Celtics to bring in Pat Connaughton, then say one positive sentence about him


The Celtics will keep it local tomorrow, ushering in St. John's Prep product Pat Connaughton for a workout.

Connaughton's stock is on the rise after flashing a 44 inch vertical at the combine. He also has a 96 MPH fastball in his backpocket and is a member of the Orioles' farm system, which has to tug at Danny Ainge's heartstrings. So if Connaughton shows some of that freakish athleticism tomorrow, the Celtics' brass will tell us about it, right?

Actually, definitely not. Austin Ainge told Chris Forsberg at ESPN.com that all his soundbites about draft prospects are basically hollow and meaningless.

"When [reporters] ask me questions about the guys I say, like, one positive sentence about everybody," admitted Ainge, the team's director of player personnel who organizes all the pre-draft visits. "Really, what else can I do? If I say anything negative, their agents will be mad at me; if I get too glowing, then you guys will [write it for other teams to see]."

Makes total sense. But if Austin Ainge isn't going to tell us anything, what can we glean from who the Celtics have seen so far? If they are thinking about trading up, they are certainly having a tough time convincing the agents of lottery picks that's going to be the case. Connaughton projects as a mid-second rounder, which actually puts him in the upper echelon of the young guns who have accepted an invite to the Celtics' training facility at this point. 

Here's the complete list from Forsberg, who also did us the solid of putting Chad Ford's rankings in paranthesis.
Arkansas' Bobby Portis (16)
Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (22)
Louisville’s Terry Rozier (27)
Virginia’s Justin Anderson (28)
Kansas’ Cliff Alexander (32)
LSU's Jordan Mickey (37)
Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas (39)
Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan (41)
France’s Alpha Kaba (42)
Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison (49)
Stanford's Anthony Brown (54)
Tennessee’s Josh Richardson (58)
Brazil’s George de Paula (59)
Texas’ Jonathan Holmes (61)
Michigan State’s Brendan Dawson (64)
Maryland’s Dez Wells (69)
Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Keifer Sykes (73)
St John's Sir'Dominic Pointer (78)
Ohio State's Shannon Scott (86)
UMass' Cady Lalanne (87)
William & Mary's Marcus Thornton (100)
Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash (104)
Alabama’s Levi Randolph (107)
Stanford’s Chasson Randle (115)
Cal's David Kravish (NR)
Florida State's Aaron Thomas (NR)
UTEP's Julian Washburn (NR)
Holy Cross’ Malcolm Miller (NR)
UMass’ Maxie Esho (NR)
IMG Academy’s Satnam Singh (NR)
Northeastern’s Scott Eatherton (NR)
Michigan State’s Travis Trice (NR)
SMU’s Yanick Moreira (NR)
Eastern Kentucky’s Corey Walden (NR)
Georgetown (Ky.) College’s Gerard Coleman (NR)
Wyoming’s Larry Nance (NR)
Western Kentucky’s T.J. Price (NR)
Florida Southern’s Kevin Capers (NR)


Photo Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar

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