The reason the Cs have declined so much is that they went from Kyrie, prime Horford, Hayward and two promising guys on rookie contracts to the Jays and TL.b When the Jays pop, they can play with anyone but the problem is - like most young non-generational talents - is consistency. That's why it would be great to get a third star who might be able to hold the fort down on the days when JT and JB don't have it (hopefully those come fewer and farther between as they mature).
The Cs have drafted ok. No home runs of course (though TL is probably a solid double). They've gotten some guys who should be in the NBA for a while which is great for the GM evaluations but doesn't really help move them towards a championship.
At this point, the Cs will go as far as the Jays take them. 14-35 with 12 TOs and at least a few missed defensive assignments will not take them far.
C's draft history since 2014 probably falls into the "amazing" category, but the last 3 years have been pretty meh. It also took awhile to get returns on TL so it feels like longer.
2nd's are a free roll. Teams don't get punished for missing but get rewarded for hitting. I'll post the 2nds for completion sake.
2014
6: Smart Can't complain
17: Young Bust
2015
16: Rozier Great pick, but the C's got little value from Rozier.
28: Hunter Bust
2nds: Thornton, Mickey washed out.
2016:
3rd: Jaylen Brown: Homerun
16: Yabu: Bust C's were stuck with 2 1st round picks they couldn't roll over or get value for so they had to take draft and stash players. Wonder if this will happen to OKC.
23: Zizic: Bust See Yabu
2nds: Deyonta Davis, Rade Zagorac. Demetrius Jackson. The first 2 were traded for the pick that became Thybulle. Jackson washed.
2017:
3rd: Tatum: Home Run
2nds: Ojeleye, Kadeem Allen, Jabari Bird. Pretty good. Ojeleye sucks but he's still in the NBA 5 years later. Kadeem Allen stuck for 3. Jabari Bird looked promising but pissed away his chance.
2018:
27: Time Lord: Normally this would be a home run pick but the 2018 draft was stacked so it becomes merely a triple. He's the 10-12th best player in that draft.
In a 5 year period and 9 first round picks, they landed a franchise player (Tatum), a perennial all star (Jaylen), an all defensive player (Smart), and 2 30+ minute starters (Rozier, TL). TL isn't quite a finished product yet either, so it' possible he could end up being a fringe all star type/all defensive player type. They also drafted 4 busts, but they all came outside of the lottery. 2 of those were reaches, due to the draft and stash predicament. Though, in that same draft, he did manage to turn 2 2nd rounders (Deyonta/Rade) into a future first. Young was a promising pick with a sweet looking shot that didn't work out. The RJ Hunter pick I never understood. Still, all in all, that's a HUGE haul for 9 picks in a 5 year period. It would be interesting how different this team would look had they just kept Rozier.
A++ if they had kept Rozier, A+ since the didn't.
Since then... ugh. It hurts even more because of the loss of talent (Kyrie, Horford, Hayward, Morris, Rozier)
2019:
14: Romeo Langford: N/A I'm not exactly
@radsoxfan, but I'm not a Romeo Fan either. He's still young but in his 3rd year and hasn't really shown much improvement in the grand scheme of things. Ime has stopped using him outside garbage time. I'd call it a disappointing pick, though it's probably not far off from expected value.
20: Matisse Thybulle: Good pick but he was traded for Edwards and Jerome, which was awful. I love me some Thybulle but I'm not sure he'd be a good fit on the C's, though maybe he'd fit in well with the Jays. I believe the C's picked Thybulle for another team so they only picked him in technicality.
22: Grant Williams: Ok to good pick. I think he's limited and will always struggle in certain situations, but is good enough to play 20-25 minutes a night and is no longer a situational player. Still, hard to get that excited about Grant Williams.
24: Ty Jerome: C's basically just rolled over their pick to the next year, trading Jerome to the Suns for the pick that would become Desmond Bane. Think they picked him for the Suns.
2nd rounders: Waters, Edwards: Busts.
2020:
14: Aaron Nesmith: N/A. I'm not ready to call it a disappointing pick but the early going has not been promising. He doesn't have the injury excuse that Langford has either. At least the effort is there and the shot looks good, even if it hasn't been falling.
26: Payton Pritchard: Ok to good pick. He's a limited player but his one strength happens to be the most valuable skill in the NBA. He should be playing more, and he had been prior to Covid.
30: Desmond Bane: Home run pick, but picked for another team. Excellent 3 point shooter, starting and producing for a 30-15 team.
2nds: Yam Madar: N/A. He looks like a 3rd PG type and will probably have an NBA career of some sort. Even if it's just a handful of games.
2021:
1st: Traded in Kemba/Al.
2nds: Begarin. Looks to have Jaylen Brown level athleticism and length. Raw, but is showing some skill this year. I absolutely love the pick even if he never sets foot on an NBA court.
On their own, none of the picks are that bad. It's combined when it becomes disappointing. It's especially so when the team **had** (they didn't) Bane and Thybulle. Begarin hitting his 1-5% outcome would change things very quickly though. RL or AN playing better would too. I can see PP and GW getting better around the margins but not changing the overall opinion of the last 3 years of drafting.
Grade: N/A. Forced to give it a grade: D? D-? Things can change quick though.