With the #7 pick, the Portland Trail Blazers select....

So, poor man's Herro?


Edit. Or more like Herro without the ball handling skills.

 

Way more athletic

 

I'll try to keep an open mind about him.

 

Perhaps, but his made jumper percentage in the half-court was a very paltry 26%.

 

Bennedict Mathurin when it's all said and done will be a better player over all than Herro

 

Herro is about on par with the type of player you would hope for when drafting with the 7th pick.

 

Herro and Ben are way different players. Herro was elite pull up and touch guy, ben obviously the better finisher. Better defensive tools but it didn't translate to better defense in college.

Odd comparison.

 

Theyre nothing alike.

I would say even Richard Jefferson as a possible comp

 

Mathurin is often lauded for his cutting, but I'm not sure how to value it since most of it wasn't instinctive.

Great on designed / system stuff but you just don't see a lot of that in league minus out bounds and after timeout plays.

 

Watching Mathurin at Arizona I felt he had a Lillard-like attitude and toughness out there. Just seemed like a baller. Looked the part. Different positions. He just felt the same. However that is also how I felt about Kansas Jayhawk Ben Mclemore. As did much of the league with him being drafted what, 5?

 

I get more kcp vibes with him. Maybe he’s better than that, but the combine measurements were bad. We can’t have someone 6’4 at the 2.

 

EDIT: Mathurin looks the part of a good athlete — smooth, pretty quick, skills … but I hope the Blazers go with more size/length. He doesn’t stand out to my eyes as BPA in that range and also not a need.

 

28:48
Top Defenders in the 2022 Draft - Chet Holmgren the next ...

YouTube · Locked On NBA Big Board
28 minutes, 48 seconds
1 day ago

Great piece on best defenders in draft.

 

2013, 7th pick. 3 picks before McCollum.

Edit: It's so sad for Sacramento. In 2012 the Kings chose Thomas Robinson at #5, then the Trail Blazers took Damian Lillard at #6.
In 2013, the Kings took Ben McLemore at #7, the Blazers took CJ McCollum at #10.

 

I wonder who Milwaukee took?

 

The mystery guy some people compared to Scottie Pippen. Little did they know he's end up being better than Scottie Pippen.

 

I remember that Danny Ainge went to scout Giannis in Greece. Interesting that Giannis grew a couple inches between January and the time of the draft. Seems like that would be something you'd want to keep tabs on.

https://www.boston.com/sports/bosto...iannis-antetokounmpo-greece-scout-2013-draft/

"The Celtics eventually traded up in the 2013 draft to select Kelly Olynyk with the 13th pick, with Antetokounmpo falling to the Bucks at the 15th pick.

As for why Boston passed on the future MVP, Ainge noted the Antetokounmpo’s growth.

“We all liked him,” Ainge told Bulpett. “All of us had seen him. I think I saw him in maybe January, but by the time that he was drafted that same year, he was I think two or three inches taller and maybe 10 or 15 pounds heavier. And he was even bigger the year after Milwaukee drafted him. But he was just a really skinny kid that had no outside game, and he looked like a kid that just needed a long time to develop.'"

 

They were probably the guys Olshey wanted but we’re picked ahead of the players we got. That’s why he acquired them years later

 

I saw Tracy McGrady said there will be only two all-stars from this draft: Jabari Smith and Johnny Davis.