Event 2018 NBA Draft

Lets see:

My top 3 rated players (Doncic, Bamba, and Mikal Bridges) go 3, 6, and 10 which is not as high as each should've been taken.

Mikal Bridges (my perfect fit for the Blazers) is traded for the 16th pick teasing me into thinking that he could've possibly been available to the highest bidder. Ironically enough he was traded for another draft crush of mine, Zhaire Smith.

Michael Porter JR falls to the 14th pick which was thought of as possibly available for taking on salary.

I was so happy watching guys like Troy Brown, DiVencenzo, Huerter, Okogie, Grayson Allen, and Aaron Holiday go in the picks before us.

I was a little disappointed when the Bulls took Hutchison but we probably wouldn't have taken him anyway.

Even though I was sure we were going to take Simons after bringing him back for a 2nd workout, I was extremely hopeful that with two of my other draft crushes left in Khyri Thomas and Elie Okobo, plus Dzanan Musa, that we'd pick one of them. I didn't mind Simons if we picked up a 2nd rounder to get him but it looks like the Lakers might have taken him at 25 anyway.

When Khyri Thomas fell to the 76ers at 38 I had a momentary bit of hope knowing that the 76ers weren't likely to keep all of their 4 2nd round picks. I was really disappointed not only that we traded for Trent Jr but that we had to give up two 2nd rounders to get him. Last year the Warriors bought the 38th pick (Jordan Bell) for $3.5 million.

They have flaws but it was interesting how far down Melton, Milton, and Bates-Diop fell.

Suns got both Mikal Bridges and Elie Okobo, sigh.

Not incredibly high on him but Robert Williams falling to Boston at 27 was ridiculous.

What a weird draft.

 

We couldn’t have outbid Suns for Bridges though, they offered a haul to get him. That Miami pick is extremely valuable, it’s likely going to be a top 10 if not top 5 pick in 2021. It’s a top asset.

 

I will write a draft assessment in a couple of hours.

 

I love that people assume certain deals were available when they have no way of knowing.

 

My big draft assessment coming:

Biggest Winners:

Dallas - somehow despite having 'only' 5th pick they ended up with probably the biggest and most NBA ready talent in the draft. Doncic is a winner and he will fit in perfectly alongside Smith. They were apparently considering Bamba heavily but now they can focus on getting their big through free agency - and they will probably max out Capela and have a significant chance of getting him. If not, they are probably going to come after Cousins.

Orlando - they were apparently locked in on selecting Young but Atlanta saved them from their stupidity so they ended up with an elite defensive talent in Bamba. They could become a true force on defense with him and Isaac, he apparently also addressed his shot and shot very well in pre-draft drills with the new mechanics.

Detroit - they didn't have a single first round pick yet ended up with two first round talents in Khyri Thomas and Bruce Brown. Both are excellent lockdown defenders, Thomas can also shoot the ball and has some degree of playmaking ability and Brown is also a fairly good playmaker. There are doubts regarding Brown's shot but it's not really broken, just ineffective. Great draft for them.

Boston - they were trying to move up to get Bamba or Jackson Jr to address the lack of big prospect and had a player who was perceived as an elite big prospect fall to them at 27th. Williams has some serious issues, especially on the offensive end, but he might be able to contribute on defense from the start.

Philadelphia - amazing deal for them to swap Bridges for Smith and get an top grade asset in Miami 2021 unprotected pick. Smith is 3 years younger and IMO a better long term prospect, he's the sort of defender you can immediately plug into the line up and he should be able to contribute in the NBA. That Miami pick is probably one of the best assets in the league right now.

Biggest Losers:

Atlanta - I get what they are trying to do with Young/Huerter backcourt but they aren't going to emulate Curry & Thompson. They had a A-grade prospect selected at 3 and traded him away, they are going to regret it as I truly don't believe Young is going to grow into an elite player in this league.

