listen, I don’t mean to dump on Hield. He’s a fine shooter. He seems like a nice kid. He’s doomed in Sacra … well, you know what I mean.
But if you have watched the Celtics with any attentiveness this season, I can’t imagine how you might prefer Hield to Brown, the smart, springy small forward the Celtics did take at No. 3.
The only reason is familiarity from his high-profile senior season at Oklahoma. That’s it. And that’s not a good reason. Brown is almost three full years younger. The importance of this cannot be exaggerated.
Brown is contributing – occasionally starting – for an excellent team. He is fifth among rookies in win shares (0.7), which is better than Hield (0.4). Yes, Hield is averaging more minutes and points per game, but again, he’s three years older, and has a much lower ceiling.
When Hield was Brown’s age, he was coming off a freshman year for the Sooners in which he’d averaged 7.8 points per game. He grew a lot in the ensuing three seasons. You’ve seen how much Brown has grown as a rookie. Imagine how Brown will grow in the same span.
I wouldn’t take Hield over Brown, and I probably wouldn’t take him over last year’s first-rounder, Terry Rozier, a much quicker player who is starting to show a killer instinct late in games. I’d definitely take him over Seth Curry, though. And probably Dell Curry at this point. He is 52 years old.
What about you? Do you wish the Celtics had taken Hield No. 3 overall? Or do you choose to be correct? I’ll see you in the comments.
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