Shaedon Sharpe is our future

Is he going to be ours next season? I wouldn't be amazed if he's played his last game for us.

 

I'm intrigued by Egor's skillset/Bball IQ but scared off by a lack of athleticism. For an athletic reference, Rasheer Fleming measured the same height as him (6'8.25"), but with much more length. Despite weighing 33 pounds more, the projected 4/5 Fleming bested Egor in every run/jump measurement taken. I think at least initially Demin will be a target on D no matter where you play him so he'd likely rarely leave Chaucey's bench his rookie year let alone provide much scoring. Unless he's thought to be a late bloomer still developing physically, I wouldn't take him.

In general, Cronin has favored adding physical specimens. Especially in the frontcourt he's prioritized D. If you put together a team of players with size/length, above average defensive ability and don't have to hide guys who teams can target, you become better then the sum of your parts... like what we're seeing with OKC's historic D. I'm reminded of the Mike Schmitz gathering that poster Stevenson recently relayed about how management views the team they're putting together...

If they're trying to put together a team that fits together and are factoring in traits they seem to prioritize rather then just swinging for the fences on individual upside, they could use another good defender at most any size and they could really use more plus perimeter shooting. I think it's likely they go for someone who fits those traits like Bryant, Fleming and Coward. I like that they had Fleming in recently to workout and scrimmage with a couple other frontcourt projected 1st rounders Newell & Riley. Size wise he'd fill in perfectly between Deni and Clingan. His pick and pop potential could be a base offensive set. The eldest of the 3 is Coward who is between Scoot and Shaedon in age. He seems the best shooter with both catch and shoot and some off the dribble skills. He definitely showed out at the combine and fits between Sharpe and Toumani in size. Carter is the youngest of the 3 I mentioned at 19.5, is about Toumani's size and may have the highest overall upside. The Schmitz thoughts about management prioritizing being community oriented may just be smoke being blown up the public's backside, but I know both Bryant and Coward have great personal backstories.

STOMP

 

Coward is a low upside senior that's not exceptional at anything. Sure he's fine at many things but do we really need another Kris Murray except stayed past his junior year?

Although my post wasn't really meant to dissect individual prospects, just that we don't need to target a rookie with such and such specific skill set.

If Demin or Queen or Coward or whoever is the best prospect at our draft slot we should take him and worry about playoff rotations when we have a proven playoff team.

 

Isn't that what a bunch of posters here said with Donovan Mitchell?

If we get one of the best players in the draft I don't care what position he is, take him!

We can play them with our guys, have someone off the bench, or eventually send anyone else on this roster packing as well. We have zero all-stars or zero people close to it. Maybe Deni or Camara (big big maybes) but as wings they each have about 3 positions.

 

...besides his length, overall athleticism and jumper. Dude tested more athletic then VJ Edgecombe & would be among the best shooters on the Blazers. He's also said to be a plus defender capable of switching onto a wide variety of players. Yup, not much to like at all!

Kris Murray??? Cedric had a vastly better combine then Kris, posted much better shooting stats in college & will be over a year younger then Murray was when he's drafted. And fyi, next year would be his Senior year. If want to be persuasive degrading a prospect, it would help if you got basic facts correct.

STOMP

 

Coward played at the powerhouse basketball program of Willamette University in Salem back in 2021, then Eastern Washington next two years, then WSU last season. At a bigger program in WSU he was durable enough for 6 games last season before having season ending shoulder injury back in November. So fact is he's a senior.

 

again, for every Donovan Mitchell there's an Eliott Williams, Brandon Knight, Shane Larkin, Trey Burke, Ben McLemore, Elfrin Payton, Kris Dunn, Dennis Smith, Lonnie Walker, Anfernee Simons, Jordan Poole, Kira Lewis Jr., Cole Anthony, Davion Mitchell, Tre Mann. I'm not talking about PG's like Dame or Kyrie Irving. I'm talking about tiny SG's who have no capacity, at all, to play wing

 

Theres dozens of elite short guards in the NBA. You make it sound like there's only a couple in the league.

For every Kawhi elite wing there's many dozens of useless wings drafted too. Blazers have drafted plenty of those useless wings themselves.

My post was that I want the best player available regardless of position for the Blazers. If it's a short guard that's fine. If it's a big wing that's great too.

For all we know Blazers will trade Ant and Scoot will be best long term as a backup and our biggest need on this roster will be another short guard. Or maybe not

Even if we don't - we have plenty of years to adjust for a playoff run. Right now it's more important to add rotation level players, or better yet a starter, or even better an all-star.

I'd say the most complete players we actually have are both wings in Camara and Deni. So one argument could be that wing is the least important position for us to draft.

Wings are so versatile I don't subscribe to that.

I just think a bunch of posters here are scarred from Dame/CJ/Ant/Norm as undersized options and want to avoid any similar situations. But I don't want the Blazers run by fear of ghosts of old players. I want us to add the best talent that can help us win going forward.

 

LOL.
Coward was a senior last season. If he returned to college he was going to be a 5th year senior...

Also I personally don't care about the combine athletic testing. It's about functional in-game athleticism. Coward is a decent athlete, but he is not elite in any way. VJ is significantly more athletic in game (and it's not particularly close).

Coward is an exceptional shooter. He projects to be Martell Webster v2. I anticipate him being a good role player with very limited upside

 

I really hope theres a trade for a young proven player so we can play some meaningful games after the all star break next season.

 

I get that....but again, I'm talking about Portland's 11th pick and Jase Richardson. A 6'0.50'' SG's chances of success in the NBA are pretty small...so to speak. It's a tough needle to thread

 

Sharpe/pick(s) for Dyson Daniels

Fight me

 

No, thank you.

 

I could fight.

 

Are there any elite short guards that have led their team to the finals? I really can’t think of any

 

Isaiah Thomas, AI and Steph were all the best players on their teams that went to the Finals. Arguably Stockton was the best on those Jazz teams. Those are the only guys I can think of. Steph's a pretty significant one... 6 Finals with 4 Championships. That being said a small guard being the best player on a conference champion is obviously really rare.

 

I was more talking about combo guards. But 1 player in the modern NBA is still proof how rare it is

 

The time for Dyson Daniels was 2022.

 

Such as?