Grade the draft!

[JRoy]

Reserving judgement. We drafted Sharpe last year and he looks like a great pick.

[Brandon-Clyde]

We could have drafted bigs and we didn't. That drops the grade for me. GG Jackson was on the board and we took Rupert(ELITE DEFENDER ) so I feel like this was BPA the whole way. I agree with BPA so I can't go below a B

The problem with taking Rupert is unless there are follow up trades of guards for forwards he will be the 7th guard in the rotation.
1) Lillard
2) Sharpe
3) Scoot
4) Simons
5) Thybule
6) Keon
It's possible he spends the entire season in the G league and plays absolutely zero minutes.

[Goldbum]

I'm okay with Rupert playing in the G-league next season but would have preferred that to be GG Jackson, TDJ or Siddy.
Also how funny is it that we could have taken Miller at 23 and Cissoko at 43 and passed. I mean we have Pooh and Scoot from within that same organization.

[red_power]

Overall it was a good night. Having Scoot is great. Murray has great potential to be a very valuable role player.
Rupert is a wild guess but I think it's OK bringing Thybulle's insurance option that late in the draft.

I miss Clowney a bit but it was unlikely he would still be available at #23 anyway.

[Tim Lehrbach]

It's fair to give the Blazers some credit for landing Scoot. They didn't blink and trade up with Charlotte or prematurely trade down (if they thought it would be Miller and didn't want him), and more importantly they resisted the pressure to move out of the pick altogether for veteran help that wouldn't have been worth the sacrifice. It wasn't just luck and an auto pick from the draft queue but a series of difficult decisions that resulted in the Scoot selection.

[PDXKnight]

I've always been a firm believer in bpa. I think Scoot was the right guy and their other picks Made sense as well

[BlazersBroncos]

A+.

First off, there was not big fish that we missed out on. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating -

Pascal had come out and said he wants to stay in TOR - and isnt worth #3.
We offered Simons + 3 for Mikal - BRK declined.
Zach is a putrid fit and is not worth 3.
Zion by numerous accounts was never on the table for 3.
OG may have been on the table, but is nowhere near 3.
Boston just made an 'all in' move w/ KP - no chance they were interested in moving Brown for a draft pick.

So its important to take the above into context, many wanted a win-now move - but if the deal isnt there you dont force it.

As for KP - the Wizards would have no interest in Nurkic as the salary filler due to his long deal so your looking at Simons, and its possible PDX was not willing to move him for someone that is expiring - but, more likely is the scenario where KP specifically wanted to go to a contender like Boston and was ONLY willing to opt-in to his deal in such a trade. If we made an offer, KP could have simply said 'nope, will opt out rather than go there' - I think the KP trade, much like the Beal trade, was the player forcing his way to said team. I dont think its fair to assume the entire market was open for KP - he opted in to get to Boston, full stop.

Finally, we have propsed, as has CHI fans, a swap of #23 for out pick back so many times that it seems we have created a false world where everyone was just sure CHI would be down for said swap - there is no indication they were. We cant assume the chance to regain future FRP control was on the table.

So, into the draft.

Scoot was in a tier of his own after Wemby - he would be the #1 in 90% of drafts. His fit isnt ideal obviously but the talent differential between him and the next top guy was huge IMO. You use him as the 6th man for 1-2 seasons while Dame is still here and hand the keys off after. He is only 6'2, but with a 6'9 wingspan he can guard most SG - the issue will be how he can play off ball on offense. There should be 12-14mpg behind Dame - and he runs the 2nd unit in that time - but the other 12-14mpg he should get will have to be sharing the floor with Dame, and I think he can handle that.

Kris was about as 'win now' as a FRP can be - lower upside but a NBA ready player that should slide into the backup PF spot immediately. Like his brother he can guard up a position decently well and has a quality understanding of the game - IE he should know his role as a off ball 3PT shooter and hustle defender. Tested well, good PF size at 6'9. Most mocks had him in the late teen range. I liked Leonard here, but he is a much less sure thing who has odd biometrics when he moves and a far worse 3PT shot.

Rayan is a pure upside pick who started the year mocked in the late lotto. His testing was poor, but his frame is ideal for a 3/D SF and we dont have a pure developmental SF on the roster right now. Real big fan of this swing. Would take him over a knucklehead like GG and while I liked TJD - he projects as a pure PF or another undersized C and IMO we just dont need that given our current roster construction. Watford has a similar profile as a small ball C (Albeit w/ much different traits) + we just took Kris to be the backup PF.

