Did you think Lilard would be this good?

Post #21 » by **mojomarc** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 12:00 pm

I was pro-Lillard and anti-Marshall, but he is better than I thought he would be.

GreenRiddler · Post #22 » by **GreenRiddler** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:48 am

Yes I too was happy and disappointed at the same time when we passed on Drummond at 6. I thought him falling that low was a god send, but when we drafted what I thought would be the 2nd best C at 11 I felt better...not so much now.

rasta_marley · Post #23 » by **rasta_marley** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:21 pm

I was against drafting drummond was afraid he would be a bust, I was cautious about lillard I liked Marshall but wanted to draft Lillard over him for sure. I was worried however that we would regret not taking Barnes over Lillard...lol.I was sooo against drafting Meyers did not see anything in him shame it appears I am being proved right.

I was also very against drafting Mcollum, I am really hoping to be proving wrong on that. So far I haven't seen our drafting improve, just one really lucky pick on the damelizard. Hopefully CJ will work out and then I will start to hope that maybe blazers can draft... maybe.

monopoman · Post #24 » by **monopoman** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:01 pm

rasta_marley wrote:I was against drafting drummond was afraid he would be a bust, I was cautious about lillard I liked Marshall but wanted to draft Lillard over him for sure. I was worried however that we would regret not taking Barnes over Lillard...lol.I was sooo against drafting Meyers did not see anything in him shame it appears I am being proved right.

I was also very against drafting Mcollum, I am really hoping to be proving wrong on that. So far I haven't seen our drafting improve, just one really lucky pick on the damelizard. Hopefully CJ will work out and then I will start to hope that maybe blazers can draft... maybe.

I really don't think that draft was incredibly deep, I mean outside of the few slam dunk picks one of them being the no-brainer #1 pick I think that draft has looked a bit shallow overall.

CJ barely had a chance to see the court last season give him some time, I mean its not like the coach is benching CJ on purpose like he does Leonard. I also think bad teams have an easier time with the draft because every player they pick up will see plenty of court time which does help development in most cases, the better your team the harder it is to get them rolling into the team dynamic.

There is a greater chance Dame's development would have been stunted if we did what some here suggested at the time of the draft, and got a starting PG that would have taken the majority of the minutes at the PG position in Dame's rookie year.

Nearly every major slam dunk pick the Blazers have made in the past since 2005 or so has been a guy that was starting games his rookie season.

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Aldridge
Damian Lillard

rasta_marley · Post #25 » by **rasta_marley** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:49 pm

monopoman wrote:
rasta_marley wrote:I was against drafting drummond was afraid he would be a bust, I was cautious about lillard I liked Marshall but wanted to draft Lillard over him for sure. I was worried however that we would regret not taking Barnes over Lillard...lol.I was sooo against drafting Meyers did not see anything in him shame it appears I am being proved right.

I was also very against drafting Mcollum, I am really hoping to be proving wrong on that. So far I haven't seen our drafting improve, just one really lucky pick on the damelizard. Hopefully CJ will work out and then I will start to hope that maybe blazers can draft... maybe.

I really don't think that draft was incredibly deep, I mean outside of the few slam dunk picks one of them being the no-brainer #1 pick I think that draft has looked a bit shallow overall.

CJ barely had a chance to see the court last season give him some time, I mean its not like the coach is benching CJ on purpose like he does Leonard. I also think bad teams have an easier time with the draft because every player they pick up will see plenty of court time which does help development in most cases, the better your team the harder it is to get them rolling into the team dynamic.

There is a greater chance Dame's development would have been stunted if we did what some here suggested at the time of the draft, and got a starting PG that would have taken the majority of the minutes at the PG position in Dame's rookie year.

Nearly every major slam dunk pick the Blazers have made in the past since 2005 or so has been a guy that was starting games his rookie season.

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Aldridge
Damian Lillard

We didn't draft Roy or LA though we did trade for em around draft time, we are decent traders just not good drafters. I still think there were better options then cj but hey we shall see. It was however not the best draft for sure.

Also Damian would have still gotten alot of playing time he proved to be incredibly NBA ready.

Khazim · Post #26 » by **Khazim** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 9:19 pm

rasta_marley wrote:We didn't draft Roy or LA though we did trade for em around draft time, we are decent traders just not good drafters.

Maybe we didn't "officially" draft them, but we drafted them.

a_sensei · Post #27 » by **a_sensei** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:18 pm

Khazim wrote:
rasta_marley wrote:We didn't draft Roy or LA though we did trade for em around draft time, we are decent traders just not good drafters.

Maybe we didn't "officially" draft them, but we drafted them.

Exactly, whether the Blazers had officially traded for the picks before they were drafted is irrelevant. They were guys the top guys Portland wanted to draft and they got it done on draft day. Minnesota and Chicago were both picking for Portland, and the Blazers picked Thomas for Chicago.

monopoman · Post #28 » by **monopoman** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 10:57 pm

Khazim wrote:
rasta_marley wrote:We didn't draft Roy or LA though we did trade for em around draft time, we are decent traders just not good drafters.

Maybe we didn't "officially" draft them, but we drafted them.

Right any trades on draft day are basically like you drafted them Brandon Roy spent maybe like at most 10-15 minutes being a Minnesota Timberwolf on draft night. He never even practiced with his fellow Timberwolves or attended any sort of obligatory player functions that he would have needed to do if he was a Timberwolf until he tried his comeback in the NBA years later. I would imagine the trade was set up before the pick was even made like is usually the case when one player is immediately traded for another or a package of players after being drafted.

