Event With the 16th pick, Blazers have selected Hansen Yang

Either he succeeds or he doesn't. At least this time he won't be a guy people point to as "The Guy We Could Have Had" when our 11th pick underperformed.

 

So we drafted a guy about 13 to 20 picks ahead of where the consensus had him. I really like Yang and I'm not mad about the pick. That being said the odds are that one out of the field of the guys mocked in front of Yang having a better career than him has to be the case.

Joe called it an overdraft. Sure, Yang could be better than everybody who went behind him but I don't think it's more likely than one of the guys drafted after him being better than him.

 

Yang's live reaction as he was being picked

 

I was hoping Blazers would get a pick in the 20s and draft Yang.

My prime targets were (outside the top guys) Essengue, Yang, Richardson, & Thiero.

I liked Bryant, Clifford, & Coward - but I was more hesitant about those 3.

 

Think you misinterpreted my post.

The odds are simple math... 4+ players are more likely to be good than one single player.

If all these guys had equal chance to be a star it would be 20% chance Yang is one and 80% chance Blazers picked wrong and missed the star. But there's way more than 4 players the Blazers passed on so it's even greater than that.

Yang was a shocking pick, so there's a very good chance it will be able to be criticized with how other players careers develop.

 

We're here to piss the bed. To melt down over every decision. To make a spectacle of ourselves over something we'll never control. After all, there are no other options of how to conduct ourselves when following a sports team. It's not about the stupid team, it's about my precious emotions and I need some attention!

STOMP

 

Really cool video! Exciting time in this kids life.

 

There is no debate. It’s a fact. Next…

 

Because one of them showed us his game over several years and its time to move on. The other hasn’t stepped on the court but is being called a mistake.

if you cant see the difference there…..

 

But someone said no one, so its a fact because some people know everything….

 

People just need to understand that the vast, vast majority of these picks after the top 7ish are just a crap shoot. Most of them are going to be out of the league after their rookie contract. Or maybe they'll get an additional small contract for being young and still having some potential. But most will never get a contract based on actual production.

It literally doesn't matter who you pick this late. You're almost certainly going to fail. It's simply not worth getting upset or excited about unless you're just bored.

They made the pick for the guy they felt best about and added another chance to swing again. That's the most important thing.

Most likely won't get anything good from either pick. But taking a lot of swings is more important than any individual pick outside the top of the draft.

 

Says the man who dislikes the pick because the pundits who make mock drafts don't like it.

 

I don’t think anyone knew who the kid was or few people did. I watched several videos and was pleasantly surprised. I’ve said it before I think he moves better than expected, to be honest looks smoother than Clingan to me, while Clingan is more polished I honestly could see Yang being the better player. 7 footers are hard to judge because they are so long an awkward when they move but seeing some of the offensive skills Yang showed on videos was impressive. Obviously against lesser competition but the moves are still moves that you don’t see a lot of 7 footers make. He also dunks everything he can which is always a plus.

 

Just think… If this kid becomes a star he could be our all time scorer, all time rebounder, AND all time sleep.

 

come for the disagreements...stay for the insults...revel in the meltdowns

 

If we got bored enough we’d just lock the dog in the bathroom and see how long it takes for him to start barking.

 

I also see being negative/critical/upset vs negative/critical/upset.

 

I'm not being pro or con the pick right now. I said elsewhere that not having knowledge about what teams 17-24 were going to probably do impacts this decision.

To me, though, what only a few people are mentioning, is this wasn't a pick based on thinking Yang was going to be better than anyone picked after him. This was a pick made on the premise that Yang has the most upside of anyone on the board (and probably most of the players picked ahead of him). This pick had nothing to do with being good. It had everything to do with being great.

They don't think there are obvious holes in this lineup that they have to fill and have no better ways to fill it. They think they need to find a superstar, and they don't care if they take a big swing and a miss on the chance they make contact and knock it out of the park. But, as some said heading into the draft, even if we'd have picked as high as sixth, there wasn't a player that was a good bet to come in and be better than what we already had. They drafted the guy that had the best chance to be a star, not the guy who would be part of the rotation.