Michael Porter Jr - he has created so much hype around himself and then fell to Denver at 14 which is a pretty clear indication that he's probably never going to be healthy enough to play 70+ games in a season and contribute. Maybe I'm wrong here but the fact that Clippers passed on him after they initially wanted to trade both their picks and Tobias Harris to move up to get him is a clear sign that his medicals must have been crap.

Of course it's all going to look completely different in a year. Last year you wouldn't have immediately said that Utah would be the biggest winners of the draft and it turned out they were.

Us:

I like the Anfernee Simons pick even though fans are hating on it. I think if Blazers got Trent Jr and Simons in reverse order people wouldn't moan as much about it because Trent was supposed to be a top 20 talent a few weeks ago. Trent will probably get minutes next season already, he's a great shooter, he's very athletic and I love him as a pick - he might even be able to play small forward for us in modern NBA. Simons is probably 2 years away from contributing but I like taking a punt on a player that may grow into something truly good.

 

Exactly. Perhaps Denver were no longer willing to trade that pick when they found out Porter would be available. They are the sort of team that can take a risk because they already have good young team in place and don't need a contributor right now and can take a punt.

 

I wasn't saying we could've necessarily outbid them but I have 3 thoughts.

1) Just the thought of Mikal being traded after how excited he and his mom were was crazy. He seemed perfect for Philly too. I can't believe they made him available.

2) The Heat pick is 3 years away. Sure it's not looking good for them long term but it's impossible to project at this point.

3) While we couldn't provide as good of a pick most likely (even though we could've gave an unprotected pick too), we had the ability to take Bayless back for nothing in return salary wise leaving them enough money to offer LeBron or other free agents a max deal. Philly was clearly trying to save money tonight.

 

Wait, we're losers but you like both picks? Tough crowd.

 

I immediately said Utah won the draft when Denver stupidly traded back from 13 to 24 for some inexplicable reason.

Knowing Hayward and Hill could leave, Mitchell was a perfect fit in Utah.

 

We aren’t losers. We are a different category in that summary. It’s winners, losers and then us. I think we aren’t winners yet but could be very soon. We won’t be losers because we weren’t really in position to get premium talent.

 

Okay, the way you formatted it made it seem like we were under the losers category.

 

It did, I thought about it when I posted it but then came up without any other formatting anyway.

 

I was going to call you out on it, but figured that what you wrote didn't fit with where you listed it. I guess that was a correct assumption.

 

Two nice players went undrafted - Duval and Alkins. We don’t really need any more guards but they can be nice picks for teams. Duval went from potential lottery pick to undrafted.

 

That’s how you can get the best assets though, project on them. Sixers got Kings pick years in advance and same goes for Boston and Brooklyn picks (those actually projected to be bad).

I doubt taking Bayless salary was that big an incentive for them. They will send him out with two second rounders attached, probably. Or just waive and stretch him.

 

Why I like this draft? It shows that we are planning ahead instead of the lame "win-now mode". We won't win now. So we better try to find some good players down the road. That exactly who Simons is. I bet we will "re-up" this topic in a few years and some will look silly. Just like last year with Collins.

 

I'm fine with the picks. It's the fact that we really need to change the flow of the offense and didn't that kills me. No big deal though we still have free agency to look forward to!

Go Blazers!

 

Sit down on my couch. Relax your shoulders. Here you go. Let the Wiz make you feel better.
1) Yes, we traded 2 2nds for pick #37, but Detroit traded 2 2nds for #38. So, that's just the price
of doing business in the early 2nd round.
2) I think we screwed the Lakers. I could be wrong, but as you mention there are reports that
the Lakers wanted Simons - they ended up with Wagner. Not to dog on the guy, but I'm pretty
sure he is just an unwanted consolation prize for them.
3) Zero trades for vets occurred on draft day (1 happened day before draft), which hasn't happened since 2003.
So, there were no teams that addressed their short term needs on draft day. Yes, it was a weird draft.

 

Some quick thoughts:

Picking Simons and trading for Trent gives us quite a crowded Guard position.

I'm guessing we won't re-sign Bazz and Trent Jr may actually see time at the 3.

Time to re-sign Nurk and Davis as we will need to keep our bigs.