Exclusive Welcome Zach Collins!

I don't think it's impossible for a white guy from the US to be a great player.... but they're basically unicorns. Every guy you listed is a role player. Not a single star player on that list. Who was the last white, American born, big man that made the All-Star team? The point is that the odds are not in our favor. They're EXTREMELY rare.

Edit - probably Kevin Love if you call him a big man.

 

http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/02/infographic-white-nba-all-star-past-25-years

Here you go: an actual list of white All-Stars. Most of them are not from America though, and a lot of them aren't big men.

So we've got:

Kevin Love
David Lee
Chris Kaman
Brad Miller

Those are all the ones from 2000 till today.

 

Well, That would be racist wouldn't it !!

 

Welcome aboard Zach!!! Can't wait to see you progress in the league and prove the doubters wrong

 

Zach is a power forward. I don't care if they want to play him at center. Eventually PF is his final position.

 

Fair enough.

 

That's an interesting question and it depends on what you mean by "panned out". If you mean "became a perennial all star and first ballot Hall of Famer" you're going to have to go back a ways, but of you just mean someone who "wasn't a total bust that proved worthy of their draft position" it open it up to guys like Mason Plumlee and Chris Kaman (who are just two I happen to think of because they recently played for the Blazers).

The whole WABC as a bust thing is blow way out of proportion as there have actually been very few in the last 15 years for the very simple reason there have been a very tiny relative number of WABC taken in the lottery over that time span.

On the other hand, there have been a lot of BABC and international centers, both black and white, that have been selected in the lottery that have been total busts.

By my count, these are the only WABC take in the lottery since 2002:

2003, Chris Kaman, 6th - 1 time all star
2003, Nick Collison (really more of a PF), 12th - solid role player
2004, Robert Swift, 12th - unequivocal bust
2007, Spencer Hawes, 10th - marginal role player
2010, Cole Aldrich, 11th - margnal role player
2012, Meyers Leonard, 11th - unequivocal bust
2013, Cody Zeller, 4th - marginal role player
2013, Kelly Olynyk, 13th - solid role player
2015, Frank Kaminski, 9th - solid role player

That's a pretty small sample size, and most of those guys have been solid or marginal role players. The only unequivocal busts in that group are Robert Swift and Meyers Leonard. Zeller was a reach at 4th, but looking back on that draft, there weren't any future all stars taken after him in the lottery. Kind of hard to call a guy a bust when it was just an overall weak draft class.

During that same time frame, all of the following BABC and international centers have all been unequivocal busts:

2002, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 5th - unequivocal bust
2003, Darko Milicic, 2nd - monumental bust
2003, Mike Sweetney, 9th - unequivocal bust
2004, Rafael Araujo, 8th - unequivocal bust
2005, Sean May, 13th - unequivocal bust
2006, Andrea Bargnani, 1st - monumental bust
2006, Shelden Williams, 5th - unequivocal bust
2006, Patrick O'Bryant, 9th - unequivocal bust
2006, Mohamed Sene, 10th - unequivocal bust
2006, Hilton Armstrong, 12th - unequivocal bust
2007, Greg Oden, 1st - monumental bust
2007, Yi Jianlian, 6th - unequivocal bust
2009, Hasheem Thabeet, 2nd - - monumental bust
2010, Epke Udoh, 6th - unequivocal bust
2011, Jan Vesely, 6th - unequivocal bust
2013, Anthony Bennet, 1st - monumental bust

One thing that stands out is of the WABC taken in the draft in the last 15 years, only two were taken in the top half of the lottery - Kaman and Zeller. Kaman is a 1-time all star that had a long, solid career. It's still a little early close the book on Zeller. He wasn't a great pick, but as I mentioned above, that wasn't a very good draft and there hasn't been a single all star in the next 10 picks after him.

Of the BABC and international centers that are unequivocal busts, a LOT of them (10 to be exact - including 5 top 2 picks) were taken in the top half of the lottery.

Also of note, as the game has evolved fewer and fewer centers of any color or nationality are being taken in the lottery. The role of the traditional center has been marginalized by rule changes and changes in style of play.

Also, of note, Zach Collins isn't technically a center. He's a PF. He may play a little back up center over the course of his career, but his primary position will be PF. And, unlike a traditional low post center, he will provide the unique combination of floor spacing and rim protection that are desirable from big men in today's game.

BNM

 

You MFs in here comparing Centers based on skin tone are just acting stupid.. Plain and simple. Get off it....

 

I didn't forget, just thought he was more of a power forward. If we want to open it up to those guys, then I could include Kevin love as well

 

Disappointing... Why did you buy into this? You shouldn't have wasted your time and intellect on such a stupid question that makes no difference...

 

He explained in depth why it was stupid, I don't think he bought into anything.

 

It's an interesting discussion. Why not take a deeper look?

 

We're doing it because that seems to be the biggest objection to trading up and taking Zach Collins with the 10th pick. People who admit they haven't really watched him play are opposed to the pick for the sole reason that he's white. How's that for stupid? At least watch the guy play before you pass judgement.

Busts come in all skin tones and from many nations. That is the point I am trying to make to the narrow minded who are opposed to the Collins pick based on his race and place of birth.

BNM

 

No he didn't. He said it was stupid because more BABCs have been busts. Not sure why we needed to compare them anyway. Skin tone isn't a perquisite to determine whether or not someone is a bust.

 

Why? Why is this an "interesting discussion"?

I think it's a fucking stupid one.

 

So then what did he buy into?

He was just using ignorant fans own logic to prove how stupid the whole thing is. I like it.

 

I agree, and if he develops properly, that a win-win situation for Blazers, whether he plays next to Nurkic or we trade on of them, but lets hope they can play together, but most important, lets hope this kid develops properly

 

It makes a difference to some and that's the perception I am trying to shoot down. Blanket statements like never draft a WABC in the lottery are just plain ignorant. Whether or not Zach Collins (or any other player, black, white, American or international) succeeds will be based on talent and effort, not skin color or country of birth.

I know you know that and I'm preaching to the choir when replying to you, but others here haven't yet figured that out.

BNM