Draft prospects @ 10

[The Sebastian Express]

Olynyk's wingspan is so small, damn. Somewhere in another forum zagsfan is bemoaning the lack of respect for Gonzaga players, I'm usre.

[JasonStern]

muhammad certainly says the right things to the press when interviewed:
http://blogs.trailblazers.com/BroadcasterProfile/BroadcasterBlog/tabid/188/EntryID/4897/BroadcasterID/4/Default.aspx

Rudy Gobert is not thin at 237lbs. Noel is crazy thin at under 210lbs.

I'm less concerned about gobert's weight or ability to put on weight as I am his athleticism and coordination. I'm not saying that he does not have those skills - all I know about him I learned from free online scouting reports and highlight videos (which even ha looks like an all-star in if you only look at the highlights). I'd love to see his combine scores versus other center prospects - not just measurements, but agility and sprinting speed.

we appear to be targeting wings if we keep the pick, making the FO seem to think Meyers + a current project is to redundant.

after jordan because of drexler and paul because of webster, I hope that's not the case. especially when we have more proven wings in batum and matthews than centers in leonard and....?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/335422450890309634[/tweet]

wow. to put that in perspective, the fattest point guard at the combine still had 6% less body fat than felton at the start of last season.

...not that I'm anywhere near 9% bodyfat.

so, it's way early yet, but if Portland does keep their pick and use it on a big man, it may boil down to:

Adams
Muscala
Zeller
Gobert

not necessarily in that order. Am I missing anybody?...and which one would have the best chance of being a defensive presence?

dieng and plumlee, but at this point I would much rather have zeller.

Aldridge should do everyone a huge favor and just play center for ***** sake.

I would love for that to happen, but while the owners may milk the players for cash, it's still a player's league.

The Blazers could have the greatest development staff in the history of the NBA, but it won't change the one factor in player development that can't be changed.... time. If there's a player who's a major project as a lot of these C's seem to be, there's simply no way to speed up a players development fast enough to make use of LMA and Wes' prime years.

true, but if a center is the best player available, and as we know, there are a lot more options for wings in free agency than quality centers, do you pass that up?

Dieng and Muscala are both reaches at 10. Neither have the potential to be an outstanding center. Could be solid back ups though.

which may indicate the blazers' intent (or contingency plan) to trade down in the draft...?

I think KCP is going to be the pick if the Blazers keep it. I would like Gobert, but KCP seems like a solid value and fits an expressed need.

caldwell-pope seems like a reach at #10, and if he is the target, I would love to see portland trade down (maybe throw in a 2nd or two and cash to utah or atlanta for their two 1st round picks?). but then I said the same thing about lillard at #6 last year...

I feel like this year may be a good year to buy a first rounder if possible from a team that doesn't want there's and try and land a couple of guys that could potentially contribute next year.

absolutely. you have teams like oklahoma city (who wants to retain kevin martin) and atlanta (with cap space) that have multiple first round draft picks that might prefer seconds and cash to guaranteed contracts. the one potential problem with that is that portland had five rookies last season and already have four picks in this draft (albeit three at second round picks). consolidation makes sense, but signing rookies for the sake of filling out the roster might cause a lack of veteran experience for the team.

[jhern87]

Chris Haynes seems like a fraud to me.. Or at-least someone that will just spew non-sense to make it seem like he's an insider.

He's on the fan right now and says that he's hearing Portland wants to trade up in the top 5 and is targeting Victor Olidoppo (how he pronounced it and could barely remember what college he played for or what his vert measured). I highly doubt Portland would be telling a reporter this before the lottery.. Hell, even period.

Would love for it to be true but he sounded very uninformed about prospects.

[Wizenheimer]

Chris Haynes seems like a fraud to me.. Or at-least someone that will just spew non-sense to make it seem like he's an insider.

He's on the fan right now and says that he's hearing Portland wants to trade up in the top 5 and is targeting Victor Olidoppo (how he pronounced it and could barely remember what college he played for or what his vert measured). I highly doubt Portland would be telling a reporter this before the lottery.. Hell, even period.

Would love for it to be true but he sounded very uninformed about prospects.

in the last couple of years, Haynes has been pretty reliable in terms of forecasting Blazer new that turns out to be accurate. He's a decent writer, but he's not the best speaker or interview. I wouldn't doubt that he's accurately reporting what he's hearing. I'd imagine most teams with draft picks explore the options for trading up. It's even possible that Olshey could have a deal for a C in mind but needs to get a higher pick then #10 to get it done

I also would not be one bit surprised if the Blazers are putting out misinformation

[TBpup]

Vertical leap, Agility and Sprint times

http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/nba-combine-performance-results

[Norm2953]

I continue to think the workouts will determine what Portland does in the draft for
the athletic measurements are only part of the process. I wonder where hall of
fame players like Dave Cowens and Wes Unseld would fit in the evaluation
process today? These players played center at 6-8 and 6-6.

[James72]

I continue to think the workouts will determine what Portland does in the draft for
the athletic measurements are only part of the process. I wonder where hall of
fame players like Dave Cowens and Wes Unseld would fit in the evaluation
process today? These players played center at 6-8 and 6-6.

Ive thought about the same thing, but i also believe the avg height of a center in the mid and early 70's were much smaller than todays league.

[James72]

Barkley at 6'6" always seemed like an anomaly to me.

[Norm2953]

There is something to on court production for unlike the NFL where physical
measurements are given such importance, so much of the NBA game is
mental because the MJ's and Kobe's of the world always to dominate their
competitors.

I think hall of fame players like Cowens, Russell, Unseld would find a way to
overcome measurements to play their position which is why some of the
guys in this draft who have always produced (like Shabazz) are going to
find a way to produce in the end.

