http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2004/co...andy&id=1825427 Portland Gets: #22 pick NJ Gets: PG Eddie Gill & 3 million $ Blazers almsot assure themselves of Sebastian Telfair with that move. Too bad, he would have made a perfect heir to the Pg spot in Jersey when Kidd gets to old.
Strong move by the Blazers and smart trade by the Nets. The Blazers get a potential star in the league for peanuts, while the Nets get what they need most ... MONEY. If Mo Cheeks sticks around and Telfair listens, he could turn out to be a superstar in this league. Telfair needs to make a commitment to defense and be patient for his chance to take over this team. He's surrounded by a lot of young talent already, and he will have a chance to grow his game with Randolph, DMiles, Outlaw, and maybe Woods and the two other players selected by the Blazers.
Telfier will be playing for one of the greatest point guards of all time in cheeks great person to start your career with as your coach.He will be at a small disadvantage because of his size and the fact he will be playing out west. Hopefully he doesnt get involved with the wrong things like most the blazers seem to do. Mabye he will be taken before the blazers though never know.
Yea, there's always a possibility that he goes earlier, but, I don't see it happening. I've seen him projected all the way down to 27th on some boards, so, I don't see him going before 20 I think. But, yea, he's gonna be a good point guard in this league with Cheeks as his coach and as long as he stays away from the stuff that other Blazers seem to have problems keeping away from. Yea, those things known as drugs, he needs to leave em alone.
So the Blazers traded to assure themselves of getting someone who at best will be the next Damon Stoudamire? So basically they're trying to get someone who will be the same type of player that they have been trying to get rid of at the same time. Maybe Telfair just has a better attitude.
I don't know why everyone is on Telfair's jock, this kid doesn't look promising at all. If the Blazers are smart they should try and pickup Nelson. And from what I read, several teams had workouts scheduled with Telfair and Nelson at the same time and Jameer ran all over him, and I read this on ESPN.com. Nelson is ready to come in and contribute when Telfair will be a 2-4 season project. Also Nelson would benefit by being mentored by another Portland undersized G in Damon Stoudamire. By what I've seen and heard Telfair needs at least 2 yrs of the NCAA's to do anything. DRAFT City's Most Under-rated PG in the Draft : PG: Jameer Nelson Here?s the guy that has helped himself the most in the past few weeks with excellent workouts, which is pretty ridiculous considering that we are talking about the NCAA player of the year here. Rumors say Phoenix has him ranked #1 on their board, the Raptors are very high on him, Cleveland likes him a lot and Portland does not believe he will be there when they pick at #13, but they would take him if he was. What they are saying: Too small?not a threat from behind the arc?not a great athlete?went to a small school and played against mediocre competition. Nelson probably will not be a superstar in the NBA, but he's easily the type of guy that could someday be the MVP of a playoff series. He can be a very effective player, leader and fan favorite if he is put in the right situation. I think the comments about his supposed lack of athleticism have been proven inaccurate or negligible with his results from the testing at the combine (10.95 seconds in the lane agility test, better then both Ben Gordon and Devin Harris, last year he did a 10.66 which would have made him #1 amongst lottery prospects). So he has great quickness and amazing strength (15 reps of the 185 bar). To me those are the two most important athletic abilities a PG needs to hold his own on both ends of the floor. It?s true, his lack of height will be a bit of a disadvantage, but I'd expect him to work hard in every way to use what he has - strength, quickness, smarts, and toughness to be a good defender anyway. And he'll use what he has to beat his man on the other side of the court. Body control and strength are a lot more important when it comes to finishing in the lane than just height. He's as good as any PG in the NBA when it comes to those things. And that plus his quickness is going to earn him a lot of trips to the line, where he's also strong. This ?can?t shoot? thing is really a whole bunch of nonsense to me. He can shoot from anywhere out to the NBA 3, and he has a very nice mid-range game too. You?d only really want him to take smart shots - and if you leave him open, he can make it. That's not an issue at all, and he wants to take big shots as well. He shot 39% from behind the arc this year in the NCAA, better then Harris who is supposedly an amazing shooter. Nelson has better leadership qualities than arguably anyone else in this draft, and as high a basketball IQ as anyone as well. He's a gamer, and he?ll be loved by his teammates and the fans as well. Unlike many, I've always thought he can be a good NBA player. It's just that we have to decide whether we want his package, or the potential star quality in one of the other bigger or younger prospects. I don't think too many people realize just how smoothly Nelson's transition from scorer to pass-first PG will be in the NBA. Nelson was touted as a pure PG coming out of high school but St. Josephs needed him to score twenty a night early on for them to have any chance of winning games. In the NBA expect Nelson to put up very solid assist numbers. Within three years, in the right situation, Nelson could easily be a 13-15ppg, 6-7.5apg, 2spg type of player. He isn't the next Iverson or Isiah Thomas but he could be a nice mix of Damon Stoudamire and Tim Hardaway; and who didn't enjoy watching both of those unorthodox PGs compete during their primes? When I mention player comparisons, though, I'm not necessarily referring to statistical comparisons. Instead, I'm referring more to "playing styles." 1990s basketball was VERY high scoring so I don't think it's fair to compare stats between eras. Tim Hardaway, in his prime, would be a great basketball player in any era but I think you could easily argue that his overall effectiveness might differ from era to era. Great players are unique to their era because they bring something new to the table. Nelson isn't necessarily breaking new ground with his style of play because we've all seen it before but I can see that Timmy Hardaway style being effective again. Like fashion trends, playing trends come back in style and I think Nelson's game will translate pretty well to the NBA game next year. Moving to an NFL comparison, Jerome Bettis was an unorthodox running back but his odd combination of strength, speed and smarts were so different than everybody else in the league for awhile, he became extremely unique and special. Eventually, the Steelers focused their strengths on his strengths and became instant contenders. There's nobody in the league right now like Nelson and that just might end up being the key to his success in the NBA. He's going to be unique and NBA defenders are going to have their hands full with him. This guy is like a bowling ball in the lane. Nelson, unlike most prospects, has been aware of his weaknesses for years and has worked extremely hard, trying to figure out new ways to turn those disadvantages into advantages. What else can you say about this guy? At worst, in a few years he's one of the best backup PGs in the league and a possible sixth man of the year candidate. You just can't say that about some of the other guys in this draft. At best? He could make the all-star team in the right situation. Nelson could be draft 6th, 7th, or 8th, and most likely won?t fall past 10th to Cleveland. The Warriors are also interested, as are the Trailblazers but that?s probably too late for him.