I think we managed to get 2 guys that should be able to play 20+ mpg right off the bat - with Scoot having Top-5 guard potential and Kris being slept on slightly (I think he can elevate into a 4th starter role, and plays the game in a way that you want from a 4th starter - IE knows his role). Rayan is a great swing as well - we need a developmental pure SF, despite our glut at guard and forward, none of them are true, young SF's. Pick made tons of sense IMO.

Really great draft. I think we simply need to turn Simons into a veteran forward and we are good to go. I think Scoot is a excellent 6th man next year who can come off the bench to inject urgency and hustle, and should be a + defender at either guard spot immediatley. Kris should slide into that backup PF role and be a quality 3/D guy from the jump and Rayan should be getting G-League minutes (Which one should expect from a #43 pick).

Not sure what the doom and gloom is about. Taking an analytical look at the options available makes it pretty clear the moves, or lack thereof, that we made on draft night were the right ones.

Assuming we can move Simons + Little for a forward, we could / should be looking at something like this next season -

G - Damian Lillard / Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Scoot Henderson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Forward X / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Jerami Grant / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

[Goldbum]

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Rupert. I wanted GG or TDJ at the pick but I'm starting to reconsider.

[Red Robot]

I'm very happy about the draft and a little surprised by the muted reaction in blazerland. Maybe everyone got the excitement out of their system at the draft lottery or had it slowly drain away during the last month of nonstop discussion.

Coming away from last night with Scoot is a huge success. He's one of the best prospects this franchise has ever had (Walton, Oden, anyone else?). Who knows how he'll turn out, but at this stage there's very little reason not to be excited.

Not making a bad trade is a major secondary success. Nearly all of the rumored trades would have been poor long-term moves, and I thought there was a good chance the team would do something shortsighted. Glad they didn't.

Murray and Rupert seem like good value at their respective spots. I'd also have liked the blazers to draft a big, but whatever. There weren't many options and maybe the evaluations on the players available were not good. Really though everything happening with pick 23 or the second round is insignificant compared to landing Scoot. Likewise, the Lillard situation is still unresolved, but it's fine to address one thing at a time.

I'd give the Blazers an A for this draft, based on the choices they made and given that Scoot somewhat fell into their laps. But the talent added is A+ and fans should be hyped.

[BlazersBroncos]

Murray and Rupert seem like good value at their respective spots. I'd also have liked the blazers to draft a big, but whatever

This draft was very, very low in guys over 6'9 with legit talent. There was Wemby, Derek and Nnaji. And Nnaji is nowhere close to being ready to play minutes at the NBA level.

Tristan has the 3PT shot, but is going to be a really poor defender. Not sure why a team with as bad defense as Portland would be interested. If we want a guy over 6'9 that can shoot but play no defense there are plenty of scrubs we could target.

GG is a pure PF who has talent but the stars will have to align for him to up his maturity and decision making to an NBA level. I could see him end up like John Collins if this happens, but more likely he flames out. PDX also has not come close to taking on any guys w/ character issues in years - we shouldnt be surprised we passed on GG.

[DusterBuster]

I still just can't get past how disappointing the draft was by 23. When they still kept and made that pick... then did nothing else all night long, not even a minor deal with Chicago to open up their future picks and finally get that pick debt off the table (something Cronin has said he's had multiple ongoing discussions with Chicago about)... that's when I was really frustrated with the night. Then his presser was just nothing but badly delivered promises undercut by the night's actions.

He's still got 2 weeks here, 1 until the moratorium, then 1 after FA starts... maybe there's some rabbit he pulls out of his hat, but I just have a real hard time seeing what the move is here - or that the team actually has any stomach for that kind of deal. Even as Cronin keeps half-assing his "we want to be competitive around Dame as fast as possible" line to the public.

To me, it's clear the FO really doesn't care about contending fast around Dame. Some people can blame it the Vulcans, I'm sure there's truth to that, maybe Cronin is just in an impossible spot, but if that's the case, Cronin should just man up and trade Dame. If there's no path forward for creating a winner on Dame's timeline for whatever reason, Cronin needs to go to Dame and say it and say the best way forward for both sides is to trade him. Let's stop this charade. The team is very clearly leaning heavily into a youth movement and doing nothing to position themselves for that mythical "big swing" trade, so let's stop pretending that's coming and stop lying to the fanbase or the media and get this over with.

