Jackson Jr. stock seems to be shaking out as a late 1st, early second. My #1 target for this pick is Jaquez
If Leonard Miller is not available, I do wonder if Portland could trade the #23 for Indiana's picks. Take Rupert or Jaquez with #26 and James Nnaji with the other pick (would not like to see Spurs pick up Nnaji. If Nnaji pans out, it makes the Spurs too dangerous defensively and dominant from a rebounding perspective).
Kristen Peek said she's heard that neither Noah Clowney nor Leonard Miller will make it past 23 because Portland will pick them.
Of course I do, but you opened this door for talking smack and I just had to drive my truck through it, it's in my contact.
You seem to know your stuff on the draft... (although a lot of it mirrors my viewpoints - so maybe I'm being biased here). What's your take on GG Jackson? He appears to be sliding. Is he worth a shot at #23? If Leonard (or Bilal) is not there, I'd actually like to see a trade down with Charlotte (#23 + #45 <-> #27, #34, #39, #41). We can grab a bunch of early second round guys to fill out the g-league team. My targets would be: Nnaji, Sasser, Amari Bailey, Jaylen Clark, Tristan Vukcevic, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Cissoko, & Tubelis
Unless there is someone there that blows our socks off my hope is we trade this pick to Chicago and complete that stupid ass Neil trade( not because of Nance but because he left it open ended and tied up our future 1st for years. Not sure how a GM couldn’t see that might happen
i too wanted to get it over with and clear our picks with CHI by just giving em this one. but lately, I've been reading up more on guys in this range and feel like there's a ton of value. guys like Leonard Miller/ OMax/ Bilal, etc can be fairly decent contributors early on in the league. would be hesitant to throw in the pick in a deal unless certain dudes are for sure off the board.
It’s a deep draft and there always seems to be a gem late in draft. I do like our talent evaluators so if we make the pick I will trust them
GG Jackson is okay, based on what I've seen of him. I haven't studied too much to conclude anything concrete about him but he can stretch the floor and rebound a bit which, I guess, could make him John Collins-like. I don't know that he'll get there since his FG% seems kind of low. In all honesty, I think #23 should be Leonard Miller and Kris Murray as they can add size and space the floor out a bit. Leonard reminds me of Christian Wood mixed with Lamar Odom and Kris Murray should be a similar enough player to his brother where, even if the talent isn't the same, he can hustle a bit and hit open shots. Certainly, if those two are gone, you can trade down. James Nnaji, again, I'd want simply because I don't want the Spurs mentoring him. He looks like a dominant center and has the physical frame and athleticism. Just going to need a lot of work (which, I think, Nurkic can mentor him here). As a project big, I think you can get a DeAndre Jordan out of him which, while not ideal, could fix Portland's problems from last season that don't look like they'll go away in the future (namely, interior defense and rebounding).
Watched his highlights. Didn't see any ability to shoot other than dunks (obvious) and layups. Kind of a lumbering athlete. Not Boban, but not that quick either. Didn't dominate in Barcelona. The only thing i really dig is he's built like Adonis. But the NBA is Not about being Mr. Universe. It's about skillset. Very developmental.
I think whether Nnaji is on our radar really depends how the Blazers feel about Badji. There were some whispers they were liking what they were seeing from him before he got injured at the end of the year. You really don't need two project centers.
He has definitely shown signs. Still very raw, but his wingspan is freakish and he's not a stiff from a mobility standpoint. His shot form is really not bad, although outside of ferocious dunks, he doesn't have great touch around the basket.
