Grade the draft!

[The Sebastian Express]

I forgot we had Badji on a two way and they were pretty intrigued by him. He's hopefully playing in summer league. I'll take away a little of my criticism for not trading into the early 30s for a big like Nnaji or Miller or even Vukceviv , but I'm still agitated.

Just not grumpy anymore.

[Dame Lizard]

A+.

First off, there was not big fish that we missed out on. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating -

Pascal had come out and said he wants to stay in TOR - and isnt worth #3.
We offered Simons + 3 for Mikal - BRK declined.
Zach is a putrid fit and is not worth 3.
Zion by numerous accounts was never on the table for 3.
OG may have been on the table, but is nowhere near 3.
Boston just made an 'all in' move w/ KP - no chance they were interested in moving Brown for a draft pick.

So its important to take the above into context, many wanted a win-now move - but if the deal isnt there you dont force it.

As for KP - the Wizards would have no interest in Nurkic as the salary filler due to his long deal so your looking at Simons, and its possible PDX was not willing to move him for someone that is expiring - but, more likely is the scenario where KP specifically wanted to go to a contender like Boston and was ONLY willing to opt-in to his deal in such a trade. If we made an offer, KP could have simply said 'nope, will opt out rather than go there' - I think the KP trade, much like the Beal trade, was the player forcing his way to said team. I dont think its fair to assume the entire market was open for KP - he opted in to get to Boston, full stop.

Finally, we have propsed, as has CHI fans, a swap of #23 for out pick back so many times that it seems we have created a false world where everyone was just sure CHI would be down for said swap - there is no indication they were. We cant assume the chance to regain future FRP control was on the table.

So, into the draft.

Scoot was in a tier of his own after Wemby - he would be the #1 in 90% of drafts. His fit isnt ideal obviously but the talent differential between him and the next top guy was huge IMO. You use him as the 6th man for 1-2 seasons while Dame is still here and hand the keys off after. He is only 6'2, but with a 6'9 wingspan he can guard most SG - the issue will be how he can play off ball on offense. There should be 12-14mpg behind Dame - and he runs the 2nd unit in that time - but the other 12-14mpg he should get will have to be sharing the floor with Dame, and I think he can handle that.

Kris was about as 'win now' as a FRP can be - lower upside but a NBA ready player that should slide into the backup PF spot immediately. Like his brother he can guard up a position decently well and has a quality understanding of the game - IE he should know his role as a off ball 3PT shooter and hustle defender. Tested well, good PF size at 6'9. Most mocks had him in the late teen range. I liked Leonard here, but he is a much less sure thing who has odd biometrics when he moves and a far worse 3PT shot.

Rayan is a pure upside pick who started the year mocked in the late lotto. His testing was poor, but his frame is ideal for a 3/D SF and we dont have a pure developmental SF on the roster right now. Real big fan of this swing. Would take him over a knucklehead like GG and while I liked TJD - he projects as a pure PF or another undersized C and IMO we just dont need that given our current roster construction. Watford has a similar profile as a small ball C (Albeit w/ much different traits) + we just took Kris to be the backup PF.

I think we managed to get 2 guys that should be able to play 20+ mpg right off the bat - with Scoot having Top-5 guard potential and Kris being slept on slightly (I think he can elevate into a 4th starter role, and plays the game in a way that you want from a 4th starter - IE knows his role). Rayan is a great swing as well - we need a developmental pure SF, despite our glut at guard and forward, none of them are true, young SF's. Pick made tons of sense IMO.

Really great draft. I think we simply need to turn Simons into a veteran forward and we are good to go. I think Scoot is a excellent 6th man next year who can come off the bench to inject urgency and hustle, and should be a + defender at either guard spot immediatley. Kris should slide into that backup PF role and be a quality 3/D guy from the jump and Rayan should be getting G-League minutes (Which one should expect from a #43 pick).

Not sure what the doom and gloom is about. Taking an analytical look at the options available makes it pretty clear the moves, or lack thereof, that we made on draft night were the right ones.

Assuming we can move Simons + Little for a forward, we could / should be looking at something like this next season -

G - Damian Lillard / Scoot Henderson / Keon Johnson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Scoot Henderson / Matisse Thybulle
F - Forward X / Matisse Thybulle / Rayan Rupert
F - Jerami Grant / Kris Murray / Jabari Walker JR
C - Jusuf Nurkic / Drew Eubanks / Trendon Watford

I agree with the majority of this. It's an A for me.

This was a great draft for Portland. We drafted a player that would have been the #1 pick in I'd say ~50% of drafts (I think 90% is a pretty big exaggeration personally), and also picked BPA at the other positions.

I'm disappointed that we didn't get a genuine Centre as insurance for Nurkic (whether that be injury or just bad form), but there's still time for trading and FA. I'd be reasonably surprised if Simons is with us on opening day.