Tag: 2018 NBA Draft

On this date: Robert Williams III drafted; Eric Montross, George Kaftan traded

On this date, the Boston Celtics drafted Robert Williams III in the 2018 NBA draft and traded George Kaftan and Eric Montross.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team selected one player of note in the 2018 NBA draft, held in New York City, New York. To the surprise of virtually everyone, raw but promising Texas A&M big man Robert Williams III, a rim-running, shot-blocking prospect, slid to the Celtics at No. 27.

Timelord — as Williams came to be called — is in his third season with Boston. While he had to deal with yet another season plagued with injury, he has shown considerable growth on both ends of the floor. He even stole the team’s starting role by the end of the 2020-21 NBA season and earning All-Defensive Second Team honors in the subsequent season.

Injuries have plagued his career in recent years, but the Louisiana native appears to be on the mend in terms of health.

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On this date: Robert Williams III drafted; Eric Montross, George Kaftan traded

On this date, the Boston Celtics drafted Robert Williams III in the 2018 NBA draft and traded George Kaftan and Eric Montross.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team selected one player of note in the 2018 NBA draft, held in New York City, New York. To the surprise of virtually everyone, raw but promising Texas A&M big man Robert Williams III, a rim-running, shot-blocking prospect, slid to the Celtics at No. 27.

Timelord — as Williams came to be called — is in his third season with Boston. While he had to deal with yet another season plagued with injury, he has shown considerable growth on both ends of the floor, even stealing the team’s starting role by the end of the 2020-21 NBA season and earning All-Defensive Second Team honors in the subsequent season.

Injuries have plagued his career in recent seasons, but after knee cleanup surgery in the 2022 offseason, the Louisiana Native appears to be on the mend in terms of health.

Two Celtics shifting spots in reassessment of the 2018 NBA draft

One of the duo was seen as a project, but has since proven so much more.

With Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon keeping busy reassessing the draft order of the last several decades over the last few years, there are nearly always several Boston Celtics alumni on the move in their redrafts as a result of their efforts.

In the H/H duo’s reassessment of the NBA’s 2018 draft class, just two Celtics alumni ended up seeing their draft stock shift with the benefit of hindsight impacting their fortunes. And while they won’t see any pay raises or anything else of that sort given the fictitious nature of such an exercise, it’s also nice to see this duo get their flowers, too.

Let’s take a look at which Boston alumni landed where.

Boston’s Robert Williams III taken 11th in 2018 NBA redraft

Just ahead of Collin Sexton, and just before Gary Trent, Jr., this number might seem a bit low given what Timelord can do when healthy.

Even after his recent struggles with injury, Boston Celtics big man Robert Williams III has found himself jumping up a re-draft of his 2018 cohort in a recent article by Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina, Raul Barrigon and Jorge Sierra.

Per Hoops Hype, the Timelord jumps 16 spots from 27th to 11th. Concerns about injuries in his future caused the Texas A&M standout to fall to the Celtics at the time.

“Celtics big man Robert Williams was considered a development project when he was taken late in the 2018 first round, a job Boston undertook quite well, with Williams now performing like one of the best defensive centers in the league,” writes H/H.

“Williams can score out of the pick-and-roll, around the paint mostly at a very efficient level, and is averaging an impressive 1.7 blocks in his NBA career to this point,” they add.

Just ahead of now-12th pick Collin Sexton, and just behind Gary Trent, Jr., this number might seem a bit low given what Timelord can do when healthy.

But healthy is the key word, and after several absences for surgeries on his knee, this range for Williams is very defensible in our opinion.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

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HoopsHype: Where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went in 2018 NBA re-draft

The @HoopsHype staff conducted a 2018 NBA re-draft, here’s where SGA went:

The 2018 NBA draft is nearly five years old, which means enough time has passed to give a proper re-evaluations of the class with the benefit of hindsight.

The HoopsHype staff decided to conduct a re-draft exercise for the class, which includes undrafted players.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, fresh off a first-round exit handed to them by the Utah Jazz with Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, did not own a first-round pick in this class. The only picks they owned were two late second-round picks: the 53rd-selected Devon Hall and the 57th-selected Kevin Hervey.

Someone who was a first-round pick in this class was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who went 11th overall and was subsequently traded to the LA Clippers.

Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed a solid rookie campaign before being traded to the Thunder in the notorious 2019 Paul George trade. Since then, he’s blossomed into a legitimate star and is on his way to his first career All-Star appearance.

Let’s take a look at where Gilgeous-Alexander landed in the re-draft.

The Clippers reportedly fired Doc Rivers in part because of Michael Porter Jr.

Ouch.

Doc Rivers being fired was unexpected, but it didn’t really come as a surprise.

The Los Angeles Clippers fell way short of expectations this season. They were a team built to win a championship, but were bounced out of the playoffs in the second round after blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets. Even with that, though, Rivers job still seemed to be relatively safe.

But Rivers ended up losing his job anyway. And one of the straws that broke the camel’s back was apparently Michael Porter Jr.

Porter Jr. played extremely well in the series — especially in games 5, 6 and 7 where the Nuggets won. The Clippers had a chance to draft him twice with the 12th and 13th picks but passed because of his injury history.

