The 2012 NBA Draft: 6th & 11th picks, and some random 2nds.

[The Sebastian Express]

Man Thomas Robinson has huge hands, a huge wing-span, a good standing reach, he measured better than expected, his athleticism is off the charts, and he is 5.0% body fat at 244.

I think if a trade to #2 is available I'd do it.

[mojomarc]

Likewise I've known a lot of people who are mumblers, low talkers, slow talkers, fast talkers, have thick accents, lazy with their enunciation, or just plain shy who are brilliant - especially when they're allowed to write down their words instead of say them.

Stephen Hawking says "H-E-L-L-O"

[Happy Trails]

Get this dude on our roster - I hear his bb IQ is off the charts - not sure about his wingspan or vertical but gotta believe his smarts count for something - never thought I'd see Stevie H on RealGM

On a slightly related note it is kinda funny this time of year how so many "used car sales" terms are invented/used to describe what type of players are in the draft. Not saying that some aren't valid but I can't remember ever watching a game saying - wow Batum's wingspan is really winning us this game

Wingspan - he is bloody big! (so was Hashem Thabust)
Verticl leap - Harold Minor will be the next Jordan (add many others)
Volume shooter - he's been with a program where the coach said "shoot every shot you can"
Coachable- see above
High BBIQ - able to read the game (ie - knows exactly how lebron will blow by him)
Hardworker - actually showed up for training and no arrests at this time

I am sure there are others....

Draft - take Lillard at 6 unless MKG is available or trade up to #2 for Robinson but I think if we all like TRob he may be as unlikely as getting AD. Then take best available big at 11.

[lucky strike]

Man i love this time of year....reading workout reports, speculating on teams moving up/down, etc.

So much fun. I'm just sad that we didn't win the coin toss with Sacramento. After reading more about T-Rob and his physical prowess and hearing how intensely competitive he is I'm supper intrigued about him playing alongside LA. Be easier to move up if we had that 5th pick instead of 6.

All this Lillard praise is great too since if we want him he'll be there to pick.

And then there's Drummond's crazy size and potential....makes me think maybe he could develop into what Oden was supposed to be for us.

If we could come away with drummond/lillard that's be awesome.

Oh my...i love this time of year. Of course I'd love to be a playoff team and obsess over mid 20's picks like I did last year with Faried as well.

[ROYalty]

Haynes wrote here which players the Blazers really like:
Lillard, Leonard, Barnes and Kidd-Gilchrist.

Here's the full article (great job from Chris Haynes, i love this dude ):
http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingblaze ... eedID=5212

[Fitz303]

Yeah Haynes has done a really good job of following this team. Heres a few parts of that article

One league executive said Lillard is climbing the charts and if the Trail Blazers were to pass on him at No. 6, they don't think he'll be around at No. 11 at this rate.


I have been told the Trail Blazers will pick the best player available at No. 6 and that might not be Lillard.

A player the Trail Blazers/many teams were disappointed in was Connecticut’s wing Jeremy Lamb. He was known as a sharp-shooter, but wasn't able to knock down his perimeter shot on a consistent level during drills.

From the interviews I've conducted this week, the players that I found that genuinely would love to be in Portland and who were educated on the city and team were Lillard, Sullinger, Barnes, Baylor’s forward Perry Jones, and of course Washington's Terrence Ross and Wroten.

Off the vibe I'm getting now, if the draft was today, I think the Trail Blazers would select Lillard at No. 6. But if Barnes or Drummond are on the board, I think you have to take one of them.

[Wizenheimer]

Looks like the Blazers are higher on Barnes then most Blazer fans are.

of course, they may recognize the need for perimeter shooting. I hope they recognize the needs for ball-handling and rebounding

[fishnc]

MKG sounds dumber than dirt. I'm glad we don't have to pick him.

Sometimes i don't say this, i havent posted on the boards a lot since i've been focused on Seahawks, but damn, your comment is just down right f***** up. I'm glad he has even the opportunity to even be top 10. Your comment is more ignorant than anything, also the fact that he does have a stutter problem...Sigh.. i feel embarrassed for Portland fans if he was chosen by Portland.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/18228469

Awww, did I hurt your feelings?

