@BonesJones @hoopsjock can you give me an Summary about Bazley? Potential, similarities to NBA players, strengts and weaknesses etc thank you!
To me Bazley's strengths are exactly what Portland needs. Like if I went to a lab and created a player for Portland this summer that was actually attainable, Bazley is what would come out. He was just under 6'8" without shoes, 7'0" wingspan, 8'11" standing reach, with 3.6% body fat (all amazing for a SF). He's super athletic! Think a taller version of Anfernee Simons. In video I've watched he is often bringing the ball up the court indicating that he could potentially have some playmaking and point forward capabilities. His jumper was a little slow and his form needed improvement but it looks like he's corrected that a little bit during his year off. He has all the defensive tools to be an absolute monster on defense. He's also pretty solid on the boards. There definitely needed to be an improvement in getting his body stronger which also looks like he focused on this past year because he looks a lot bigger and stronger. He hasn't really played against great competition but he can get to the rim pretty easily against lower competition and finish with both hands, but obviously that's hard to tell how it will translate into the pros. He's a decent passer too. It's probably a little before your time but he reminds me a bit of a non-headcase Lamar Odom. Edit: I do realize that I just described the most amazing basketball player ever, ha ha. A little bit might have to do with him not playing college makes it so his game can't be picked apart as much but him sitting out the year and being an unknown is also why he isn't considered a lottery pick either.
I don't think we really need another untested project this year as we already have Simons and Trent in that category. I would rather package the pick and see if we can get a more ready to play type player . Phoenix is overloaded with small forwards and seems like they would be a good team to look at for a small forward. Oubre, Jackson, Bridges and Warren would all be worthwhile to explore.
Oubre is a free agent. Josh Jackson is a low IQ player with off court issues. Bridges would be awesome but probably the least attainable of the group. Warren is a ball stopping scorer who doesn't really do anything else well and is a below average defender. Besides Phoenix is looking to trade their #6 pick for a more experienced PG. They aren't going to give us much for the 25th pick considering they also have the 32nd pick already. If you want to go the low risk/low reward route and keep hitting nice singles with an occasional double then go right ahead. I'm going to keep swinging for the fences hoping they hit a home run that leads us to the next level.
We are in win now mode, not 3 or 4 years from now and an untested project does nothing to improve the team for the next year or two if he even pans out. I like singles and doubles much better than a swing and a miss. Rod Carew was one of my favorite hitters along with Tony Gwynn as they hit singles and doubles all day long into the hall of fame.I also watched a kid in high school that played at Wilson when my son was at Franklin and was the next great thing to come out of the state. He had a mediocre career at Arizona and never made the pros. The Bazely kid should have at least played in the G league for the year rather than wasting it if he seriously wants to play pro ball. when a player avoids competition it throws up a red flag. I also remember you were the one that convinced me that Swanigan would be a great prospect to draft where we drafted at. That didn;t really pan out.
I think you are "misremembering" the Swanigan thing. I was fine with Olshey taking him but never tried to convince you that he'd be a great prospect or anything. Even if I had said that, there will always be players that don't pan out when someone thinks they're going to be good. There isn't a single person on this Earth that is always right when it comes to the draft. I'm not afraid of failing. There were a couple of guys that I wanted over Simons last year (Okobo and Khyri Thomas). I was fine with taking Simons though. Trent on the other hand I thought was a bit of a waste of two 2nd round picks since we were already full at guard. Plus we saw during the season what two 2nd round picks brought us in Hood. I'm a firm believer of always developing young talent no matter if you're a championship team or a rebuilding team or somewhere in between. Look at rosters in Miami and Cleveland when LeBron was there who always traded their picks for vets and then had aging rosters that fell apart. Young guys bring energy to practice and can also be used as trade assets if they start to blossom.
Darius Miles is another good comparison. The hope is that Bazley has a better BBIQ than Miles did though.
Man, I can't imagine how good some of those athletic freaks from the mid 90's to the early 2000's would have been had they studied the game more and had better work ethics.
Nowhere did I ever suggest doing the Miami and Cavs LeBron years method of always trading the pick, but we potentially could lose several vets that need replacing and you're not likely going to get that in drafting an unproven player that didn't play in the G league or the NBA last year and if the pick can bring in a vet of need along with whatever else it might take would be more beneficial imho.
If they can trade the pick for something of value I am definitely of the opinion they should. If they cant because of where they’re picking every player available will be a massive question mark, if they pick I think they should go with the guy they believe to have the most upside even if the player is raw. Then they can try to develop the talent. I think going for a guy they think has a low ceiling but might help next year would be a bad move. Just my opinion.