You guys are lucky (2006 Draft)

[bigballajohn]

u guys r really lucky. u got lamarcus for tyrus thomas and viktor khryapa. that has to be one of the greatests steals of the past five yrs.\

Thomas' stats this yr

PPG 5.5
RPG 4.2
APG 1.1
SPG 0.7
BPG 0.8
FG% 0.399
FT% 0.677
MPG 15.8

Lamarcus

PPG 17.8
RPG 7.4
APG 1.1
SPG 0.6
BPG 1.2
FG% 0.500
FT% 0.759
MPG 34.1

The reason i bring this up is that portland is now really doin well and the bulls r hurtin themselves because they dont have a low post scorer. i was a big fan of lamarcus when he came to texas and when he came into the nba. i knew that the bulls were gonna draft him, and frankly i think that by tradin him they lost the third best player of that draft (roy then gay in front of him). u guys should be thankin ur gm alot for that great move.

[Spykes]

There's no doubt that 06 will be looked at as a turning point in Blazer history. It's pretty amazing, especially considering how it all went down. Dropping from 1 to 4 on Lotto night was pretty devastating when it first happen. But in hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened for us.

[trentsdad]

The Blazers were actually unlucky in 06, dropping from the top 3(karma gave it back in07) What they actually were, was SMART!'

If the ping pong balls had dropped right we wouldn't of had to give up victor in the first place.

Portland is lucky in a couple of ways
1----Having a sharp guy like Pritchard running the show
2----Having an owner like Allen who is willing to open his pocketbook to
the cheap teams in the league(see Phoenix) who will give up anything
to get under the luxury tax.

These are the real reasons Portland has a wealth of young talent,
the Oden pick will hopefully be lucky, the rest of the success
comes from smarts and the willingness to spend

[Milkdud]

If portland had gotten the #1 like the percents had it im pretty sure KP would have Nabbed up LA still, meanwhile it would have been much of a stretch to still pull of the Roy deal.

[UGotThrilled]

The Blazers were actually unlucky in 06, dropping from the top 3(karma gave it back in07) What they actually were, was SMART!'

If the ping pong balls had dropped right we wouldn't of had to give up victor in the first place.

Portland is lucky in a couple of ways
1----Having a sharp guy like Pritchard running the show
2----Having an owner like Allen who is willing to open his pocketbook to
the cheap teams in the league(see Phoenix) who will give up anything
to get under the luxury tax.

These are the real reasons Portland has a wealth of young talent,
the Oden pick will hopefully be lucky, the rest of the success
comes from smarts and the willingness to spend

+1

[britblazerdude]

It had nothing to do with luck man. It was all Pritchard making some beautiful trade magic.

[Village Idiot]

Draftexpress had a great summary of the 2006 draft written immediately afterwards. Unlike mainstream media they clearly understood what Pritchard was doing and why.

#4 Portland Trailblazers

Picks: LaMarcus Aldridge (2); Brandon Roy (6); Sergio Rodriguez (27); Joel Freeland (30)

A+

Anytime you manage to come away with two players who very well could have went #1 and #2 overall in a draft while not giving up that much in return, you’ve done quite well. The Blazers knew who and what they had targeted going into the draft, and they made sure they got exactly that. It was not only inspiring to see the Blazers made trade after trade to ensure they secured the players they wanted; it was incredibly entertaining as well.

Taking on the ugly contract of Raef Lafrentz certainly isn’t pretty for the bottom line for a franchise that is trying to be sold, but considering the circumstances involved, it needed to be done. When you consider the equally shaky status of Theo Ratliff’s knees and the fact that he has just one less year on his contract than Lafrentz, it’s a move that makes quite a bit more sense.

Continuing with the trend of talent, character, and an abundance of upside, we find another potential steal at the #27 pick with Sergio Rodriguez. Acquiring a player of his caliber that late was a huge coup for Portland, as he’ll develop into a very solid backup point guard at the very least. The jury is still out on Joel Freeland and whether he’ll ever make it in the NBA, but considering the roster crunch involved with all the picks the Blazers already made, it’s a move that makes quite a bit of sense. Portland got two future 2nd rounders from Indiana for the #31 pick and then picked up another one from Memphis for the player they got at #45 to go along with the future 2nd rounder they picked up earlier in the night from Chicago, further showing how slick Kevin Pritchard and Steve Patterson are when working under pressure. The highlight of the night for me personally was seeing Portland single handedly destroy a trade the Timberwolves and Rockets had in place (#6-Brandon Roy, for Luther Head and #8-Randy Foye) by forcing Minnesota’s hand and taking Foye a pick early at #7. That ensured that the Timberwolves had to trade arguably the 2nd best player in the draft to the Blazers for Foye and cash considerations, a move that was entirely lost on ESPN at the time but should go down as one of the most ballsy ever.

Despite the ridiculous criticism that was levied on Portland as part of the embarrassing draft night coverage provided by ESPN, the Trailblazers had a fantastic night and had every right to call it a “homerun.”

[Mr Odd]

u guys r really lucky. u got lamarcus for tyrus thomas and viktor khryapa. that has to be one of the greatests steals of the past five yrs.\

Thomas' stats this yr

PPG 5.5
RPG 4.2
APG 1.1
SPG 0.7
BPG 0.8
FG% 0.399
FT% 0.677
MPG 15.8

Lamarcus

PPG 17.8
RPG 7.4
APG 1.1
SPG 0.6
BPG 1.2
FG% 0.500
FT% 0.759
MPG 34.1

The reason i bring this up is that portland is now really doin well and the bulls r hurtin themselves because they dont have a low post scorer. i was a big fan of lamarcus when he came to texas and when he came into the nba. i knew that the bulls were gonna draft him, and frankly i think that by tradin him they lost the third best player of that draft (roy then gay in front of him). u guys should be thankin ur gm alot for that great move.

Thanks!!

We're lucky in having Paul, Pritchard & now Penn. 3xP
Bulls should trade B. Wallace while he still has some value.
Try and get a low post scorer or maybe a high draft pick??

[mojomarc]

Welcome to the Blazers board--feel free to post about how great we are any time

[BlackMamba]

yeah i also agree than more than luck is having such a smart guy like KP.

[PDXKnight]

There was definitely more than luck in this draft as trentsdad initially said. KP took risks on that draft day (namingly taking on 10 million in additional salaries at the risk that roy wouldn't be as good as many thought) but they were good risks and definitely turned out in the Blazers' favor. While the Randolph deal doesn't get as much attention as the 06' draft has, that has to be one of KP's best deals as well. In KP we trust!