"With the 11th pick in the 2012 NBA draft the Portland Trail Blazers select Meyers Leonard from the University of Illinois." - David Stern What should we have done instead of making this mistake?
What would it have taken to move up 2 spots? Almost whatever it was, I would have done it. There were some mocks that indicated Portland could have taken Drummond at #6 and Lillard would have dropped to #11. Who knows....
Yes. Traded the 11th pick and a future 1st for the 9th pick. Or traded our 11th pick 40th pick, and 41st for HOU's 16th and 18th and taken Zeller and Fournier. Or traded 11th for HOU's 16th and 18th, then traded the 18th pick to Cleveland for the 33rd and 34th picks. We could've then taken Fournier, Crowder, and Green.
I think it was the right gamble to take at the time. What should have happened though, is trade him after his rookie season for a pick in the 2013 draft.
Lillard wouldn't have fallen. New Orleans would've taken him at 10 for sure, over Austin Rivers (who they tried to turn into a PG)
Don’t ask me, I was 100% in favor of drafting Meyers @11. If Meyers was not available, then Kendal Marshall, followed by a reach, Royce White.
I wanted Henson at the time. He hasn't lit the world on fire but I think he would have been the better pick.
Easy: Draymond Green. He's by far the best player available after that pick. Would have taken huge cajones to take him there, though. Alternatives: Jae Crowder, Khris Middleton. (Could've traded down for the Celtics' two first round picks (21 and 22) or even the Cavs' two seconds (33 and 34) and taken BOTH Draymond and Middleton.)
If I didn't have at least a three hour psychiatric evaluation of Myers Leonard, I would probably have taken him also. I mean the guy has athleticism and a good shooting touch and an ideal body for an NBA center. He should be a star.
Same same, except I liked Henson ahead of White. IIRC the fear of flying flag was already waving. Too, we were both wrong about Marshall (though I'd still love to have him as a back up). But I do remember BG and I kicking the Meyers question around. He and Tyler Zeller were considered the two best centers after Drummond so it became kind of a toss up. It was felt that Leonard had the better athleticism and upside, while Zeller was more of a finished product with not much more room to grow. We went with the higher upside. Oops.......
At least you scored higher picking Henson over White, my targets where a total wash. However, taking Meyers at #11 was only because we took Dame @ #6. I would have taken Drummond @6. My priority was getting a good center. Then signing a good PG FA. If I was the GM, my 2012 off-season would have looked like this. #6. Drummond #11. Best available PG, Dame, then Marshall, PG FA plan, go hard after Goran Dragic.
My clear top-3 in the draft were: Davis, Lillard, Drummond. If there was any chance of moving up to snag Drummond, that's my no-brainer answer. Drummond only fell out of favor, IMO, because he was so similar to Oden physically and motivationally, and that memory was too recent. If Oden was worth the risk at #1, then Drummond was most definitely worth the double jeopardy risk mid-lottery. To think people thought I was crazy at the time for saying he would be a starter on opening night.
We had some really tough choices that year. If I had been GM I probably would have snagged Drummond and then started lighting every candle in every church in PDX praying that Dame dropped to #11. But in the end we still got a stud......and a dud.
Yes, and I'm very happy with our stud. Now, Olshey needs to trade the dud for a useful trade piece. I will be happy with that.
Going into that draft, I wanted Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Andre Drummond and Khris Middleton in that order.
Correction, we had picks #6 & 11, not 5 & 11. 2012 was a tough draft to call. We had two very clears needs. We desperately needed a PG, and we desperately needed a C. I had Drummond going in the top 3. When he dropped to us at #6, I was jumping for joy, and disappointed we took Dame instead. I did not believe Dame would last to #11, but wanted us to either move up to get him, or, take Marshall @ 11. When NO took Dame @ 6, I do not believe there much doubt about him taking a center @ 11. I just looked up the Bleacher Report 2012 mock draft. They had us taking Dame @ 6, Meyers going #9 to Detroit, with us taking Henson @12. They also had Drummond going #4.
