Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

He definitely is a very unique player. Super fluid, a playmaker defensively and his handling, passing and shot versatility for his size is outstanding.

Wish he finished better and don't think he's a great defender on a play to play basis despite his massive Blk and Stl rates. Still not sure how smart he is either. Very instinctive though.

 

Precious is the player I'd be very happy if he dropped. SUPER raw but could become a Bam Adebayo type.

 

I just look at him and I see elements of Durant, Doncic and Porzingas in his game. He probably won't be as good as any of them, but he's a unicorn, and if he gets anywhere near that level, to be able to pick him around 15 is a steal.

The finishing and upper-body strength don't scare me. He's 18 1/2, youngest player in the draft. He's almost certainly going to get stronger. But I like his feet and his smoothness with the handle.

 

Probably the rest of you guys already figured this out, but @CupWizier and I were having trouble figuring out where Portland would draft. This confirms that we will draft #16, outside the lottery. For all teams that made the playoffs, their position is determined by winning% for both segments of the season. For teams that did not make the playoffs their position is determined by winning % only in the first season segment.
https://www.nba.com/article/2020/08/17/nba-draft-2020-ties-broken-official-release

 

Yeah, i saw that earlier. Well 15th or 16, essentially the same, but i'm hoping we can package it for a player.

 

I'm okay withg trading up a bit for Okungwu, or trading the pick + assets (Zach, Ant) for an upgrade on the wing. All I want from this draft is us walking away with Trevelin Queen in the second round. PERFECT fit for our team skills-wsie and culture-wise.

http://www.tankathon.com/players/trevelin-queen

 

I think it’s more likely that we trade up for Obi Toppin or Deni Avdija. They both can play stretch power forward. Okungwu is more of a center which we don’t need.
About trevelin queen, isn’t he a SG. Don’t tell me he can also play SF. We don’t need those guys, we need a big combo forward or a backup point guard. Our backcourt is essentially locked with Dame, CJ, and Trent. While our SF is also locked with Ariza, Trent, Hood, and even Melo/Little. I much rather have Payton Pritchard or any other point guard in the second round

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...tery-buzz-the-mystery-begins-right-at-the-top

Pisses me off that nearly all of the players I was interested in are supposed to be rising - Patrick Williams, Tyrese Halliburton, Saddiq Bey, Tyrell Terry. Looks like we could get RJ Hampton, though, if anyone's interested. That would be a very Nassir Little-type pick...

 

Is there even the smallest hope we will get a player worth giving a shite about?

 

Depends. If you're looking for someone who could come in and be able to move the needle next season, probably not. Saddiq Bey is the one guy who could be a rotation player, but he plays a spot where we already have a bunch of guys (3, 4).

There are several guys who have a decent chance of being there who could be sensational players eventually, but you're probably looking at 3 years until they're going to be really contributors, especially with Stotts coaching and his hesitance to play young guys.

 

We have a bunch of guys....but are any of them above average?
I think not

 

I think there's a pretty good chance there are a couple of good prospects who eventually could be solid rotation players or better when the Blazers pick, but I don't see a guy in the mid-teens who moves the needle for this team.

Like I mentioned above, Bey is the one guy who is ready to step on the floor and give you quality minutes. But when I look at the position he plays ... you have the potential that he's competing with Zach, Hood, Ariza, Melo, Wenyen, Nas, even Trent for minutes at the 3 and 4 spots. Hoard could be thrown into that mix, as well. I forgot Hezonja because I guess I try to forget him, but he's another player.

There's a logjam for minutes at that position.

What the team really needs is a reliable guy who can give minutes at guard and a guy who can play the 4 or 5, and there aren't a lot of really good options at either spot. Shooting guard is the weakest position in this draft, for starters. There are a number of PGs with length but none that are ready to come in and shoot the ball or run the offense on a playoff contender. Tyrell Terry's interesting -- he could be a Lou Williams-type scorer off the bench or at least a Seth Curry -- but he's soooo small that I can't imagine him playing meaningful minutes next year. He's another undersized combo guard, too, and if people don't like Dame playing with CJ, I think having Dame playing with CJ and Terry would drive this forum insane.

I always get excited for the draft and the potential of a new contributor joining the Blazers, but, considering Dame's window, I really think we probably will trade the pick this year in the hopes of getting help at the 1 or the 2 or adding a big, particularly if Whiteside leaves.

 

That's my point. But there's no one in this draft that's going to be better than any of those guys for 3 years, if ever.

Bey's plug and play. But he's plug and play at a position that's already stocked. I don't see him taking minutes from Zach at the 4, and he's not taking minutes from Ariza, or a healthy Rodney at the 3. Then, if Melo's back ... well, it seems like a wasted pick to go for Bey, because he's a quick fix and there are other guys who have much higher ceilings. If he's not moving the needle for you next year, picking him is pointless, IMO, because there are other positions where you have opportunities to move the needle for no other reason than there's more opportunity to play.

 

I really do like Bey. I feel like he can be a solid role player especially in his rookie season. But as you’ve said there’s really a logjam at his position. I would love to get Tre Jones, feel like he can be a better point guard than people may believe, and Vernon Carey, a solid center who can fill the need for the third big men on the team

 

I like Jones as a guy that can step in and defend opposing PGs for 10 minutes per night pretty much from the moment he joins the team. My question (and probably everyone's question) is whether he has the offense to play that much and if he ever gets to the point where his offense is at least adequate enough that his defense becomes playable. Even as a good defender, he's not going to contain top PGs; you need to get something from him on the other end of the court.

The guy who intrigues me as a big in the second round is Udoka Azubuike from Kansas. I know people are going to say he's a plodder whose game doesn't translate to this day and age of the NBA, but I still see a massive human who shot 70% from the field for his college career playing the best the NCAA had to offer, who was the best player on the best team, and I honestly think bigs are a market inefficiency right now and in a few years teams will have found a way to take advantage of traditional bigs in this style of positionless basketball. Like OK, you put him on the floor and you give up open 3s when he's on defense, and the other team hits those at a 40 percent clip, but, on the offensive end, he's scoring at will, picking up fouls, he's giving you extra possessions because he's getting offensive boards and he's not allowing opponents second shots at the other end.

 

Trade the pick for a decent veteran player in a less than stellar position team wise, or package it with another player to get a true starting wing player.

No need for another raw player who is 2-3 years away from a rotation

 

Reading up on some of the players, there's seems be a glut of wing guys in our range.

Saddiq Bey
Josh Green
RJ Hampton
Aaron Nesmith
Patrick Williams

Who's the best of these guys?

RJ Hampton seems like the Neil Olshey kinda pick.

 

That defense looks really good, but I think I have a better first step than him. That guy can't get any separation when he has the ball. I would lock him in a gym and get him to do nothing but catch and shoots.

 

The number of drafts where there is nobody good after the 15th pick is zero. So there's a huge possibility that there will be a good-to-great player available when we pick.

The hard part is to pick the right guy (duh).

 

Are we so sure we're going for wings? Seems like we're equally weak on backup PG and power forward. Backup PG - my vote is Tyrell Terry. PFs? I dunno.

A player who is almost certain to be available when we pick (unlike many of the players listed above) is the other Bey - Tyler. I like the sound of his defense, which we DESPERATELY need. The only reason he's mocked low-first is because of his iffy offense, so the question is, can he be taught to hit an open three? He strikes me as this year's Matisse Thybulle (and not just because they both won Pac-12 DPOY).