If you could re-do the draft, where would Batum go? In France he was asked to be 'the' guy. He's not that type of player. He's now in a role where he's asked to be a complementary guy and he's starting to flourish. At only 19 he plays like a vet. Already a very good defender and looks like he'll be at least as good as Prince. Would he go top-10?
He has been surprisingly good, but several other players have been good as well, and some teams didn't need a SF. How is Joe Alexander doing? Maybe the Knicks as well.
Well there's a reason he was considered potentially a top-5 pick in mocks two years and one year before the draft. He has all the physical tools. Which is why I was stoked that we could grab him. I don't know where he could have gone if you re-did the draft. After watching Batum in the regular season and Bayless in the summer league, who deserves to go higher?
I think there's a chance he'll be considered one the best 3 or 4 players from this draft, but today he'd be drafted 9th or 10th, I think.
I know Oden continues to struggle offensively, but I actually think having him in the starting line-up helps Batum. The last two games, the Blazers have jumped out to quick 1st quarter leads thanks to Batum's early scoring. Tonight, he had 7 points in the first 6 minutes, and Wednesday against the Heat he had 10 points in the first 7.5 minutes of the game. While Greg struggles to score in traffic, teams know they can't leave him open under the basket to double Roy or Aldridge. They also know they can't leave Blake wide open at the 3-point line. So, that means the 19-year old rookie is the one who gets left unguarded on the baseline and he's doing a good job knocking down that corner three, or driving the baseline for the dunk. BNM
Very nice observation, BNM. What really strikes me about Batum - and why I think he is our SF of the future - is how well he moves laterally with the ball - which tells me he will be a fantastic offensive player in addition to his already good defense. One of the things that Webster lacks - is the ability to move his body laterally when dribbling and attacking the rim (and that's why he lost the starting SG position to Brandon). The same thing is happening with Batum - the kid can just move around his body with the dribble to get to the rim - we only see him do it now on the breaks - but that is a very encouraging sign to me.
I thought we'd just draft Batum with our pick and have no trades, but I guess KP has to trade on draft day or he'll go a little nuts. I always liked Batum, and always believed we were going to draft him (just because our needs were at SF and he was the best, AND he was foreign - I figured Pritchard would just stash him for a year though), BUT another player who would definitely shoot up the draft boards would be Luc Mbah a Moute (in fact, you could just reverse the order of the two Bucks picks and you wouldn't be far wrong). Portland were clearly interested in him too - didn't they have him out twice?
Seconded on the "very nice observation". However, I noticed in the last game that they look for Batum behind the three point line anyway. Since when was he a three point shooter? Who ISN'T a three point shooter on our team now, seriously (other than Greg and Joel)? Outlaw, Aldridge, Frye and Roy have all stepped up in that regard, and of course Rudy always had it. And Sergio's hit a few, and now Webster's coming back! Perhaps we can reverse your observation and suggest that part of Joel's improved scoring inside (apart from the fact that he's dunking EVERYTHING and not trying anything finesse) is all these three-point shooters spreading the floor and teams still think he can be left alone.
