POLL: Your Realistic Pick at #7

[cdubbz]

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Hopefully Edey even if busts out, is a guy like Boban, who is a guy who perhaps is the most loved
player around the league.

maybe. His personality seems more serious & aggressive from his interviews in the tournament.

His 3point shot looked pure from his combine workouts - if he can make that his elite NBA skill along with his size then he has a good future.

[Goldbum]

I'm more interested in Edey developing as a playmaker and less in him being a 3pt shooter.

[Case2012]

Having such a high iq as a player and demanding so much attention in the post, i would love for him to turn into an offensive hub as a secondary playmaker behind scoot. The 3 is necessary to pull out other teams 5's to open up lanes for slashing and driving but I could also see him drawing double and triples, kicking it out to our shooters (if we ever get any). I think if we go wing at 7 he's gone at 14. I can see OKC or Memphis taking him.

[zzaj]

Blazers need to think of Edey as Sabonis--Sometime 3pt shooter, passer from the mid-post, high BBIQ, and right hook,

I'm liking Edey more and more.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Blazers need to think of Edey as Sabonis--Sometime 3pt shooter, passer from the mid-post, high BBIQ, and right hook,
I'm liking Edey more and more.

Pick and roll, he's mammoth going to the hoop. Pick and pop from 3 opens the lane, and he has a head start getting back on D if he misses ... but only if there is reason to think he can become a 3 point shooter -- Brook Lopez, not Sabas.

EDIT: I have changed my "realistic pick at #7". I want Cody Williams there. Get rid of the effects of strength issues when he's crossed the 200 lb line ... 2 years and there is zero rush.

The Portland Trail Blazers select Tidjane Salaun.

I hate to say it, but someone has to reach for him. The Spurs go for their PG at 4. They could wait for 8 at PG and get their wing choice, but that would be surprising. Enough wings are sliding down mocks and with the potential movement of Clingan and Sheppard to the top 7. If Castle or Topic is their guy, don't wait.

No, Portland scoops up Salaun at 7 taking the biggest swing they can. I can see a package with 14 moving up to get a SF.

[Norm2953]

I'd like to see a trade up to perhaps 5 with Detroit to target Buzelis assuming he's there at 5.

Detroit has $62 million in potential cap space and could absorb Grant while Portland
adds perhaps a player that is better fit for them while dumping Grant's big contract on
the Pistons

[zzaj]

I'd like to see a trade up to perhaps 5 with Detroit to target Buzelis assuming he's there at 5.

Detroit has $62 million in potential cap space and could absorb Grant while Portland
adds perhaps a player that is better fit for them while dumping Grant's big contract on
the Pistons

Wait! What happened to the 6'9" bruising big that you wanted?!

[zzaj]

Just got off of a Ron Holland dive.

I'm going to be so disappointed if the Blazers draft Holland at either 7 or 14. The Blazers need shooting in the WORST way. Holland hit 28% on uncontested 3s last season, and his shooting percentages go down from there.

HOT TAKE TIME: There will be 3-4 players drafted in the 2nd round that will have better careers than Holland.

HOT TAKE #2: I love this draft and think it's stronger than most. I think it'll go down as one of the most productive drafts in recent memory. People think that just because there isn't an obvious superstar in it that it's weak. The 2nd round is better than recent years. I predict 1 superstar 2-4 All-Stars and about 15 really good team role players.

[Norm2953]

I'd like to see a trade up to perhaps 5 with Detroit to target Buzelis assuming he's there at 5.

Detroit has $62 million in potential cap space and could absorb Grant while Portland
adds perhaps a player that is better fit for them while dumping Grant's big contract on
the Pistons

Wait! What happened to the 6'9" bruising big that you wanted?!

That guy likely does not exist in this draft.

The closest players are the two bigs but I'm doubtful Clingan will be there even at 5 and would hate
taking Edey at 7 unless the alternatives were more guards. Time Lord would really help if healthy.
A trade up assumes Portland has a preference for a specific player but Clingan would give the team
a physical player who could protect the basket and rebound. He would also allow Portland to let Ayton
walk instead of a potential extension for $161 million/3 according to BE.

[Norm2953]

Just got off of a Ron Holland dive.

I'm going to be so disappointed if the Blazers draft Holland at either 7 or 14. The Blazers need shooting in the WORST way. Holland hit 28% on uncontested 3s last season, and his shooting percentages go down from there.

HOT TAKE TIME: There will be 3-4 players drafted in the 2nd round that will have better careers than Holland.

HOT TAKE #2: I love this draft and think it's stronger than most. I think it'll go down as one of the most productive drafts in recent memory. People think that just because there isn't an obvious superstar in it that it's weak. The 2nd round is better than recent years. I predict 1 superstar 2-4 All-Stars and about 15 really good team role players.