That’s part of the reason why Rivers lost his job, according to reporting from The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo on his podcast. He said it wasn’t the only reason why Clippers owner Steve Ballmer chose to move on, but it was a part of it.

“If you look at the Clippers in the year Michael Porter Jr. was in the draft…They had two shots at it and then Michael Porter Jr. of all people is on the Nuggets getting buckets. We know he’s not a perfect player, but there’s a chance he could be really good. And so Ballmer’s thinking ‘I’m paying all of this money to all of these people, and we blow a 3-1 lead and we’re blowing leads in it…and then you’re thinking what happened with Michael Porter Jr. again?'”  

Yikes. It definitely doesn’t look great on Rivers that they were bounced out, partially, by a player they could’ve drafted.

But, if this reporting is true, Ballmer is probably wrong to be upset with Rivers, or anyone else on the Clippers’ staff, for passing on Porter Jr. As Russillo notes later in the podcast, teams stayed away from him for medical reasons — not because he couldn’t play.

Porter Jr., himself, said the Clippers deemed him undraftable for medical reasons. Russillo also said a number of teams felt the same way. It wasn’t just them.

Plus, even if they did draft him, chances are he probably wouldn’t be playing for the Clippers right now anyway. He likely ends up as a trade chip in the Paul George trade along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

That’s a tough break for Rivers, if this is the case. But it was probably time for both sides to move on anyway. Hopefully, they’ll both be better off for it.

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Draft Rewind: Sixers make a trade to acquire Zhaire Smith in 2018

We take a look back at the Zhaire Smith pick for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 NBA Draft.

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The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2018 NBA Draft looking to continue to complement the star duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid after the stars led the Sixers to their first playoff appearance since 2012.

The vibes around the franchise were good as they had just reached the semifinals as a young group and they had the 10th pick in the draft. They then selected Villanova prospect Mikal Bridges with the pick before trading him to the Phoenix Suns for a bouncy athlete in Zhaire Smith who was selected 16th.

There was hope that Smith would provide some good wing play off the bench, however, he suffered a Jones fracture before the season even began and he then had an allergic reaction in December of his rookie season and it limited him to only six games. It is amazing he even played in his rookie season due to the effect the reaction had on his body.

He averaged 6.7 points in his rookie season and he did show off an ability to defend at an adept level out on the perimeter. He showed off some of the hope that the team had in him when they made the trade to acquire him.

However, the Sixers then selected Matisse Thybulle in the 2019 draft, and his quick rise pushed Smith down to the G League and he spent the majority of his second season with the Delaware Blue Coats. He only played in seven games in the 2019-20 season averaging 1.1 points and he then suffered another injury right before the season restart in Orlando that caused him to miss the time in the bubble.

As for Bridges, he has turned into a legitimate 3-and-D player for the Suns and he shot 36.1% from deep while averaging 9.1 points and playing 82 games as a rookie and 73 as a sophomore. At the time, the trade looked like it could pay dividends for Philadelphia, but hindsight is always 20-20 and the trade continues to look more and more like a mistake. [lawrence-related id=37703,37700,37697]

Oklahoma City signs Kevin Hervey to Two-Way Contract

Hervey has spent the last two seasons with the OKC Blue after being selected by the Thunder with the 57th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed Kevin Hervey to a Two-Way Contract.

The team announced the move on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after they made the move to waive former two-player Devon Hall.

Hervey has spent this season with the Thunder’s NBA G-League affiliate, the OKC Blue.

He’s seen action in three games, with two starts. Hervey is averaging a double-double for the OKC Blue, with 19.7 points and team-leading 11.7 rebounds.

In just under 27 minutes per game, Hervey is also averaging 2.33 blocks, 2.33 steals, and 1.3 assists.

 

In 130-114 win over the Winchester Knicks in November, Hervey notched a double-double, scoring 23 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

Hervey was selected in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft with the 57th overall pick.

He played his rookie season with the OKC Blue, and in 32 games averaged 10.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.31 blocks in 22.4 minutes per game.

According to the team press release, the terms of the contract were not released, per organization policy.

Thunder waives Devon Hall

In five total appearances for Oklahoma City, Hall totaled five points and three assists in 20 minutes of game time.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have waived former second-round draft pick, Devon Hall.

The team announced the move on Wednesday afternoon.

Hall was signed to a two-way contract on September 4 of this year and played in five games this season for the Thunder.

His best outing for Oklahoma City came in a preseason 124-119 loss to Memphis. In that game, he came off the bench to score 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and 3-from-6 from beyond the three-point line.

In his five appearances, Hall scored a total of five points and dishing out three assists in 20 total minutes of game time.

In three starts for the OKC Blue, Hall averaged 8.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.

The Thunder selected Hall out of the University of Virginia with the 53rd pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Instead of signing with Oklahoma City, Hall spent part of 2018 in the National Basketball League of Australia with the Cairns Taipans. There Hall started in 19 games making 28 appearances, averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists in 28.9 minutes per game.

He returned to the United States in February 2018 and signed with the Thunder’s NBA G-League affiliate.