I have read that we need to keep tanking until we get the star player necessary to compete for championships. I think Chet is good and I would love to have him, but is he the type of difference-maker that would do that? Can he take a game over? Obviously, it takes more than one player to win it all, but my point is this draft can get us a good player, just not a great one. And when you compare the last 4 drafts there are arguably only 3 legitimate stars that meet that criteria.
I'm not certain but yeah seems 2nd round could have 5 minutes. 2 minutes is ridiculous, Jokic was drafted during a Burger King ad or something. My favorite part of the NBA season is Draft, free agency, trade deadline, at least until we win a series again next decade. I'm personally in favor of multiple days. I think it could lead to more trades. Also just more suspense of each teams decisions, needs, direction, and time to explore trades. If it were up to me I'd do picks 1-10 first day 11-30 2nd day 31-60 last day Also I'm very intrigued by the idea of doing free agency before the draft.
I think they did not make the playoffs last year, they were the #1 seed in the west this year and currently in the 2nd round with him as a rookie as the biggest change year to year. I would say, yes, he is a difference maker.
Or the whole team got better since they are all so young. But he is not their star....if you take SGA off the team are they even close to being the same team?
The 2019 draft is probably on par with this one. I think it's below 2020 & 21 drafts. Too early to tell about the 22 and 23 drafts. ***Edited -> I missed Halliburton, Maxey, & Bane in my review of the 20 draft class.***
I could maybe accept that a lot of the offensive improvement (from #13 in ORTG last year to #3) is not Chet related (I am not sure it is), but Chet makes that team so much more dangerous even on offense simply by having someone that can play both in and out and shoot from the outside to give SGA the space he needs, but they now have a true defensive identity that they did not have before, they were #14 or so in drtg last year, they are now #4 and the main reason for that is Chet. They now have both perimeter and interior defender - and Chet is so fast that he can work in their switching pattern. His PER is 20 for the year (as a rookie) and that's an offensive stat which is not the main impact he has. Look at WS/48 - Chet, as a rookie, is #20 in the entire NBA. #20. Dame Lillard is #45, Sengun is #30, Lebron is #25. Sorry, but Chet is about as impactful as you get for a rookie.
I agree with everything you said about Chet. But he is just a very good Robin. (as is Jalen Williams) My point however was about the Blazers finding a star that would one day make them title contenders. I think there are a few potential "Robins" in this draft, just like most drafts. Unfortunately, we are looking for Batman and in the last 4 years, there have only been about 3 of them.....that we currently know about.
With a few days before the lotto I’m pretty much here with my top-3 1) Clingan 2) Sarr 3) Topic It’s a tossup between Sarr and Topic though.
I'm not sure you can gauge the last 2 drafts completely. SGA didn't really become elite till his 5th season. So, I'd expand the timeline to include 5 drafts prior to the last 2 which would account for any late bloomers. Since 2017: 2017: Jayson Tatum De'Aaron Fox Lauri Markkanen Donovan Mitchell Bam Adebayo 2018: Luka Dončić Jaren Jackson Jr. Trae Young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2019: Zion Williamson Ja Morant Darius Garland 2020: Anthony Edwards LaMelo Ball Tyrese Haliburton Tyrese Maxey Desmond Bane 2021: Jalen Green Evan Mobley Scottie Barnes Josh Giddey Franz Wagner Alperen Sengun just about all of those guys are better, currently, than anybody the Blazers have. there's no generational talent, but there rarely is. But most of those players can alter the trajectory of a team, and Portland doesn't have that level of player unless Sharpe/Scoot radically improve you may be right that the 2024 draft might be better than many are projecting
If Cronin is as clueless as some fans say, it's feasible Portland uses both picks on Sarr after Sarr already is off the board.
The new aggregate mock has Buzelis at 3. I think his ceiling is as high as any of them. https://hoopshype.com/lists/2024-ag...-clingan-and-zach-edey-rising-before-combine/
