Draft Grades

His QO is 7million so he's going to want at least that much.

That's too high for a 3rd stringer.

 

Yeah no thanks but we do need more trade friendly contracts for flexibility. We shall see.

 

Is that allowed? Can an agent tell teams not to draft a player?

 

Haha I like it.

 

So why did we passed on Michael Jordan again? Because we already have Clyde. Not making the same mistake this time.

 

Apparently Kobes agent did that back in 1996 or whenever it was. Kobe only wanted to be a Laker. It’s happened quite a bit over the years.

 

To be proven wrong, you have to make a declarative statement. You asked a question.

 

I can't imagine Givony is biased, or has similar talent evaluations as the Blazers.

 

If we keep Scoot, Dame can rest now for a long period as we have a true PG.

 

ESPN+
Portland Trail Blazers: A-
Round 1: Scoot Henderson (No. 3), Kris Murray (No. 23)
Round 2: Rayan Rupert (No. 43)

Having moved up to No. 3 via the lottery, the Blazers were in the enviable position of taking whichever of the top three prospects fell to them. Henderson seems to have unusually high upside for a No. 3 pick, even if he's not likely to become a star on Damian Lillard's timetable. If Portland is to thread the needle on improving this season while keeping an eye on the future, it might be thanks to the polished Murray, who has the chance to be an immediate rotation contributor.

In the second round, the Blazers scooped up Rupert, easily the highest-ranked remaining player in ESPN's top 100 at that point (No. 20 overall).

 

An agent can tell teams anything they want. It's up to the teams to listen or not. Kobe's team said don't draft him, he's only playing for LA. Elway's team did the same in the NFL. Danny Ferry did the same.

 

I gave Portland an A, even though I don't know much about Murray or Rupert. I gave them and A because I'm a Blazer fan and want to have some hope

I'd wonder if Murray was a bit of a nod to Dame's wishes as he's not a 19 year old, but is a 22 year old having played 3 seasons in the Big-10

 

Wow I didn't expect to see about 80% of posters give the Blazers an A. I was watching Blazers Uprise and they were crying endlessly about the pick not being traded. It was odd because they were praying super hard that Scoot falls to #3 because they thought we'd have way more trade options - then they were extremely upset when at #3 we just draft him LOL.

Seems that a lot more Blazer fans have moved on from that disappointment and faced reality that there just wasn't a realistic way to contend now with Dame - so BPA is the way.

 

He's one of Dame's guys. They have a relationship. This pick is indicative of the new reality of the CBA.

 

WHO?

 

Were it not for Wembayana, Scoot probably would have been top pick. He can play behind and with Dame. He makes it more likely Ant can be traded for a better fit.
With low picks if a team gets a solid rotation player they are doing well. Blazers got two. I think Rupert could be sleeper of this draft class.

 

I give us an A- tbh. Think all 3 guys can be very good professionals and Scoot especially has All-Star potential.

 

it's no surprise the Blazers would clean up on draft day. Being a stinky team has some real advantages.

Losing for better rookies is the easy part. Now the tougher test is on the horizon.

Can the Blazers start over from scratch with all these new rookies? I would say absolutely, sure, why not.

Will the GM keep his promise and trade all these new kids for win now additions, creating a super duper playoff team around Damian?? I have no clue

Management's job is to sell tickets. Guilding the lily. Get fans into the arena by any means necessary.

As a Blazer fan, I never want to see this team get embarrassed on the court. I kinda freak out when Portland gets mauled. Why ?? Because Damian Lillard is too freaking good at basketball to be part of a team that prioritizes losing on purpose for better draft picks.

If Lillard sticks around to play awesome basketball on a young rookie rebuilding team, only to take an early vacation so the team can lose as many games possible, then Damian himself is basically the GM calling these shots.

I will no longer listen to him whining about being on a bad team, nor worry that Dame's talent is being wasted. This is Lillard's team, he is part of this rebuilding era. He makes plenty of money and doesn't need no one telling him he needs to chase no stupid rings.

The stealth tank worked perfectly.
Will we see it again ??

 

Yeah I think the draft used to be how you try to swing for the fences and get a top3 guy for your team - even well into the end of the first round or early 2nd round.

Now were seeing way more teams want to have those draft picks just to be able to get some competent 7th/8th men in their rotation, as in free agency there's no way to have much more then vet minimums at those spots whom are normally more 12th quality men in the rotation.

It used to be a team with ShaqKobe could fill out a roster with two solid MLE type guys and a bunch of vet minimums to contend. Now that doesn't work - see LeBron/Davis. You need quality rotational players in all of your top8 spots. Maybe you get lucky and sign one vet minimum there for a season, but its basically impossible to get multiple vet minimum guys fulfilling a number of those roles.

It'll probably get even more difficult during future years of the CBA and the 2nd apron.

 

The difference between Kobe's demand was that there was only one team he was willing to play for (Lakers) while Elway and Ferry just didn't want to play for a single bad organization who was likely to pick them. Via his agent, Kobe threatened to enrole at UNC if anyone but the Lakers held his rights following the draft. Per the rules at the time which were subsequently changed because of his tactic, a team would lose their rights to a player after a year if they didn't sign and then the player could re-enter the next draft.

STOMP