Celtics Work Out 12 Draft Prospects On Monday
BOSTON (CBS) -- With the NBA Draft just a few weeks away, the Boston Celtics were busy on Monday.
Head coach Brad Stevens and director of player personnel Austin Ainge worked out 12 prospects at the team's training facilities in Waltham, breaking the dozen of NBA hopefuls off into two groups.
Group 1
Isaia Cordinier - Denain ASC Voltaire (France)
Perry Ellis - Kansas
Nick Faust - Long Beach State
Pascal Siakam - New Mexico State
Jarrod Uthoff - Iowa
Guerschon Yabusele - Rouen (France)
The best-known name of the bunch was Ellis, who had a successful four-year run at Kansas. The former Jayhawks big man said he was pleased with his Monday workout, and his goal during these sessions is to highlight his versatility.
He was asked about the jokes he hears about looking like an old man at the age of 22.
"It's just something I laugh at. It made me want to play even harder," he said. "It didn't bother me at all."
Ellis said his favorite was a Tweet that had his face on Danny Manning's body (Manning played at Kansas from 1984-88):
Perry Ellis on his workout with the Celtics:
Ellis is projected to go somewhere in the late second round.
The C's also welcomed in a pair of international players in Group 1 in Isaia Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele, both of France.
Austin Ainge said these workouts provide an opportunity to get the international players out of their system and for them to see these players going against some of the better athletes in the college game.
"Most of the things we judge them on we see in games, but this is a nice little piece. It's hard for young guys to earn minutes on professional teams sometimes, so sometimes we have a limited number of minutes to see them. It's good to have them here," said Ainge.
Cordinier is an intriguing prospect, an athletic player with a lot of room to grow, but could withdraw from the draft later this month based on how his workouts go. Monday was his fourth workout with an NBA team, and he was pleased with how it went, showing off some hard-nosed defense and his range on offense.
He also said he needs no history lesson on the historic Boston Celtics franchise.
"It's a franchise with the most titles in NBA history. All the basketball players in the world know about the Celtics. I watch a lot of NBA, so I know," he said with a laugh.
France's Isaia Cordinier on his workout with Celtics:
Yabusele is an athletic power forward who has been compared to Golden State's Draymond Green. He's projected to go late in the first round or early in the second round, and is open to either jumping right into the NBA next season or spending another year or two overseas to hone in on his skills.
France's Guerschon Yabusele on his workout with Celtics:
Group 2
Kellen Dunham - Butler
Roosevelt Jones - Butler
Hunter Mickelson - Kansas
Dyshawn Pierre - Dayton
Tanner Plomb - Army
Jordan Sakho - Torrelodones (Spain)
Highlighting group two were a pair of players Stevens recruited at Butler before he left the school to join the Celtics (he coached Jones for two seasons and Dunham for one). Despite making the jump to the NBA, Stevens stayed close with the new Bulldogs throughout their college careers.
"Those two guys had great careers, won a ton of games and did what really good players there do," said Stevens. "It's fun to see them. They got in early yesterday so we had chance to spend time with them. It's always great. This is the last wave of guys I coached, so I guess the guys I coached is gone after today."
"During the year he was texting us and congratulating us on graduation. When Roosevelt and I would have big games he would text us, and after big wins," said Dunham. "It was exciting to keep in touch with him and it shows you how personable he is."
"I had fun today," Jones said of his workout. "I watch [the Celtics] every time I can see him. What he does with the talent they have, how he brings out the best in everybody, that's why he's such a great coach.
"If they add a few more pieces, they'll be very dangerous in the Eastern Conference," added Jones.
Boston will hold more pre-draft workouts this week. The Celtics own eight picks, including three in the first round, in the NBA draft, which will be held on June 23.
