With the 7th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, The Portland Trailblazers select. . .

Then give me examples of players that are as big as Edey and as dominant in the post as he was in college that you don't think would do well in today's NBA? Who do you think we should be comparing him to? Guys like Mark Eaton, who couldn't even score in college?

 

I agree with that statement give what this draft looks like today but should that be our front office's goal??? Shouldn't they be trying to do what the Bucks did in a similar draft back in 2013.

We're not a couple of bench players away from being relevant. So if that's the result sure I'm good with it but if we're not striving to become more relevant down the road, I'm definitely not OK with that.

 

Define "do well."

Are you talking about simply scoring points? Yes, I'm sure you could drop any number of HOF centers into the NBA today and they'd score points, but that style of offense just doesn't exist much anymore. Dumping the ball into the post and everyone standing around while the center backs their man down. That's what Edey does. His team dumps the ball into him and he backs his man down. Marang said that Edey was in the 100th percentile in the number of post ups this year in the NCAA. That's all he does. That's all he CAN do. He doesn't pick and pop. He doesn't pick and roll. He picks and posts. Ayton is a MUCH more versatile scoring big man. The league wants bigs who can shoot the three, spread the floor, but can also attack the rim.

The entire league is swinging towards super mobile centers who can defend the perimeter. Guys who can't do that tend to get played off the court during the playoffs. Offense is irrelevant at the 5 if they can't shoot. Just look at KAT. He went from 1 3PA per game during his rookie season up to almost 8 attempts per game in 19-20. The entire league is hedging towards three point shooting because that's what the math tells them is the most efficient way to win games. So going to get guys who can't shoot and can't defend the perimeter would be problematic. It might work during the regular season, but we have seen Gobert go from DPOY to unplayable in multiple playoffs because he can't score on the perimeter and he gets hunted on defense. So could you drop some HOF centers into this league and watch them feast in the middle? Sure. I'm sure they'd have great regular seasons. But in a playoff series against a team that plays 5 out like OKC, who shoots 30+ three pointers per game, that center is going to become a liability if they can't defend.

 

I was listening to someone yesterday, can't remember which show, but they made a comment comparing this draft to the last two, and he made a good point when he talked about the strength of this draft. He said from 1-4, comparably speaking, it is not as good. But that from 5-10, it is. I agree with that. So I absolutely expect a future starter at 7

 

Maybe teams don't utilize post scoring because not many players are that good at it? Edey had a 66% TS%, while facing constant double teams as the focal point of the offense. That's domination. There was a day when not many points were scored on 3s because players didn't practice it and weren't that good at it.

Also, don't assume Edey can't shoot just because he didn't in college. He went for the high percentage shots. But he has a good FT% and did very well in shooting drills.

 

That's kind of my point. With 7 and 14 we need to hit on one player. Will he be a star? Probably not. What this team needs is to get at least one good solid player. 6-9 on the rotation. That very well could be a backup center like Edey. If they get him with the 14th pick I would absolutely be on board with trying that.

 

And he has been playing 5 years. How much do big men improve in their first 3-4 years in the league? You simply cannot teach size but he has shown he can be taught and he is coachable.

 

...except if you're talking about defense, in which case the correct symbol is < in both cases. And possibly <<

 

Shit I just wish all of this Edey conversation was in the Edey thread or the pick 14 thread. Having all of this shit in the pick 7 thread makes me really anxious.

 

IDK?
A bunch of people thought Dallas would play better vs the Celtics than the T-Wolves until the Celtics killed them on the boards and in the paint.
I think the key is a good mix of both.

 

And exactly how many more 3's does Ayton make at this point? Not to mention offensive rebounding. So on the offensive side is that really a huge >?

 

I actually didn't differentiate between a draft thread and another draft thread.... Sorry.

 

That was more of a joke about me just keeping my fingers crossed that we don't use pick 7 on Edey. I don't really care where people are discussing what.

 

Boston has a 7'3 unicorn who can shoot threes and defend the perimeter.

 

Boston did not play the unicorn that much in the finals. What Boston had was 2 elite perimeter defender and switchable defenders in all positions. The T-Wolves did not have that. That's what won Boston the finals. They just managed to shut down everyone other than Luka, which the T-Wolves did not.

(Don't get me wrong, KP was great for them, but he was not THE reason they won that series).

 

find out who the spurs are targeting with the 8th pick and draft that guy

 

Salaun.