Draft Results: Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard, Will Barton.

[re49gb_2gho32fp]

After conducting research, a word liberally used in this context, is Barton's only shortcoming lack of strength? Surely it can't be that unequivocal.

Ed: Mayo is abundant on this team, and he hasnt proved to be anything good/great in a pg role from my understanding.

Thinking about Farmar as a cheap, yet in prime 20mpg pg, if he could be had for 3-4/yr.

[Clarity]

Man oh man, the overreactions in that other thread were priceless.

I definitely think the Blazers should have made different decisions w/ their draft last night but the kid who said they messed up 4 straight drafts must have had a heartattack last night, mercy, hope he is okay today lol..

I do like the Will Barton pick, you guys desperately need someone who can create his own shot at the 2

[mojomarc]

After conducting research, a word liberally used in this context, is Barton's only shortcoming lack of strength? Surely it can't be that unequivocal.

To be fair, he does make Reggie Miller look like he should join Weight Watchers.

[re49gb_2gho32fp]

Hehehe

[mojomarc]

Man oh man, the overreactions in that other thread were priceless.

I definitely think the Blazers should have made different decisions w/ their draft last night but the kid who said they messed up 4 straight drafts must have had a heartattack last night, mercy, hope he is okay today lol..

I do like the Will Barton pick, you guys desperately need someone who can create his own shot at the 2

The big question is "how good does a Lillard/Barton backcourt look in two seasons?" I think it makes for a versatile, excellent shooting, quick, can drive or dish backcourt that will be very difficult for teams to stop. Combine that with Lillard's ability to feed Aldridge on the PnR, Batum and a coach that actually has players moving off the ball, and we should have a much more well-rounded offense than we have seen in recent years.

[Clarity]

I'd say we were split in a three way tie between some being happy with Lillard at 6, some of us wanting Drummond at 6, others wanting Barnes once he dropped. I think I'd prefer Lamb or Henson to Leonard at this point, but one of our posters LOOSH is doing a writeup on Leonard after watching extensive footage that may help sway us.

I would have preferred we take Drummond at 6 and try to trade up for Lillard at 8. I think I'm upset, personally, at the Leonard pick because it ties in with the Lillard pick at six because it just reminds me it wasn't Drummond.

Our head scouts haven't done a lot in the past few years to instill confidence, either.

We're very passionate (read: possibly insane).

great post

& I think some of the frustration comes from Olshey saying one thing & doing another. He really sold people on it being BPA over anything & he did the exact opposite last night.

I do like Lillard though, I think he can be a pretty good PG in time, hes surely an upgrade over how Felton played last year.

The Leonard pick is the one that hurts, the first thing scouts always said about him was "he needs to get tougher & stronger inside" & my first thought was why would you put someone who needs to get tougher & stronger inside next to someone who needs to be tougher & stronger inside.

Plus I think a Spencer Hawes would have been a much better option at C, There was some legit talent you passed up to take Leonard.

[Clarity]

The big question is "how good does a Lillard/Barton backcourt look in two seasons?" I think it makes for a versatile, excellent shooting, quick, can drive or dish backcourt that will be very difficult for teams to stop. Combine that with Lillard's ability to feed Aldridge on the PnR, Batum and a coach that actually has players moving off the ball, and we should have a much more well-rounded offense than we have seen in recent years.

I think the potential is exciting to think about man..

I have to admit part of my concern w/ Lillard is because he doesnt have that elite lateral speed to breakdown his defender & get to the rim but if he can get someone somewhat like that next to him he can excel in being a distributor & shooter because I think people are actually underrating his shooting ability. The kid can fill it up..

Batum is gonna be a HUGE priority bc his contract is going to be a monster & Id say about 5-7 mill of it per year is gonna be paid just for potential. They have to develop him into the something special most of us think his ceiling is. It should be the Blazers biggest priority now that they committed to Batum just slightly below Lamarcus financially.

[ph1sh55]

I think the potential is exciting to think about man..

I have to admit part of my concern w/ Lillard is because he doesnt have that elite lateral speed to breakdown his defender & get to the rim but if he can get someone somewhat like that next to him he can excel in being a distributor & shooter because I think people are actually underrating his shooting ability. The kid can fill it up..

If it's any consolation LIllard's combine measurements were very similar to derrick Rose's, except for a slightly slower sprint, but a faster agility time.

There's nothing to indicate he doesn't have elite lateral speed, though he's not as explosive as a Drose/westbrook obviously.

Athletically I don't see any reason to be concerned....and he is likely a better shooter and could end up running a team better than those two guys to make up for not being a superfreak.

[Clarity]

There's nothing to indicate he doesn't have elite lateral speed, though he's not as explosive as a Drose/westbrook obviously.

You answered yourself here, my concern is accurate. Elite lateral speed is D Rose/Westbrook but to the Blazers credit if Lillard had elite lateral speed like we mentioned in another thread, he would have been the #1 pick.

[kumquat]

Will Barton is like SJax 2.0. Got gap toothed hood element the blazers need.

[mojomarc]

There's nothing to indicate he doesn't have elite lateral speed, though he's not as explosive as a Drose/westbrook obviously.

