They put Bonzi at 35, over Steve Smith and Kenny Carr? yikes. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/trail_blazers_top_40_no_35_bon.html 35. Bonzi Wells 34. Johnny Davis 33. Darnell Valentine 32. Steve Johnson 31. Danny Ainge
Bonzi was immature, easily swayed into doing stupid things, and a jerk. But he was a really good player. I hope his apology is sincere.
What surprised me more was how low Danny Ainge and Steve Johnson were. I would have guessed they would be top 20.
I had a source on the Blazers who said that Wells was actually bi polar. So that might shed some light on his ups and downs with the team. With that said, he was an extremely talented player. He could have been an All-Star.
I'm surprised Danny Ainge is above Wells. He played 161 games and only started six. He had 1674 points and a PER of 17.0 and 15.4 in his two years. Wells played 310 games as a Blazer, starting 190. Scored about 4000 points (didn't add it up, sorry). Three full seasons of PER 17.4 or higher. I don't understand why, as a player, Ainge would be ranked higher than Wells. Ed O.
Wells was a solid player. I don't think his ranking is particularly off. He managed to become quite hated, with his attitude, but he did play well for Portland for a while.
Damon will undoubtedly be on the list somewhere, probably top 20 if Bonzi is here at 35. Sheed could be top 10. I wonder if JR Rider though will make the list somewhere.
Bonzi was a headcase but when he got hot he was unstoppable. It's a shame those were few and far between. I always liked his skill set - a Power Guard.
Good call with JR. You have to put him on here. He carried the team in the Utah Series in '99 that put them in the WCF against SA.
Damon low 20's Ed? Don't forget the love affair Quick has always had with him. That's the wild card that could put Damon in the top 10 or 15.
Wells would be the best player on our team today, because he'd be the only one who's not skinny. He could blow by people to the hoop instead of settling for jump shots. He would dominate on this team near the hoop like Roy does, but Roy lost 10 pounds and isn't driving in as well this year.
He has the record for most points in a playoff game and he was a huge player in many good Blazers teams.
