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ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee

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ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#1 » by sco » Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:35 pm

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft200%20...%20tch-090604
• On the downside, Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair has to be bummed. Blair looked solid in the drills and really impressed teams with his weight loss and tone. He also measured short, but his wingspan, standing reach and his athletic abilities made up for much of it.

However, the news became much grimmer for Blair when the results of the medical testing came back. Multiple NBA teams are saying Blair's knees have been red-flagged.

Blair tore both of his ACLs in high school, and the preliminary word from the physicals is that his knees aren't in great shape.

How bad they are depends on who you talk to, but the range wasn't good. I heard everything from "devastating" to "troubling."

Blair's agent, Happy Walters, doesn't feel words like "devastating" are accurate in describing the report he saw.


Also
• We had DeMar DeRozan going to Toronto with the ninth pick in our latest mock draft.

Don't expect him to slip past there. League sources say the Raptors have let DeRozan know that if he's there at nine they're taking him.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#2 » by Ben » Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:45 pm

If Blair slips to 16, I would still take him.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#3 » by TB#1 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:46 pm

The ACL questions have been haunting Blair long before this. No secret that he had tears in both knees in high school. The pre-draft medical testing just confirm the red flags that were already in place.

Great talent. Great talent. But the knees are going to be a gamble.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#4 » by The Explorer » Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:46 pm

Heh, imagine hiring an agent named Happy.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#5 » by kulaz3000 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:52 pm

Ben B. wrote:If Blair slips to 16, I would still take him.


Yep, count me in with that line of thought.

If he falls, I take the gamble. It's not exactly like his game is about jumping out of the building, he knows how to play and still be effective earth bound.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#6 » by TB#1 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:01 pm

charity stripe wrote:Heh, imagine hiring an agent named Happy.


I find it an odd choice for reasons other than the name. Promoting Cypress Hill, RATM and koRn is different from promoting NBA draft picks.

Full Article

Two weeks after forfeiting his remaining two years of college basketball eligibility by signing a marketing and advertising contract with a local attorney, DeJuan Blair signed with sports agent Happy Walters of Immortal Sports on Monday.

Walters confirmed yesterday that he signed Blair and said he was excited about representing the former Pitt sophomore All-American who has aspirations of becoming a first-round NBA draft pick in June.

Walters is the founder of Immortal Entertainment of Santa Monica, Calif., which has subsidiaries such as Immortal Records, Immortal Soundtracks and Immortal Film and Television in addition to Immortal Sports.

He is probably best known for launching the music careers of such acts as Korn, Incubus, Rage Against the Machine, Cypress Hill, Kanye West and House of Pain.

Walters only has a few NBA clients, most notably Mickael Pietrus of the Orlando Magic and Shawne Williams of the Dallas Mavericks. Walters also represents players who play overseas and got to know Blair through another Pitt player, Tyrell Biggs, who signed with Walters first and is attempting to earn a professional contract.

Walters is aware that Blair drew criticism by signing a contract with Pittsburgh attorney James L. Cook III April 8, the day he declared for the draft. By doing so, the Schenley High School product did not leave the door open to return to Pitt if he did not receive positive feedback from NBA general managers during the predraft workout process.

Walters said Cook was retained to help the family for a few weeks while they decided on an agent and that Cook no longer represents Blair's local marketing and advertising interests. Walters will handle those aspects.

Walters said he has heard the rumblings that general managers are wary of Blair's height (he is 6 feet 7 inches) and his two surgically repaired knees, but he said he has been receiving great feedback from NBA personnel about Blair's prospects of being a first-rounder.

