If the finals showed anything it's that size still wins in the NBA. That's why it's more then a little disappointing to see what Portland picked. I have zero faith they will be able turn a bunch of short rookies into tall quality vets. That type of trade just doesn't happen very often. Yesterday was a pretty depressing day for the team.
What big guy did you want from the draft? (That was not in the top 5) I saw nothing but role players.
Well said. I'd add that a lot of championship teams have shown the same thing. Ron Artest on the Lakers. Rodman on the Bulls. Sheed on the Pistons.
I understand but I just don't agree that yesterday was a depressing day for the team. Losing KP and Martel were both sad from an emotional perspective, but I think the overall talent was increased. The fact that we did not get a 'big" to come off the bench does not depress me. I think Pendergraff will be a very good role player. And one that will not complain about getting 8-12 minutes a game. He is very excited about the upcoming season. (My co-worker is a close friend)
I think we just added a lot of potential talent, I'm not sure we added much production in the short term.
Precisely, if we got Beasley for Gomes, we would have a real talent coup and could even look at moving LMA for a monster like CP3 etc. I also agree with all the "our frontline is thinner then you think" posts. Even if we keep all our non-Howard frontline guys and add Beasley I'm just happy to do that. Injuries can wipe a frontline out pretty fucking quick lest we forget our most recent NIGHTMARE SEASON. I'd rather have 5 competent bigs or even 6 then be down to two. As to our cluster of SG's and SF's we're obviously going to trade some of them and with the trade of Martell a big worry of mine, trading Batum, has become a very faint fear. We also didn't draft another Center signalling a loss of faith in Oden. I'm pretty happy with the draft the KP mystery thing aside. Sure a blockbuster would have been nice, but with KP on the chopping block we were all kidding ourselves that it would happen. Given the circumstances it was another good draft, I give it better marks then last year.
Every player Portland drafted is a risk that may turn into a decent role player. Why not a taller kid with the same traits? But really, I would have preferred Portland not even bother with the draft. Use those picks to get a role player big vet. Gomes doesn't count.
