Espn has their combined mock draft: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...picks-every-team-first-round?linkId=104189005 which has all 3 of those available at #16. Who do you take and why? Kira Lewis has been much higher on most other mocks. Bey is a ready-made 3 and D guy. Hampton has a lot of potential.
Bey would be my choice. They have him compared to Iggy and if he's even close to Iggy talents, take him.
Melo, Ariza, Hood...none are long term answers at forward. They may not even be short term answers. We need kids who can play, not "potential"! Nor am I enthusiastic about another small wing who doesn't contribute at both ends. Bey by a mile.
I would take poku but if I had to pick one of those three, probably Hampton. I’ve come around on the idea of him. If he busts we don’t really miss out on anything.
I know I do, it's really close with Nesmith but I like him for our team a lot more than Lewis and just think he's better than Hampton. That being said I just really don't think any rookie is going to play a meaningful role on this team this next season who is drafted at 16 so swing for the fences and draft Poku... hell I'd trade some second rounders if I had to trade up to make sure I got Poku.
Hood is hurt and an expiring deal. Ariza is old and an expiring deal. Melo is old and there's a good chance he will sign elsewhere. Collins (IMHO) is barely average. I'm sorry, but I am baffled by your notion that we have all this quality depth at forward. Let's split the difference: say we draft someone like Bey and they don't become a starter until their second season. How is that worse than chasing the next Meyers Leonard?
Whoa! You did not just compare Poku to Meyers. Have you seen this kid's handle, his fluidity and yeah both are big guys that can hit the three but this guys shot is way better than our old friend Meyers' is. Not to mention the floor vision of Poku and his timing around the rim for rebounding and shot blocking. The guy isn't going to be a 5, he's going to be a 4 so he actually is addressing a potential need at forward. Also, right now we are deep at the three Ariza (who can actually play either forward position) and Hood (who by all accounts is just about ready to play) you mentioned but Nas and Gary are both guys who can play small forward and I expect big things from both of them. With CJ getting 35+ minutes a game at the 2 Gary is going to need minutes at the 3, Ariza is going to get a ton of minutes there, Hoodie will also... for this year we actually have a logjam that might prevent Nas, who has a ton of promise, from getting playing time. As far as the 4 goes, that might be a target with the MLE but we have Zach, most likely Wenyen and Ariza that will need minutes before Bey if you project him as a PF. If we want to address the forward postion through the draft when we do have a need next off season then we can do it in a much better draft class. Since we do have so many playable forwards right now and we know that Stotts isn't playing any rookies anyway, why not swing for the fences... if Poku is even there at 16 because a lot of people around the league are very high on this kid.
If you knew you could get Poku falling all the way to #26, I'd take a chance on that and then whatever you could get by trading the #16 pick. All of these players have flaws, but Poku has a unique skill set and size that is unique. Wonder what we could get for the #16 pick?
I think I take McDaniels ahead of the choices given. He’s not going to solve any problems this season but he has all the tools to really be a long term answer on the Blazers.
