Man the Blazers are getting nothing out of their last 3 first round picks. Can they please draft someone this year who can actually contribute rather than waiting years on some possible potential.
I agree. Olshey tends to shoot for guys that have a chance to become stars. Even with their end of bench guys, they go for players like Cliff Alexander/Wade Baldwin/Moses Brown that have big potential but aren't actually ready to contribute. Given the current status of the team at some point you gotta just get guys that can play. Stop trying to hit homeruns and just hit a few singles.
From the GM's POV drafting a "project" is a no lose scenario. If they turn out good, the GM gets bragging rights. If they flop, he can blame the coach for not developing the player. If I was a rich man, I would rent a billboard outside of Blazer HQ: PLAYERS - NOT PROJECTS!
I think the team and fans should just give up on players if they aren't performing right off the bat. That never has bit them in the butt.
that 2017 draft is starting to look kind of blazer yucky Blazers had 15 -20 - 26, and ended up with Zach and and Caleb Swanigan. Stick with that trade up and they could have had either Donovan Mitchell or Bam Adebayo plus Kyle Kuzma or Derick White stay with the picks they had and they could have drafted John Collins, Og Anunoby, and Kyle Kuzma/Derrick White....yeeeesh and instead of Simons, Blazers could have Devonte Graham, or Landrey Shamet, or Omari Spellman and yeah, I know...'blah blah blah hindsight; blah blah blah every team misses'....no doubt but this is just fantasizing about what Portland could have of course, the Blazers could have Dame & Giannis
I'm probably drawing blanks but I'm only remembering Jermaine O'Neal biting Portland in the butt the other side of that is continuously betting on potential that never materializes and riding value until it disappears. In that category I remember Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, Jarret Jack, Telfaire, Sergio, Rudy, TRob, Meyers...to name a few
On a scale of 1-10 how important is it to you that the Blazers seriously contend while Dame is in his prime? I don't know if it was intentional, but in Trent they got a player who appears ready and willing to play Robin to Dame's Batman. By contrast, Collins and particularly Simons were drafted with no regard for where the team is at today. I would agree with you IF the Blazers were in rebuilding mode. With Dame in his prime and the team coming off the WCF, they should be going all in. Would I trade Collins/Simons for a good vet? In a heartbeat!
All of those guys are still very young and in Little's case has only played in a shortened season that was interrupted by the corona virus. A little patience is in order as I could give you several examples of players taking 2-3 years to even become a solid rotational player. In addition to Little, he was originally projected to be a late lottery pick and we were able to pick him up at 25. NBADRAFT.net had him at 12 on their mock draft and 8th on the big board.
Should be 16 as that's where we finished the regular season, but the only exception will be if we were to lose twice then technically Memphis will finish 14th over all if that happens so I don't know for sure how they will address that. Either way 15th or 16th will likely be so similar that it won't really matter and this is a good year to have a bit later pick as very little college basketball was played this year to be able to assess the prospects. I can see some pretty good players slipping down a ways due to lack of scouting some of these players.
The fact is that every year there are players who have high upside but are projects who won't contribute for 2-3 years and we take them. That is fine every so often, but not every year. We have no bench because we are still being patient and hoping our projects will pan out, while other rookies are contributing right away.
Looking over several mock drafts that are current it has us picking 14th. Did they freeze the positions for when the leagues shut down for awhile?
Little was a good value pick, so was Trent. Not ready to give up on Zack but I’d rather have the 2 picks that we packaged to get him(am I remembering that right?). Ant was a major project but who was better on the board? Serious question. I’ve never been a fan of NO when it comes to the draft, he’s better at finding gems in trades and FA. I still think he’s an average GM though.