What’s the obsession teams have with drafting 18y/0 players? By the time they breakout they will ask out and go to a major market. Or they never break out. Whats wrong with a really good 22y/o?
Blazers main focus is finding one more guy to match up with the "under 24 year old" core. In 4-5 years, they'll all break out and be in their primes together. Otherwise, 22 year olds are expected to dominate and outscore younger competition. However, if they're 22 and still not showing anything extra like Brandon Roy might've, it's hard to see them developing more. Imo, I think Yaxel Lendeborg is a good 22 year old prospect because he showcases defensive skills (he was DPOY twice in his conference) and shooting+playmaking skills. Those are very well rounded skills that make him closer to, say, what Roy was as a 22 year old. As for 18 year olds? Nowadays, 18 year olds that do well against legitimate competition means they have a stronger likelihood of being special. This is in contrast to the prep to pro players, from back in the 90s/2000s, that were a major gamble because you couldn't test them out against legitimate competition. College weeds a lot of those guys out nowadays and exposes their weaknesses. Hence, Andrew Wiggins lost his next Kobe/T-Mac hype. Cooper Flagg being able to do what he does as a 17 year old - against Team USA and against college athletes - is phenomenal and practically makes him a special prospect on par with Zion and AD. Noa Esssengue is also similar (but probably more along the Rudy Gay/Tayshaun Prince tier). 17 turned 18 years old and he just put up an all-around 20ppg performance during the playoffs (and previously put up 20 points against the Blazers, this season, too).
Noa & Yaxel are my 2 favorites for the Blazers at the F position. I also really like Nique, Thiero, & Yang. I would love to have 3 picks this draft....
Looks like we'll have to take Cedric Coward at 11 if we want him at this point. The tools, the efficiency and the personal / mindset stuff with him are all very big draws. And if we're going off the board he'd be the guy I'd go for. The complimentary skills are there. The footwork and balance he plays with hint at maybe some real upside as a scorer. Fits the ethos of what this team is trying to build. The whole league seems to be bought in on him pretty heavily and you can add me to the list.
Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are projected to go #2 and #3 on most mock drafts. Both were on a Rutgers team that went 8-12 in the B1G conference and 15-17 overall. Both did not make the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd all-conference teams. They were recognized as ‘honorable mention’. Honest question - if they are such good NBA prospects, why didn’t Rutgers do better, and why weren’t they individually recognized?
True. Although 3 other freshmen made B1G all-conference teams (Derik Queen, Jase Richardson, and Kasparas Jakucionis). And although basketball is a team game, there are only 5 guys on the court. One great player can take over a game. Put 2 top-3 NBA picks on the floor at the same time and I would think you'd see at least a winning team.
You must not have watched them play this year. They can ball. The other 10 players on the team are Girl Scouts. Horrible teammates can only help you so much when the top players are triple teamed.
Hold on, you are using all conference accolades to judge a players talent. That ain’t getting you far my man. Go back and look at the college all America lists for the past 10 years and tell me where on this planet the majority of them are playing.
Nope. I'm only stating what I stated. "Honest question - if they are such good NBA prospects, why didn’t Rutgers do better, and why weren’t they individually recognized?" I didn't watch any Ruter games this year, so I was a bit surprised to see 2 top NBA prospects on the same team, and that team have a losing record. I recognize the B1G conference has a ton of 5 and 6 year seniors that will get many of these awards, and their college production won't translate to the NBA. With that being said, I would have though that a #2 and #3 draft pick would have gotten a bit more recognition than 'honorable mention'.
I'd like to see a second frp for whichever of Ant, Grant, or Ayton can get us one. I want a guy to push Shaedon and be able to start if he gets hurt or whatever. Perfect options are Nique Clifford and Coward. With the newly acquired frp, I want to see a depth piece but not necessarily a project. A legit backup PG (I think Walter Clayton would be perfect), wing depth (Lendeborg, Fleming, Carter, Essengue, Thiero, lot's of choices) or a big (Raynaud, Sorber). The guys I don't want to hear are Queen, Knueppel, Penda, Beringer, Wolf. At least not where any of them are projected. The worst possible move would be trading out, IMO. The two ways Portland has historically added real talent is screwing somebody in a trade or the draft. We aren't winning any titles for a few years minimum, so I hope they rely on the draft and like one of the names I listed.
I don't hate this but unless Ant is gone, I don't want a guy that can be more redundant with all of our guards. Personally I think Ant is our best hope at seeing another FRP. I think the highest FRP we get in a trade that sends Ant out is 16. With Ant gone... I'm not sure this dude does what you are asking... as in "push Shaedon" but he can be what Ant should have been which is a microwave off of the bench. So with pick 11 and Ant gone, I hope we take Jase Richardson if he's there... in some way's he can push both Scoot and Shae. With pick 16 I'd want us to get Rasheer Fleming. I'm hoping we just move Ayton to a team that has the cap space to give him a look this season and wants to have his Bird rights so they can sign him to something close to the full MLE without hard capping themselves... that's the value I think Ayton has... worse expiring contracts and/or a second rounder maybe. I don't think we'd have to pay a premium to move off of Jerami either but I doubt we get much back for him. Maybe a vet who is also being overpaid but would be really good in the locker room and on the road with our young guys without needing any real PT.
