Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

I would not be mad if Isaiah Stewart fell in our laps, dude is a tank, can’t shoot worth a dick but he could be the next Carl Landry/David West Type guy. Would be AWESOME off the bench with post scoring.

 

Whoa Hoops?
Leave the tension elsewhere man. Sounds like someone pissed in your Cherrios. Wasn't me bro.
Just seems a bit odd that Draft discussion would be ongoing since November now that i look at the date this was all started. Nobody anywhere "Shit" on anything.

As usual some of what you say is correct kind of but mostly not. Just like the coach you give Olshey way too much credit for what happens. Yes there are people assigned to scouting but it ain't Neil Olshey and at this point of the season he isn't thinking about "Draft Prospects". The Blazers have a couple good people working on it though. First on the International Side of things the Blazers employ Lojze Milosavljevic. He scouts international prospects all over Europe. Lojze has been with the Blazers for 6 years. He was with the Hawks before that and even before that he was with the Seattle Supersonics. He has been in the game for over 20 years. That means old dudes like me know oh him well.
Now on the Scouting side there are a couple people working. One of them covers High School. His name is Danny Conners. Now right now this guy is busy.
You also have Sean Kelly, Preston Fawcett and John Dobbertin. Of course they all work with Johnathan Yim, John Ross, and TC Swirsky who all work video quite well.
Matt Whinrey is the Advance Scout. He has been with the Blazers for three years after coming over from the Pelicans but he is more about scouting teams the Blazers will be facing. Not College Draft.

No sweat. have at it.

 

Due to restrictions to foreign players though they are forced to play him in the Israeli league so he is still getting many minutes there+some minutes in low 10s in Euroleague where the level is much higher and no restrictions apply.

 

He better be focusing on it as well because Masai Ujiri was watching in person Killian Hayes the other day. I don't need to mention Ujiri is better at his job, but Neil can try harder.

 

Ujiri is a real good scout no question. He has been one for almost 20 years at the NBA level. He also has made some real good decisions as a GM no question. Personally i think he gets a bunch of credit and actually way too much really. He would not have beaten a healthy Golden State team last year. Even more so, if they had lost and then lost Leonard how would he look?
Raptors are doing well and they are to be commended for sure. Ujiri has had a very positive impact.

 

My #1 prospect for our likely range:

LUKA GARZA!

The college Bosnian Beast.

 

Cole looking rough again against FSU.

Dynamic pull up shooter, especially going left and flashes come competitiveness defensively but don't trust his vision, deceptiveness off the dribble or finishing around the rim.

Also doesn't have great size or willingness/IQ to play or be effective off ball.

Devin Vassell had a pretty quiet 1st half but made a big impact on both ends in the 2nd and still like him as a top 15 guy in this draft (Otto Porter / MKG mashup type player).

Not a clean translation physically (not particularly quick, long or strong) but just an active and high IQ player that applies his athleticism really well on both ends. See him as an impact role guy / context starter on good teams for a long time (team defender / versatile 16-19% usage player on offense)

 

Obviously our Draft spot is falling and I expect we will make the Playoffs. The #8 seed in the West is currently around #17/18. Who in that aread could be helpful? What made Portland so special back in the 90's was they kept hitting on picks that were no where near the Lottery.

 

Bump...

It's looking more likely that Blazers will have a pick in the 10-13 range. Is anyone standing out to y'all?

I'm fairly disappointed with this draft. However, I do think there are a couple with potential:

Likely off the board before Portland selects:
* Avdija
* Okongwu
* Killian Hayes

Targets in the right range:
* Haliburton (Recent injury may have him slip down to Portland's range. Could be a good role player - without the high level potential.)
* Okoro (I think my personal pick right now. He has the highest peak potential and a decent floor).

Trade down targets:
* Jalen Smith (I think he's being under-rated, but he projects as a role player. He may have some potential to be a good starter-level player).
* Tyler Bey (Could be a good 3&D wing).

I'm not sold on Toppin. I think his defense is below average & will kill him in the NBA.

That's about it for my targets. Fairly ho-hum....

 

I've watched a lot of college and intl' basketball this season and I'm not sold there are more than 2-3 guys in the draft who will be any more than end of the bench role players in a few years. Obviously guys get better and grow up and fill out and who knows, but this to me isn't an exciting year to get a mid-tier lottery pick...

 

My guys at this point...

Isaac Okoro
Devin Vassell
Xavier Tillman
Tyler Bey

Getting 2 of the 4 in trade down with OKC would be ideal, but unlikely.

Vassell and Tillman might be my favorite and most realistic scenario though.

 

I was covering a college game last night and was seated with the director of scouting for an NBA team who was there checking out a couple of players. His team isn't going to be in the lottery.

We were chatting for about 2 hours, mostly about the guys he was watching, but we got to talk a little about this year's draft prospects in general.

He's really high on Obi Toppin, mainly because he says he's going to be a guy who can be an above-average defender against both 3s and 4s eventually. He says Toppin is going to be a universal top-five pick if he isn't already, probably going four behind Edwards, Wiseman, and Ball.

I asked him who he would compare Toppin to, asked for an example Batum, but thicker and stronger. He said Batum is a better shooter, but Toppin's the better player, more physical.

I also asked him about a guy I thought might be a fit for the Blazers in the mid-teens, Memphis' Precious Achiuwa. He liked him a lot. Raw, but aggressive, and doesn't get intimidated no matter who he's going against.

 

I think Toppin is going to be really good.

 

You've outpaced me man. I've been too busy to watch college basketball sadly.

Next year has a great group of prospects, and should be extremely entertaining. March Madness will be crazy this year too.

 

Im just having a ton of late nights and honestly my Blazer watching enjoyment is so low, just getting through the games the 1st time is painful, no way Im rewatching it. I mean Dame is amazing the rest of them... eh.

 

Precious Achiuwa, Saadiq Bey, Jordan Nwora, Isaac Okoro, Mamadi Diakete, Zeke Nnaji. I think we are set in the backcourt for a while. This year has proven our weakness is depth in the frontcourt. All these guys have some position flexibility, all are strong defensively and they are from winning programs. My first choice would be Achiuwa and second is Nwora. Diakete might be available in the second round but the others would probably have to be a first round pick.

 

I hate comparing prospects to NBA players but I've watched a ton of Obi lately and I feel like I'm basically watching Amare Stoudemire.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, I can't believe the love Lamelo Ball and Nico Mannion are getting in mock drafts. Both seem like YouTube wonders that are being overrated. I believe it has to do with the weak class of guards but I wouldn't waste a high pick no matter how bad I needed a PG.

 

That isnt a comp that ever crossed my mind. Im gonna have to think about that one.