With the 7th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, The Portland Trailblazers select. . .

I did not want Murray either before the draft, but realistically how many players that were drafted after Murray have proved to be substantially better? And how many of those did several other teams miss on as well? I am sure there are a few, there are always are. But was it that much of a miss? I honestly don't know

 

Goodpoints however, cant always determine how all player evolves with 1 season? Sure there are a few that pop right away but its smaller percentage of those draft second round. I mean, we used the 3rd pick to draft a PG that struggled for most of the season last year and we had an All Star pg. Going to take a a few years to determine if that was a good move or not?

 

This draft is exciting in a different way then last years was cause there was will we won't we trade 3 to help Dame etc but this year I think will tell us more of what the future might hold. The reason i say this who they draft at 7 for sure and prolly 14 will tell us who will be in a Blazer uniform as a future piece and who might be gone in a year or less. I mean if they take a guard at 7 this must mean Ant and/or Sharpe will be gone and of course Brogs prolly gone for sure but what if they take a center. This has to mean they are not confident in Ayton being the full time starter and might think he will not even re-sign in two seasons once he is a free agent ( I think he is gone ) .

 

No idea if Chicago was interested but I wanted us to satisfy our outstanding pick to them instead.

 

There are a lot of good SFs in the draft, just take the best one available, and I'll be happy.

 

Which ought to tell you how useless rehearsed movements are to game speed improvised actions.

 

That's cool. So since he was involved with Sharp, Rupert?, Scoot, Walker, Camara, Ayton, Murray, Banton, & Duop what grade would you give him based on performance to date? Id go with C

 

They are pointless.

However, even at game speed - there is not a lot of difference between Edey and Clingan.

 

So what you are saying is, despite the NBA requiring every draftee to participate in these tests and measurements, they do not mean anything and should be discarded? I find it interesting that when a teams scouts will get together with their management team, they will be citing these tests and measurements as part of the basis player X should be drafted before player Y. Quite honestly, the way I looked at the Clingan/Edey measurements was that Edey put in the work to get drafted as high as possible because he has been called slow and a dinosaur for four years. I thought Edey's numbers were very impressive, especially after Edey ate Clingan's lunch in the title game and then his dinner at the combine. Just my perspective but at this moment, Edey seems to be putting in the work and is getting the desired results. I still want Ware over him, but I would take Edey over Clingan as long as his legs are uniform in length, has good feet and good knees.

 

They're a crutch. It's a well established fact that the NBA draft is an inexact science. You'd think with only ~30 players in the first round each year, there'd be easily 30 "can't miss" guys worldwide. But no, there are as many failures as there are successes, and even the lottery has a high percentage of whiffs. Talent evaluators are only moderately better than couch potatoes, so they too lean on the measureables that don't have much correlation to career arc.

The only things of importance from the combine, IMO, are physical measurements and interviews.

Okay, let's think that through a bit further... If Edey is putting in the work, and that somehow improves his standing as a prospect, then what does that say about his work ethic the past 3.5 years when he was unanimously thought of as too slow? Doesn't that basically make him a contract year player, not to be counted on the other years?

I'll wager he hasn't actually improved his athleticism [significantly]. He's just excelling at meaningless drills through repetition.

 

Im not sure I have blanket confidence in anything these day?

 

I think that's harsh. Also, I think Murray was a pick that was taken on the assumption that Dame stayed. He was supposed to be a plug-and-play player (like his twin), and kind of there to placate Dame for us taking BPA with Scoot. He would probably look better if surrounded by talent because he can fill a role and not have to create for himself. (I think his shooting will come around.)
I wonder if we'd've taken him if we knew Dame was gone. (Maybe we would've taken Rupert there...)

 

Donovan actually kind of reminds me of Joel Pryzbilla. He'll be a good shot blocker, rebounder, and interior defender. But he doesn't seem to have much offensive skill.

Or perhaps like Hasaan Whiteside without a jumper.

 

I also said Vanilla Gorilla 2.0