Why is everyone so cranky pants about tonight's draft? Up until just yesterday we were in desperate need of our point guard of the future, this was the worst draft of all time, Miller was our most valuable chip and Rudy was considered filler to make any deal work. After tonight, however, people are pissed we actually traded our best chip along with filler to land our point guard of the future without drafting anyone at #21 in this crappy draft class? Someone please explain to me how this front office failed tonight? Because they didn't trade Miller for Chris Paul straight up? Because they didn't trade Rudy to Minnesota (you know, to be that great mentor for Rubio) for the #2 pick? You guys over value these players more than Paul Allen does.
Who did we get tonight that is our "point guard of the future"? Felton is 27 and he's been an average NBA player in his six year career. Should we be excited that our point guard of the future is mediocre? Smith is 23 and he only played PG one season in college (as far as I know)... and he wasn't even the best PG on his team at Duke. Should we be excited that our point guard of the future is an old rookie with a limited track record of success as the position? Ambiguity gave hope, at least. Certainty has value, but with this certainty staring us in the face I think I preferred the ambiguity of who the next point guard of the future is going to be. Ed O.
I think once they realized that's all they could get for Miller, it would have been better to wait for a trade deadline trade with both Miller and Camby expiring. I can't believe that they couldn't have found a trade right now to make use of Camby's big contract and absorb some salary from some team (Atlanta, Washington, Cleveland, Golden State). Either PA is not serious about winning now and spending the money to do it or the owners around the league are not truthful about being in financial trouble.
I tend to agree. Admittedly, I havent watched Felton except for a handful of games he's played against Portland. I've seen him push the break, create his own shot, and bury threes -- all things we need now that old Roy is gone. The only things I've heard about him is that he underwhelmed in Charlotte, was a candidate for the All Star game in NY, and is a gym rat. Brown is probably more similar to Nate than D'Antoni is, so this is a little worrying, but Nate seemed behind the deal in the press conference. What I do know is what we had in Rudy and Miller. I really liked Miler and worry what his departure will have on the team, but he's on borrowed time and is already showing some signs of aging (didnt put up as consistent an impact this past year). And Rudy may explode in Dallas.....but he was never going to in Portland. You can't negotiate with a team based on what he MAY do in Dallas. You can only leverage on what he did the past year with us. We just have to concede we weren't going to get equal PERCEIVED value. I guess we could have kept him, but I'd rather let Eliot Williams take those minutes. I've never watched Nolan Smith play. Never heard of him before today. Seems everyone agrees he's a good defender -- which we need our perimeter D is one of our major weaknesses. He's a 4 year player in an elite program -- so less growing pains and can play right away. I was kind of hoping for Faried like everyone else since rebounding and toughness are another major weakness, but I cant understand the vitriol being spewed in the forum right now. While I agree it's nothing to be elated about, it seems wait and see should be the general feeling. There are things to like with both acquistions today.
If you understand that we did NOT get Hamilton and we gave up the chance to select Faried as part of the deal, maybe you would understand the vitriol.
Maybe we actually thought Faried sucked, and we just said we wanted him to put up a smokescreen. barfo
Even though I have already given an F- on this day, I will try to think of something positive here. Maybe they felt that Felton's improvement this year was not due to the Antonetti effect but due to a maturation process ala Chauncy Billups. Since Felton only has a one year deal they can test out that theory until the trade deadline. At that point they will have Camby and Felton expiring, the new CBA will be in effect and teams will know where they stand financially and maybe Portland can make a good deal while taking on some large contract.
Ok, maybe we were a little infatuated, but we weren't proposing marriage or anything. It was just a physical thing. He didn't mean anything to us. barfo
I guess. I don't put a whole lot of stock in 26th picks though, and the agreement to not draft Faried is speculation. Plus there are good arguments for taking Smith over Faried, from what I've read. Its a gamble, but if Felton can give us comparable value to Miller, we got 7 years younger at the point guard at the cost of the 26th pick in an arguably poor draft. I dunno....seems over-reactive to me.
We drafted a combo gaurd with the 21 when we have one on the pine waiting (elliot Williams ) who has a ton of potential. So Instead of drafting a perfect fit for our backup 4 we draft another combo gaurd. Then we pay out the ass for a mediocre pg. I would have much rather called up cha and asked for one of the twins they have at pg ( Augustine and kemba are basically the same player ).
I hope you're right that they really preferred Smith, because if you're not Chad Buchanan was lying to the fans today. I guess some of us were expecting a lot more but we'll get over it, especially if Felton decides to get in shape and do a good job.
