Keep an eye on Victor Claver. The 6'10" PF from Spain. KP was very high on him last summer. I can see KP moving up to grab him.
i agree with bpa. although i dont really want another shooting guard. back up PF or project center hopefully will be the bpa. lawson will not be available
Unless KP has his eyes on someone who will likely be in the late lottery (hello DeJuan Blair), I think he'll take another international player. Rodrigue Beaubois (already had 3 workouts with the Blazers) and Kevin Seraphin (of Hoop Summit fame) should both be available at 24.
We did bring in French PG Rodrigue Beaubois for last years draft and the one before for private workouts. KP likes the kid. 6'2" but his wingspan is very Barbosa/Rondo-esque. Btw, Here's Claver's Blazer workout: [video=youtube;kcAj-RTgGvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcAj-RTgGvQ[/video]
For as good as we did this year, I'm glad we have the 24th pick. Not too shabby. Lots of very good players have been drafted low. In addition to guys like Rudy and Batum, other later picks I can immediately think of include Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer Leandro Barbosa, Kevin Martin, Josh Howard, Mo Williams, Ramon Sessions, Carl Landry, Marc Gasol, Leon Powe, Paul Millsap, David Lee, Ronny Turiaf, Monta Ellis, Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, Trevor Ariza... The point being, there are lots of players who have made it (and had a lot of success) in the league despite being drafted after pick #24. In particular, there are a lot of big men who were at the time a project or undersized. But good players at every position. Some players continue to improve and are better pros than others. I have no doubt that we could find a decent player, and if not we'll either move up or out of the draft. KP hasn't disappointed me one bit so far. He's even done me the favor of getting players I targeted like Rudy and Batum. Yeah!!!! Solid track record
How much was KP involved when the Spurs drafted those guys? Can we give KP credit for Parker, Manu, Rudy, and Batum???? Dang, that is impressive.
I agree with this. Joel just played in all 82 games for the first time in his career and could leave when his contract is up, Greg has yet to swat the injury bug. Both Joel and Greg are better at defense than offense right now, so I prefer a project center who has a little offense but is raw on defense. Mullens sounds like that player, so he is the player I would go after first. The only other thing I can see a need for is a defensive specialist at SG. I think Blake/Rodriguez/Bayless is fine for now at PG and Rodriguez/Bayless/Koponen will be a nice rotation in the future. Some people say we need a banger at PF, but the way I see it, we have a front court with a shooter and a banger as starters and a banger and shooter as backups, Outlaw and Frye are fine backups for Aldridge. I like both Batum and Webster and I'd get a veteran like Grant Hill for our 3rd SF.
Plus, Travis Outlaw was drafted at the #23 spot, and if you look at the 2003 draft, he'd be a definite lottery pick, along with Josh Howard, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, and David West. All of them were picked 18th or lower, with West being the 18th pick. Incredibly, Perkins, Barbosa, and Howard were the last three picks of the first round in that draft.
We already have a project Center: 6'11' and pushing 260 lbs, Freeland has really filled out since we drafted him.
Btw, there is a reason why Mullen's stock has taken a nose dive. He has a very poor basketball IQ and he has the same problem Ha Seung-Jin had: No feel for the game whatsoever.
He is talented, but he needs another year of school to polish his skills. He has the tools to be a great center, but like you said, he doesn't have a feel for basketball. When I watched him play in high school, he just looked like he always dominated because he was always the strongest and tallest guy on the court. He couldn't even start for OSU after Rivals put him as the #1 player in the country.
yeah freeland can be our pf/c back up....unless we can get an under the radar euro i dont knwo what we should look into...this is totally a scout/gm draft. but honestly Bayless with be trade or will bolt....his attitude isnt meshing witht he rest and he thinks that he automatically deserves minutes but has not proven or beat out anyone for the minutes. this is not a free sergio style problem. He is the only one that visually did not enjoy being at the rally. Which makes me wont if he was think man why the heck am i here...iz needz to get minez!
