"We’re hearing that DeJuan Blair is in pretty good shape at the moment, and he continues to have very strong workouts that are easing the concerns teams have about his knee. Blair’s draft range looks pretty steady between 12 and 16, although he will work out for teams above and below those picks. Don’t be surprised to see a team like Oklahoma City or Portland try to make a move for him on draft night, as both organizations are reportedly very high on him" With that in mind, look for us to move down. I think we found our trade partner "One team that might be interested in moving down in this draft is New Jersey, as they are reportedly very high on Israeli Omri Casspi, but may not want to invest such a high pick on him. " Courtesy of http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Word-on-the-Street-June-16th-3263
More smokescreens sent out by KP. The game is now on. We're already now interested in Stephen Curry and Blair. Who's next?
Why's that? The guy just turned 20, lead the entire NCAA in PER and WS/40. He was also second in the nation in REB/40 and pace adjusted REB/40. Yes, as expected, he is short for an NBA power forward, but makes up for it with a huge wing span and good standing reach. Rebounding is one skill that seems to translate well from college to the pros. Blair was an elite rebounder in college. He won't be a high lottery pick (DraftExpress currently has him pegged at 13th to the Pacers), but he'd be a very solid pick-up in the middle of the first round. He'd be a great back-up 4 for Portland and a decent starter for OKC. Obviously, OKC won't take him 3rd, but they could trade down, or possibly acquire a second 1st round pick to take him. Or the Blazers could trade up into the middle of the 1st round to grab him. BNM
Curry and Blair are #1 & #2 on my draft wish list for POR.... Blair comes across as a really good kid in the DX interview that I watched and he does have a very good rebounding knack and long wingspan to offset his less than desired height for a PF...and he produced at a high level in a tough conference...He would be the perfect backup PF IMO....
Blair is the only player not named Griffin in the draft that I would be interested in. I read the little Q&A session on Draft Express and his "go get it" attitude is soooooo desireable. Would be an OUTSTANDING fit for us at backup PF. Having LA/Blair/Pryz/Oden would destroy all teams in rebounding. If a deal including any combinations of Outlaw, Sergio, contracts + picks would get us Blair....GO GET IT KP!!
Blair would be a nice addition if his knee is sound. He would instantly solidify the backup power forward position and still leave the cap space available to get fancy in deal-making to acquire a point guard. So I can definitely see Pritchard moving up to acquire Blair.
If NJ really values Casspi, like the article says. The next question is, Outlaw + #24 & maybe a 2nd (assuming Casspi is available) for Blair enough ? If you ask me, Outlaw would actually fit nicely and fill a gap immediate gap at the 3 for NJ.
Why is that, is because it was a joke. That is why there was the little devil wink next to it. Sorry I came across as actually trying to be logical, I was in no way doing so.
I gotta admit, I have a personal fondness for bangers who play hard and get after it on the boards. I really wanted the Blazers to draft Millsap at 30 or 31 back in 2006. Imagine how much better the Blazers would have been this year with Millsap backing up LaMarcus at the 4 instead of Frye and Outlaw. When I posted my Back-up Power Forwards in the Draft thread Blar was my first choice: "Moving on Up: Dejuan Blair - we'd have to move up about 10 spots to land Blair, but I'd absolutely LOVE to have this guy. He's a rich man's Paul Millsap, the kind of player that puts POWER in power forward, a wide body that thrives on physical contact and a rebounding machine. Like Millsap, he's undersized (aka: short) for playing power forward in the NBA. I don't care. He'd be backing up LaMarcus Aldridge, not starting. With his size, strength and aggressiveness, he'd absolutely kill back-up power forwards around the league. He's far and away my first (realistic) choice as a back-up power forward in this year's draft. For just one minute, close your eyes and picture Greg Oden and Dejuan Blair side-by-side in the paint... pretty scary, no? Talk about intimidation." At that time, I wasn't sure if the Blazers would be able to move up to get him. Now, with all this talk of teams selling picks and trading down or out, of the 1st round, we may be able to move up high enough to land Blair withouit giving up much. If we can snag Blair and still have the trade assets/salary cap to land an upgrade at PG, I'll be extremely happy on draft day. BNM
