im gonna occasionally post some info on players who should be around where the blazers will pick this summer. nbadraft.net
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tyler-Smith-1180/ draftexpress.com has him going high in the second round FWIW.
Terrence Williams should be available around that pick and I like him a lot more then Smith IMO. Both play very similar. They would be what you consider point forward type of players, at least they are in college.
SF is the last position we should be looking at. We have our future SF in Batum. We need a backup PF and maybe even a future backup Center we could groom under Przybilla. Speaking of Centers, Cole Aldrich is a freaking beast!
Cole Aldrich should go to the draft this year. He'll be a top 10 pick for sure. He's been underrated this year since this is his first year starting.
I pretty much agree, but I'd put backup Center a bit above backup PF, I think Frye and Randolph are fine at backup PF. Backup/3rd string SG is the other position I would look at. I think Oden and Przybilla have defense covered at the Center position and Roy and Fernandez are great at offense at SG, so I'm looking for a SG who plays very good defense or a Center who has talent on offense. The players I'm most interested in are ... SG: Evan Turner Gerald Henderson Terrence Williams Manny Harris Dionte Christmas K.C. Rivers Josh Carter Wesley Matthews Danny Green C: B. J. Mullens Cole Aldrich Andrew Ogilvy Giorgi Shermadini Artem Zabelin Boban Marjanovic Vitor Faverani Some will be gone by the time we pick, others would be players to take a chance on with our late second round picks and keep overseas for a few years.
I'm not against letting Blake go and bringing Koponen over, but I don't see an urgent need to draft another PG over the other positions.
Pretty much, but TBH, with the recruit class we(Kansas) have coming in, some greed is there, but he is being projected in next years draft by Draft Express. He could be a top 5 pick next year.
I guess I thought you were being sarcastic yourself in saying we need to draft a backup center or shooting guard -- arguably the two deepest positions we have when you consider that LaMarcus can play a little bit of 5, and Roy, Rudy and Martell pretty much cover the 2.
If he declared to the draft this year I think a GM would take a gamble on him and draft him top ten solely for his defense and his potential.
Our biggest glaring hole is a true backup PF. My favorite PF prospect is Patrick Patterson from Kentucky. The kid is a rebounding machine, can finish around the rim and towards the end of the year he was just finding his touch on offense. He's a bit undersized, but brings more to the table with his energy and knack for being in the right place. A perfect bench guy, he's next in the list of undersized PF's who can make a difference on the NBA level. Then of course there's other PF's out there that we could take a look at like: DeJuan Blair (wide body, hustles his ass off all the time, skilled around the basket) Craig Brackins (not seen him play enough to understand his worth) Earl Clark (who might not be around when we draft) Josh Heytvelt (very versatile, needs work on post moves) Taj Gibson (Great rebounder, has a mean streak) Damion James (Beast on the boards, can hit the mid range jumper) Jeff Pendergraph (plays a lot bigger than he is, can board and has a great post moves) Another option is Kyle Singler who can play the 3-4. Solid, solid player that just knows how to play the game. He can play the perimeter and he can play inside, always hustles, a great lunch pail type guy. I would be most happy I think with a Singler pick, if he lasts that long.
i like maynor, lawson, curry, teague and patty mills....although mills is not on nbadraft.net for some reason edit: those are guys i think we have a realistic chance at, i didnt include jennings cuz as of now he should go high in the draft.
I like Teague the best out of those point guards. Guy is a stud, athletic as hell and is becoming a great playmaker. I just don't think were going to draft a point guard.