<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Blazers will work out several college seniors Tuesday at Tualatin training facility. Among them: Oregon?s <u>Luke Jackson</u>, Gonzaga?s <u>Blake Stepp</u> and <u>Jameer Nelson</u> of St. Joseph?s. ?Luke was the first player we invited,? Portland GM John Nash says. Nash says the Blazers will bring in about 25 players for pre-draft workouts.</div> Full Article: http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=24275
Portland will be picking at 13, 23 and 44. Jameer Nelson will have to slip if they are to pick him at 13, and Golden State are after a PG and they pick ahead of Portland in the draft. Luke Jackson should fit in well, he's from Oregon and has a good all around game. Blake Stepp would be a good bench player for them aswell.
Both Luke and Jameer will help the blazers immeidately , they are what the blazers are looking for, great point guards and a SG/SF player not only shoots three well but a very all around player. Luke will be the easilest player among those three to get used to the nba city and players. future PGJameer Nelson SGLuke Jackson SFDarius Miles PFZach Randoplh C Travis Outlaw
Jameer won't "slip" to POR at #13, he will be avialable and POR (as they WISELY should do) will pass on him. GM Nash is already on the record about Jameer, calling him a good role playerbackup...not exactly a ringing endorsement, but right on the money IMO. There will be FAR better players at #13 (if POR even stays there) than Jameer Nelson. Luke is another story and a dilemma, I think POR does like him, on several levels, as a player, as a good PR tool...however I do not think he will be there when POR selects at #23, I think he will go mid to late teens. Which puts POR in a bind, reach for him at #13 over better players? or in all likelyhood miss him at #23. I could see POR ttrading up from #23 to get him, if the REALLY liked him. Can't see them selecting him at #13 though, but if he keeps climbing the charts, who knows? BTW, in case you hadn't heard Jackson shredded Iguodola in a 1 on 1 matchup recently. He is moving up the charts. Dachen - Outlaw cannot play center, right now he is a SF, he is just too skinny, he still needs to bulk up more. He MAY end up as a PF, but more than likely he will be an NBA SF even after he fills ut a little more. Lastly, Blake Stepp...this guy is not an NBA player. I hope POR passes on this kid, it would be a waste of a 2nd round pick IMO. He just isn't NBA material. Look at Dickau, he is barely an NBA player ( and may not be for long after his initial rookie deal expires), and Dickau was a FAR better player than Stepp is. There will be better prospects to take with our 2nd round pick than Stepp. Let another team make that mistake.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Blaze01:</div><div class="quote_post"> Dachen - Outlaw cannot play center, right now he is a SF, he is just too skinny, he still needs to bulk up more. He MAY end up as a PF, but more than likely he will be an NBA SF even after he fills ut a little more. </div> Theo is listed 6-10 and Outlaw is listed 6-9 and Okafor is about 6-9 too. If Outlaw gets stronger and taller(hey he is just a kid, he might grow an inch or two) Outlaw can be the next Theo, he already has the high vertical jump.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dachen33:</div><div class="quote_post">Theo is listed 6-10 and Outlaw is listed 6-9 and Okafor is about 6-9 too. If Outlaw gets stronger and taller(hey he is just a kid, he might grow an inch or two) Outlaw can be the next Theo, he already has the high vertical jump.</div> It's the style of play that matters, not height. Outlaw is SF material in the L and he should stay that way.
Ok, that is fine, maybe the blazers should draft some centers with their 13th, i really hope they can draft Luke Jackson, i really like him as an oregon ducks.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In the meantime, the Blazers have a series of workouts planned for prospects, including today, with Oregon forward Luke Jackson, Saint Joseph's guard Jameer Nelson, Xavier guard Lionel Chalmers and Washington State guard Marcus Moore. On Wednesday, the Blazers plan to work out centers Rafael Araujo from Brigham Young, 7-foot-3 Ha Seung-Jin from Korea, Richard Fox of Gonzaga and Jerry Sokolowski from Canada. Mississippi State forward Lawrence Roberts, Nevada guard Kirk Snyder, Saint Joseph's guard Delonte West and Missouri forward Arthur Johnson are expected to work out Thursday. This is the second wave of players to work out in Portland. Three weeks ago, the evaluated guards Romain Sato of Xavier, Rickey Paulding of Missouri, Ricky Minard of Morehead State and Greg Davis of Troy State. </div> Changes in store for Blazers
more updates The Blazers are planning on working out four more potential draft picks this Sunday, May 23rd at the team's practice facility in Tualatin. The players are: Sebastian Telfair, Abraham Lincoln H.S., Brooklyn, NY Chris Duhon, Duke Greg Davis, Troy State Rashad Wright, Georgia http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/blazersblog/ i like both Telfair and Chris Duhon. But it will be so nice if we can draft Duhon with our 44th pick.