[Goldbum]

I heard GG shut down a workout because of fitness than went and vaped in the locker room. I think TDJ can contribute now though

[BlazersBroncos]

I still just can't get past how disappointing the draft was by 23. When they still kept and made that pick... then did nothing else all night long, not even a minor deal with Chicago to open up their future picks and finally get that pick debt off the table (something Cronin has said he's had multiple ongoing discussions with Chicago about)... that's when I was really frustrated with the night. Then his presser was just nothing but badly delivered promises undercut by the night's actions.

He's still got 2 weeks here, 1 until the moratorium, then 1 after FA starts... maybe there's some rabbit he pulls out of his hat, but I just have a real hard time seeing what the move is here - or that the team actually has any stomach for that kind of deal. Even as Cronin keeps half-assing his "we want to be competitive around Dame as fast as possible" line to the public.

To me, it's clear the FO really doesn't care about contending fast around Dame. Some people can blame it the Vulcans, I'm sure there's truth to that, maybe Cronin is just in an impossible spot, but if that's the case, Cronin should just man up and trade Dame. If there's no path forward for creating a winner on Dame's timeline for whatever reason, Cronin needs to go to Dame and say it and say the best way forward for both sides is to trade him. Let's stop this charade. The team is very clearly leaning heavily into a youth movement and doing nothing to position themselves for that mythical "big swing" trade, so let's stop pretending that's coming and stop lying to the fanbase or the media and get this over with.

Why do we assume CHI was interested in swapping the future FRP for #23? If Cronin has insinuated that he has talked to CHI about getting the pick back, can we not conclude they were wringing us for value and we walked away?

Not trading #3 doesnt mean the FO wasnt trying to make win-now moves. It most likely means right now there wasnt a trade on the market that was worth moving #3. Again, who was out there? I dont understand the assumption that we had deals on the table and walked away from them. And not only who is out there, but who is worth #3.

If we had moved #3 for Pascal, probably the most attainable win-now target, people would all be up in arms about how he isnt worth it (He isnt). I just dont understand what outcomes people were expecting. We didnt get KP, but its also VERY likely that KP specifically said "I will opt-in for a trade to BOS (Or any other clear contender) - if not, I opt-out'. He had all the leverage.

The negativity towards the FO just seems so off to me. The team doesnt operate in a vaccume - you need 2 to tango and its much more likely the market presented little or no options worth moving #3.

We got dealt an ackward hand since the 2nd best player in this draft plays the same position as Dame. Be angry about that, but it boggles my mind what the expectations here were. Was BOS going to take #3 for Brown after going 'all in' on KP? Does that make sense for them? No. Was OG, LaVine, Lauri worth #3? Almost certainly not. Was Zion on the block? By all accounts, no - and even then the risk of him continuing to eat his way out of the league is so high - moving #3 for him and getting 'plays 1/4 of the games avaliable' Zion would be a franchise crushing move. #3 for KAT? Ya sure, he is a real winner.

IDK, maybe I am just in a good mood. I can understand being frustrated about the luck of ending up #2 in a 2 person draft where the 2nd guy plays the same spot as Dame - but I cant understand being frustrated at the FO for not materializing a pie-in-the-sky trade for someone like Embiid.

[Skhraeurpl]

A for Talent

F for fit

Either we’re not gonna be good, or we’ll trade somebody we don’t want to for less than they’re worth.

[DusterBuster]

I still just can't get past how disappointing the draft was by 23. When they still kept and made that pick... then did nothing else all night long, not even a minor deal with Chicago to open up their future picks and finally get that pick debt off the table (something Cronin has said he's had multiple ongoing discussions with Chicago about)... that's when I was really frustrated with the night. Then his presser was just nothing but badly delivered promises undercut by the night's actions.

He's still got 2 weeks here, 1 until the moratorium, then 1 after FA starts... maybe there's some rabbit he pulls out of his hat, but I just have a real hard time seeing what the move is here - or that the team actually has any stomach for that kind of deal. Even as Cronin keeps half-assing his "we want to be competitive around Dame as fast as possible" line to the public.

