Fab

Melo

Melo’s academic and eligibility issues made this a no-brainer. The Brazilian 7-footer averaged 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Orange this season, but fantasy owners will be intrigued by the 2.9 shots per game he swatted. Melo is currently projected as a borderline first-round pick.

The length of the deal is a bit surprising considering KG was mulling retirement, but it’s a huge coup for the Celtics. Not only was Garnett playing at an extremely high level last season, he gives Boston a future-HOF mentor for Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo, and could be critical to attempts to woo Ray Allen. Fantasy owners shouldn’t discount the elder statesman -- over the final two months of last season he was the No. 11 player in nine-cat leagues.

Melo injured his elbow during a workout with the Hawks on Saturday, but it was not considered serious at that time. It’s a big enough concern that he’s pulling out of Tuesday’s workout, but this is likely just a precaution. Melo doesn’t want an aggravation of the injury to impact his already volatile draft stock.

“He was off the charts,” one person in attendance of the workout said. Melo, one of the riskier picks in this year’s class, is projected as a late first-round pick with some serious upside if he lands in the right situation.

The group also featured Syracuse center Fab Melo. With the No. 13 overall pick, either big man would be considered a major reach. The Suns are likely just doing their due diligence in evaluating draft prospects.

Boston added two solid frontcourt prospects in Jared Sullinger and Melo, the latter of whom is an imposing 7'0", 270 lbs. Despite Boston’s glaring need for help at center, Melo’s fantasy value as a rookie is very suspect -- he’s quite raw and last season he averaged just 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 25 minutes per game. He also swatted 2.9 bpg, however, so he could be a deep-league specialist.

Melo went immediately to the locker room but returned to watch the rest of the game with ice on his hand. Any time off this offseason will be a huge deterrent for his already minimal fantasy value. Doc Rivers called Melo a “project” and doesn’t expect him to contribute next season.

Melo says he was simply dehydrated from traveling. Hopefully that’s the case, or he could see his stock fall drastically if the workouts don’t improve.

Collins was another veteran’s minimum addition to Boston’s bench, where he’ll spend more time mentoring rookies Fab Melo and Jared Sullinger than he will actually playing. Even Chris Wilcox is ahead of Collins on the depth chart, but he’ll be useful defensively against monsters like Dwight Howard.

Wilcox has been cleared for basketball activities and should be a full participant in training camp. He’ll play a minimal role off the bench this season, backing up Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass while helping to mentor rookie big men Fab Melo and Jared Sullinger.