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Westbrook will be a great player for O.C. but Bayless looks like the real deal! Every mock under the sun had Bayless going to you guys.

Bayless will be an amazing additon to our already deep team.

Portland can keep him... Westbrook shut him down...

as well as Weaver also shut him down till they switch him to Ballinger

I'm really starting to hate Portland fans.

I'd be happy with either. Definitely pleased with Bayless so far though. He's going to be a perfect match alongside ROY. We'll have a pg in a sg body, and a sg in a pg body. Westbrook will be good, and he'll have an easier time being a true pg in the NBA

yea, we should've gotten Bayless. I think hes going to have a much better career than Westbrook.

could go either way. I think Bayless is the right fit for the Blazers with Roy, but would've had a tough time being the distributor and defender that Green and Durant need him to be. Westbrook would've done alright with Portland, but I think Bayless gives them a type of perimeter scorer that they didn't have. Bayless's performance in the summer league was pretty impressive, but Westbrook's wasn't exactly bad either. I think it'll be a win for both teams.

wizkid27 wrote:could go either way. I think Bayless is the right fit for the Blazers with Roy, but would've had a tough time being the distributor and defender that Green and Durant need him to be. Westbrook would've done alright with Portland, but I think Bayless gives them a type of perimeter scorer that they didn't have. Bayless's performance in the summer league was pretty impressive, but Westbrook's wasn't exactly bad either. I think it'll be a win for both teams.

I agree 1+

Thanks for not drafting Durant.

I liked Bayless better than Westbrook as a prospect but I'm not sure if Bayless' attitude would have allowed him to play next to Kevin Durant. That's what I like about Westbrook he goes out there and whatever happens happens he's not about his stats and seems genuinely happy to deflect attention to others.

I think one of the concerns about Bayless is that he struggled against big time talent in college. Westbrook shut him down, and he had trouble against Weaver. He sure looked good in SL and we'll have to wait and see how it translates to the NBA.
By the way I'm a big Knicks fan but good luck to you OKC fans. I'll definitely be watching because you ended up with my favorite two NCAA players the last couple of drafts (Durant and Westbrook).

joeshmoe wrote:Thanks for not drafting Durant.

To Che! I don't think you'll have that opinion for many years longer though. I say Oden passes Durant in two more seasons. We'll have to wait and see

GOBlazers wrote:

joeshmoe wrote:Thanks for not drafting Durant.

To Che! I don't think you'll have that opinion for many years longer though. I say Oden passes Durant in two more seasons. We'll have to wait and see

tu che to you! We'll have that opinion for at least until Oden can get on the court. And stay there.
You've been waiting a year and he hasn't hit a lick so far.

What I'm waiting to see is how long it takes before he goes down for good. Injury prone as he is it might take a while for him to get in two full seasons.
Has he ever played a full season without injuries in his life?
I know he didn't in college and he has spent his entire professional career on the IL. And I think he was injured in his senior year in high school. How about before that? Did he have injuries in junior high?
Can you say injury prone? Can you say Sam Bowie?

I think Oden/Durant was the same situation. Both teams win. Why the heck would Portland want another dang forward?? On the other hand, it's nice for this "new" franchise to be able to hang their hat on a guy who is coming off of a heck of a season.

Wow Bayless got Summer League MVP. Following in the footsteps of the great Nate Robinson last year. Definitely the real deal. Portland trolls have a knack for knowing how much better their players are than any other teams.

Are you honestly comparing Nate Robinson to Jerryd Bayless?

log off

joeshmoe wrote:Thanks for not drafting Durant.

TITCR. Plus Westbrook is a better fit for the OKC squad. Not at all unhappy Presti passed on Bayless, another good decision by him.

I think that they needed a guy like Westbrook more than Bayless. They need someone who can defend the PGs in the west (Paul, Parker, Iverson, Nash to name a few). Plus he will look to be more of a distributor looking to get the ball to Durant and Green.

bmw42690 wrote:I think that they needed a guy like Westbrook more than Bayless. They need someone who can defend the PGs in the west (Paul, Parker, Iverson, Nash to name a few). Plus he will look to be more of a distributor looking to get the ball to Durant and Green.

+1

Bayless was most certainly the better fit for a team built around Durant and Green. While I like Westbrook as a player on the defensive side of the ball, it will be hard to watch the offense when he's running the point. The team's only perimeter option (besides Durant) is now Collison which shows just bad the halfcourt offense is going to be. This will let opposing teams double Durant every time he touches the ball, as there are literally no consistent outside threats for him to dish to. Bayless would have immediately become the #2 scorer and best jump shooter on the team, taking significant pressure off of Durant and even giving Green better 1-on-1 options in the post.

And as for the distibutor argument, Westbrook and Bayless are pretty similar. Westbrook may have averaged more assists last year but that was also on a team with major offensive threats. Bayless was passing to Budinger and... well just Budinger. Bayless has great offensive court sense and plays with much more control than Westbrook. I don't mind Bayless on the defensive end either, as he is 6-3 with good lateral quickness. Presti basically had the choice between the best scorer in the draft (with average defense) over the best perimeter defender in the draft (with no offense).

McG wrote:Presti basically chose the best scorer in the draft (with average defense) over the best perimeter defender in the draft (with no offense).

You know Presti picked Westbrook over Bayless, right? I would say that Bayless (in your description) would be the "best scorer in the draft (with average defense)" and Westbrook is the "best perimeter defender in the draft (with no offense)...