2024 NBA Draft (euro season, college season, scouting, prospects etc)

[Ptownsblazin12]

That looks like a very exciting team to watch while also tanking for Flagg. Scoot in the PNR with Edey, Shae and Knecht on the wings as scoring threats, Dunn defending the teams best scorers, and Edey protecting the paint with his size in drop coverage.

Scoot and Edey in a PNR would be terrible. You don’t have to respect either of there ability to shoot. Teams would sag off of them and the offense would be stagnant. Edey will be okay in short stretches, he will get PNR’d to death because guards will blow by him. I would like to move into the mid to late first for Edey but at 14 is a waste. You have to take a swing at 14 on a guy that could be a potential starter and I just don’t see Edey as a starter on a playoff team.

The best shot is an open shot. And if both defenders sag off than both players will be open. If Scoot or Edey can’t hit an open 18 footer, than that’s another question that needs to be answered.

Additionally, this notion that Edey will get smoked on the P&R is unfounded. The argument is always guards will blow by him. But length will nullify some of that. Also, the implication is there is non help side rim protection.

The Edey haters magnify his potential flaws but never give respect to his potential mismatches and upside. Be consistent.

Most NBA PNR’s don’t start 18 feet from the hoop but 20-24 feet and neither Scoot or Edey have shown the ability to shoot an NBA three consistently in a game(college, g league, or NBA). And what 7’+ with his athleticism has shown the ability to be an average or even plus defender in the current NBA. It isn’t Edey hate but not seeing a starter in the NBA or a player worthy of the 14th pick in this draft.

[Case2012]

I have been Scoots biggest critic and I worry he's more Mudiay than Westbrick, but did you not watch him the last 15 games? personally I would prefer Dillingham over him but I think Scoot is still going to be a good starter, not an all star, but I can see him be a 18 and 8 guy with good defense. I feel like I would rather go with proven talent like Edey and Knecht with it being such a weak draft. A draft where we take 2 of the most dominant scorers in the country would be an outstanding outcome. Take Edey at 7 and trade any of our vets to get 9-13 and get Knecht.

Scoot/Banton
Shaedon/Thybulle
Knecht/Murray
Camara/Walker
Edey/Reath

That would be so fun to watch.

[Ptownsblazin12]

I agree that Scoot can be a good starter. I think he needs to show the improvement on his jump shot. If Clingan is available at 7 I take him over Edey without hesitation.

[BlazersBroncos]

Man Matas looks so good in his workout videos. Dude is borderline freak athlete for his size.

He and Sarr are the only guys I would be OK with trading up for.

If we could find a way to come out of the draft with Matas and Edey I will open the good whiskey.

[Goldbum]

Hot take:

If the Blazers want Brandon Roy 2.0…he’s available in the form of Dillon Jones.

I feel like you might of misspelled Jaylon Tyson.

[The Sebastian Express]

I'd be fine with a Matas and Salaun draft if possible. I'm not an Edey fan. i know his measurements for speed were fine at the combine, but watching him in video I just don't believe he will have the quickness to operate effectively for any period of time in the NBA. He'll be backup level at best, imo, and that is going to be terrible to spend a lottery pick on for me.

I'm wary of Williams and Holland to a degree.

[zzaj]

Hot take:

If the Blazers want Brandon Roy 2.0…he’s available in the form of Dillon Jones.

I feel like you might of misspelled Jaylon Tyson.

Yep, they are both similar in a lot of ways. Love 'em both!

[DusterBuster]

I think I've come down to my final wishlist for this draft if the Blazers stick with 7...

Clingan
Salaun
Buzelis
Williams
Knecht

For 14...

Edey
Topic (to sit for the season)
Ware
Missi

[Pattycakes]

I think I've come down to my final wishlist for this draft if the Blazers stick with 7...

Clingan
Salaun
Buzelis
Williams
Knecht

For 14...

Edey
Topic (to sit for the season)
Ware
Missi

Somewhat there w ya. Cody will/Missi I’m not big on either but otherwise I’m def looking for 2 of those other guys you mentioned.

