The 2012 NBA Draft: 6th & 11th picks, and some random 2nds.

[GreenRiddler]

That editor at BlazersEdge is clueless he thinks we should trade our 6 pick to Hou for Lowry..expected better from Dave.

[Blazinaway]

That editor at BlazersEdge is clueless he thinks we should trade our 6 pick to Hou for Lowry..expected better from Dave.

I'll give the 11th and Nolan or babbit for Lowry, not the 6th

[Butter]

Lillard is a less explosive Bayless, if you want him fine, he'll be useful, but he won't solve our PG issue.

How much of an upgrade is Lilliard over Nolan Smith? I think I'd rather just focus on upgrading the PG in free agency.

[The Sebastian Express]

That editor at BlazersEdge is clueless he thinks we should trade our 6 pick to Hou for Lowry..expected better from Dave.

Blazersedge has, unfortunately, suffered noticeable decline in the past few years.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I would believe the top 10 looks different that most mocks have it.


Guys like Rivers, Ross, Waiters, Teague, Miller, Harkless, White, Wroten have a ton of talent and could easily move up with some good workouts.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Also, I can totally believe Cleveland liking Barnes. Their fans don't seem to agree, but W/E, Cleveland fans can be arrogant as heck.


Barnes would be a great floor spacer for Irving. MKG would cause spacing issues, while Barnes can greatly benefit from a good passer (see Marshall at UNC).

[fishnc]

Also, I can totally believe Cleveland liking Barnes. Their fans don't seem to agree, but W/E, Cleveland fans can be arrogant as heck.


Barnes would be a great floor spacer for Irving. MKG would cause spacing issues, while Barnes can greatly benefit from a good passer (see Marshall at UNC).

Everyone benefits from a good passer

EDIT: And this is not me being a douche pointing out the obvious. Just making a point about how much the team would benefit from a player like Marshall.

[mojomarc]

Everyone benefits from a good passer

EDIT: And this is not me being a douche pointing out the obvious. Just making a point about how much the team would benefit from a player like Marshall.

Like we benefited from having Andre Miller? The same challenges Miller caused would be even worse with Marshall. Miller is a far more credible offensive threat outside of passing than Marshall is.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Also, I can totally believe Cleveland liking Barnes. Their fans don't seem to agree, but W/E, Cleveland fans can be arrogant as heck.


Barnes would be a great floor spacer for Irving. MKG would cause spacing issues, while Barnes can greatly benefit from a good passer (see Marshall at UNC).

Everyone benefits from a good passer

EDIT: And this is not me being a douche pointing out the obvious. Just making a point about how much the team would benefit from a player like Marshall.

How much our team?

I agree, our team would benefit from Marshall's strengths. But it would also suffer because of his weaknesses.

If Marshall is a brilliant playmaker, teams will play him for the pass. They will take away his passing options and force him to score. Defenders will take a half-step back, knowing Marshall cannot burn them athletically, and watch him take contested jumpshots (or worse, allow a defender to sag off of him). Coaches will commend players for forcing Marshall to take a long range shot, until Marshall can prove his shooting.

A large part of the point guard game is to break down defense. This requires a point guard to penetrate and draw extra defenders. A point guard has to be a threat to score, they have to be athletic enough to get by the first defender, and this is how you open up teammates to receive a pass.

I am not saying Marshall will be so bad at this, but I am saying he is unproven in this regard. He is a risk. He could end up out of the league because no one respects his ability to create offense for himself. He could also end up the assist leader of the NBA. There is a huge range he could fall into, and that is the very real risk of picking him in the lottery. My only point of going on tirades like this is to convince people he is not a sure thing, because so many have fallen in love with his game, and he is so unconventional that it is difficult to predict where he will end up.

[DusterBuster]

That editor at BlazersEdge is clueless he thinks we should trade our 6 pick to Hou for Lowry..expected better from Dave.

Dave Decker has been high on the idea of gladly handing over a truck load of assets (#6 included) to get Lowry from Houston. I stopped watching his Videocasts because of how terrible his ideas are for rebuilding the team. Trading the #6 (or #11 imo) and salaried players to get Lowry would be like the Miller and Fernandez for Felton trade, but 10x worse.

Back on the draft, I'm interested to see the report that Cleveland plans on taking Barnes 4th. Assuming that's not some smokescreen, that's GREAT news for the Blazers.

