Blazers Looking for Improvements, Won't be from Overseas

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/06/as_trail_blazers_work_on_impro.html

Looks like Freeland and Claver will be coming over next season, with Petteri being the furthest away.

It is good to hear that we actually have a specific timeline to bring these guys over, and I really like how Buchanan is actually open (unlike Cho) about talking these guys and their future roles.

 

Waste of draft picks.

 

Especially when you consider we passed on Millsap to take Freeland and Blair to take Claver. Both of those guys have already proven to be solid NBA back-up (or potential starting) power forwards. We could have had six "serviceable" seasons of Millsap before we even (maybe) see Freeland in a Blazers uniform and see if he can (maybe) be a "serviceable" back-up big man at the NBA level.

BNM

 

Those two statements seem inconsistent to me. Or, is one of the top three or four post players in all of Europe really destined for a career as nothing more than a serviceable back-up post player in the NBA? Shit, if that's true, I wouldn't be in any hurry to come over either if I was Freeland. He makes millions of euros to play a much shorter schedule and is considered one of the top big men in all of Europe and he's supposed to give that up for a chance to make less money to be a backup role player?

BNM

 

OK, I'll admit it - I was wrong.

I objected to firing KP...but with another year to evaluate his "brilliant" drafts, I am convinced he needed to go. Outside of that one glorious year, his only decent pick has been Batum.

 

It's only a guess, but if Batum is on the trading block, Claver might make a goo backup SF. And Freeland might make a decent backup PF. It's worth a shot to see how they play. Love to them at summer league.

 

I ALMOST agree with you, but this whole fascination with drafting international players and hoping they might someday become valuable assets was not exclusive to Pritchard. It started with Whitsitt (or even before, if you count Sabas and Drazen - who were both drafted by the Blazers in 1986), extended through the Nash/Patterson era and was taken to the extreme by Pritchard. Whittsit took Federico Kammerichs and Nedzad Sinanovic with second round picks in his last two drafts, and Nash spent two first round picks on Viktor Khryapa and Sergei Monia and a second round pick on Ha Seung-Jin in his first draft. At least those three saw time on the floor in Blazers uniforms (back when we were the worst team in the league). So, someone at the top has been encouraging the Blazers GMs to take chances on international players for a very long time. I would suspect that someone would be Paul Allen since he's been the one constant through the Whitsitt, Nash/Patterson and Pritchard regimes.

So, as Rudy and Nic enter the final year of their rookie contracts, out of all the international players the Blazers have drafted, who was the last one to make an NBA roster past their initial rookie contract? Was it really Arvydas Saboniis drafted 25 years ago in 1986? Have the Blazers REALLY wiffed that badly on international prospects over the last 25 years? It sure looks that way. Yet. they keep passing on guys like Paul Millsap, Dejuan Blair, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, Chris Duhon, Trevor Ariza, etc. that had successful college careers to take a chance on some international player who has proven less and will likely never even wear a Blazers uniform.

At one time, the "euro stash" made sense, especially if you already had a very deep roster with no immediate holes that could be filled where you were drafting, but those days were over at least five years ago. Due to escalating salaries in Europe, combined with the weak dollar and declining NBA salaries, it hasn't made any sense in years to waste draft picks on players that will likely never play for your team. Either they will never develop into NBA caliber players, or if they do develop to the point where they could actually play at the NBA level, they will make more money playing a much shorter schedule in Europe. Either way it's a wasted draft pick. You either wasted it on a crappy player, or a decent player who will never play for you.

So, out of the three international players that finished the season with Portland, how many will remain in the NBA past their rookie contracts (or 4 seasons in the case of 2nd round picks)? I see Rudy leaving the NBA and going back to Europe after his rookie contract. Batum will definitely be in the NBA long term and is clearly our best international player since Sabonis. Patty's initial 2-year contract is up. Depending on who the Blazers draft, they may, or may not bring him back. If they do, I expect it to be something like a 1-year contract with a team option for a second year. Unless he shows significant improvement, I don't see him lasting past that in the NBA.

BNM

 

I think it shows the talent difference in the leagues more than anything else. People have argued with me about the Euro league being better than the D league, and I am not trying to bring that back into play, but remember that Babbitt lit up the D league and couldn't get off the bench in the NBA on a depleted roster.

 

freeland and claver are both top players in europe, and when they come over should help, whats the problem with that?

comparing them to players we missed on, why not compare them to players who were picked before them and have ALREADY proven that they cant do shit in the league?

 

Our own acting GM said Freeland would be nothing more than a back up, and they have a tendancy to sugarcoat things

 

lol oh no! we didnt get an all star with the 30th pick in the draft!

gimme a fucking break

 

The problem with that is we don't know:

a) will they EVER play for the Blazers
b) if they do, will they be any good

At best, Freeland comes over for the seventh season after he was drafted. So, we missed out on six seasons of Paul Millsap before we even get to see if Freeland can play at the NBA level. I was a big advocate of drafting Millsap at either 30 or 31 (we had both picks) in 2006 and a big advocate of drafting Blair in 2009, even if we had to move up to get him. I was shocked when he was available at 24 and we passed on him to take Claver, and even more shocked when we passed on him two more times in favor of Pendergraph and Cunningham.

The point being these were two guys who were proven college players who could have contributed immediately that we passed on for guys who may never play for us. Seriously, how good will Freeland need to be to offset the six productive seasons we could have had from Millsap?

BNM

 

No, but we could have had a guy who has already played five productive seasons in the league with a career PER of 17.9 and a PER of 19.8 last season. What have we got out of Joel Freeland the past five seasons? What will we get from him next season?

BNM

 

That's sort of how I feel as well. We took a few flyers on young euros late in the draft where there was no one on anyone's radar and we'll see how it turns out. But so many around here expect allstars with every pick we make. It drives me nuts.

 

lol, yeah what was THE ENTIRE LEAGUE thinking, passing on milsap, THE ENTIRE LEAGUE is comprised of moron GM's

when you get to the 30th pick, its a crapshoot, and you cant take your bet back after rolling the dice

get over it

 

I think we're only 2 years removed that strategy, which is the last time we invested a high pick on a Euro stash player. Two drafts ago, we were arguably 2 deep with young or prime players at every position. Now the circumstances are completely different and we need talent upgrade at every position. But in the Claver draft, with a stable full of young, talented players (or what it seemed) it made sense to take a shot on a guy with lottery upside who would be a long-term investment. I think it still makes sense given we're stacked across the board. I don't think we'll seen them go this route anytime soon though.

 

Alternatively, we could be like the genius GMs that took Maurice Ager and Mardy Collins with the two picks above Freeland and had to pay them first round draft pick money for at least three years. Freeland has cost us nothing while other people have invested a lot in developing him.

 

Excellent point. repped

 

The whole allstar thing is a strawman. Nobody here claimed we should expect to get an allstar with the 30th pick in the draft. However, getting a solid role player is not an entirely unrealistic expectation.

Here's what I wrote about Millsap prior to the 2006 draft:

Does that sound like I was expecting to get an allstar? Millsap was a known quantity that filled an immediate need and we passed on him for a guy who may (or may not) finally fill that same role seven seasons later.

BNM

 

you being an all seeing prophetic draft genius, while impressive, means nothing

paul milsap is good ≠ freeland was a bad pick