Good year for us to add height overall. Lot of talented bigs

[BlazersBroncos]

Apparently LAL and DAL have shown interest in Grant. I would call it a win if we could turn Grant into something like Rui + 17.

[DusterBuster]

Apparently LAL and DAL have shown interest in Grant. I would call it a win if we could turn Grant into something like Rui + 17.

I don't really understand the Rui interest across the league. He's such a mid prospect / low-ceiling player for the amount of attention he gets.

That said, I am fully on board with trading Grant this summer. I don't think his value will be any higher than it is this summer, so it's a good time to cash out and I want to see the team finally stop dicking around with the vet/youth combo, just go all youth and bottom tf out next year. I want the Blazers to be Wizards-level bad in 24/25, don't even think of cracking 20 wins if you can help it. Scoot and Shae need to be starters all year. Start whoever you draft at 7 as well.

However, all that said, I would prioritize getting a 2025 FRP out of Grant rather than another FRP in this draft... unless Grant is part of a deal to move up in this draft in some way - maybe with the Rockets? They're really the only team in the Top 5 this year who seems more interested in being competitive than rebuilding with youth.

I also wondering if OKC wouldn't be a sneaky spot for Grant. They could use a big like him, he fits perfectly there and they have more 2025 picks than any team should legally be allowed to have in any one single draft.

[DusterBuster]

I think I've come down to my final wishlist for this draft if the Blazers stick with 7...

Clingan
Salaun
Buzelis
Williams
Knecht

For 14...

Edey
Topic (to sit for the season)
Ware
Missi

Somewhat there w ya. Cody will/Missi I’m not big on either but otherwise I’m def looking for 2 of those other guys you mentioned.

Good year for us to add height overall. Lot of talented bigs

I admittedly only have a very surface level knowledge of this draft class aside of a few things from a few media guys I trust. From that, I've heard favorable things on Williams. I have him and Buzelis as a toss-up. I've heard that Knecht is a good NBA ready-ish guy and seems to have the attitude/mentality you want from guys, but just afraid he's gonna be a taller / worse-shooting JJ Reddick if he can't defend... but again, the "I'm here to f'ing dominate" attitude he has so I can't complain if they end up with any of those guys at 7 tbh. Just don't have a massively strong opinion on it given the draft class.

Too much heat on Clingan though for me to believe he gets to 7. Portland likely needs to the #3 pick with Houston to get him. Through him in as there have been enough mocks where he can slip, but I realistically don't believe it, so I have those 4 other guys as picks that I'm fine with.

[Pattycakes]

I think I've come down to my final wishlist for this draft if the Blazers stick with 7...

Clingan
Salaun
Buzelis
Williams
Knecht

For 14...

Edey
Topic (to sit for the season)
Ware
Missi

Somewhat there w ya. Cody will/Missi I’m not big on either but otherwise I’m def looking for 2 of those other guys you mentioned.

Good year for us to add height overall. Lot of talented bigs

I admittedly only have a very surface level knowledge of this draft class aside of a few things from a few media guys I trust. From that, I've heard favorable things on Williams. I have him and Buzelis as a toss-up. I've heard that Knecht is a good NBA ready-ish guy and seems to have the attitude/mentality you want from guys, but just afraid he's gonna be a taller / worse-shooting JJ Reddick if he can't defend... but again, the "I'm here to f'ing dominate" attitude he has so I can't complain if they end up with any of those guys at 7 tbh. Just don't have a massively strong opinion on it given the draft class.

Too much heat on Clingan though for me to believe he gets to 7. Portland likely needs to the #3 pick with Houston to get him. Through him in as there have been enough mocks where he can slip, but I realistically don't believe it, so I have those 4 other guys as picks that I'm fine with.

I def see a lot of green around Clingan to PDX everywhere atm. Would imagine Houston is trying to figure out what all they can get from us to move down to 7 or 14

[DusterBuster]

For what it's worth too, on latest Bill Simmons pod, they laid out the "chalkboard" top 5 as they've been hearing it from insiders around the league regarding which players they're hearing connected the most for each team in conversations, and it goes like this...

