Reminder of why we don't want to lose our draft pick

http://www.blazersedge.com/2016/1/7/10723414/portland-trail-blazers-2016-nba-draft-neil-olshey

 

Great article. Somewhat swayed me on making the playoffs or not.

The article is right about the rookie scale contracts and we would be MUCH better off if we could land a stater through the draft rather than spend real money on that starter. I still think our best player we get this off season will come via trade, but if we can do that AND nail down a starter through the draft?....

 

This is pretty good when you see it all compiled like this:

2010 is probably Neil's most egregious drafting mistake. Funny to see his blunder in 2011 omitted when he gave up what turned out to be the #1 pick (Kyrie) to get rid of Baron Davis' contract. But all that said, I do trust his judgement in drafts. Dude has an eye for talent. It's why we need to maximize this skill and get him another pick or two in this draft. We don't even have any second rounders this year (our 2015 and 2016 2nd round picks when to to CHI via CLE, for Allen Crabbe in 2013).

 

I know we all love CJ but I still think Gobert and/or Antetokounmpo are (a) more well-rounded and (b) a better fit with Lillard than CJ.
And let us not forget that, instead of Meyers we could have DRAYMOND GREEN.
So, arguably, mistakes added up: taking Meyers meant that we didn't take a center in CJ's draft when Gobert and Steven Adams were there.

 

I know im dicing this apart, but I just wantto be clear. You would rather have Steve Adams than CJ? In order to get Adams, we wouldnt have been able to get CJ.
And Id take CJ over Gobert... I think... but absolutely over Adams.

 

I'd almost argue the opposite of the column, and have seen similar comments from other nba people. Obviously, it goes without saying, it's always great to have very good talent on small salaries. Duh. But I'd argue the value of 1st round picks decreases as the cap increases. Wit a cap of 60, 65 million, it's imperative to have some cheap young talent aboard, to try to sustain long term success without going way over the tax. So the value of a rookie at 3 million is huge. But if the cap is at 85 million, sure, they're valuable, but now you have far more wiggle room. Now you can go and sign a vet at the current MLE for roughly the same cap hit.

 

From what I got, that's the point of the article. It says the value of a 1st round pick INCREASES as the salary cap increases... at least until the rookie contract is renegotiated for the to get more, but currently the article reads to me as saying the value of the pick is increasing because of the fixed wage of a rookie, vs the cap increase and the cost of signing someone of similar skill set, but is beyond their rookie contract.

 

I can see the point about Gobert and Antetokounmpo (D69 had them both in his Top-7 of his Pre-Draft rankings that year) but take it easy on Draymond Green. He was the #35 pick and taken in the 2nd round. EVERY GM missed on him at least once.

It just seems that in a year where almost every team has cap space, the money Portland has is no longer an advantage and other larger markets with more playoff ready teams would seem more attractive. Add to that the lack of big time FA's coming here and having them under control of a Rookie Contract seems an even bigger deal. If you can get a starter/star in this Draft ESPECIALLY as the West is in decline, you would set yourself up to be a West power for years to come. What will the landscape look like in a couple years when Nowitzki, Duncan, Ginobili are all retired, Durant may move on from OKC, Dwight is gone from Houston and Memphis is all over 33 years old?

That seems like a GREAT opportunity to really go on a run and it only takes the next 4 months to get there.

 

^^^ Precisely! Missing out on a lotto pick this year would be a real bummer and put a fairly low ceiling on what this team can do, while getting a high pick could set us up for a real run in a few years.

 

SO MUCH THIS!

Winning is good, but winning the draft and winning MORE later is better!

 

Dammit!!! Okay. you guys and this article are really starting to sway me...and Im NOT happy about it!!!!

 

Fuck the draft pick.

 

Ha! You are a treasure Wook!

 

You wanted to keep Gerald Wallace in 2012 too, didn't you?

 

Change is good... it's like a nice cold beer.

 

Change is even better... when you buy a nice cold beer.

 

Nope. Trading a washed-up quitter for a draft pick is a lot different than rooting for ping pong balls.

 

Someone needs a hug. A hug from Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Dragan Bender or Jaylen Brown would make you feel much better. I hate losing but if it is only for a couple more months and gives us a rookie contract with a potential star going forward for the next 5+ years with Dame/CJ, I'm all on board with that.....especially when a few more wins would have done nothing but made our pick worse or taken it away altogether.

If the Blazers were to Draft Jessica Alba, I'm on board.

 

We in there!!!!!

 

Right? People think that rooting for losing AT ALL is bad.... this is the ONLY year I'll (honestly) be okay with losses...