Who would you take if the draft set up as (according to tankathon)

1) Sarr
2) Risacher
3) Sheppard
4) Topic
5) Buzelis
6) Clingan

I think the choice would come down to Castle or Holland unless the Blazers reached for Knecht, Dillingham
or Salaun

[zzaj]

I’d go Knecht at 7 and hope Salaun was there at 14. If those two werent there I’d probably go Holmes or De Silva. Or a backup C.

Knecht would be dependeent on trading Simons. He’d slot in as a high floor/lowish ceiling shooter 6th man off the bench

[Norm2953]

Good shooter but will be a horrible defender

Shooting can be over-rated for the Blazers have had a number of guys who were just one tool players.
Guys like Jeff Lamp and Alan Crabbe come to mind but I think I'd rather have Castle who was a scorer
in high school but will be a POA defensive player on the perimeter, who will be 6-7 in shoes. The problem
for Portland with Castle is that he's refusing to workout with teams who have an established PG and could
easily go fourth to SA, if they pass on Topic due to his injuries.

[Pattycakes]

Warming up to the idea of Clingan at 7 if he’s available/we still target a wing at 14.

Holland at 7 and Edey at 14 is what I’m hoping,

But say it’s Clingan and Salaun/or Da Silva something of that nature. Hard to be mad.

Out of all the teams that could benefit from adding one of Cling or Edey to the frontline for defensive support, the Blazers feel like a really solid candidate

[DusterBuster]

Reports are that there's no way Clingan drops past the Blazers at 7. I would suspect the Blazers would be thrilled if he were there.

[Walton1one]

Yeah, I am leaning towards drafting Clingan. I think he could fit Scoot's strengths very well. He is a good pick & roll center (Scoot is a good pick & roll player), he is a very underrated passer, has very good vision. He brings some real positive traits to the defense (he directly affects opponents' FG% in a measurable way when he is in the game).

I found this revealing from another thread:

like the poster above mentioned, UConn has held teams to under 44% at the rim when Clingan was on the court, and that wasn't just this year, that was last year too. So b2b years of this mark, which in itself is a mark no other defensive prospect has touched in recent years.

Chet was at 46% and he's probably the closest. Guys like Mobley, Kessler, M Williams, Lively and Azubuike were all 50%+.

This season with Clingan on teams shot 7% worse at the rim and last year teams shot 10.2% worse.

These are outlier numbers, its part of the reason why Clingan has led the country in adj. team efficiency margin two years in a row.

IMO he's a better prospect than Kessler, both offensively and defensively, and Kessler has returned borderline top 5 value in what I consider to be a more top heavy draft. I'll honestly be shocked if Clingan doesn't return top 5 VORP value in this class

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I think putting players around Scoot, like Clingan, who can pick & roll + plays good defense and surrounding both of them with other 3&D\shooter type wing players, maximizes their value and makes POR a dangerous team. have to cover the pick&roll, can't leave wings open or you pay the price, that has the starting point of a good team.

Also, regarding Ayton, Clingan I think only averaged 22 or so minutes a game in college, which is what I would expect him to play his first few years in the NBA, sharing time with Ayton. After 2 years, you see what you have in Clingan and can decide whether to move on from Ayton or not.

I think the only concern is injury history, being a POR fan, big men always make me nervous.

[Wizenheimer]

after reportedly spending 2 years coveting Ayton only to land him 9 months ago...

it would be so like Portland's bi-polar obsession with 'we-don't-have-the-balls-to-pick-a-lane-so-instead-let's-straddle-every-fence-in-sight' lunacy to follow up trading for the overpaid Ayton as the COTF by drafting a 2nd COTF in Clingan. Might as well guarantee that the over-active malcontent instincts of Ayton get's fully triggered by adding his replacement

and forget about the nonsense of trying to justify minutes for both. teams simply can't distribute 48 minutes a game to traditional drop-coverage C's. The rest of the NBA forces teams to match small-ball lineups and is adept at chasing traditional C's off the floor, especially in the playoffs (one thing Portland won't have to worry about for years)

figure a minimum of 5-10 minutes a game matching small-ball opposition, leaving around 40 minutes, at most, for Ayton/Clingan. Then realize that Ayton's career average is 31 minutes while he averaged over 32 last season. Great, Portland has 7 or 8 minutes a game to give to a 7th pick

I think the Blazers have to swing for the fences with every high pick they have. Every...single....pick needs to be invested in prospects with the highest upsides. Yes, some rolls of the dice will crap out but that's the game. In this draft, that might be Salaun at 7 and Ware at 14. Not taking a swing at the next Zubac

[Dame Lizard]

after reportedly spending 2 years coveting Ayton only to land him 9 months ago...

