Draft bandwagons of the past

Hindsight 20/20, what players were you right about?

Paul Milsap: We needed a rebounder and Milsap led the nation in that category for three straight seasons. He was the most logical choice for our lower 1st round pick.


Courtney Lee: I felt he was the most underrated player in college basketball. An all around player who I thought we could play alongside Roy.​

Some other players I thought would fit our core were Joakim Noah and Ronnie Turiaf. I knew we didn't have a chance to draft Noah as we needed another lotto pick, but I was surprised Ronnie slipped into the second round. Passing on Milsap hurts.

The bandwagons I'm on this year?

Dejuan Blair and Eric Maynor.

 

I wanted the Stache and Tyrus Thomas before Roy and Aldridge. I hadn't watched much basketball that year outside of watching Oregon. My bad...

 

I thought Roy was a superstar talent going into the draft, and thought he was an absolute no brainer for the #1 selection. I heard the "upside" arguments about Bargnani and Aldridge and Thomas, but didn't care to hear it. Obviously, I wanted to end up with him, and not have Toronto take him, but I thought Toronto SHOULD have taken him. Lucky for us!

For others, I also liked Milsap that year, and remember hoping we could find a way to get him.

Going back further, I was a fan of Ariza when he was drafted. Thought he got screwed in both NY and Orlando, but I guess it worked out for him alright. Was a big fan of Michael Redd the year he came out, and was surprised ot see him go so late. (On the flip side, I was also a fan of his backcourt mate from THE Ohio State University, Scoonie Penn, so....) I liked Steve Nash a lot coming out of college. Was also a big fan of Chauncey Billups. Liked Ron Artest a lot as well.
Obviously, we weren't in position to draft many of those. Just some of the guys I remember liking before those drafts, and thinking they would be good players.

There's always the misses, also. Was a fan of Priest Lauderdale. I lived in Chicago at the time, and remember hoping he would fall to us. He went 28th. We got Travis Knight at 29. Both sucked. Leon Smith seemed like a great prospect. Until he popped a bunch of aspirin and went hunting indians. I'll admit I was a big Darius Miles fan before he was drafted. After, as well. But again, wa shoping Chicago could get him.

One final guy I liked a lot was John Wallace. Not sure if anyone really remembers him, out of Syracuse. Remember watching him in the tournament, and really liking him. Drafted in 96. I still think he could have been good. Just one of those situations where someone doesn't find the right fit for them, and they never make it. He put up about 17 and 6 per 36 through his short career, but never really stuck anywhere.

 

i had a giant boner for stache and threatened suicide if we drafted roy

then again, i dont watch college hoops!

I also thought it would take lebron 2-3 years before he would average 20 ppg

i too am on the dejuan blair bandwagon.

 

I've had more hits than misses, believe it or not.

I was high on Roy. I liked Adam, too, but I thought Roy was the most complete player in the entire draft. I didn't give Aldridge much thought as I thought he was a lock for #1 or #2. Tyrus screamed Jerome 'JYD' Williams to me. I didn't like him AT ALL.

Frye I thought was Mark Blount v.2. Hindsight, I probably owe Blount an apology.

I thought Nate Robinson would be a player GM's would regret passing on. He's built like an NFL player, insane athletic ability, and can score in bunches.

I knew Ha Sueng-Jin would suck major donkey balls. You could see it in his eyes that he had no idea what the fuck to do on the court.

 

Probably means we shouldn't draft him then...right?

 

I'd wanted Aldridge since he was a Junior in High School (sounds kinda perv LOL).

I was COMPLETELY against drafting "the stache"

I was and still am totally in the Oden bandwagon. (Durant is scoring leader type and Oden is Championship type)

I am totally infatuated with Ricky Rubio and think he could be a Chris Paul type in 3-4 years.

I saw Dwayne Wade CARRY his team in the NCAA tournament and wanted him a Blazers uni badly.

I had NO clue who Brandon Roy was, just was weary of his knee issues and still am.

I couldn't understand why people were so into Marvin Williams. I thought he looked mediocre at best.

I was into Chris Paul but had issues with the rumor that he didn't want to workout for PDX. I thought Deron Williams would be too heavy to play PG at a high level.

I was against drafting Mayo and still am quite weary of how is character would affect a locker room.

 

You just jinxed Mr. Blair.

 

Mario Chalmers-Jury is still out on how that one will turn out, although starting his rookie year isn't bad. He showed some signs of off the court issues though.

Lamarcus Aldridge-That one turned out pretty good.

Greg Oden-Still on the bandwagon, I think Greg will pull it together.

Kirk Snyder-Well that one didn't work out. He is barely still in the league.

 

I don't remember getting to jacked up about draft picks one way or another, although I did think it was insane that we passed on Deron Williams to trade down for Martel (although I thought CP3 would end up being nothing that special because of his lack of height). And last year I desperately wanted us to trade up and get Russell Westbrook or even DJ Augustin -- Bayless was a want too, but I figured there'd be no way we could get him.

This year I'm inclined to think that almost everyone sucks, although I am kind of on board with Rodrigue Beaubois as a player to take at 32 and stash overseas for a couple more years (I'm way higher on him than Koponen, who I don't ever see as a starting NBA point guard). Beyond him, I kind of like Lawson who I think will probably end up being a slightly to much better version of Ray Felton (since he can actually shoot).

 

Honk Honk!

I wanted Durant over Oden - Nailed it.

I wanted Foye over Roy - ouch. (although I had LMA as my #1 pick in that draft)

I wanted Chris Paul over anyone in that draft and could not believe we traded down because of Sebastian Freakin' Telfair. (John Nash should be shot for that whole draft day debacle)

 

Hank honked once. liar

 

LOL.. stop hating.

I said Durant from day one.

 

No comment on where you were on Oden?

 

I remember debating you about Snyder. I had watched him play at the NCAA tournament in Seattle. He had almost zero handle and dribbled the ball in front of him. I didn't think he'd be worth a first-round pick.

 

I'm on the Blair and Flynn bandwagons, but don't think we'll end up with either.

A long time ago (in a website far, far away) I was on the Richard Jefferson bandwagon.
I was also on the Bonzi Wells bandwagon.

 

I'm going to go ahead and say that this is probably true.