Draft prospects @ 10

Brandon-Clyde · Post #401 » by **Brandon-Clyde** » Sat Apr 27, 2013 3:48 am

Said this in another thread but it applies here also
Everybody wants to talk about the supposed bad luck drafting of big men in Portland history. I think this is a falacious belief.There are currently 3 pf-c,Zach Randolph,Jermaine O'Neal and LMA, in the league that Portland drafted that have made the all star game. The only player Portland ever drafted to win a mvp award(and he did it playing for Portland) was Bill Walton a center. Then of course there was Arvydis Sabonis. Portland has drafted a lot more guards and sf's and had less success there. We need to get over the fear of drafting big men because there has been some bad luck there. Also the phrase bpa you might want to consider that in the NBA size is important so when it comes time to decide bpa size also matters

Norm2953 · Post #402 » by **Norm2953** » Sat Apr 27, 2013 4:12 am

April 28 is the final day players can declare for the draft and there continue to be
rumors of Marcus Smart declaring for the draft which would impact the top 10 picks.

Smart is guaranteed to go in the top 3 which makes entering the draft a no-brainer
from a business POV.

GreenRiddler · Post #403 » by **GreenRiddler** » Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:59 am

Norm2953 wrote:April 28 is the final day players can declare for the draft and there continue to be
rumors of Marcus Smart declaring for the draft which would impact the top 10 picks.

Smart is guaranteed to go in the top 3 which makes entering the draft a no-brainer
from a business POV.

If he does declare Bazz or Oladipo could fall to us.

Norm2953 · Post #404 » by **Norm2953** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 3:53 am

Marcus Smart is indeed returning for his sophomore season. Good that he's willing
to stay in school but it's likely he's made a bad business decision for he's not going
to be a top 3 pick in the elite 2014 draft with Wiggins and Parker.

SinceClyde · Post #405 » by **SinceClyde** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:36 pm

Gobert is an interesting prospect. I think for people who were pulling their hair out over Leonard this season, it would be no better with Gobert.

If we did draft Gobert, I'd say we were priming to to make a full transition to running as neither Gobert or Leanord seem to be the half court or isolation type positional. They would be able to run, though. Gobert would be just as much as a trading asset as a project center we'd keep.

Shabazz would have to say and do all the right things this draft to be considered by the Blazers, IMO. Talent is there, but so are his weaknesses.

Interested in Alex Len, but not worth trading up for. If he falls to us, I think he'd have a better rookie season than Gobert (seems to have a more defined offensive game and frame) and be less of a high risk/reward pick.

If the opportunity presented itself, I would trade the 10 and maybe a second for a decent center and a 20-25 range first. Then I'd draft Giannis Adetokunbo if he was still there. Big fan of his.

Tommy Sneakers · Post #406 » by **Tommy Sneakers** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 7:13 pm

DaVoiceMaster wrote:Who knows anything about Michael Carter-Williams??? Is this kid going to be a player? I'm just wondering about his size. He could backup both the PG and SG positions. He would always be the PG so when he and Lillard are on the floor, Lillard would slide over to the SG position on offense and would excel!!! Carter-Williams is big enough to guard most SG's. Now, having said all of that, I've never seen the kid play. I just see that he's a top 10 selection on many websites and he is a big PG. His assist, rebound & steal numbers are good, but his shooting percentages rather blow.

Anyone? Anyone? Beaulier? Beaulier?

Blazers/Syracuse fan here. Carter-Williams is going to have trouble scoring in the NBA. He is not a good shooter. He relied a lot on his length over smaller defenders to score. He won't have that advantage anymore. He's also a sloppy ball handler and his decision making is suspect. He has a bad habit of jumping before he knows what he is doing with the ball. There were also a lot of plays this year that made me think to myself 'What the hell was he thinking?' For example, in the (i think) Villanova game, Cuse was down 3 with like 20 seconds left. MCW doesn't run a play and jacks up a contested off-balance 25 footer. He was the 4th best 3 point shooter on the floor and didn't even look for his teammates. Now a lot of people would say it is a good thing that a player wants to be the one to take the big shot, but in this case it was just dumb.

I don't mean to say he is a bad player, just that I'm hesitant to take him with the 10th pick for a team with a young star PG. He is a very good rebounder and his passing/court vision are absolutely incredible. I think he will be a good defender at the pro level. He is reasonably quick and very long. He is also very good at playing passing lanes. He is raw as of right now and needs to mature a bit. I think eventually he can be a Rondo type point guard, although not nearly on his level.

Post #407 » by **DeBlazerRiddem** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:53 pm

Gobert's NBA prospects hinge entirely on his mental make-up. He is a little thin to impose himself on the game without a killer mentality. If he is not terribly aggressive, he might be a better 2ed round pick, and a guy who is only effective in small minutes.

PTPaQ · Post #408 » by **PTPaQ** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:05 pm

As a front-office if you arent overly impressed with the mediocre, low-cieling prospects in this drafts top 10 (Assuming Noel/McClemore are unattainable of course), I'd think the best way to go is to swing for the fences and go for the guys like Gobert, Adetokoubo, Shabazz. Regarding the two oveseas kids that may be counter-productive in the eyes of PA as it doesnt give us any or much return immediately. Decisions, decisions...

Joel Embust · Post #409 » by **Joel Embust** » Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:14 pm

PTPaQ wrote:As a front-office if you arent overly impressed with the mediocre, low-cieling prospects in this drafts top 10 (Assuming Noel/McClemore are unattainable of course), I'd think the best way to go is to swing for the fences and go for the guys like Gobert, Adetokoubo, Shabazz. Regarding the two oveseas kids that may be counter-productive in the eyes of PA as it doesnt give us any or much return immediately. Decisions, decisions...