To me, it's clear the FO really doesn't care about contending fast around Dame. Some people can blame it the Vulcans, I'm sure there's truth to that, maybe Cronin is just in an impossible spot, but if that's the case, Cronin should just man up and trade Dame. If there's no path forward for creating a winner on Dame's timeline for whatever reason, Cronin needs to go to Dame and say it and say the best way forward for both sides is to trade him. Let's stop this charade. The team is very clearly leaning heavily into a youth movement and doing nothing to position themselves for that mythical "big swing" trade, so let's stop pretending that's coming and stop lying to the fanbase or the media and get this over with.

Why do we assume CHI was interested in swapping the future FRP for #23? If Cronin has insinuated that he has talked to CHI about getting the pick back, can we not conclude they were wringing us for value and we walked away?

Not trading #3 doesnt mean the FO wasnt trying to make win-now moves. It most likely means right now there wasnt a trade on the market that was worth moving #3. Again, who was out there? I dont understand the assumption that we had deals on the table and walked away from them. And not only who is out there, but who is worth #3.

If we had moved #3 for Pascal, probably the most attainable win-now target, people would all be up in arms about how he isnt worth it (He isnt). I just dont understand what outcomes people were expecting. We didnt get KP, but its also VERY likely that KP specifically said "I will opt-in for a trade to BOS (Or any other clear contender) - if not, I opt-out'. He had all the leverage.

The negativity towards the FO just seems so off to me. The team doesnt operate in a vaccume - you need 2 to tango and its much more likely the market presented little or no options worth moving #3.

We got dealt an ackward hand since the 2nd best player in this draft plays the same position as Dame. Be angry about that, but it boggles my mind what the expectations here were. Was BOS going to take #3 for Brown after going 'all in' on KP? Does that make sense for them? No. Was OG, LaVine, Lauri worth #3? Almost certainly not. Was Zion on the block? By all accounts, no - and even then the risk of him continuing to eat his way out of the league is so high - moving #3 for him and getting 'plays 1/4 of the games avaliable' Zion would be a franchise crushing move. #3 for KAT? Ya sure, he is a real winner.

IDK, maybe I am just in a good mood. I can understand being frustrated about the luck of ending up #2 in a 2 person draft where the 2nd guy plays the same spot as Dame - but I cant understand being frustrated at the FO for not materializing a pie-in-the-sky trade for someone like Embiid.

Two things.

One, I find a lot of the "well what are they supposed to do / their hands are tied" argument funny. Mainly because I used to use it for Olshey in the past and would get trashed. I eventually came around to being fed up getting fed a major line of crap every summer. But now Cronin is doing the exact same thing Olshey did for years (just less smarmy) and that same argument is being used, but now it's fair when it wasn't before... ok.

Two, everything you say is 100% accurate. Not arguing any of it. But if that is the case and accurate, then just trade Dame. If, as you're arguing, there is no current All Star player worth the 3 pick or available, then that deal is never going to be there. Cronin is trying to do the impossible as there's no player worthy of an all-in trade for the foreseeable future, so let's rip the bandaid off. Reboot and trade Dame, it starts the youth movement in earnest and removes the Blazers from being leveraged with other teams.

Like, we can say "woe is us, there's just no player worthy of our assets. we're in such an awkward position. etc etc etc". Ok, fine. Then there's only two other paths forward. Keep Dame and this ridiculous collection of players that don't fit or move Dame and get assets and just suck for the next 3 years, but let Sharpe and Scoot grow together.

The thing I just can not get behind is another summer of just signing a C-level FA and overpaying to get him (Payton), maybe using your TPE for another rotational player (Wright from Wiz) and calling it a summer and expecting Scoot, Dame, Sharpe, and Ant working together.

[JasonStern]

I wanted Portland to free up the Chicago draft pick to open up the possibility for trades, so that prevents me from giving an A.

Also a fair point. I wonder what Chicago's disposition towards the often-floated 23-for-pick-release deal was/would have been if offered. There's no guarantee the Blazers had any power to do anything about it.

This gets lost on RealGM. Just because I brainwashed most of RealGM to take 23 and Simons to get our pick back while stealth stealing a rental of DDR doesn't mean Chicago had any interest. Or that Cronin learned anything under Olshey's "nobody under 6'3" unless they are unathletic white bigs". And now that the pick has been used, 23 doesn't have some mythical overvaluation that picks have going into the draft. Roster isn't complete. We'll see what Cronin does.

[BlazersBroncos]

Cronin played the cards he was dealt, NO took the cards and shoved them up his ass. I dont see the comparison.

