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

I'd rather take Edey at 7. Then package Brogdon with the 14 to move up if they really want someone else.

Devin Carter and Zach Edey would be a tremendous draft.

 

Coming out of this draft with guys who would very likely project as backups at positions where we already have better prospects....

This would be a very disappointing outcome for me.

 

That depends on who is doing the projecting? Ayton is an inconsistent and soft center. Carter is a stud who is a very good defender, shooter, and averaged 9 rebounds per game, he can play SG.

 

These are my opinions.

Ayton > Clingan
Ayton >>> Edey

Scoot/Simons/Sharpe > Carter

Neither prospect would even get time on the floor. We still dont have definitive ideas of what our existing players will be. Our existing players at the same stage were valued as much much better prospects than Edey/Carter by almost every measure.

Adding backups who will get 15 mpg to this roster with two lottery picks does not seem like a good idea.

 

The problem is that we need better young forwards. Then there's the fact that if we picked Carter and Edey, I don't trust Cronin to worry about roster construction enough to move Ayton, Malcolm and Ant. If we don't move all three of those guys then these picks are basically useless and we'll see a whole lot of shit like we did last season with our back court. That made no sense then and it would make even less sense now.

 

If Joe doesn't move both Ant and Malcolm where do they even find 15 minutes for Carter?

 

Sometimes you have to take what you can get though. If we can get Williams and Edey, I'd be glad with that too. But Sharpe can play SF. We could deal for a PF...

 

I am assuming Brogdon being moved is a foregone conclusion. But this is semantics.... My point of lack of available PT has to be a consideration.

 

Devin Carter can play SG. He plays bigger than his 6'2 size. He's strong/athletic and a pesky defender. If he's getting 9 rebounds per game who cares that he's 6'2? He's an animal. Hit 37% of his 3s...

He set the combine record for 3/4 court sprint, though some have said something was off about their testing this year.

 

Putting Shae at the 3 when the guy is 6'5" is not putting him in a favorable spot to develop and have a fair shot at maximizing his potential.

Not thinking about roster construction has been a problem with this team since LaMarcus left. Not one season since then has our roster made sense and we've all seen where that's gotten us. I just can't believe fans of our team are still advocating playing guys out of position and investing way too much talent capital in two or three positions instead of spreading it more evenly across all five. And when I say that I don't mean we can't have superstars at a couple positions and role players at others, what I'm saying is investing 6 of our eight best roster spots in guards and two of them in redundant centers is par for the fucking course with our front office and I'm really sick of it... and you don't seem to be.

 

If we knew what we were getting for Ant and Malcolm a pick like Carter could make sense but if we don't know if we're trading both and exactly what the returns are then yeah there won't be any PT to make that pick make sense.

 

There's not much diff between 2 and 3 in the NBA. You do have to think about roster construction, and an issue with a smaller SF might be rebounding. But if you have strong rebounders in other areas it won't matter.

And Shaedon is not a bad rebounder, 5 per 36. He's better than Jerami Grant for sure...

 

Thanks... heard the exact same bullshit about Norm from people defending a lack of concern for roster construction four years ago. Heard all about there being no difference between the 1 and 2 for the 7 years we played this dumbass game with Dame and CJ. Yeah, sure roster construction doesn't really matter. Just plug good players in wherever and shit should work out right?

 

Would you be happy if the Blazers ended up taking Knecht and Edey?

 

Not me. Those are the two players being discussed in the lotto whose ceilings seem to be exactly where they're at right now. I really want our front office to swing big on upside. I get it if that's not someone else's philosophy but it is most definitely mine and those two picks would spit in the face of taking big risks on high potential prospects.

 

Norm doesn't rebound though, and we were pairing him with CJ and Dame.

You have to look at what the players can do, not if they differ by an inch or 2 from some ideal.

Besides, Sharp is average size for a SF anyway.

 

For the most part, I agree with you. But doesn't it kind of depend on who Shae is playing next to? Offensively I don't think it matters much between SG and SF.

Defensively it does matter but at the same time, they usually end up switching anyway. So I agree with you that Scoot, Carter, and Shae is not a good idea, but something like Castle, Carter, and Shae could work.

 

Let's circle back here to what my original statement was because you keep throwing out Hall of Famer top 75 guys.

I didn't say generational, game altering, superstar, hall of famer centers. I said big ass centers who exclusively play in the post. SO unless you're saying that Edey is the next Shaq or Yao, my point still stands.

I'm going to go back to this. Are you saying that Edey is a hall of famer caliber player?

 

Totally. Getting a dude who has a body like Castle that screams defensive versatility would be way different than trying to wedge Carter in with Scoot and Shae. When we talk about Castle as opposed to Carter, then we're thinking about roster construction.

 

They get even one solid backup out of this draft they have done well IMO. Two would be awesome!