From Mike Barrett's blog: I don't have any problem with the notion that you go and get the guy you want, but a more experienced GM would have figured out a way to take advantage of the fact that Smith could have been had at a lower spot. It seems to me that the Blazers should have taken the BPA (Faried) and either bought a pick or worked a trade with a team lower than them that would have netted Smith and something else in exchange for Faried. It will be interesting to see how PA ends up evaluating Buchanan's draft night efforts. My bet is that Chad will not be moved up to the permanent GM spot.
Doesnt every GM say that? "identify the guy you want and go get him". I remember KP saying that many times. In a perfect world, sure it would have been great to get something more and get Smith later in the draft. But maybe we couldnt find a trade partner within the range they thought Smith would still be available. Rumors are that we had to promise Denver we wouldnt take Faried so they could. Maybe not true, but ya never know.
If that was a part of the deal, the Nuggets would have simply insisted that we switch spots with them.
Disagree. With the Nuggets picking immediately behind us, they save themselves some money (albeit a very small amount) by ensuring that they could take Faried at 22 instead of swapping and grabbing him at 21. When looking at the deal in its entirety, it seems the Nuggets had us over a barrel and they knew that. Whether Buchanon being a figurehead played into them leveraging the crap out of our perceived panic is anybody's guess, but Denver did everything right in this deal and got about as much out of Felton as they could have expected to get...
How can you possibly say that about OUR board? Read: The Official Draftboard of the Portland TrailBlazers did not necessarily look like nbadraft.net's or draftexpress.com's board. In no way am I advocating for Smith being a good pick. It was confusing to me too, but we clearly liked him quite a bit. If you want to question the front office decision, go right ahead - but to suggest that you somehow have knowledge of us valuing other players over the guy we ultimately took (except perhaps, for Faried who we were apparently bullied into not drafting) is just silly...
Portland needed help off the bench and some defense at the guard position. Besides, we don't know what the Blazer board looked like, but I'll assume Smith was at the top of if when the 21st pick went on the clock. Hopefully, they will address the need for a rebounder in free agency. I guess I'm in the minority, but I think that Felton/Smith is preferable to Miller/Mills/Armon Johnson for next season. Plus, if Felton doesn't work out, he's an expiring contract worth ~$8 million at the deadline.
Faried is not close to being as good as Wallace. For at least another 2-3 years if ever. So i don't get the love affair. We need someone bigger than him to help this team. Wallace is a better backup PF than any rookie this year. He can slide over when Batum enters the game. As for Smith.......I have no idea. I knew they liked him before the draft. Not sure I like that they stick with their game plan going in and are not flexible. They did that last year too. I guess it is safe...... Only time will tell on Smith
Yeh, the whole thing doesn't make sense; the two major draft sites had Smith going 36-38. With Fernandez going out and no reason to keep Barron and either Mills or Armon Johnson going, we have three open roster spots. Drafting Faried is acquiring an asset, why not do it and then buy a late first round or early second round pick for Smith? The only reasonable explanation is that they promised Denver they would do this and I'm not happy that they aren't being truthful about it. I understand when it's OK to tell lies about trade and draft intentions. But this would be lying to the fans just to make themselves look better, I don't think that is right. But the other explanation is that without a guy like KP in there, the rest of them are just little scaredycats, afraid they would somehow lose Smith (wow, wouldn't that have been a big tragedy?).
I think some GMs just like the bullshit of trading down and switching picks and all that just for the sake of it. Don Nelson clearly did when he took Traylor and traded down for Dirk. But that's taking a hell of a risk unless Dirk is the pick after you. Why not just take Dirk and cut the bullshit? Sam Presti probably could have traded down for Westbrook (who went way higher than everybody had him slated). But he just picked him. There's something to be said for that. (Count me among those who was disappointed by Smith, by the way. I wanted Mirotic or possibly Darius Morris. It's funny how we're all in love with Faried when NONE of us has seen him play (except maybe against two teams in the NCAA tournament).)
IIRC, someone might be able to correct me, I remember noticing that Nolan Smith's workout was the only one that had Paul Allen there. IF that is true, it's pretty plausible that the team has targeted Nolan Smith from way back. Kind of like what happened with Brandon Roy.
The ONE criticism that I can give of the Smith pick is actually Reggie Jackson. Unless the Blazers were absolutely CERTAIN that Smith - presumably the guy they wanted - would be snatched up very soon after their pick, I would've liked to see them draft Reggie Jackson, strictly to trade him. Chad Ford was on a podcast w/ Ryan Russilo today saying that as many as 8 teams (we were mentioned as one of them) were trying to trade ahead of OKC for Jackson. Why not just draft RJ at 21, swap him for the highest bidder (AND keeping him away from OKC) for their late 1st/early 2nd rd. pick and other assets, and still end up with Smith - who it appears they understood was drafted a little high. This seems like a KP type move and would've been shrewd beyond shrewd. Worst case scenario you're stuck with a solid PG prospect that you reportedly like... Oh well, the milk is spilt, time to move on...
Because the Mavericks got Pat Garrity, too. I agree with e_blazer: it's not just a team's board... it's the perception of the player around the league. The draft is about getting the most value, not getting a specific player, and getting a player later is always preferable to earlier. Especially when other value is kicked in. Even John Nash wasn't dumb enough to take the guy he wanted (Webster) at #3. Ed O.
I think there is a big difference between a high-to-mid lottery pick and picks from the late-teens and down in terms of value. Portland drafted for a need. I'm willing to give Nolan Smith a chance, unlike others here. Character guy, solid defensively, can create his own shot, went 20/5/5 at Duke while playing out of position last year... Next year is going to be a blast in terms of this board. The meltdowns after Felton has a bad game will be worth everything.