Crap its like claiming that the Lakers don't get credit for picking up Kobe on draft night because they didn't technically draft him.

rasta_marley · Post #29 » by **rasta_marley** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 11:40 pm

Khazim wrote:
rasta_marley wrote:We didn't draft Roy or LA though we did trade for em around draft time, we are decent traders just not good drafters.

Maybe we didn't "officially" draft them, but we drafted them.

Your all probably right however I have this belief that if we have drafted them we wouldn't have.... I know I sound crazy lol.

toodles23 · Post #30 » by **toodles23** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 2:03 am

I had no expectations for Lillard when he was drafted.

DeBlazerRiddem wrote:Nope. Still thought he was the best PG in that draft, but I was concerned that he had no tangible elite skills. He still doesn't really. What he does have that is elite is something intangible, which is almost impossible to predict how it will translate to the NBA.

This is wrong. His elite skill is clearly his ability to shoot off the dribble (especially from three point range), which isn't intangible at all. He's one of the top 5 players in the NBA at this.

Joshumitsu wrote:Not until I saw the workout video and heard the Blazers brass say his workout was the best since Durant's did I come around.

Before the video, I thought he'd be Devin Harris (prime). After, I feel Tony Parker-Chauncey Billups caliber.

While he's clutch, I still don't think he's as clutch as I expect/want him to be. And he has yet to reach the Billups/Parker level. So, more good stuff to come, I guess.

I have no clue how you expect Lillard to be more clutch. He's had freakishly good numbers in crunch time and on last second shots so far in his career, so good that they're going to have to come down.

przem885 · Post #31 » by **przem885** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:57 am

I'm strangely calm about Lillard. He It has a fantastic psyche and big balls. Probably he will be playing at the level 20 and 6 for the next five years. Andre Drummon will be big thing for us if we choice him but I think Lillard is better option for our future and franchise.

Watchlist · Post #32 » by **Watchlist** » Sun Sep 28, 2014 2:45 pm

agreed^

Post #33 » by **Billy** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 4:33 pm

I did not think he would be this good. I was rather firmly in the camp that Portland should take whomever was available between Barnes/Drummond/Robinson. When Waiters went to Cleveland, it was really down to Drummond and Barnes--with me preferring Drummond.

I am certainly glad it worked out. Obviously Lillard is a complete stud and a superstar. I do wonder though if Portland could have had Lillard later in the draft had everyone and their dog not been intimately aware that Portland was infatuated with him. Granted, knowing how good he is, it wouldn't have been worth the risk. I guess we'll never know how serious Toronto or New Orleans (or any other team) were when there was big talk about them picking him. Certainly at the time it felt like teams trying to bluff Portland into "reaching" so their guy would fall.

Case2012 · Post #34 » by **Case2012** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:29 pm

I feel like if we had picked Drummond, everyone would be mad we didn't draft Lillard. After Oden, the last thing I wanted was to draft a center in the lottery. It would have been great if we got him at 11, but we didn't.

Watchlist · Post #35 » by **Watchlist** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:55 pm

how about cj mc? u think he's gonna be good?

Shem · Post #36 » by **Shem** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:57 pm

monopoman wrote:Nearly every major slam dunk pick the Blazers have made in the past since 2005 or so has been a guy that was starting games his rookie season.

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Aldridge
Damian Lillard

Aldridge started 22 of the 63 games his rookie season. The reason was he was playing behind Zach Randolph.

d-train · Post #37 » by **d-train** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:38 pm

Shem wrote:
monopoman wrote:Nearly every major slam dunk pick the Blazers have made in the past since 2005 or so has been a guy that was starting games his rookie season.

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Aldridge
Damian Lillard

Aldridge started 22 of the 63 games his rookie season. The reason was he was playing behind Zach Randolph.

LA could have played center so he also backed up Magloire, Outlaw, and PrissyBella. LA was the best center on the team even though forward is his best position. His PT was limited because of injuries throughout the team and he was being brought along slowly rather than under fire. We already had 1 rookie being developed under fire (Roy) and it was better to bring LA along slowly.

Redeemed · Post #38 » by **Redeemed** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:57 am

I thought Lillard would be good, but this good? Nah. This kid is in my opinion the best young floor general the league has seen in a while. He has an excellent command on when to score and when to dish.

He seems to lack speed, but then he puts on the after burners and blows by the D. His strength is surprising. His hops are unexpected. He uses guile instead of athletic ability to gain advantage against defenders. The dude is a gem.

He reminds me a really athletic Chauncey Billups. Now with Lillard being cut from USA Basketball, the chip on his shoulder just got bigger. He's going to be a serious problem. I like CJ McCollum too.

Wickzki · Post #39 » by **Wickzki** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:42 am

In the months before the draft I was telling my partner that the Blazers needed to draft Lillard. I was hot for him and quick to defend him. Not sure if it came through here but before the draft I was tagged as "Lillard Lover" on my main Reddit account.

Soulyss · Post #40 » by **Soulyss** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:59 am

I thought Lillard was an all-star in the making, he just had... IT. That said, I didn't think he would do it this fast. I will say I also really wanted drummond, I was hoping we were going to be able to get both