[nickforthreee]

Im not a blazers fan, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is absolutely the guy that you guys should pick. He is the biggest sleeper in this draft and i think after workouts he will definitely be a Top-10 pick. I think he along with Allen Crabbe are tied for the purest shooters in this draft. I watched him at Georgia and that kid had to carry that team like ive never seen anyone have to carry a team, his teammates were the worst in college basketball. He is one of the 2 or 3 guys in this class that i feel has the potential to be an all-star. I think hes similarly skilled as wesley matthews RIGHT NOW, but i believe he has the potential to be much much better and he is not afraid of taking and making the clutch shot. Lillard/Caldwell-Pope/Batum/Aldridge/???? if you guys can get a good center like an al jefferson i can see that team making a deep playoff run.

[Norm2953]

Let's see if Pope will agree to a workout in Portland for most of the participants in
the combine are not working out.

We (in the Pac-12) watched Crabbe at Cal. Inconsistent player much like Cal as
a team.

[lukeyrid13]

I recorded and just watched a lot of the combine this morning and had some observations

- Gobert seemed very stiff and ridged. He looked like he was already past 30. I was not impressed

- Adams is physically a freak. However he also seemed very raw and will take a lot of time to develop, do we want that?

- Shabazz didn't work out today but they showed his shooting yesterday and he only made 30% of his shots uncontested and has a pretty slow release

- McLemore looked good in everything but was very slow laterally and I'd guess he really struggles defensively

- Oladipo measured small and looked smaller compared to other SG's even but makes up for it athletically. He moves great laterally

- Zeller looked pretty decent and athletic. Not sure how he'd fit here though



Honestly I can see why we've only interviewed wings because the big men all looked raw and flawed. Meyers would probably fair pretty favorably in the group this year and that's not really a good thing. Even Noel as has been noted is really light and can't be counted on to play center for at least a year if ever.

[DusterBuster]

Here's the article about Portland possibly wanting to move up to grab Oladipo....

http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/ ... ke-oladipo

Sources close to the prospect say the Trail Blazers, among a few others teams, “really like him” and are “considering moving up to get him.”

If Portland did pull off the move, Oladipo is all for it.

“I would really love to go to Portland, and I'm not just saying that,” he said convincingly to CSNNW.com. “I hope, and I don't think I'm dropping that far, but if they decided to move up somehow, I think that would be a great situation for me. It's a place where you can just concentrate on basketball.”

“Playing with solid veterans in Portland that aren't that far away from being serious contenders, would be a dream come true,” he said. “To play in the backcourt with Damian Lillard and to have [Nicolas] Batum on the other wing, would be a great situation.”

[No-Man]

Would you trade Leonard to go up for Oladipo?

That maybe could work.

[JD45]

I recorded and just watched a lot of the combine this morning and had some observations

- Gobert seemed very stiff and ridged. He looked like he was already past 30. I was not impressed

- Adams is physically a freak. However he also seemed very raw and will take a lot of time to develop, do we want that?

- Shabazz didn't work out today but they showed his shooting yesterday and he only made 30% of his shots uncontested and has a pretty slow release

- McLemore looked good in everything but was very slow laterally and I'd guess he really struggles defensively

- Oladipo measured small and looked smaller compared to other SG's even but makes up for it athletically. He moves great laterally

- Zeller looked pretty decent and athletic. Not sure how he'd fit here though



Honestly I can see why we've only interviewed wings because the big men all looked raw and flawed. Meyers would probably fair pretty favorably in the group this year and that's not really a good thing. Even Noel as has been noted is really light and can't be counted on to play center for at least a year if ever.

Meyers had a terrific combine, so he would look good with this group. His numbers are almost identical to Steven Adams.

Gobert's lane agility was 12.85 and 3/4 sprint 3.57. Not too far off from Brook Lopez, but some of the slowest in the measurement history. However, Roy Hibbert is not in the database, and he was notoriously slow. So there is hope for him.

Zeller's measurements and tests are amazingly good. Forget Cs, his agility and speed is terrific for PFs. He tested better than Blake Griffin. Zeller is one of the most athletic big men ever tested.

[Goldbum]

I don't remember a year were so many prospects loved Portland. I think Lillard's presence is changing the way people look at the Blazers. Players who projected to go 5 picks earlier than us are raving about our team.

[TBpup]

I don't remember a year were so many prospects loved Portland. I think Lillard's presence is changing the way people look at the Blazers. Players who projected to go 5 picks earlier than us are raving about our team.

Lillard being the ROY and getting national exposure during the playoffs with the commentators certainly does help. I think NeO's ability to sell water to a drowning man doesn't hurt either. I got to spend a few minutes with him last summer and you come away very impressed with his vision and believe that he can get it accomplished.

[Blazinaway]

As I have some time to reflect on all the stats and stuff I think Adams helped himself a good bit (move up 5 spots or so?), Gobert I think was neutralish. Zeller definitely helped himself but I think he's more of a PF and not a C. I would not mind taking Colt Iverson in the second rd if he is there, could be a decent big body C. Dieng measured well but came in a little light, still like him as a later rd pick. I'm thinking we will not likely draft a C unless we get a later1st rd pick.

[Blazinaway]

As I have some time to reflect on all the stats and stuff I think Adams helped himself a good bit (move up 5 spots or so?), Gobert I think was neutralish. Zeller definitely helped himself but I think he's more of a PF and not a C. I would not mind taking Colt Iverson in the second rd if he is there, could be a decent big body C. Dieng measured well but came in a little light, still like him as a later rd pick. I'm thinking we will not likely draft a C unless we get a later1st rd pick.

[RoyalWun]

I don't know why but I see Oladipo as Wes Matthews minus the shot but more athletic (maybe Lance Stephenson esque)