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dougthonus wrote:

TheSuzerain wrote:Blazers are the 10th seed (I.e. in the play-in) and that's with Lillard playing horrendously. West is soft this year though. Not going to be hard for them to rise in the standings.

Lillard is now out for awhile, McCollum just got hurt (not sure if he will miss time or how much just saw headline), the coach is criticizing them regularly. We'll see what happens here, but I'd bet on Portland to miss the playoffs. I'd say fair chance they go into fire sale mode at the deadline and move Lillard too.

We absolutely do not want them to blow it up.

I agree, odds are that if they do this pick conveys into second rounders a long time out. I think it's now or never with this pick. It's a shame we didn't get top 8 protection on it instead or declining protection in future years so we eventually get something like top 8 protection, but Portland knew what they were doing here.

Longest NBA Playoffs Droughts
Active

Team Year. Start
Sacramento Kings 15 2007
Charlotte Hornets 5 2017
Chicago Bulls 4 2018
Cleveland Cavaliers 3 2019
New Orleans Pelicans 3 2019
Minnesota Timberwolves 3 2019
Golden State Warriors 2 2020
Detroit Pistons 2 2020
San Antonio Spurs 2 2020
Houston Rockets 1 2021

Very few teams go 6 years without making the playoffs. I’d put the odds the pick conveys at fairly high, even if not this year. Most owners don’t want to find out if their fan base can stomach that kind of drought, and how much revenue they’re going to lose as a result.

Chicago-Bull-E wrote:Very few teams go 6 years without making the playoffs. I’d put the odds the pick conveys at fairly high, even if not this year. Most owners don’t want to find out if their fan base can stomach that kind of drought, and how much revenue they’re going to lose as a result.

For some reason in my head, I didn't think the pick was protected that long. I thought it conveyed into seconds in 2025. I agree there's a pretty good chance Portland turns it around in 7 years.

superdave wrote:I know everyone was watching Paolo and Chet. But the Duke center Williams really popped for me on defense- rangy and physical. He’s projected late 1st due to age and lack of all-around offensive game (he will be the ripe age of 20 lol) but I could see him in Chicago next year.

He projects to go within the range of our pick(s). He'd help for sure.

Almost Retired wrote:

superdave wrote:I know everyone was watching Paolo and Chet. But the Duke center Williams really popped for me on defense- rangy and physical. He’s projected late 1st due to age and lack of all-around offensive game (he will be the ripe age of 20 lol) but I could see him in Chicago next year.

He projects to go within the range of our pick(s). He'd help for sure.

Really don't like taking a big that high unless they have some unicorn potential.

Williams certainly isn't that.

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StunnerKO wrote:

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Nice touch around the rim but...

1. Not particularly athletic which will hurt him in the NBA

2. Needs to get down to at least 250

Need more shooting. We don’t shoot nearly enough 3s. This is why Maturin is my guy. I think as he fills in he will be able to play small ball 4 too. He’s 6’7.

I like Moussa Diabaté from Michigan. He looks pretty skilled for a big man. Optimistically, we'll be drafting in the mid-late 20's with our pick. I'd be thrilled if somehow POR turns it around, but not looking likely.

Chi town wrote:Need more shooting. We don’t shoot nearly enough 3s. This is why Maturin is my guy. I think as he fills in he will be able to play small ball 4 too. He’s 6’7.

Mathurin will go late lottery at the latest. I'm not sure the Portland pick will convey and our pick will be too far down (unless we lose a few more guys to the Covid protocols). We need to look at guys likely to go between 20 and 26, somewhere in that range.

Shooters who would be available when we make our own pick, and they are probably a reach in the 20-26 range....Bryce McGowens of Nebraska, Matt Mayer of Baylor, and Johnny Juzang of UCLA.

I think McGowens could end up one of the top of the class after a few years . I’m very down for him to be a Bull

Almost Retired wrote:

Chi town wrote:Need more shooting. We don’t shoot nearly enough 3s. This is why Maturin is my guy. I think as he fills in he will be able to play small ball 4 too. He’s 6’7.

Mathurin will go late lottery at the latest. I'm not sure the Portland pick will convey and our pick will be too far down (unless we lose a few more guys to the Covid protocols). We need to look at guys likely to go between 20 and 26, somewhere in that range.

I see him 10-18. Also think we could trade up from POR pick w Coby or our pick.

A possibility with our own pick could be someone like Payton Watson of UCLA. Projects to be a 3/4 at 6'- 8-9" and a 7'-0" wingspan. Quite an athlete. A taller Derrick Jones Jr is one comparison I saw made on a mock draft website. There are not a lot of pure "4"s and "5"s in the top 50 prospects. I wish we had a few 2nd rounders. We could possibly get Drew Timme at the top of the 2nd round and draft and stash a long "5" with potential like Khalifa Diop from Senegal, Christian Koloko from Camaroon (now playing for Arizona), or Ibou Badji playing for Barcelona. All 3 of these long, athletic "5"s would need more experience and coaching to play at the NBA level. But they have the physical tools.

McGowens reminds me of Will Barton.

We can easily buy a 2nd rounder.

Mathurin with 30 against Illinois today.


I think he will end up being top 10. He’s everything we want. Shooter that plays D, High IQ, and plays aggressive with an edge.

Hopefully AK/ME will buy a 2nd round pick or two and find a hidden gem.
I'd say we've moved past the Jameson Curry, Marquis Teague eras..

rtblues wrote:Hopefully AK/ME will buy a 2nd round pick or two and find a hidden gem.
I'd say we've moved past the Jameson Curry, Marquis Teague eras..

I'd be fine with this if we trade both of our 1sts. This team can not afford to keep more than 2 guys with less than 3 years of NBA play on the roster next season. We need bench guys who are old vets who know how to play NBA (playoff) basketball, if we want to have any shot to contend next season.

Maybe AK drafts his countryman Tubelis

I think Mathurin might be a bit undersized to be an ideal fit for us.

We really don't need more guys with prototype shooting guard size.