The Blazers went into the draft today (one of my three Blazer Holidays–along with Trade Deadline Day and Opening Night) with the #’s 24, 33, 38, 55 and 56 picks.  No sane Blazer fan thought that our talent evalution staff would draft at all five positions, much less keep all five on the roster.  So when the rumors of deals and draft picks started rolling in, they were somewhat perplexing.  Of course, being a Blazer fan, I was completely subscribing to the IKPIT philosophy.

Now?  I’m starting to think he should’ve asked the guys over for another bottle of wine or two at the Lake Oswego pad.  Really–their vaunted computer system must have been unplugged and had some version of Computer Swine Flu to spit up the results of tonight.  Born and Buchanan, Penn and Pritchard must’ve eaten some magic mushrooms.

The consensus analysis from everything I read was that the team needs going into the offseason were a) get better at PG; b) look at more consistency from the 3; and c) get a banger backup PF.  KP has said to my face that we’re targeting “Cap Space 2009″, and I’m giving him the B.O.D. on that.  There are plenty of moves still to be made, and we can still get A and B in the free agency period.  But I want to talk about Option C right now.

I was excited when we got to #22.  I could’ve sworn it was to jump the Kings and get their choice in Casspi, and grab some bennies from Petrie.  Then, when it started getting close and I realized we were guaranteed either Blair or Casspi at 22, I was giddy.  Then we (imho) reached for Claver.  Let’s talk about that for a second.

Maybe, just maybe, KP had wind that OKC or MIN were going to take a flyer on Claver (who I really like, btw) and needed to make the move at #22.  But this guy just signed a 3-year deal with Pamesa Valencia (that has an “affordable” buyout–whatever that means) and would’ve been best suited for the type of deal a 2nd-rounder can command, since I’m not positive that if this guy blows up like he’s projected to, the 22nd slot (at a cool max starting salary of $1.24M) will be enough to entice his services from teams who are paying out of the nose for the likes of Tiago Splitter and Fran Vasquez and keeping them from joining the greatest league in the world.  But I have now digressed.  Not only did we not get Casspi and force SAC to give us something for him, we whiffed on a banger backup PF.  But that was ok, at the time.  Because…

At this point, we’ve been told that Sergio and the 38 are going to Sacramento for the 31.  We’ll have two of the first 3 picks of the second round.

There are a couple ways to spin the Sergio trade.  One, we get another 1.57M under the cap on July 1, while getting back only an 874k exception that we can renounce.   Two, Sergio was going to be (at best) 3rd PG in Nate’s rotation next year, and if he’s going to be unhappy with that (who wouldn’t?) then it’s time for a change of scenery.  Fine.  But wait, we’ve digressed again.  We were talking about Need C, backup PF.

31’s rolling around, and I’m stunned that Blair made it past Cleveland.  I would’ve thought that he would be a great hedge in case Sideshow Andy gets paid big by someone this summer.  But as they say, their loss is our gain.  We have the potential to choose from Blair, Brockman, Jerebko–I’m stoked.  It’s Adam Silver Time!

Jeff Pendergraph?  Really?  He performed worse in the Pac-10 than Brockman, on a poorer team, lost the head-to-head battles, lost the battle of the workout to Blair in SAC, etc.  Maybe he’s the first step–the “finesse” guy that will platoon with Brockman or Blair for the change-of-pace PF.  He can run, he’s got some touch to his post game, he gets beaten around by physical players.  Hm…guess we’re not extending Channing that qualifying offer now!

Now we’re on to 33…dodging the Jermaine Taylor bullet, so we now have to opportunity to choose between Blair and Brockman.  Big money, no whammies….big money, no whammies….STOP!   Dante Cunningham? Big East guy, right?  Quick check to the mock draft list has Ford getting him picked at 59.  Well, that’s something, at least he’s projected to be drafted.  Let’s click on him and see what he’s about.  “Intelligent big man.”  Well, that’s good.  “Good mid-range jumper.  Inside and outside player”.  Ok so far, I guess.  Maybe there’s something here.  Then, I read:  ”

Uh, sounds like we’re not extending that QO to Frye.  Wait, didn’t I write that snappy line already?  (Furiously reading back) yes…it seems I did.  We have Blair and Brockman on the board twice and pick two Channing Frye clones.  Then, to add insult to injury, Brockman get drafted BY US!!! and sent on to Sacramento–with Sergio, and that cash–for the right to have Jeff Pendergraph.   Quick recap:  the Wizards just bought Jermaine Taylor at 32 for cash.   The Rockets just bought Sergio Llull at 34 for cash.  Beverly at #42 and Budinger at #44 for a future 2nd.  Anyone seeing a trend here?  You can buy a high 2nd-rounder for just cash?  Did anyone tell KP that?  What’s the number for the War Room Hotline?  (As an aside, could I have even gotten a bet that the Spurs weren’t taking Blair if he was still on the board?  Seriously. That’s what smart teams do.)

I spent the last hour crafting this vent.  As a reward for my patience, we just took Patrick Mills at #55.  That’s a start.   I guess that if you would’ve told me before the night that we were basically trading Sergio and Brockman for Pendergraph and Mills, I’d be ok with it.  Actually, who am I kidding?

I’m waiting for the comments that say “it’s about the cap space”.  Doesn’t fly, ladies and gents.  We needed a backup PF and drafted 2 (three, if you include Claver).  Each one of them brings nothing new to the table that our roster didn’t currently have.  Even if you wanted a Frye replacement, did you need the redundancy that comes with two?  You couldn’t find a spot for Blair or Brockman–whose skills only happen to be the single most translatable college skill to the NBA–on a team that needed toughness, motor, and rebounding from the backup PF position?  On a second-round contract?  Really?

Color me Pritch-slapped tonight.