What did Thon Maker learn in his Celtics workout? ‘I'm pretty good'

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WALTHAM, Mass. – Thon Maker can attest to there being many lessons that he and his fellow NBA draft hopefuls have learned in the recent weeks leading up to the June 23 NBA draft.
 
So following his workout with the Celtics on Thursday, his eighth workout overall, Maker was succinct in what he has taken away from the draft process thus far.
 
“About myself is that, I’m pretty good,” Maker said, grinning. “Yeah. I’m pretty good. I’m blessed to be in this situation.”
 
How good Maker is as a player and his readiness for the NBA, have been widely divisive topics of discussion among NBA executives and scouts.
 
He has the kind of game and potential that teams either love or loathe, which is why it’s anyone’s guess as to where he’ll be selected.
 
I asked Maker what is his camp hearing in terms of his draft status, and he said he wasn’t sure and then added that he’s hearing that he’ll be a lottery (top 14) pick.  However, a league source contacted by text Thursday afternoon said Maker’s stock “is on the rise, but lottery pick? I don’t think so unless he’s got a promise which would be kind of surprising.”
 
League sources contacted by CSNNE.com earlier this week indicated that Maker was likely a late first-round or early second-round candidate.
 
Regardless, one thing that has become abundantly clear throughout his workouts, is that some team will select Maker and make him the first high school player since current Celtic Amir Johnson (2005, second round pick of the Detroit Pistons) to be drafted straight out of high school.
 
Players are still not allowed to enter draft straight out of high school, but Maker attended his current school for an additional year which put him a year removed from his graduating class and thus was able to stay in this month’s NBA draft.
 
Ultimately Maker’s pro prospects comes down to one thing and one thing only … can he play?
 
While a workout doesn’t necessarily make or break a player’s pro future, the Celtics certainly saw some things in Maker following his Thursday morning workout that they liked.
 
Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel, said Maker “played very well” and added that he “played very hard.”
 
Bringing forth great effort has been a constant with Maker’s game which has seen him at one point being the top prep prospect to being a man some league executives wondered just a few weeks ago about whether he would even be drafted.
 
“I didn’t care too much about being ranked,” said Maker who added that he’s likely to work out for three or for more teams. “I just cared about getting better at all times. There was times when I moved to Canada and nobody spoke about it. You just have to keep trying to get better.”
 
And Maker will get that chance beginning June 23 when he’s drafted and continues on his basketball journey, picking up invaluable lessons learned along the way.
 
      

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