If Knecht were to fall to #14, I think you take him and run. He is an NBA ready shooter that can really stretch the floor, is athletic and is a tough competitor. I think he is gone well before then, but if he fell, would LOVE to have him at #14.
Our seconds should be able to get us to move a few spots. Also, I'd keep an eye on Chicago to take Brogdon.
The Wolves are showing why they are the best D team in the league. They pick up guys nearly full court and their Star is one of their better defenders. They built the team by addressing what positions they had a need for. Got their old methodical pg and established defensive 5. Even picking up Anderson & Walker was a decent move. We have an established young center and a very young pg and hopefully a dog shooting guard. If Shae can really pop and play with an edge and stay healthy and fill a positional need with a dog that can score and play some d in the draft? who knows? What we do know it will take a few years to sharpen.
https://lakercountry.com/2024/03/reed-sheppards-defense-is-among-elite/ 1) Clingan 2) Topic 3) Sarr 4) Sheppard
Why do you like Clingan and Topic so much? When I have watched film, I can't see any way for Clingan to be a high impact player. To me he is a Zubac level player in the NBA. Decently good, but entirely forgettable. Topic has some potential that I can see, but again - I don't see any high impact potential there at all.
Cronin has had ongoing talks with Chicago about our future pick and I've heard Brogdon has drawn interest from Chicago in the past. I thought I heard they were under the cap?
An underrated aspect is having him under contract during his prime. Older, more ready prospects provide value. But not every older player, is necessarily ready. I like Knecht and we definitely need shooting. I also like Salaun with the GS pick. I'll be happy with either and hope they use the 2nds to move up if necessary.
My dream scenario an Ant trade. IMO - this is too good to be true, but I've seen fans from other teams propose portions of this. I'm just combining it: Orlando: WCJ + Jett Howard + '25 Denver <=> Simons Memphis: Luke Kennard + '25 LP Memphis first <=> WCJ Portland: Simons <=> Howard + Kennard + '25 Denver + '25 Memphis I don't love Howard as a prospect, but he has potential. It would be amazing to flip Howard + 2 seconds to Chicago for Portland's future first back. Im not so sure there is a huge drop-off from Ant to Kennard. Most of the advanced stats favor Luke as being more of a positive player (when D is factored in), As amazing as Simons can be offensively, he's absolutely clueless defensively & give most of his points back
What's the worst draft take you ever made? The one that in hindsight makes you look like a complete fool.
I'd try to get a better FRP, as honestly ours might ultimately end up as just 2nd rounders. However if we cant get a better return for Brogdon that's a deadline deal I'd prefer over keeping him on the roster.
Me in 2017: "Take Justin Jackson to be our SFotF. Much more reliable than OG Anunoby and his wonky knees."
In terms of expectations at the draft to results yeah don't think he'll ever be topped. I was thinking he'd be a borderline NBA allstar at worse and MVP candidate at best. Worse draft takes for Blazers is probably Elliot Williams and Qyntel Woods - thought they'd be starters for sure. Blazers really haven't had a ton of high lottery picks. Webster I always thought had risk. They hit pretty good on Roy/Aldridge/Dame/CJ. Telfair was flipped for the Roy picks which was good value. Jerryd Bayless was a disappointment but like Meyers not in the top10. Rudy I didn't know anything about at the draft but the next summer before his rookie year I was super high on him. He was great as a rookie though, seems like he was never the same after the Ariza foul. Other NBA draft picks I really liked at the time that were massive disappointments are Wiseman, Fultz, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker, Thomas Robinson, Michael Beasley, Yi Jianlian, Adam Morrision
This was interesting: "Clingan and Edey are among four prospects with a consensus projection of 3.0 wins above replacement player (WARP) or better per season at the NBA level. Only the acclaimed 2014 draft (five) featured more such prospects dating back to 2012."
