Kuzma: 27 points 14 rebounds Bell: 20 points 10 rebounds Both taken after Caleb Swanigan, who played 2 minutes tonight in a blowout game where Nurkic was horrible. Both played in the Pac-12, right under the Blazers nose. Swanigan may end up being serviceable but it's already clear he'll never be half the player Kuzma and Bell will become. Kuzma especially, he's a star in the making. Nice pick Neil.
Hey. Your not going to get any regret we didn't grab Bell from me. I'm glad he's on the Warriors. I love that kid. Better repping the Ducks on a contender than stuck on a franchise going nowhere.
One on the defending champs, one on a struggling but scrappy team. So it's not just guys getting tons of stats in garbage games that don't matter. Some people really like what Olshey has done in the Draft but outside Dame (who some say was whom they were going to Draft before Olshey even got there) he drafted duplication in CJ which I never though was going to work and instead of the Greek Freek and then absolutely nothing since. Now Collins looks like he has potential but if you believe that, why then draft Swanigan (duplication) instead of someone like Bell who is someone you didn't have or Kuzma who is someone you didn't have?
http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/all-things-jordan-bell.314292/ Btw, Kuzma is the epitome of the modern positionless big.
I really wanted the Blazers to draft Bell and I wasn't the only one. I know at least 4-5 others wanted Bell. I would have drafted Bell just outside the lottery if had to but a lot of people on this forum that didn't want anything to do with Bell. I thought he was exactly what we needed and we passed him up. At least take a chance on him with where he ended up being drafted. It was the same thing as Green from GSW.
ah I love it when players take in the 2nd round or late in the 1st play well. then we have threads like this. If people knew they were going to be this good then they wouldn't have fallen as far as they did, 25+ teams passed on these guys not just us. But please continue to troll away, its fun to read.
Damn we fucked up on Kuzma he would have been the absolute exact type of SF we need. Omg he would have been perfect for us. Fuck
Already clear 30 games in his rookie season? Sorry but your cred goes out the window with statements like this.
Well, I don't think that's really fair. There were A LOT of people who wanted Bell. Pretty much going back March Madness.
I am not sure Bell would have a big impact here but Kuzma would have been a perfect choice. Still, nobody knew they would become this good or else they wouldn't have gone this low, there were plenty of teams before us who also took somebody that is not having an impact right now - Lydon, Ferguson, Allen or Wilson for example, and most players below Swanigan are not having any impact either, see White, Bradley, Iwundu etc. Kuzma will be the odd case of a very late first round pick who has turned into something truly very good.
Posters were screaming from the rooftops to draft Bell. People did know he was going to be this good. Apparently a couple of BS red flags popped up about his foot? He's not trolling, he's frustrated that his favorite team didn't draft a player most thought would be a contributor, and some thought would be really good. He's being a fan
If Collins can have a limitless ceiling after 103 minutes, why can't Swanigan be serviceable after 30 games?
Stotts wouldn't have played Bell and we would be bitching. Kuzma ... yup. That was the big miss. This team needs a big trade. or a coaching change. or both.
I hate fuckers with hindsight bias. If you didn't call it before the draft, don't talk. Most of y'all didn't even know Kuzma before Summer League.
Yeah Kuzma was supposed to be a late first in nearly all mocks, there were a couple of cases where someone predicted him to go to Chicago at 16 but that's about it. It's similar with Brogdon the year before, nobody really expected him to go much higher than he did and once he started playing well and it became clear he could contribute from the start (having spent 4 years at college basketball I think) everyone suddenly had a revelation. If you could redo draft now then you would probably see a lot of different picks. Mitchell wouldn't have gone 13th, Kings wouldn't have traded no. 10 as it would have been either Mitchell or someone pushed from top 9 to 10th by Mitchell and Kuzma, Kuzma would have gone top 10, John Collins would probably be at Milwaukee or Minnesota... Thing is, it was hard to know all these things before the draft because you cannot guess how players will adapt to NBA life. A lot of teams have players who have outgrown their draft positions. Utah have Mitchell and Gobert, Denver have Jokic, Milwaukee have Giannis and Brogdon... We are still waiting on ours but it could be worse, we could be Sacramento Kings.
Bell is different. I hate the fuckers that act like Kuzma was an obvious pick at 26. The dude did nothing in college and was a had the stock of a late 2nd rounder last March.
