Quick: Olshey admits mistake by not acquiring any NBA players for bench

Is the new conventional wisdom really going to be "Lillard wasn't really Olshey's pick?" Here's a thought, maybe as GM of the Clippers, Olshey had been scouting college players all year and really liked the kid? Nah, that makes too much sense. This was Buchanan's pick, 'cause he's always shown great acumen when it comes to college talent.

 

I think you're half right. He probably didn't expect his starters to be this good (especially Lillard and Batum) but you're kidding yourself if he didn't know this bench was scoured from the dregs of the league. After he failed to get the guy he wanted in free agency (Hibbert) he built the rest of this team to go after a high lotto pick.

 

The Pacers just have more talent than the Blazers; there's only so much Aldridge can do when there's no man in the middle and the backups are as awful as they are. As for the Pacers, they are one of the league's premier defensive teams -- Hibbert is a huge part of that defense. Put him on the Blazers and suddenly they look a helluva lot more formidable, even with Hibbert's offensive struggles this season.

 

Whenever there's a thread starting with "Quick:" I think it's an instruction.

"Quick! -- Get to the chopper!"

 

Correction: best defensive big man who rebounds like a SF.

As I said in another thread - I would rather have Joel P in his prime than Hibbert - and it wouldn't cost $12+ a year.

 

Strawman. What does one have to do with the other????

BNM

 

Olshey drafted Lillard. It is that simple. What are you talking about?

 

Regardless of the countless excuses u still always have a few quality bench players. That's a horrific job on the GM. I would fire him for that. Lillard was the obvious pick that even chad b could have made. Meyers looks average at best. As for hibbert everyone knew they would match.

So what has Neil done again except throwing our playoff chances and starters under a bus?

 

Hibbert might be a good center for our team but the Blazers would still be without a solid bench. Hopefully the Blazers can trade JJ for that promising SG they want. (Jeremy Lamb)

 

Do we really need to go digging up old draft threads. It certainly wasn't obvious around here.

 

Exactly. Olshey had been scouting all year for the Clippers, he was named the GM, hence the picks fall on him.

My question is this: if Lillard looked like a bust, would people be saying that Olshey didn't have authority to make the pick?

 

What position did we need? Felton gone. Crawford gone. Nolan smith here.

That screams WE NEED A PG.

Lillard best PG in draft.

That's not hard math my friend.

 

Correction to your correction. Hibbert has a TRB% of 16.2. That puts him 23rd in the league, which is basically middle of the pack for starting centers and power forwards. Not exceptional, but not as bad as you imply. The only SF with a TRB% over 14.0 is Shawn Marion at 15.2. LeBron James, who is an exceptional rebounder for a SF (although he's playing more PF this season) has a TRB% of 12.6. And for a little more perspective, Nicolas Batum, who is more typical of small forwards has a TRB% of 8.8.

Hibbert has a higher TRB% (16.2) than all of the following:

Marcin Gortat - 16.0
David Lee - 16.0
Joakim Noah - 15.9
Nikola Pekovic - 15.5
Blake Griffin - 15.3
Al Horford - 15.3
Serge Ibaka - 15.2
Brook Lopez - 14.9
Paul Millsap - 14.7
Chris Kaman - 14.4
Carl Landry - 14.4
Kevin Garnett - 14.2
Kendrick Perkins - 14.2

Still think Hibbert rebounds like a SF?

BNM

 

Well let's say Olshey had graded Lillard as a middle of the first round pick, wouldn't it make sense to trade back and get more assets and maybe pick up a point guard you think offers better value vs. blowing your sixth pick on a guy you don't think is that good?

Maybe this was just a case of need and value perfectly aligning, but at some point Olshey had to feel comfortable taking the kid and it's his pick. Just because he looks "obvious" with 20-20 hindsight, doesn't meant it looked that way at the time of the pick.

 

I keep seeing people say how bad Freeland is (and that was true early but not now) when he has arguably been better than Babbitt this year. I know they don't play the same position much (if at all) and that might show just how bad Babbitt is vs how good Freeland is but lets keep some perspective here. The whole bench stinks. Freeland is middle-of-the-road bad compared to our bench not near worst of the bunch.

 

I think Freeland has a chance to stick with some more seasoning, and the same goes for Leonard, but the rest of that bunch should probably invest their salary wisely.

 

Agreed, the only other one I might put in that category is Claver but that is if he can learn to finish his drives on a consistent basis. He is willing so that is a start.

Edit: and I guess who knows about Barton...