REPORT: Millsap offer official now. Sent to Utah.

Yeah I'm honestly going to be shocked if we end up with Millsap by the end of the week...

 

Oh come on now.

 

Jeff McDonald, S.A. Express-News: "A mere 65 seconds after checking into his first NBA summer league game, Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair(notes) hip-checked his way through a pair of defenders, snatched an offensive rebound away from two defenders and double-pumped the ball back into the basket. From his courtside seat at UNLV's Cox Pavilion, New Orleans coach Byron Scott shook his head in amazement. 'That is a man down there,' Scott said, motioning in the direction of the wide-bodied Blair. On the day that the Spurs made him the 37th overall pick in the NBA draft, Blair swore he would make sure every team that had passed on him regretted it. He wasted little time scratching one team off his hit list Sunday. After it, Blair was in too good of a mood to say, 'I told you so.' 'I was just having fun,' Blair said, flashing a quick smile. 'I showed a lot of people what I can do, what they missed out on.

 

Are any of you surprised that Blair can play well? I'm not. It was never a question whether he would come in be an impact player, but for how long he can do that for.

 

If Memphis continues to screw us exclusively then I see no reason not to rent a Blazer bus and have a horde of us travel on down to explain to Mr. Wallace why the family disapproves of his actions.

 

I'm game.

 

There was more to it, I believe, than just the knee concerns. There was something about his "fit" in Portland or attitude, if I remember right. Maybe it was his work ethic. I don't recall.

Still, even factoring in only his knees, what makes you think he'd have even one or two impact years? What leads you to believe that either Cunningham or Pendergraph won't provide the same eventual impact?

I think many of us rely too heavily on statistics. Portland's scouts do, what I think, is a top-notch job of turning over every stone to reveal a complete, or complete-as-possible, picture of a player's fit in Portland, in the league, and in the community.

They've done a fairly stellar job of it so far. Each draft we "reach" to unexpectedly pick a player/s and low-and-behold, we find hidden gems.

If our scouts like Cunningham/Pendergraph better than Blair for the present and future, there's some solid reasoning behind it.

 

Who cares? As a minimum wage, non-guaranteed contract, anything he provides is a bonus. He brings exactly what we're hoping to get from Millsap for an additional $8M per year...

 

They are not even close to the same type of player. A double-double against Summer League scrubs, and suddenly Blair has Millsap's offensive game, size, and defensive skills.

 

As did every other team in the league, in that case. Including the Spurs, because if they really believed he was a likely NBA stud, they'd have moved up when they saw him dropping and not merely hoped that this massively undervalued prospect would drop to them in the middle of the second round.

Had Blair been snapped up soon after Portland took Claver, I'd be more willing to believe that Portland made some baffling error. Considering every team in the league seemed to feel he was not a first round talent, I'm tending to believe that there's more to the story that made every franchise in the league feel he was a poor bet.

It's worth bearing in mind that the Blazers and every team in the league know what we know: that Blair was a rebounding monster in college and that rebounding translates well. So they all relegated him to the mid-second round despite that.

 

I'll take the proven $8M per year stud than the unproven, questionably healthy, cheap college stud.

We'll see who makes out better.

 

Production relative to cost per minutes, of course... And don't forget to take into account Millsap's [negative] impact on getting rid of Joel or playing Aldridge out of position to make room for him.

 

I didn't state a duration though. You did.

I don't know. But, that you have to ask the question is why I'm not wanting to invest money, time, and a roster spot on him.

I disagree about Cunningham. I think he's going to be a quality reserve, borderline starter in this league. You're selling him way short IMO. The Big East was the toughest conference in college last season. He was not average, even in his own conference, and certainly not in the nation.

And I counter with Ramon Sessions.

I was thinking of Freeland, Koponen, Rodriquez, Fernandez, and Batum. To an extent I was thinking of Roy too. The team seems to zag when everyone else zigs. They reach for the unconventional options instead of selecting a more safer route. Ironic that I'd put it in those words, considering a selection of Pendergraph and/or Cunningham appears to be a safer route. But, given Portland's spotless track record in the draft, I'm willing to believe that there was something disturbing about Blair.

Only thing is they haven't made too many of those. Not to mention, the rest of the league past on him as well until San Antonio's second round selection.

 

If healthy, I don't doubt how special Blair could become. If Millsap was just entering the league, there would little reason to discuss this. They're both very comparable. The value of Millsap is that he has the experience and closer to his prime than Blair. Adding Millsap in place of Blair makes us a better team.

 

Millsap is a much better and more varied offensive player than Blair is. To say they are similar players right now is a disservice to Millsap and an overreach on Blair IMO. Perhaps Blair will become a Millsap-like player in the NBA. As it is, for now, he's accomplished nothing in the league.