Only way to go in a draft like this is going high risk, high reward.

List of high risk, high reward type of players:

Alex Len
Shabazz Muhammad
Steven Adams
Giannis Adetokoubo
Dario Saric
Archie Goodwin
Dennis Schröder
Myck Kabongo
Tony Mitchell

call.me.dude · Post #410 » by **call.me.dude** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:54 am

Eleqtrique wrote:
PTPaQ wrote:As a front-office if you arent overly impressed with the mediocre, low-cieling prospects in this drafts top 10 (Assuming Noel/McClemore are unattainable of course), I'd think the best way to go is to swing for the fences and go for the guys like Gobert, Adetokoubo, Shabazz. Regarding the two oveseas kids that may be counter-productive in the eyes of PA as it doesnt give us any or much return immediately. Decisions, decisions...

Only way to go in a draft like this is going high risk, high reward.

List of high risk, high reward type of players:

Alex Len
Shabazz Muhammad
Steven Adams
Giannis Adetokoubo
Dario Saric
Archie Goodwin
Dennis Schröder
Myck Kabongo
Tony Mitchell

One of my favourite players and a fellow German. But he's getting too much hype right now. He can't really finish as of now. Would love him as our future backup PG. I don't see how he's a top 20 pick though (at least for us).

Post #411 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:05 am

Norm2953 wrote:Marcus Smart is indeed returning for his sophomore season. Good that he's willing
to stay in school but it's likely he's made a bad business decision for he's not going
to be a top 3 pick in the elite 2014 draft with Wiggins and Parker.

Not to mention, if he injures himself... Wow, I'm all for kids staying in school and really think they should, but if they can get the money... why not? Top 3 pick??? He either has some really great values/morals or ... Hmmm, I got nothing more. I just don't get it. Take the money if you can get it. The guy can always go back to school during the off season, later in life or whenever. I'd take the money!

Case2012 · Post #412 » by **Case2012** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 3:09 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r34DMqulMXY[/youtube]

Post #413 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:32 am

Tommy Sneakers wrote:
DaVoiceMaster wrote:Who knows anything about Michael Carter-Williams??? Is this kid going to be a player? I'm just wondering about his size. He could backup both the PG and SG positions. He would always be the PG so when he and Lillard are on the floor, Lillard would slide over to the SG position on offense and would excel!!! Carter-Williams is big enough to guard most SG's. Now, having said all of that, I've never seen the kid play. I just see that he's a top 10 selection on many websites and he is a big PG. His assist, rebound & steal numbers are good, but his shooting percentages rather blow.

Anyone? Anyone? Beaulier? Beaulier?

Blazers/Syracuse fan here. Carter-Williams is going to have trouble scoring in the NBA. He is not a good shooter. He relied a lot on his length over smaller defenders to score. He won't have that advantage anymore. He's also a sloppy ball handler and his decision making is suspect. He has a bad habit of jumping before he knows what he is doing with the ball. There were also a lot of plays this year that made me think to myself 'What the hell was he thinking?' For example, in the (i think) Villanova game, Cuse was down 3 with like 20 seconds left. MCW doesn't run a play and jacks up a contested off-balance 25 footer. He was the 4th best 3 point shooter on the floor and didn't even look for his teammates. Now a lot of people would say it is a good thing that a player wants to be the one to take the big shot, but in this case it was just dumb.

I don't mean to say he is a bad player, just that I'm hesitant to take him with the 10th pick for a team with a young star PG. He is a very good rebounder and his passing/court vision are absolutely incredible. I think he will be a good defender at the pro level. He is reasonably quick and very long. He is also very good at playing passing lanes. He is raw as of right now and needs to mature a bit. I think eventually he can be a Rondo type point guard, although not nearly on his level.

Thanks TS!!!

Post #414 » by **DaVoiceMaster** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:33 am

Is Dieng the best defensive big man?

Post #415 » by **DeBlazerRiddem** » Wed May 1, 2013 4:32 am

DaVoiceMaster wrote:Is Dieng the best defensive big man?

Well Noel blows everyone out of the water defensively, and both Adams and Gobert have some decent potential on that end of the court, but yeah, Dieng seems like the second best defensive big in the draft.

Blazinaway · Post #416 » by **Blazinaway** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:29 pm

DaVoiceMaster wrote:Is Dieng the best defensive big man?

from what I have read and seen, agree he's second after Noel defensively

Blazinaway · Post #417 » by **Blazinaway** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:29 pm

DaVoiceMaster wrote:Is Dieng the best defensive big man?

from what I have read and seen, agree he's second after Noel defensively

Goldbum · Post #418 » by **Goldbum** » Wed May 1, 2013 2:48 pm

I'm starting to believe McCollum goes ahead of us and pushes someone down. With the relative success of G.Hill, the ROY season of Lillard, and the Steph Curry love fest... I think some team top 8 takes him hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

No-Man · Post #419 » by **No-Man** » Wed May 1, 2013 3:02 pm

Dieng cant play Center in the NBA, he has huge strength issues at this point and he's already 23.

He's a back-up for life, he's Ekpe Udoh with better passing abilities and worse athleticism.

Post #420 » by **DeBlazerRiddem** » Wed May 1, 2013 4:16 pm

Goldbum wrote:I'm starting to believe McCollum goes ahead of us and pushes someone down. With the relative success of G.Hill, the ROY season of Lillard, and the Steph Curry love fest... I think some team top 8 takes him hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

I know he's older, but he's also the best per-minute scorer on good percentages for his position and over 50% from behind 3 on over 5 attempts per game.

Draft express has him going 8th to Detroit, and I have thought he would go up the draft board for a lot of the reasons you mention.