Running list of prospects meeting/working out with Portland

The Buffalo Bar

 

i can’t argue with your personal opinion. Your thoughts make sense.
I would be okay with Duren in a situation where we still were able to address the wing. This is why I am not payed the big bucks to figure this out lol.
I think duren could be a Bam type situation where he wasn’t fully utilized. I also don’t think Penny is a good coach or developer of talent which makes me skeptical on it Duren can contribute day 1. Not really his fault there but still a concern for me

 

oh for fuck sakes....that's like telling your 8 year old son as you're leaving the kitchen: "don't eat that cookie on the counter, but it sure tastes good!"

 

Fair.

 

my wife and I will be camping in NE Oregon in places where there is no cell service. Will need to wait for the news but I will miss all the meltdowns around here.

 

Thank you! I don't get paid the big bucks for my opinion either and I'm likely overlooking some things on other prospects as I haven't done a deep dive on everyone, but I am quite sure given health Duren is going to be a force in the league. I get the devaluation of 5s in today's game, & how much like the RB position in football they usually don't go at the top of the draft anymore. But when a true plus prospect comes out, you make exceptions to rules.

Not sure about Penny as a coach, but Memphis had terrible guards/distributors which of course directly affects post play. Rasheed was on Penny's staff last year and thats a pretty knowledgeable guy about Big man play. I wouldn't expect or count out Duren contributing much day 1 either as plenty of HoFers didn't do much their rookie years and Jalen isn't even 19.

STOMP

 

I think we can all agree Duren has potential. The question is where you take him.

if we keep 7, you can’t take him instead of Murray or Sochan IMO.

if we trade back to mid-first round, then yes, you swing for the potential all day.

 

I’ll bet Duren goes ahead of Sochan

 

I definitely think we could and should trade back if we decide he's our guy but how far we can is something I'm not sure about. For sure we could get him if we traded back to San Antonio at 9 plus whatever else they gave us (20 or 25). We would probably be able to get him if we traded back to the Knicks at 11 and hopefully also got them to send out Randle as well, while we sent cap relief in the form of Bledsoe who would save them over 97M through the lifetime of Randle's deal. After that, I don't know if Duren will be there and he could even be gone at 11. This draft is really hard to predict.

 

Like I just said, this is a really tough draft to predict. San Antonio might like Sochan better than Duren for what they need and could take Sochan at 9 leaving Duren picked after him.

 

I honestly am fine with just taking Duren or Sochan and getting on with our lives. It scares me to think about moving back, getting the draft order off and missing out on Sochan Duren and Eason.

 

When considering trading back you have to look at the draft boards.

ESPN has it:

• Chet Holmgren
• Jabari Smith
• Paolo Banchero
• Jaden Ivey
• Keegan Murray
• Dyson Daniels
• Shaedon Sharpe
• Bennedict Mathurin
• A.J. Griffin
• Jalen Duren
• Johnny Davis
• Ousmane Dieng
• Malaki Branham
• Mark Williams
• Jeremy Sochan
• Ochai Agbaji
• TyTy Washington Jr
• Tari Eason

So I think we could likely trade all the way back to 13 and 15 but still get one of the guys you like. There are a lot of different players in this draft that will appeal to different GMs.

 

Sharpe is a pretty nice boom or bust option.

 

If it is, then I'm just as weird. I take off work early and go into lock down. No one is permitted to disturb me. I gave up on draft parties years ago. Too distracting.

 

If we were certain he'd still be available at 9, perhaps that Spurs trade that has been mentioned would be a strong move.

 

I think Daniels is boom or bust too, depending on where he gets picked.

 

ugh. just due diligence i hope.

 

I don’t understand what the point of solo workouts are. Wouldn’t you want them to at least scrimmage with other NBA talent?

Solo workouts are, I believe, one of the things that led to Darko going #2. Amazing moves and shooting in an empty gym, not so much against competition.