Clearly I didn't know he had a speech impediment. Also, I had never even seen that YouTube video Oden2 posted. My original comment was based on watching live interviews at the draft combine yesterday. He was not struggling nearly as bad as he was in that YouTube video from high school. In fact, I never would have guessed he had a speech impediment. He just sounded like he wasn't smart enough to form coherent sentences, like a number of NBA players.

MY APOLOGIES TO THOSE I HAVE OFFENDED. But seriously, get over it, don't be so sensitive.

[PDXKnight]

Any rumors on who the Blazers might draft are a moot point at this point. I'm assuming the media is speculating more than anything, and let's not kid ourselves, the Blazers organization got a lot quieter once KP left and I don't think Paul is trying to change that.

[fishnc]

Looks like the Blazers are higher on Barnes then most Blazer fans are.

of course, they may recognize the need for perimeter shooting. I hope they recognize the needs for ball-handling and rebounding

I hope they don't draft Barnes to improve our perimeter shooting, because by mojomarc's standards he has no chance of being a good shooter at the next level. Although, by his standards, the only player in the lottery that does have a chance is Damian Lillard.

On a serious note, I actually hope we don't take Barnes. I've watched maybe all but three of his college games start to finish and I don't think he's going to improve much more on his current skill set. His lateral quickness is below average and so is his ball handling ability. Both of those are notoriously difficult to improve on at a certain age. He supposedly worked really hard on his dribbling in the offseason after his freshmen year, but you couldn't tell this season. If he can develop a great post game to go along with his already great footwork, I think he has a chance to live up to his draft position. Right now, he brings about as much to the table as Batum does offensively, but doesn't have the great defense to pair with it.

I would take Drummond and even Lillard ahead of him at 6.

[kdawg32086]

I want no part of Lillard. The guy was the Allen Iverson of the Big Sky Conference. Lillard is lucky that Rodney Stuckey ended up being a good player because that's the only reason Lillard is going to be drafted. He's an undersized shooting guard, not a point guard with "great size" like some scouts suggest.

[SinceClyde]

I'm pretty confident that Drummond may be gone by 6. If so, I think bpa will be Barnes.
Do we take BPA and work him in with Batum or do we just take Lillard who could be off the board by 11.

I guess my question is can Barnes and Batum play together? I guess you'd have to slide one of them over

[fishnc]

I'm pretty confident that Drummond may be gone by 6. If so, I think bpa will be Barnes.
Do we take BPA and work him in with Batum or do we just take Lillard who could be off the board by 11.

I guess my question is can Barnes and Batum play together? I guess you'd have to slide one of them over

They can only play together if you have an elite ball handler, penetrator, and distributor at PG. They cannot create looks for themselves or each other efficiently.

[neplife]

i havent posted on the boards a lot since i've been focused on Seahawks,

That is unfortunate, the Seachickens make the Blazers look like one of the most well run organizations in sports.

[Blazinaway]

have been slowly movin toward the Lillard bandwagon but I have to ask myself is if one of the reasons he looks so good is that there is simply no other PG is this crappy PG draft who is even close to him? Is he that good? or just the shinniest penny in a dull pond?

[neplife]

I will gladly eat crow if wrong, but I think the Blazers will regret passing on Barnes or Beal if they are available at 6 and instead go with Lillard. I think Lillard will be a solid pro, just that Barnes and Beal will be much better players and the Blazers are not in a place to be drafting based on position they need all the talent they can get.

[JustBlaze52]

Beal is a future all star. We would be idiots not to make a run at that kid. Especially taking someone like Telfair, err Lillard ahead of him. I'd take Barnes over Lillard as well.

[Khazim]

I'd take Marshall over Lillard, even at 6. However, one of Barnes, Drummond, or Sullinger will be there at 6, and either of those would be a good pick in my opinion.

[Wickzki]

Just watched some of Lillard's mix tapes and he's beginning to give me DeJuan Wagner flashbacks.

[re49gb_2gho32fp]

Selecting either of the pg's over Leonard would be a grave mistake.

Only 3 players blazers should consider at #6
Drummond
Beal
Leonard

trade the pick otherwise. No need to take robinson if bird rights to hickson are retained.