A few reasons to be positive

[number 10]

I think the times of stashing dudes overseas is coming to an end. It seems to be getting harder and harder to get them over here after their first couple of years. Europeans teams are luring them into high buyout contracts, or offering them very good contracts after they develope, and you know, there is something to be said for staying some place that you have established as your home. A move is hard on anybody. It is one thing to draft a guy that says his dream is to play in the NBA and they are coming over no matter what. It is another thing to draft a guy who has no such known inclination.

Who specifically are you basing this on? If it's Freeland, it's premature to say that he's turned down the Blazers for a big contract in Europe. He's probably not ready to be in an NBA rotation, so his decision could easily be based on playing time and not money. Scola, for example, was drafted in 2002 when he was 22 and came over in 2007 as a 27 year old. If Freeland gets to that age and declines the NBA, then maybe you have a case. For now, it's too early to tell.

As for Fran Vazquez... first off, he wasn't a typical Eurostash, he was a lottery pick, his situation is very unique. Secondly, he supposedly is now interested in playing for Orlando now that he's older (and maybe no longer confined to the rookie contract scale). Freeland could very well end up doing something similar.

 

[Minstrel]

Where did this come from?

The ESPN international basketball analyst said that Claver was a lottery talent, just 2-3 years away. Not a lottery talent today.

 

[Ed O]

The ESPN international basketball analyst said that Claver was a lottery talent, just 2-3 years away. Not a lottery talent today.

He looked very good, reportedly, before he hurt himself this past season, as well.

I think that the Claver pick was pretty darn good. I'm not worried that he doesn't necessarily have a spot on the team right NOW. So much can happen in two or three years, both with his development and with the roster.

I'm less happy about the second round senior pf mediocrity extravaganza, but I like the Claver pick although moving up to get him was weird.

The main reason that I'm positive? Because even though draft day was not a successful/impressive one (IMO), we still have an excellent team, we have cap space, and overall things are looking great!

Ed O.

 

[RickyRubio]

I like the looks of this Claver guy. I am totally cool with stashing him for a year or two. Who cares.