Official 2013 Draft thread

It maybe a good thing. We won't have the cap hold for the pick and we give Charlotte the pick in a weaker draft.

 

I would love for this team to be in a position to get any of the four guards in their projected top-10. McLemore, Muhammad, Smart, or Oladipo would be HUGE additions to our team, in my opinion. If any of those four are on the board if/when we pick, the decision should be a "no-brainer" for Olshey & Co.

Additionally, as I've mentioned before, I'd love to see us attain a late first rounder to grab Gorgui Dieng from Louisville, as he's pretty much exactly what this team needs from the center position, in my opinion. Dieng's a premier defender in pretty much all facets & excels in facilitating the pick-and-roll on offense--he's also shown some signs of developing a more well-rounded offensive game, too, though that's his biggest weakness right now.

Lillard
Oladipo / Matthews
Dieng / Leonard
Batum / Claver
Aldridge

If we could go into the Free Agency signing-period with that roster, I'd be a pretty happy camper.

 

Haven't seen Dieng, is he a starter? I wish we could have gotten Ezeli last year, is he the same type of player?

 

I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but that's exactly the scenario I'm hoping for.

 

I take it you are in middle management with no chance of getting better or worse? That scenario would be disastrous

 

It is disastrous, likely draft pick going to Charlotte and no "needle mover" out there in free agency that I can see that POR could realistically get....A better bench is going to turn this team into an NBA title contender....just bump them up to a playoff fodder....

 

making the playoffs would be disastrous?

you said make the playoffs, but also said finish 13th or 14th, so actually...what are you saying?

 

Ya, like most of my posts, I worded that pretty poorly. Let me try again

Fans saying make the playoffs, But I don't feel we will, so that would mean ending up with no pick.

Just meant those fans screaming about all those things, playoffs, Hickson, Maynor, Williams.

If we make the playoffs, great...I guess? I suppose it would be fun to see us get abused by the Thunder and the refs for 5 games or so?

 

Christ that would be horrible

Some people it appears are perfectly happy to muddle along in "respectable but neither terrible nor good territory" for years. I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect that some people fear failure more than they desire greatness (and taking the risks that greatness demands). In this case there is some risk in tanking that you get into the lottery and whiff on your pick and alienate your fans and sink into lottery hell for years as your guys get used to losing and not having to give maximum effort.

 

Ya, I guess I just see it this way.

Most of the time, when talking about a small market team, they are bad before they get good. There are certainly examples of teams that never hit bottom before making a run (our own Blazers did it a little over a decade ago) But I think for the most part, small market teams need to "get lucky" to compete on the highest level. Those same teams can certainly be unlucky though, and make poor decisions in the draft and on spending their money, but that's not the fault of the plan. I feel if you look at teams in the same general market size and non desirable location that Portland are in they all made recent playoff runs because of the lottery.

Portland, I believe, is 21st in NBA market size, so using like cities in the same general area, I come up with (excluding Toronto)

Detroit 13
Phoenix 14
Minnesota 15
Denver 17
Cleveland 18
Sacramento 20
Charlotte 22
Indiana 23
Utah 24
Milwaukee 25
SA 25
OKC 26
Memphis 27

Of those teams in the last 15 years or so, Detroit, Phoenix , Minnesota, Denver, Cleveland, Indiana, Utah, SA, OKC have had decent playoff success. Some like Detroit did it primarily through FA and trades, while drafting great players down in the draft like Prince and Maxiel. Phoenix by trades and FA with guys like Johnson, Matrix and Nash, but that team goes no where without Amare, who was their lottery gem. Minnesota has been good when Garnett was there, a lottery pick. Denver went to the finals led by Melo, a lottery pick. Cleveland was great with Lebron, a lottery pick, and on the upswing again, with Irving. Indiana went to the EC finals led by Granger, Hibbert and George, all picks, 1 lottery pick. Utah with Williams leading the way. SA obviously with Duncan. OKC with both Durant and Westbrook. And our own TrailBlazers, who were considered the team of the future by EVERYONE, with Oden, Aldridge and Roy. All picks.

So IMO, for small market teams to do well, they need to get lucky in the lottery, (Aldridge and Lillard) Draft well in the lower round (Batum) and draft well for trading assets (no one) Most of the small market teams don't get FA's coming to them that will push them over the top. Portland needs to continue to build it's team through the draft in order to either A. Get another great player to move forward with, or B. Get some very good pieces you can deal for a player to put you over the hump.

Sorry, long winded, now attack

 

If we don't get over this self defeating attitude quick I have a bad feeling about this years draft an FA. Sure the blazers have not had much success in FA in the past, but that's no excuse to let opportunity pass us by!

Portland needs to remember our great tradition of competing at high levels in sports, especially basketball. Oregon has been a great basketball state, producing NBA worthy talent (K. Love, T. Ross, to name a few), and having great fan attendance (we hold the world record for most consecutive sell outs in any professional sport, anywhere, period). Take pride in that heritage! The blazers have been a perennial powerhouse for the majority of their existence. I mean seriously, get over this self defeating attitude that we can't sign the big free agents and just go do it. It sure as hell won't happen if you don't try.

If we can get lucky and Paul Allen ponys up again:
D. Lillard
L. Aldridge
D. Howard
N. Batum
W. Matthews

Imagine that! Don't tell me that starting five wouldn't demand the attention of everyone in the league. And that is one big signing away from being a reality. Personally I think that would be a better front court than Oden, Roy, and Aldridge would have been. You rarely get a second chance in life, when you have a chance at redemption you have to go all in.

You don't tank the season, you don't rely on draft picks, you GO BIG OR GO HOME!

 

Trey Burke reminds me a lot of DJ Augustine.

 

Portland has had decent playoff success over the last 15 years, too.

 

Yes, but Portland did it in a way that really won't happen again.