Keeping our pick? This might be a Lottery year

If we draft another big man, his knees will explode in the first game. No thanks. Not interested.

 

I’m equally high on Jabari as well.

Like I said - there’s only three potential franchise players in this draft.

Chet is the biggest boom/bust of the three.

Jabari is the safest pick

 

24 points on 23 shots... not very impressive. Didn't get to the FT line and didn't show the explosiveness I'd like to see in this game.

Jabari probably my #1 for now.

 

do you guys watch a lot of college basketball or just highlights and scouting reports?

I don't watch much......I've only seen Holmgren for a half, and he only played about half of that half. I haven't seen any of these other guys. I mainly will just see players the Ducks play in the few games I catch until march madness

 

i can't watch whole games. don't enjoy college ball for multitude of reasons. I follow this guy who posts video of not just the highlights but nearly every play the players are involved in.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpBh-61hTOGgymrrtILrGog

 

Let me clarify, it’s not like he doesn’t have an offensive game at all. He’s not the focal point on offense in college and he wouldn’t be the focal point on offense on the Blazers. We WOULD need him to be good on defense ASAP though.

And it’s not like the majority of a player’s development happens in 3 years. I’d rather have him focus on gaining weight and shooting 3’s in his first 3 years as opposed to adding a focus on his handles and other things on top of gains and 3’s because that immediately helps us.

If you have Dame, Simons, and Simmons, you don’t need him to develop that part of his game quickly. Focus on the skills that would help us right away, and extend his contract based on the defensive impact he is already making. Then as Dame gets older or if Simmons demands a trade or doesn’t show interest in re-signing you can have him focus on his offensive game.

I think Smart is abit of a poor comparison situationally. We aren’t like what the Celtics were. They had IT as the only bonabide scorer on their team, and you can include Jeff Green I guess. They were 27th in off rating and 18th in def rating that year, so they basically had to bank on him to be good offensively right away. Davion Mitchell remains to be seen, he’s on a terrible team. And I for one would love Davion on the Blazers if the Kings were giving up on him already.

But I just have low standards; I personally would happy with 10pts/8rbs playing elite defense and shooting 35-38% from 3 without all the handles and stuff by the end of year 3. But this is assuming he’s even available on draft day for us, Idk if we’ll even be able get high enough to draft him.

 

You’re saying we should trade the pick if it’s in the top 3 then? No wings in the draft are worth a top 3 pick, and we don’t need to draft another guard.

 

On points per game, yeah.
But like I said Bol Bol is a better 3pt shooter and ft shooter. Percentage wise. Nothing to do with volume.
And, uh, I’m too lazy to look into the stats but that’s not true about Dana Altman teams and rebounding. I can specifically think of Louis King, Kenny Whooten and Payton Pritchard was decent at rebounding for a guard. Ehab and Abu were also rebounding pretty well before Bol Bols injury.
Like I said, doesn’t mean Chet won’t be the better player overall, but if I have a top 3 pick… Chet is a tough selection for me as of now.

 

I think Jabari's at the top of this draft and there's no one else even close. I'm trying to see what I'm missing when anyone else gets mentioned along with him.

 

I watch the ducks which is why I asked what is the difference between Bol Bol and Chet. I was honestly curious. It was exactly what we heard about Bol Bol.

The fact that Chet actually plays defense is why I said it wasn’t an even comp, but my issues are on the offensive end. Why the fuck does Chet no show offensively when he plays decent teams?

I’m not drafting someone in the top 3 that isn’t going to give us much offensively even if they’re the next Dennis Rodman / Bill Russell combo rebounding / defense.

 

Paolo have have 1, Jabari then Chet

 

Ah, yeah, I think we just have a different approach to drafting. I think you need a top pick to be present offensively and defensively. I’m not expecting him to be Melo but having multiple single digit scoring games is a red flag for me. It’s not like he’s not getting touches or attempts at all.

10/8 and elite defense would be ok… not #1 pick material in my opinion.
I should also clarify, this was a conversation based on who I would take #1. If we are #3 and Chet is there, sure, take him.

Im just saying I don’t see how we could take him over Paolo (originally) but now I’m firmly on the Jabari train.

 

Yeah I ate my crow on that one. Jabari is a runaway #1 for me right now.

 

That would be interesting if Chet was there at #3. There are definitely teams that are going to be really, really high on him. Wonder if they’d trade something substantial to make it worth it?

chet for Scottie Barnes! Lol

 

I have Chet with the highest ceiling and actually think given the right personnel around him that he would have the biggest impact on day one.

I have Paolo with the highest floor but I think both him and Jabari are close in that category. I think both of them will definitely have a positive impact on a team on day one regardless of the other players. So they are safer picks.

I think the only way I would take Chet first is if he showed a lot of growth between now and the end of the season or blew me away in a workout. There is another way I'd take him first... if I didn't already have a shot blocking stretch big next to Ben Simmons, I would take Chet first if I had Ben Simmons and the first pick. That's barring anything coming up regarding Chet's health between now and the draft.

 

A solid night for the 'pick'. Blazers got boat raced by the Nugz. The Pels crushed the Clippers, and OKC throttled the Nets.

Blazers only 2 wins in front of the #4 Thunder.

 

Without trades that are meant to net us less wins this season, we will not have good odds at a top 4 pick. A top pick or even keeping our pick shouldn't be on our GMs mind. All Cronin should care about is rebuilding this team around Dame in a way that makes them a contender. If he can do that while tanking to get another impact piece in this draft then so be it but Cronin has to show that he can make this team better for next season before this season is over aka by the deadline or he will most likely be replaced before he can make moves during the draft and free agency. I love that he's very likely under that pressure.

 

Its an asset that will be very helpful in re-tooling. Whether we use it or trade it.

 

If it's in the mid to late lottery is it really a better asset than having all of our future firsts freed up by the pick being conveyed to the Bulls? All of this may be a moot point because if the Bulls really want RoCo we should make getting back the full rights to the pick part of that deal.

 

The more I see of this guy, the more I love him. He has Morant-like intensity. I would feel pretty good about having the #4 pick in the draft.

I’m holding out hopes that Anfernee plays well enough by the end of the season that Morey would accept an Anfernee sign-and-trade + 2 picks for Simmons. If we are confident that he can sustain this play, we have to just give him and opportunity to maximize his value and trade significant pieces for cheap young guys and give Anfernee full reign for one season.

Ivey, Little, and Simmons are 3 guys I’d love to have around Dame defensively. Nance is a good defender as well.
Hoping that trading out CJ, Covington, Powell, and Nurkic gets us significantly under the cap. I think pursuing both Bamba and Smith should be a priority

Dame/Smith Jr
Ivey/____/____
Simmons/Little/____
Nance/Watford/Brown
Bamba/Smith/____

____ would just be whatever comes from the Norm/CJ/Nurk/Covington trades.

Would be a lot like CP3 when he joined the Suns, a young all star and a bunch of young guys. Ivey might not develop as a scorer as quick as Ja, but I see Ivey making the same impact with his playmaking and defense right away. I would love this guy to be the leader of my squad when Dame goes downhill.