[DusterBuster]

We really need either the Cavs or Kings to take Barnes. It would be huge for us in getting either Beal or Drummond.

I honestly don't think Beal drops past the Wizards. Assuming it goes like this in the Top 4.....

Davis
Robinson
Beal
Barnes

That means one of their MKG or Drummond will be available for the Blazers. Either way, that's a win-win for Portland.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

That editor at BlazersEdge is clueless he thinks we should trade our 6 pick to Hou for Lowry..expected better from Dave.

Dave Decker has been high on the idea of gladly handing over a truck load of assets (#6 included) to get Lowry from Houston. I stopped watching his Videocasts because of how terrible his ideas are for rebuilding the team. Trading the #6 (or #11 imo) and salaried players to get Lowry would be like the Miller and Fernandez for Felton trade, but 10x worse.

Back on the draft, I'm interested to see the report that Cleveland plans on taking Barnes 4th. Assuming that's not some smokescreen, that's GREAT news for the Blazers.

My guess is he is trying not to come off as a huge homer, so erring on the side of giving away too much.

But I also have been profoundly disappointed with his suggestions. I hope Blazer management are holding themselves a higher standard.

[DusterBuster]

Yeah, his big Blazer rebuild for them this summer was to trade the picks and use the cap space to end up with Lowry and Iggy. Ugh.

I would hope NO and the rest of the Blazers management have bigger dreams and longer term plans than what Decker suggests.

[sabi]

http://blogs.trailblazers.com/2012Draft ... fault.aspx

They have a nice video up from a workout with player interviews.

[cucad8]

It's odd to me how everyone seems to describe Marshall, not just in here, as almost a finished product offensively, but then expect someone like Davis, say, to compare favorably to Duncan or Garnett, and Beal to be a great catch and shoot player like Ray Allen. But Marshall is apparently so flawed outside of passing he can never improve there. Even though he showed flashes towards the end of last season of being able to score and well when the team actually needed and wanted him to.

[sabi]

OK so I'm convinced that our first target in the draft should be Drummond. He's an 18yo man child who will be a beast physically. So his offensive game is less developed than any other big in the lottery by far. The blazers can do what Orlando did with Howard and bring in someone like ewing (doesn't really have to be a famous player) to give him a few moves in the post.

Pairing him with LMA is a nightmare on defense. Great pick and roll defenders, great size, man defense, rebounding, shot blocking. We'd be set at PF and C for years to come.

Then I would look to trade the 11th pick to move up in the draft and get either Beal or Lamb and sign Dragic in FA.

Drummond
LMA
Batum
Beal/Lamb
Dragic

Scary lineup with great scoring, defense, length, shooting (extra toughness points if we can get beal and extra length if we can Lamb)

If Drummond is taken by 6th (very possible) then go for the best available wing b/w beal, lamb and barnes and draft Meyers at 11. Not as much upside but still pretty good and much more realistic.

Never been to http://swishscout.com/ before but they have great profiles of each prospect with tons of video footage showing good/bad plays and a nice breakdown analysis.

[Little Digger]

To me it could easily go...

1. Davis
2. MKG
3. Robinson
4. Barnes
5. Henson

Who would you guys like to see the blazers take at 6? Beal? Drummond? Sullinger?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Back on the draft, I'm interested to see the report that Cleveland plans on taking Barnes 4th. Assuming that's not some smokescreen, that's GREAT news for the Blazers.

Just thought of this, but it could be a smokescreen directed at Sacramento.

It has been my opinion that Sacramento will take either Barnes or MKG if either fall to them. Cleveland perhaps realizes this, and would be happy taking Beal at 5 if they got something from the Kings.

[Little Digger]

I doubt the kings take a wing over a defensive frontline help.

[Case2012]

Everyone benefits from a good passer

EDIT: And this is not me being a douche pointing out the obvious. Just making a point about how much the team would benefit from a player like Marshall.

Like we benefited from having Andre Miller? The same challenges Miller caused would be even worse with Marshall. Miller is a far more credible offensive threat outside of passing than Marshall is.

Everyone says Marshall can't shoot and can't play D, which is bull. He shot high 46.7%from the field, and a decent 35% from 3. He also averaged 1.2 steals. So why are people perpetuating these myths about him. If Marshall falls to us we have to take him. He's only 20 years old, he can get better. As far as athleticism goes, remember Roy? He wasn't an All star because of his physical abilities, he was an All star because of his BBIQ, which Marshall has in spades.