"A lot of teams are interested," Walters said. "I don't think teams are worried about his height. I've heard what some of the people in Pittsburgh have said about his height. But on the court he is a beast, and teams love that about him."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09112/96 ... HV9GnGVx&B
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#7 » by stillalive » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:02 pm

Would this be like taking a gamble with Roy or Oden? Meh, big players his size with injuries usually don't pan out well. Pass.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#8 » by fleet » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:04 pm

I'm always against drafting medical red flags about the legs as a rule. Not in the middle of the first round anyway. Not if there are healthy alternatives. Blair is good, he can help, but I'm not sure his talent level is worth the risk at #16 for me
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#9 » by kyrv » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:10 pm

Oh lord, not the dreaded 'guarantees'. We had done a great job of avoiding that abomination so far.

As for Blair, I would need a medical person to make that judgement, I have no idea how bad his knees are, if they are just being cautious, etc.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#10 » by stillalive » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:12 pm

kulaz3000 wrote:
Ben B. wrote:If Blair slips to 16, I would still take him.


Yep, count me in with that line of thought.

If he falls, I take the gamble. It's not exactly like his game is about jumping out of the building, he knows how to play and still be effective earth bound.


No, but it is about running the court and jumping to get rebounds especially when you're undersized.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#11 » by ThisGuyFawkes » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:12 pm

I think his talent level is definitely worth the risk at #16, even if his knees raise flags. That is mainly because his talent is the type of talent that the Bulls could really use. The chances of the Bulls drafting an all-star at this point aren't very high so take the player who will help the team the most and is also probably the best player available. I didn't see his knees slow him down at all at Pitt so I would think NBA conditioning and strength programs could help.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#12 » by kulaz3000 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:13 pm

In regards to the Raptors picking DeRozan, I think it's another step to prepare for the lose of Bosh. They need a player that can bring excitment back to Toronto, and I'm guessing that though they realize that DeRozan may not make an impact right away, the fact that he'll provide the occasional highlight dunks while he progesses will be enough to continue the Raptors fans to come to games.
Why so serious?
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#13 » by fudgie » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:16 pm

I'd still probably gamble on him and draft him at 16 if he's still there as long as the prognosis isn't "devastating".

If this causes him to slip to 26 I'd draft him there no matter how bad the prognosis is.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#14 » by MAQ » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:24 pm

i think brandon roy's knees were red flagged as well
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#15 » by kulaz3000 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:26 pm

maq25060 wrote:i think brandon roy's knees were red flagged as well


Didn't LaMarcus also have injury concerns as well? Or was that some other player?
Why so serious?
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#16 » by BrooklynBulls » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:27 pm

Drop, Blair! Drop!
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#17 » by Three34 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:29 pm

Sean May has bad knees, but never let it affecting his partying. He never lost the weight or put in any effort to stay in shape, and as such he's officially out of this league as of about three weeks time. He was only ever in it on a technicality, because he never took the court.

For longevity, it sounds like Blair might have to play at a far more 'normal' (if you like) weight than what got him here. And what that'll do for his effectiveness, I'm not sure. He's always been more strength than smart on the boards.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#18 » by TB#1 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:30 pm

I'm no doctor and we don't have any objective findings to look at anyway, but I have to say that before I'd get behind the pick, I hope more testing is done and there are some reasonable medical opinions out there projecting how much tread is left on those tires.
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#19 » by Ralphb07 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:32 pm

kulaz3000 wrote:In regards to the Raptors picking DeRozan, I think it's another step to prepare for the lose of Bosh. They need a player that can bring excitment back to Toronto, and I'm guessing that though they realize that DeRozan may not make an impact right away, the fact that he'll provide the occasional highlight dunks while he progesses will be enough to continue the Raptors fans to come to games.



It's a step to keep Bosh. How does getting a good player mean you're preparing yourself to lose another..... I said in the Bosh thread that Bosh having Marion, Bargs and Calderon is a good enough team to win some games and by adding Derozan to that helps more....

Bargs came into his own and Calderon missed some games and signs point to keeping Marion....

Toronto will do everything in their power to keep Bosh and landing Derozan a high flying exciting player could help their case
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Re: ESPN: Blair bad knees and Derozan guarantee 

Post#20 » by Ralphb07 » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:33 pm

This worries me especially with his weight.....

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