You answered yourself here, my concern is accurate. Elite lateral speed is D Rose/Westbrook but to the Blazers credit if Lillard had elite lateral speed like we mentioned in another thread, he would have been the #1 pick.

Actually, I think if Lillard had played at UNC or UCLA, he probably would have been the consensus #2 pick in the draft. His explosiveness isn't as elite as Rose or Iverson in his heyday, for a couple of examples, but the guy is a more than decent athlete for PGs at the NBA level.

[drdvl]

Im happy except Leonard. I would take Zeller over him. Barton is steal and i think Lillard is a future all-star. Now we should sign with a center in FA. Maybe Kaman or Asik.

[GreenRiddler]

I think the potential is exciting to think about man..

I have to admit part of my concern w/ Lillard is because he doesnt have that elite lateral speed to breakdown his defender & get to the rim but if he can get someone somewhat like that next to him he can excel in being a distributor & shooter because I think people are actually underrating his shooting ability. The kid can fill it up..

If it's any consolation LIllard's combine measurements were very similar to derrick Rose's, except for a slightly slower sprint, but a faster agility time.

There's nothing to indicate he doesn't have elite lateral speed, though he's not as explosive as a Drose/westbrook obviously.

Athletically I don't see any reason to be concerned....and he is likely a better shooter and could end up running a team better than those two guys to make up for not being a superfreak.

Not to mention how good he is in the PnR 90th percentile in both shooting off the pick and driving as well as 74th percentile in passing out the PnR to give you a example Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon both small Conf. College players had significantly less across the board like Wiz and LOOSH and Tom Penn and Olshey said this kid is good in the PnR.

The one thing I can't wait to see is a LMA/Lillard PnR against Westbrook and Perkins, Westbrook goes under BOOM 3pts, goes over Lillard attacks a Perkins who is giving Lillard to much space for the floater/jumper or blows by for the and 1, Perk and Westbrook trap Lillard finds the open All-star for the flush or Wes/Nic for the Trey/baseline slam! So many possibilities.

[Clarity]

Actually, I think if Lillard had played at UNC or UCLA, he probably would have been the consensus #2 pick in the draft. His explosiveness isn't as elite as Rose or Iverson in his heyday, for a couple of examples, but the guy is a more than decent athlete for PGs at the NBA level.

possibly, I know folks were really timid bc of the conference he played in & the fact that he never played against legit competition. That never was really an issue to me.

I really do like Lillard though as a player & think he'll be pretty good for Portland.

[whatchaknow]

I really want Portland to look at Oj mayo because I feel like adding him as a reliable scorer is what portland needs to take pressure off of lillard to start... Then if we could look to move Wes for a bigger wing who can play 3 then we do that.

I'm warming up to Leonard cuz he is so big and agile for his size. Love the lillard and Barton picks. I agree with the Jackson comparison and it's gonna be interesting to see if he can bulk up because wings with length and ability to handle/create are so rare these days.

If we can add a fill in 5, and a capable backup pg to go with the oj mayo idea I think we will be a contender to sneak into the playoffs next year.

[JasonStern]

http://blogs.trailblazers.com/PublicProfileRoot/MyBlog/tabid/99/EntryID/4052/IamaUserID/13183/Default.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Did you look closely at Meyers’ injury history?

Yeah, I can’t tell you how many times we discussed it. We spent an hour on the phone today with the trainer from University of Illinois, we tested him here, extra MRIs, Jay Jenson totally signed off on it.

why does that last part not instil confidence in me?

[lucky strike]

I'm fairly happy with the picks.

I'll admit I really wanted Drummond because I wanted a redo on Oden but I'm fine with Lillard, I think he'll be really good. Plus I was a big non-fan of Barnes so I'm happy they didn't pick him.

Leonard seems solid...i like how athletic he is for his size. Definitely wanted him over Zeller.

Would have liked to have them try and get into the late 1st to take a chance on PJ3 but oh well.

Barton seems like a super good value pick.

[EddieJonesFan]

You guys got a really solid draft haul. I think Barton is a great pick in the second round.

[TBpup]

A brief breakdown of the picks:

Lillard: Won't spend a lot of time he because Damian had more threads than Chris Paul from last year. That said, his athleticism is sneaky kind of like Roy's and in a pick-n-roll league, he was the best option out there.

Leonard: Probably more of an upside than some other center options but not quite as polished now. I like what Greg Anthony pointed out....that Leonard had bad guards at Illinois while Zeller had great talent and the best pass-first PG in college basketball to make him look good.

Barton: I haven't heard anyone talk about Will 'The Thrill' Barton without using the word "steal". From day one of training camp, he will have the best handle of any of the 2-guards the Blazers have and put up huge rebounding numbers from the SG spot last season. I too am curious as to why his shooting is questioned when...

Meanwhile Bradley Beal shot .339 from the 3-point line which is lower than Barton's (.346) and that is listed as Beal's strength. It's funny how people think!

Barton is skinny but he plays tough, has swagger, has a 6'10" wingspan, can grab a rebound and lead the break and plays with a passion. Great pick for where they got him. Check out his profile on DX.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Will-Barton-5737/

[The Sebastian Express]

I do like that Leonard has a nice passing touch.