With the #7 pick, the Portland Trail Blazers select....

I was watching the Memphis - SMU game yesterday to see Duren without editing. The guards on his team were horrible passers, especially into the post to him. There was one play where Duren was sealing off and pushing his man out of the restricted area and all anyone had to do was throw a lob towards the backboard even. The guard with the ball just hesitated then passed it to another guard. It was disgusting.
Edit: then there was a lob pass on fast break. The Memphis guard threw it so high it was in the top right corner of the white rectangle on the backboard. Duren was still able to snatch it out of the air and dunk it with one hand.
Duren himself was one of the best, if not the best, passers on his team, and probably the best passer into the post. He did not hesitate to throw a nice rainbow lob right where only his teammate could catch it, time after time. If only he could pass have been passing to himself. Where Duren gets into trouble is not seeing where the defense is. He sees an open teammate and makes what would be a great pass, but doesn't see that a defender is between them, and it becomes an ugly turnover. At any rate, I'll take the guy who wants to pass the ball over the tunnel-vision guy any day.

 

I agree. If they can’t get someone like Paolo Banchero or Keegan Murray I think they will trade out of the draft for immediate help. They’re not going to be building around Damien and drafting a player that’s going to take a few years to develop.

 

I'm going to disagree with John Collins being good enough to give up the 7th pick.
What the Blazers (and any team) really need to be very good is a very good/great 2-way, offense/defense all-star-level player. The Blazers do not have that type of player on their roster now, and John Collins isn't that player either.

Adding another player that's great only on offense does not make the Blazers a contender.
It may be unlikely that the Blazers get a very good 2-way, offense/defense all-star-level player in the draft, but it's the only option if we can't trade for one. Settling on a John Collins is a big mistake IMO. It means years more of being good but never a contender. A goal that Neil Olshey would strive for. He never saw how critically important a star 2-way player was, and how it was a no-brainer to trade CJ for one.

 

he's a good player but not a ceiling raiser. unless Collins comes with 16 and we can turn that into a 3&d wing (not Grant), then i'd rather take my chances on finding a star at 7. He'd be cost controlled for 4 yrs allowing us to be a bit more flexible in the future.

and... if you recall what cronin said when asked about the timeline for the rebuild, he mentioned it would be iterative and could take a few years. i think all the noise about trading out of the draft is just that... noise.

 

obviously, I don't agree with that

I get that for some, really long odds seem like the best odds, but betting a big chunk of what you own on rolling a hard eight is a bad bet. And right now, that 7th pick is one of the best things Portland owns. You may not like the sure bet (established) that Collins is, or the upside of a 24 year old player, but tossing that 7th-pick-chip on the poor odds section of craps table seems like a much worse bet to me

the last 'half of the lottery in the last 3 drafts:

7 Coby White
8 Jaxson Hayes
9 Rui Hachimura
10 Cam Reddish
11 Cameron Johnson
12 P.J. Washington
13 Tyler Herro
14 Romeo Langford

7 Killian Hayes
8 Obi Toppin
9 Deni Avdija
10 Jalen Smith
11 Devin Vassell
12 Tyrese Haliburton
13 Kira Lewis Jr.
14 Aaron Nesmith

7 Jonathan Kuminga
8 Franz Wagner
9 Davion Mitchell
10 Ziaire Williams
11 James Bouknight
12 Joshua Primo
13 Chris Duarte
14 Moses Moody

how many of those players are even as good as Collins. let alone better?

 

The problem is if he is an all star caliber player it probably won’t be in Dames prime.

 

Which is why building around Dame is foolish

 

Id rather build around a 32yr old 6 time all nba guy who is finally healthy for the first time in yrs than an unknown 18 yr old with high bust potential.

 

Realistically put a team around Dame that can compete.

I’m not sure you can build one without Dame, but at least there is a chance that one of, if not a couple of pieces you get back for him starts another run

 

I think I'd still have to go with Daniels but Sochan, Beauchamp, and Jabari all make good cases. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a Herb Jones type of prospect in the 2nd round this year. Lots of solid defenders but not many standouts.

 

Considering they haven't had as much time I don't think this is a fair analysis. Id look at the players drafted in 2014-2016.

But the point isn't that he isn't a good player, just that he doesn't address our biggest weakness and we don't have the assets to use our biggest one on someone who doesn't address our biggest weakness (maybe even adds to it). It's the same reason I wouldn't trade 7 for Grant, but would be willing to trade 7 for Anunoby.

With 7, we might not get a good of a player but we could definitely get a better on-ball/perimeter defender with offensive upside and that's the bet I'd rather take for now and for the future.

 

And I'd rather bet on a a smaller chance of getting a star that fits them settling for a really good role player who doesnt.

 

I think Cronin makes several attempts to trade up to top 4 and if that doesn't pan out he'll use 7 for a package to acquire a vet and Collins could be a target, along with a couple more. If this team is going to sell Joe will be looking to broker a blockbuster of some sort. He knows he cant just be a status quo gm for now he has to serve up some sizzle.

 

Portland's biggest weaknesses are at forward and at wing. And that is on both ends of the floor. Collins is both a forward and wing and he would give Portland something they haven't had since Aldridge and that's some substantial scoring punch in the front court as well as a scoring threat at wing. I also think his defensive ability is underrated, and nobody knows how any of these 'available-at-7' players will be on defense; they could all suck and if they don't they might be Justice Winslow on offense. And, since Collins is still 24 he has plenty of upside potential left

you mean like CJ, Powell and RoCo?

 

It's amazing how people still haven't lost their taste for treadmilling around Dame.

 

Good to see you've taken a stand. Is it a hill you'd die on? Who cares. I like Duren, too. I liked what I saw (mostly) in really starting to study up on these guys, and he could become a star. He's currently more one end of the court than others I like (e.g., Daniels, Murray) and more like the D guys who could play both ends at a high level (e.g., Sochan). These are the 4 I've seen enough on (given what's out there) to want them on the Blazers. At least 2 (Duren, Sochan) are highly likely at 7. Improvement on D isn't something I'd mind on the Blazers.

 

Sochan will be wanted by many teams. He's a very tenacious defender.

 

He definitely is that

 

Then trade Dame for the best young, two-way player that we can get, keep our pick and maybe get another one in the trade.