#1) Clingan
#2) Sarr
#3) Shepard
#4) Risacher
#5) Matas

They also were talking up at Salaun from eye-test look, so again, if the Blazers can get him at 7, that's still a solid pick I feel like.

They also said what everyone has said, this draft is still a crap shoot where you can make a million combinations and any could potentially be right. Used a lot of Wisemen to compare Sarr too as why he looks good but can just be so iffy if the BB instincts just aren't there.

[Norm2953]

Will the Blazers pull off a trade before they have to wait until they will have to wait until the round 1
ends before a trade can be completed?

[DusterBuster]

More on Simmons pod, lots of praise for Knecht and thought to be a good fit for Portland. Potential for him to even be the ROY given his age and skills if he goes to a team where they'll give him shots.

[DusterBuster]

Interesting take from Lowe Post who had draft expert Jonathan Givony (and close friend of Blazers GM Mike Schmitz), he said from what he's seen, the comp he's made all year for Zach Edey is... imagine is Jonas Valančiūnas was 7'5". Said he's far and away the best screener in the draft and will be a magnet for fouls.

For all the Edey slander, Givony probably went on the longest 5min praise session of him I've heard all year. Says he's gonna be a pain in the ass for other teams to play against and his attitude is "I just want to hit people, that's what I like to do". Could really make you wonder that if the Blazers are prioritizing size... could the talk of Edey at 7 be real if they don't think he'll slide to 14? I know this board (and NBA internet / twitter as a whole) would absolutely lose it's collective s*** if the Blazers do that... but in this draft, maybe the Blazers just do it considering his unique size. He also said the Boban comps are not accurate, Edey is much more fluid and skilled, and Givony followed Boban very closely at 24/25yo.

[red_power]

Yeah, I would much more prefer Blazers to end up with Edey rather than someone like Knecht or Clingan or Buzelis. Ron Holland could be an other option too. I don't mind Topic though but he has obvious disadvantages to those two.

[BlazersBroncos]

Interesting take from Lowe Post who had draft expert Jonathan Givony (and close friend of Blazers GM Mike Schmitz), he said from what he's seen, the comp he's made all year for Zach Edey is... imagine is Jonas Valančiūnas was 7'5". Said he's far and away the best screener in the draft and will be a magnet for fouls.

For all the Edey slander, Givony probably went on the longest 5min praise session of him I've heard all year. Says he's gonna be a pain in the ass for other teams to play against and his attitude is "I just want to hit people, that's what I like to do". Could really make you wonder that if the Blazers are prioritizing size... could the talk of Edey at 7 be real if they don't think he'll slide to 14? I know this board (and NBA internet / twitter as a whole) would absolutely lose it's collective s*** if the Blazers do that... but in this draft, maybe the Blazers just do it considering his unique size. He also said the Boban comps are not accurate, Edey is much more fluid and skilled, and Givony followed Boban very closely at 24/25yo.

I obviously would prefer to get Edey later than 7 but, after some thinking, I am now OK with that.

He loves the game, has insane conditioning for his size, wants to hit you and will be a tone setter for a decade. His hands are elite, he is an iron man to a absurd extent for someone his size. He has only been playing basketball for 6 years.

Ideally you find a way to get both Matas (Or Holland, etc but I REALLY want Matas) and Edey. Trade whomever of the vets you need to make it work.

[DusterBuster]

Yeah, I would much more prefer Blazers to end up with Edey rather than someone like Knecht or Clingan. Ron Holland could be an other option too. I don't mind Topic though but he has obvious disadvantages to those two.

I'm fully out on Holland. I think he's got bust written all over him. I say that speaking as someone who knows almost nothing of what they're talking about, but I'm just not a fan of players he comps to like MKG or Hollis-Jefferson... lanky forward defenders who have a questionable offensive game. Seen that story too many times.