We have not seen Cronin make role player attaining moves that cost us FRP like NO, we have not heard rumors of Cronin sitting on his hands when stars were available (As NO did w/ Butler) - Cronin tried to get Mikal, BRK balked. Cronin tried to trade #7 for OG, TOR balked (And in hindsight, this actually would have easily been the worst of Cronin's moves - while last summer we would have rejoiced for the most part - shows what we know).

The LAC trade was bad, the NO trade was good, the Sharpe pick likely a home run, the Grant pick cost us pennies for a 20ppg guy, the Hart move was tough but we went with size over intangibles. The Scoot pick, while not an ideal roster fit, was the right move (And thank god Jordan is an idiot - Scoot is levels better than Miller).

KD wanted PHX. Beal wanted PHX (Not that he was a good target). KP wanted BOS. Irving wasnt a fit and is a nut. Pascal wont commit to a resign. Zion not on the block.

I just see this through a totally different lens I guess. I dont think Cronin is a world beater, but I also think we need to understand that stars, by and large, are only getting moved to places they specifically want to go - its not easy to accept but most rich athletes dont want to be in a small market with horrible weather and a downtown that has 20 needles on the ground for every person walking the sidewalk.

Also, Dame cant be moved for a few weeks. We have no idea if thats the direction ATM.

[JRoy]

A+.

First off, there was not big fish that we missed out on. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating -

Pascal had come out and said he wants to stay in TOR - and isnt worth #3.
We offered Simons + 3 for Mikal - BRK declined.
Zach is a putrid fit and is not worth 3.
Zion by numerous accounts was never on the table for 3.
OG may have been on the table, but is nowhere near 3.
Boston just made an 'all in' move w/ KP - no chance they were interested in moving Brown for a draft pick.

So its important to take the above into context, many wanted a win-now move - but if the deal isnt there you dont force it.

As for KP - the Wizards would have no interest in Nurkic as the salary filler due to his long deal so your looking at Simons, and its possible PDX was not willing to move him for someone that is expiring - but, more likely is the scenario where KP specifically wanted to go to a contender like Boston and was ONLY willing to opt-in to his deal in such a trade. If we made an offer, KP could have simply said 'nope, will opt out rather than go there' - I think the KP trade, much like the Beal trade, was the player forcing his way to said team. I dont think its fair to assume the entire market was open for KP - he opted in to get to Boston, full stop.

Finally, we have propsed, as has CHI fans, a swap of #23 for out pick back so many times that it seems we have created a false world where everyone was just sure CHI would be down for said swap - there is no indication they were. We cant assume the chance to regain future FRP control was on the table.

So, into the draft.

Scoot was in a tier of his own after Wemby - he would be the #1 in 90% of drafts. His fit isnt ideal obviously but the talent differential between him and the next top guy was huge IMO. You use him as the 6th man for 1-2 seasons while Dame is still here and hand the keys off after. He is only 6'2, but with a 6'9 wingspan he can guard most SG - the issue will be how he can play off ball on offense. There should be 12-14mpg behind Dame - and he runs the 2nd unit in that time - but the other 12-14mpg he should get will have to be sharing the floor with Dame, and I think he can handle that.

Kris was about as 'win now' as a FRP can be - lower upside but a NBA ready player that should slide into the backup PF spot immediately. Like his brother he can guard up a position decently well and has a quality understanding of the game - IE he should know his role as a off ball 3PT shooter and hustle defender. Tested well, good PF size at 6'9. Most mocks had him in the late teen range. I liked Leonard here, but he is a much less sure thing who has odd biometrics when he moves and a far worse 3PT shot.

Rayan is a pure upside pick who started the year mocked in the late lotto. His testing was poor, but his frame is ideal for a 3/D SF and we dont have a pure developmental SF on the roster right now. Real big fan of this swing. Would take him over a knucklehead like GG and while I liked TJD - he projects as a pure PF or another undersized C and IMO we just dont need that given our current roster construction. Watford has a similar profile as a small ball C (Albeit w/ much different traits) + we just took Kris to be the backup PF.

I think we managed to get 2 guys that should be able to play 20+ mpg right off the bat - with Scoot having Top-5 guard potential and Kris being slept on slightly (I think he can elevate into a 4th starter role, and plays the game in a way that you want from a 4th starter - IE knows his role). Rayan is a great swing as well - we need a developmental pure SF, despite our glut at guard and forward, none of them are true, young SF's. Pick made tons of sense IMO.

