Babbitt against NCAA tournament teams last season, plus UNC because it was at UNC and he went against Ed Davis. UNLV - 14 pts/10 rb/1 assist Houston - 14 pts/ 17 rb/ 3 assist UNC - 15 pts/ 11 rb/ 1 assist BYU - 20 pts/ 6 rb/ 1 assist New Mexico State - 26 pts/ 11 rb/ 1 assist Utah State - 26 pts/ 12 rb/ 1 assist Utah State - 20 pts/ 9 rb/ 1 assist New Mexico State 23 pts/ 9 rb/ 1 assist 19.8 ppg/10.6 rpg/1.1 apg Team was 3-5 in those games. Not terrible, not great.
What were the most pressing needs going into the draft? A long-term replacement for Miller. Nobody available. A more reliable shooter off the bench. Swapping Webster for Babbitt might not pan out, but it is a reasonable effort. Improved perimeter defense. Nope. A long-term replacement for Joel/Camby. Didn't even try. Overall, a rather "meh" draft. If Rudy is dealt for value and Williams wins a spot in the rotation, that would make it look better.
I don't tend to grade drafts based on "team needs addressed" but simply on talented added. To me, the draft is entirely about infusing the team with as much young talent as possible. There are other, more efficient ways (trades, signings) to address needs. (I say "more efficient" because you can adjust what you pay to what you get...in the draft, if you take a lesser talent at a spot over a greater talent, to address need, that's just talent left on the table.) I think, based on the picks that the Blazers started out with, they did a solid job of adding talent. Hopefully, there will be some moves this summer to address the roster needs.
Oh yeah? That's actually been my philosophy for years. I've never believed in drafting for need (except when the talent available is virtually equal).
I actually agree with you, but in this case, I don't see that the Blazers grabbed what was clearly the BPA. Looking at the 20-30 picks, and arguably beyond, I see a bunch of guys who *were* pretty equal. Edit: Actually, I think the Blazers were influenced by "need", in the sense that they passed on Pondexter and James because they had already made the trade for Babbitt. Just my 2 pennies worth.
Yeah, to me too. But every year, a bunch of guys seem pretty equal to me and then several of them are much better, several of them are much worse. I was heartened by an NBA front office guy texting Ford and telling him KP got two top-ten guys. My perception is that Babbitt seems to be quite a well-regarded pick for where Portland got him. So that makes it plausible to me that KP got the BPA there. I dunno about Elliott Williams, but as a high level run-and-jump athlete, he seems like a fine upside pick for later in the draft.
I'm still not willing to believe that Williams will be on the roster. Seems like the classic case of drafting a player for another team, especially when Armon Johnson was drafted after him. Because of this, I haven't done any research on Williams at all.
I gave the draft a B-. I would have gave it a higher score except for losing Webster. I was surprise and disappointed we traded him. I would have much rather it been Rudy, but obviously the Wolves was wise enough to pick the better player. While he wasn't a consistent shooter he did improve in other areas which show he worked hard and I felt would eventually be more consistent shooting. I hope he does well except when he plays us.
