A lot depend on workouts but we could pull a similar move like we did in 2006 to land Joel Freelnd: Package both second round picks for an early second or late 1st rounder. The player I'm starting to zero in on is Jae Crowder. Once teams realize that this guy can flat out play I don't think he'll be there at #40/#41. [video=youtube;CVlUSyHoojU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVlUSyHoojU[/video] Jae Crowder 6'5.5" SF 242 lbs. 8'6.75" standing reach 17.5 PPG | 8.4 RPG | 2.5 SPG | .498 FG% 28.8 PER | 8.1 WS NBA Comparison: Ron Artest
NO! I KNEW THIS THREAD WAS COMING! It's hard enough for us to guess who we are drafting at 6 & 11. How in the fuck can we know or guess or hope who we are going to draft in the 40s!!!!!! AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
[video=youtube;UOBYpDJu5A0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOBYpDJu5A0[/video] Festus Ezeli - Center Height: 6'11.5" Weight: 242 lbs. Wingspan: 7'5.75" Basic Statistics Per 40 Pace Adjusted 17.4 Points 10.2 Rebounds 3.4 Blocks 54% FG NBA Comparison: Samuel Dalembert
I think POR would be best served by packaging both to move up, hopefully into the late 1st but if not there then early 2nd where you could possibly get a guy like Crowder or Barton or O'Quinn
Festivus For The Rest Of Us! [video=youtube;LbfMmCf5-ds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfMmCf5-ds[/video]
I think you're more likely to get a late 1st round pick than an early 2nd round pick. Anymore, the early 2nd round picks have more value because there isn't any guaranteed contracts to go with them. If we wanted to package 40 & 41 for a pick in the mid 20's, I would think we would have no problem finding a buyer looking to stay out of the luxury tax or clear more cap room.
If we don't take Lillard or Marshall with one of our earlier picks I would definitely like us to target Scott Machado with one of these: Another potential player the Blazers have seemed to have interest in is Hollis Thompson: I think the Blazers definitely need to target yet another PG prospect with a later pick if they do not choose one early on, and then stick with one-dimensional specialists like Thompson and others with the remaining pick(s).
I don't know what Ezeli is going to do well in the NBA. He's likely not going to be a scoring option on NBA centers, he didn't rebound that well. Seems to have decent size for a C but I don't know if he'll be that much of a rim protector. O'Quinn appears to have a more polished offensive game. Scores in the post and mid-range, gets FTs quite a bit. He seems to have a definite edge in intangibles i.e. bball IQ, "feel for the game", leadership. He ought to be able to play both 4/5. He was MVP of Portsmouth this year. Like I said, I never watched Ezeli and these 2nd round types are especially hard to predict. O'Quinn is a basketball player and seems to have the more versatile game. Ezeli seems more like a big body who learned to produce decently over his college career but ultimately probably won't ever become good enough to do anything in the NBA. I don't see any elite skill that will translate to the league and he seems to lack those "intangibles" that I see in O'Quinn.