Really great draft. I think we simply need to turn Simons into a veteran forward and we are good to go. I think Scoot is a excellent 6th man next year who can come off the bench to inject urgency and hustle, and should be a + defender at either guard spot immediatley. Kris should slide into that backup PF role and be a quality 3/D guy from the jump and Rayan should be getting G-League minutes (Which one should expect from a #43 pick).

Not sure what the doom and gloom is about. Taking an analytical look at the options available makes it pretty clear the moves, or lack thereof, that we made on draft night were the right ones.

Assuming we can move Simons + Little for a forward, we could / should be looking at something like this next season -

G - Damian Lillard / Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Scoot Henderson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Forward X / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Jerami Grant / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

Great post.

Grants weak rebounding isn’t as much of an issue at sf.

[m0ng0]

A+.

First off, there was not big fish that we missed out on. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating -

Pascal had come out and said he wants to stay in TOR - and isnt worth #3.
We offered Simons + 3 for Mikal - BRK declined.
Zach is a putrid fit and is not worth 3.
Zion by numerous accounts was never on the table for 3.
OG may have been on the table, but is nowhere near 3.
Boston just made an 'all in' move w/ KP - no chance they were interested in moving Brown for a draft pick.

So its important to take the above into context, many wanted a win-now move - but if the deal isnt there you dont force it.

As for KP - the Wizards would have no interest in Nurkic as the salary filler due to his long deal so your looking at Simons, and its possible PDX was not willing to move him for someone that is expiring - but, more likely is the scenario where KP specifically wanted to go to a contender like Boston and was ONLY willing to opt-in to his deal in such a trade. If we made an offer, KP could have simply said 'nope, will opt out rather than go there' - I think the KP trade, much like the Beal trade, was the player forcing his way to said team. I dont think its fair to assume the entire market was open for KP - he opted in to get to Boston, full stop.

Finally, we have propsed, as has CHI fans, a swap of #23 for out pick back so many times that it seems we have created a false world where everyone was just sure CHI would be down for said swap - there is no indication they were. We cant assume the chance to regain future FRP control was on the table.

So, into the draft.

Scoot was in a tier of his own after Wemby - he would be the #1 in 90% of drafts. His fit isnt ideal obviously but the talent differential between him and the next top guy was huge IMO. You use him as the 6th man for 1-2 seasons while Dame is still here and hand the keys off after. He is only 6'2, but with a 6'9 wingspan he can guard most SG - the issue will be how he can play off ball on offense. There should be 12-14mpg behind Dame - and he runs the 2nd unit in that time - but the other 12-14mpg he should get will have to be sharing the floor with Dame, and I think he can handle that.

Kris was about as 'win now' as a FRP can be - lower upside but a NBA ready player that should slide into the backup PF spot immediately. Like his brother he can guard up a position decently well and has a quality understanding of the game - IE he should know his role as a off ball 3PT shooter and hustle defender. Tested well, good PF size at 6'9. Most mocks had him in the late teen range. I liked Leonard here, but he is a much less sure thing who has odd biometrics when he moves and a far worse 3PT shot.

Rayan is a pure upside pick who started the year mocked in the late lotto. His testing was poor, but his frame is ideal for a 3/D SF and we dont have a pure developmental SF on the roster right now. Real big fan of this swing. Would take him over a knucklehead like GG and while I liked TJD - he projects as a pure PF or another undersized C and IMO we just dont need that given our current roster construction. Watford has a similar profile as a small ball C (Albeit w/ much different traits) + we just took Kris to be the backup PF.

I think we managed to get 2 guys that should be able to play 20+ mpg right off the bat - with Scoot having Top-5 guard potential and Kris being slept on slightly (I think he can elevate into a 4th starter role, and plays the game in a way that you want from a 4th starter - IE knows his role). Rayan is a great swing as well - we need a developmental pure SF, despite our glut at guard and forward, none of them are true, young SF's. Pick made tons of sense IMO.

Really great draft. I think we simply need to turn Simons into a veteran forward and we are good to go. I think Scoot is a excellent 6th man next year who can come off the bench to inject urgency and hustle, and should be a + defender at either guard spot immediatley. Kris should slide into that backup PF role and be a quality 3/D guy from the jump and Rayan should be getting G-League minutes (Which one should expect from a #43 pick).

