We got the #3 pick. Discuss the possibilities.

You're also never wrong

 

12 of the last 24 NBA ROY have been drafted at 3 or below.

Every single one of these drafts had a player at or below 3 who would help this Blazer team be better this year than we were last year, and who would be productive in the playoffs.

 

This is the most salient point for the crowd that says we should keep Dame and make a draft pick.

Adding a guy like Barnes or Luka would help us probably as much as a guy like OG would their rookie year.

The one point against this thinking is that the guy we pick could also profile to have a steep learning curve and a higher ceiling (Sharpe for example) than the most NBA ready guy now, and thus would not help us win his rookie year while Dame is in a finite window.

 

https://megaphone.link/NSM8207712129

Danny Leroux and Sam Vecenie talk about Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson (and Ausar Thompson), Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson.

31:40 "There is a lot to like. We've often lamented the lack of viable wings. It's thrilling to have this many players at this level that have A) high ceilings and B) the right positional size. "
33:25 Discussion of Cam Whitmore "My one single thing that love about Cam Whitmore is that he has great physical tools and he plays with force. He applies his athleticism. We talked about Brandon Ingram. Great athlete, wonderful physical size, doesn't apply it to a lot of his elements. Instead he takes a lot of contested jump shots. Whitmore, he does that." (much more discussion on Whitmore follows)
43:20 Discussion on Amen Thompson (and Ausar Thompson). "A freakshow athlete. His feel, his passing vocabulary, is stunning for a guy his age that isn't a Lebron-James-level of prospect. "
57:00 That Ausar and Amen are very closely rated as prospects. Comparing them.

1:03:34 Sam thinks Ausar is a slightly more functional basketball player right now. Explains how/why.
1:05:30 Brandon Miller
1:11:25 Scoot Henderson

1:20:00 How would you rank these guys right now? Danny: "Preliminarily, I have a tier 2. Scoot, Miller, and Thompson. The thing I feel most confident about is Amen Thompson over Brandon Miller. It's underappreciated how hard it is to go from being a non-Lebron to being the best player on a great team. You need unbelievable physical gifts and unbelievable player development. I'm going to go with the guy who could be that player. Especially because of the feel, and the motor, and the mentality." He questions Scoot's motor from what he's seen on film. And puts him (for now) behind Amen and Miller. Says he certainly could move him between Amen Thompson and Miller at a later time.
Vecenie has Scoot, Miller, Thompson and Cam Whitmore. He's gotten really, really, really good feedback on Whitmore's jumper.
Wembanyama is on a completely different tier.
Vecenie says that when he ranked all of the one-and-done prospects, he had Greg Oden at 1, Durant at #2, and AD at 3.

 

Interesting.... I thought this was only a 3 man draft, but Thompson is the mystery box.

 

Thompson may be a mystery box, but an important part of the box is missing

sounds more and more like Whitmore may be the big riser. And he didn't play against questionable competition. The Big East is a good conference

 

I would be very interested to see if we could squeeze Detroit for 5 and Duren.

 

They also spoke at length about an Ingram for 3 pick idea

 

I wonder what salaries? If it's Nurk and filler I do it, Ant I'm more hesitant but still interested.

I just assumed Ingram wasnt available. Haven't really thought if I prefer him over Bridges/Brown.

 

Agreed on the acquisition cost. That said, if they demanded Ant + #3 for Ingram, I wonder if there is any way to include Herb Jones in that type of deal?

 

Ingram misses a lot of time, too.

 

https://megaphone.link/NSM8207712129

Beginning at 7:35, Danny Leroux (who sounds like Zach Galifianakis to me) talks about a 3rd road for teams, especially Portland.
You take the best prospect available, but you also don't rebuilt. If you're Portland, your pathway to really taking the steps forward, is to get a player who is better than almost everyone you already have. That's hard to do through a trade.
At 9:15 they talk about some of the players the Blazers might want/be available for the 3rd pick. And mention Brandon Ingram. If the Pelicans want to cash in on Ingram, now is the time since he still has 2 years left on his contract. The Pelicans roster could be very expensive after that.

 

I'd be very interested in turning #3 into Ausar (or Amen if Whitmore goes #4) and Duren. I would rather have Franz + #6 to draft one of the twins because we currently don't have a guy at the wing position that can do everything, and Franz has shown more than just flashes of being able to do everything after only two years.

Both scenarios have the same likelihood of them happening though, which isn't very high imo.

 

Injuries are one way to completely derail a "win now" roster. Look at Chicago. They went all-in on win now, and did look great at times. Now they are a mess.
Since the "win now' trade for Vucevic in 2021, the Bulls have won 1 playoff game and missed the playoffs twice.
They traded away Wendell Carter Jr, the 2021 pick that became Franz Wagner (8th pick), the 11th pick in 2023, and a top-10-protected 2025 1st round pick.
Vucevic is now 32 years old with an expired contract.
The Bulls also traded away Lauri Markkanen, who had fallen out of favor and whose contract was ending, for Derrick Jones Jr. and a top-14 protected 2022 1st round pick from Portland.
Markannen had dropped to a reserve role and was averaging career-lows in points, rebounds and minutes in 2020-21.
Markannen, who turned 26 this month, was an All Star in 2023 with Utah.

At the time, the Vucevic trade was given an A.
At the time, the Markannen trade was also given an A.

 

Ingram is really talented with great offensive versatility

but he's been injured every season over the last 6 and will be 27 when next season starts. That's a combination that points to more injuries not less. He's also a poor defender. Not big enough to defend mass and not quick enough to defend speed

 

I want to see Dame and Scoot go one on one in a workout

 

I take Ingram with my eyes closed. A 25 yr old who put up 25/6/5 is really enticing. Ya theres an injury risk but this is a readymade star who would fit well with Dame. No guarantee that anyone we get at #3 can surpass his ceiling.

 

Dame is obviously an immensely better shooter, but 1v1 format that has the least impact. Scoot would destroy Dame. Dame relies on teammates to give defensive help and on offense spread the floor so he can shoot. Also Dame isn't in his 20's where he can physically give 100% in an offseason workout on either end.