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

My thoughts on this might not be correct? If this draft basically has no player that is supposed to be really good and it's considered a weak draft in general then why not take a flyer on a guy that is 7-4 and has the attitude at least to play tough.
They will need someone with size and he has it. Maybe he ends up a situational player? Maybe he works his ass off and becomes a rotational player? Maybe he is a flat out bust that is out of the league in three years?
I don't know? What I do know is players that had way worse pre draft expectations have done better than expected and you cannot teach his size?
I watched that kid play with a chip on his shoulder. For a 14th pick he might be worth it is all I'm saying?

 

Non contact knee injury and had to be carried out. Oof. He may slip to the late first.

 

Dude should not have been playing at this point.

 

I agree with you on Edey. I like him. My question was why not Ware? I think they both have different strengths.

 

There is 6'8""good" and 6"8" bad or mediocre or raw

 

I would think Green and Simons would be redundant.
And for Grant...they have Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, and Dillon Brooks between the 3 and 4.
So I'd guess not really?

 

Michael Porter Jr was hurt and dropped to 14th. Who has 14th this year?

 

don't forget Hagans! 6'2"

Marang added 3 rebs to Simons stats earlier in the season. Anferenee is not only approaching 6'8, he's getting 6 boards a night scrapping with the bigs.

... lol

there's no point in popping Danny's balloon, there's plenty more hot air where that came from.

 

If Topic drops, I'd definitely take him at 14th and stash him.

 

it's a huge variety of height in the NBA. Average NBA height was 6'6.5", ahh to hell with it, add shoes and say 6'8".

like you say, talent and experience is a factor, but so is physical strength. The ability to hold ground near the basket.

The Blazers were horrible in defensive rebounds last year, finished dead last.

There's really only 1 Blazer that fits the mold of a 6'8" PF, Jabari Walker. It makes sense to draft beefier 6'8"+ kids this summer, but i'm not in charge of operations.

There's plenty of gaps to fill in this Blazers roster, any help from this draft would be considered a success.

 

If Clingon isn’t there at 7, taking a flier on Missi or Chomche at 34? Sure. Edey at 14? No. And Ware is noted for lacking heart … lots and lots of heart.
Shepperd at 7? Hope he’s gone. He may be too tempting in that range. His D is not good, but elite hands and bball IQ make up for it at the college level.

FORWARDS. Get 2. Cody, Matas, or Risacher at 7. Salaun or Furphy at 14.

 

Furphy is dog water. I like Salaun, George, Tyson or Missi at 14.

 

If Edey is supposedly such a bad defender, then why did Purdue have a good defense. The college kids are just as quick as NBA players. He played for team Canada in the FIBA under 19 tournament and Canada was good defensively.

He'll never be a good perimeter defender, but how critical is that for a center? What about the things he can do?

If all we care about is perimeter defense, we could play a SF at center.

 

The way Eddy’s stock is rising right now the choice may not be in question? Sounds like Ware might be the one available?
I honestly don’t know? The only one I ever watched was Eddy.

 

Kyshawn George is riser at the moment. He could be in contention for a late lottery if he has a good week in Chicago

 

Yeah, I don't see any correlation. When a coach will play a guy that's 6'5" at PF, I can't see any reason he won't play a 6'5" guy at SF.

 

As high of a floor as anyone in the draft.

 

Yaaaaa, not really at all.

 

Agreed, don't risk life changing millions. I mean if your LeBrons son or something and your family already has a billion ok, but many of these guys will be set for life from their rookie contract.

That's why Sharpe not trying to jump in and play the last month of Kentucky season was zero concern to me. If anything I'd have questioned his decision making if he had played.

 

Not to sound too condescending, but you could make an argument that he's right. The qualifier is that the NBA guys are 4 or 5 inches taller with that quickness.