it would be so like Portland's bi-polar obsession with 'we-don't-have-the-balls-to-pick-a-lane-so-instead-let's-straddle-every-fence-in-sight' lunacy to follow up trading for the overpaid Ayton as the COTF by drafting a 2nd COTF in Clingan. Might as well guarantee that the over-active malcontent instincts of Ayton get's fully triggered by adding his replacement

and forget about the nonsense of trying to justify minutes for both. teams simply can't distribute 48 minutes a game to traditional drop-coverage C's. The rest of the NBA forces teams to match small-ball lineups and is adept at chasing traditional C's off the floor, especially in the playoffs (one thing Portland won't have to worry about for years)

figure a minimum of 5-10 minutes a game matching small-ball opposition, leaving around 40 minutes, at most, for Ayton/Clingan. Then realize that Ayton's career average is 31 minutes while he averaged over 32 last season. Great, Portland has 7 or 8 minutes a game to give to a 7th pick

I think the Blazers have to swing for the fences with every high pick they have. Every...single....pick needs to be invested in prospects with the highest upsides. Yes, some rolls of the dice will crap out but that's the game. In this draft, that might be Salaun at 7 and Ware at 14. Not taking a swing at the next Zubac

I agree that Portland should absolutely swing for the fences with its draft picks.

However regarding the Ayton trade, we got him without giving up all that much (Nurkic + Little). Yes, his salary is huge, but that's not much of an issue on a rebuilding Blazers team without Dame's huge salary.

I don't think Ayton should influence our draft selections.

[Wizenheimer]

after reportedly spending 2 years coveting Ayton only to land him 9 months ago...

it would be so like Portland's bi-polar obsession with 'we-don't-have-the-balls-to-pick-a-lane-so-instead-let's-straddle-every-fence-in-sight' lunacy to follow up trading for the overpaid Ayton as the COTF by drafting a 2nd COTF in Clingan. Might as well guarantee that the over-active malcontent instincts of Ayton get's fully triggered by adding his replacement

and forget about the nonsense of trying to justify minutes for both. teams simply can't distribute 48 minutes a game to traditional drop-coverage C's. The rest of the NBA forces teams to match small-ball lineups and is adept at chasing traditional C's off the floor, especially in the playoffs (one thing Portland won't have to worry about for years)

figure a minimum of 5-10 minutes a game matching small-ball opposition, leaving around 40 minutes, at most, for Ayton/Clingan. Then realize that Ayton's career average is 31 minutes while he averaged over 32 last season. Great, Portland has 7 or 8 minutes a game to give to a 7th pick

I think the Blazers have to swing for the fences with every high pick they have. Every...single....pick needs to be invested in prospects with the highest upsides. Yes, some rolls of the dice will crap out but that's the game. In this draft, that might be Salaun at 7 and Ware at 14. Not taking a swing at the next Zubac

I agree that Portland should absolutely swing for the fences with its draft picks.

However regarding the Ayton trade, we got him without giving up all that much (Nurkic + Little).

you forgot Damian Lillard

[zzaj]

Agreed on avoiding a C in this draft. IMHO, the C position league wide is going to pivot even more in the next couple of years. Blazers need to be targeting unicorn prospects—athletic, two position defending, rim running/protecting and 3pt shooting 7’ and above. That’s certainly not Clingan and Edey. They can bring certain things, but they aren’t going to be the future of the league.
I still stand by the idea that things are about to change in a big way in the NBA. Teams are going to platoon more, now that it’ll be hard to gather and keep stars. Teams are going to see the success of teams like Indiana trotting out fresh legs in the POs, and try to follow that lead—a bunch of well-fitting, 80% of a star player at 1/5th the cost types…
That’s why there is so much value in this draft. There are a lot of players that project with an NBA skill or two, that can help teams right away, but may not have the star upside to garner an eventual huge deal.

[Norm2953]

Agreed on avoiding a C in this draft. IMHO, the C position league wide is going to pivot even more in the next couple of years. Blazers need to be targeting unicorn prospects—athletic, two position defending, rim running/protecting and 3pt shooting 7’ and above. That’s certainly not Clingan and Edey. They can bring certain things, but they aren’t going to be the future of the league.
I still stand by the idea that things are about to change in a big way in the NBA. Teams are going to platoon more, now that it’ll be hard to gather and keep stars. Teams are going to see the success of teams like Indiana trotting out fresh legs in the POs, and try to follow that lead—a bunch of well-fitting, 80% of a star player at 1/5th the cost types…
That’s why there is so much value in this draft. There are a lot of players that project with an NBA skill or two, that can help teams right away, but may not have the star upside to garner an eventual huge deal.

Where do you project the 2024 version of Derek Lively (Kel'el Ware) who athletically is equal to Sarr?

Ware had a horrible freshman season at Oregon, where the coach thought he was going through the motions,
waiting for the season to be over for he wanted to be a one and done. He ended up at Indiana and had a
good season but teams have got to wonder which Ware is the real Ware