Not sure what the doom and gloom is about. Taking an analytical look at the options available makes it pretty clear the moves, or lack thereof, that we made on draft night were the right ones.

Assuming we can move Simons + Little for a forward, we could / should be looking at something like this next season -

G - Damian Lillard / Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Scoot Henderson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Forward X / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Jerami Grant / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

Great post.

Grants weak rebounding isn’t as much of an issue at sf.

But is he worth 30million per?

[JRoy]

A+.

First off, there was not big fish that we missed out on. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating -

Pascal had come out and said he wants to stay in TOR - and isnt worth #3.
We offered Simons + 3 for Mikal - BRK declined.
Zach is a putrid fit and is not worth 3.
Zion by numerous accounts was never on the table for 3.
OG may have been on the table, but is nowhere near 3.
Boston just made an 'all in' move w/ KP - no chance they were interested in moving Brown for a draft pick.

So its important to take the above into context, many wanted a win-now move - but if the deal isnt there you dont force it.

As for KP - the Wizards would have no interest in Nurkic as the salary filler due to his long deal so your looking at Simons, and its possible PDX was not willing to move him for someone that is expiring - but, more likely is the scenario where KP specifically wanted to go to a contender like Boston and was ONLY willing to opt-in to his deal in such a trade. If we made an offer, KP could have simply said 'nope, will opt out rather than go there' - I think the KP trade, much like the Beal trade, was the player forcing his way to said team. I dont think its fair to assume the entire market was open for KP - he opted in to get to Boston, full stop.

Finally, we have propsed, as has CHI fans, a swap of #23 for out pick back so many times that it seems we have created a false world where everyone was just sure CHI would be down for said swap - there is no indication they were. We cant assume the chance to regain future FRP control was on the table.

So, into the draft.

Scoot was in a tier of his own after Wemby - he would be the #1 in 90% of drafts. His fit isnt ideal obviously but the talent differential between him and the next top guy was huge IMO. You use him as the 6th man for 1-2 seasons while Dame is still here and hand the keys off after. He is only 6'2, but with a 6'9 wingspan he can guard most SG - the issue will be how he can play off ball on offense. There should be 12-14mpg behind Dame - and he runs the 2nd unit in that time - but the other 12-14mpg he should get will have to be sharing the floor with Dame, and I think he can handle that.

Kris was about as 'win now' as a FRP can be - lower upside but a NBA ready player that should slide into the backup PF spot immediately. Like his brother he can guard up a position decently well and has a quality understanding of the game - IE he should know his role as a off ball 3PT shooter and hustle defender. Tested well, good PF size at 6'9. Most mocks had him in the late teen range. I liked Leonard here, but he is a much less sure thing who has odd biometrics when he moves and a far worse 3PT shot.

Rayan is a pure upside pick who started the year mocked in the late lotto. His testing was poor, but his frame is ideal for a 3/D SF and we dont have a pure developmental SF on the roster right now. Real big fan of this swing. Would take him over a knucklehead like GG and while I liked TJD - he projects as a pure PF or another undersized C and IMO we just dont need that given our current roster construction. Watford has a similar profile as a small ball C (Albeit w/ much different traits) + we just took Kris to be the backup PF.

I think we managed to get 2 guys that should be able to play 20+ mpg right off the bat - with Scoot having Top-5 guard potential and Kris being slept on slightly (I think he can elevate into a 4th starter role, and plays the game in a way that you want from a 4th starter - IE knows his role). Rayan is a great swing as well - we need a developmental pure SF, despite our glut at guard and forward, none of them are true, young SF's. Pick made tons of sense IMO.

Really great draft. I think we simply need to turn Simons into a veteran forward and we are good to go. I think Scoot is a excellent 6th man next year who can come off the bench to inject urgency and hustle, and should be a + defender at either guard spot immediatley. Kris should slide into that backup PF role and be a quality 3/D guy from the jump and Rayan should be getting G-League minutes (Which one should expect from a #43 pick).

Not sure what the doom and gloom is about. Taking an analytical look at the options available makes it pretty clear the moves, or lack thereof, that we made on draft night were the right ones.

Assuming we can move Simons + Little for a forward, we could / should be looking at something like this next season -

G - Damian Lillard / Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Scoot Henderson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Forward X / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Jerami Grant / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

Great post.

Grants weak rebounding isn’t as much of an issue at sf.

But is he worth 30million per?

God No.