But we have Zach Collins over Donovan Mitchell...

[TBpup]

D69 had Giannis rated well above CJ before the draft....he needs no hindsight.

 

[Natebishop3]

I like ZCo. I think he has a lot of potential..... but another project big man was the last thing this team needed. Swanigan was a horrible pick as well. Sometimes I just don't understand Neil. He doesn't have a bad eye for talent necessarily, but he seems to make the wrong pick based on what's available.

Picking CJ was a head scratcher for me at the time because Dame had just won ROY. And even though their games are not totally the same, they still play very similar styles. Obviously CJ is a talented player, so it was a good pick, but I would love to know if Giannis was on our radar. Or Gobert.

Going into the last draft, this team had a lot of holes and I was really hoping we could turn our three picks into a veteran player. Someone that would contribute right away. Instead of having someone that would help in the playoffs, we got 7 ppg on 36.7% shooting from Zach, and we got a big fat donut from Caleb. It really feels like this entire season was a waste of time. We didn't learn anything new. Dame and CJ are a year older. We're going to have to pay Nurk. Unless something drastic is done to shake things up, I don't see a huge difference coming next season.

 

[dviss1]

Lots of great, logical takes in this thread. Here's my thought:

Why speak logic to someone who clearly doesn't deal in it?

 

[Natebishop3]

Lots of great, logical takes in this thread. Here's my thought:

Why speak logic to someone who clearly doesn't deal in it?

Hypothetical scenarios are pretty worthless. Why did we take Bowie over Jordan? Why did we take Oden over Durant? Just no point at all worrying about those things that are long done.

With that said, a better question would be: is Neil Olshey still the right GM for this team? Has he made enough bad decisions that he needs to go?

So in that vein, was picking Zach Collins a bad choice for this team, and should Neil be held accountable for it?

I'm really on the fence, because Neil is still vastly better than some of the other GMs we have had in the past 20 years, but is he the right GM to take this current team to the next level?

 

[Boob-No-More]

It's even more critical to see what Flynn is really all about because this draft class is thin at PG. The highest projected PG to be drafted is Damian Lillard from Weber State and he's more of a combo guard. I don't think we'lll find our answer at PG through the draft this year. With the circumstances that Flynn has been through (i.e. injuries and wrong fit), Flynn could in essence be a 3rd pseudo-lottery pick this year.

Forgive me for doubting your scouting abilities. You are obviously great at evaluating draft prospects.

BNM

 

[dviss1]

So in that vein, was picking Zach Collins a bad choice for this team, and should Neil be held accountable for it?

Just because we didn't get the immediate results you wanted from him doesn't mean he was the wrong choice.

Could Dame, CJ, and Mitchell even coexist? I don't know but don't think so. Mitchell isn't bigger and isn't a plus defender.

 

[THE HCP]

Lots of great, logical takes in this thread. Here's my thought:

Why speak logic to someone who clearly doesn't deal in it?

You rang FAMS!?!

 

[Natebishop3]

we didn't get the immediate results you wanted from him doesn't mean he was the wrong choice.

But that was really my issue from the very moment that we made the trade to move up to 10th.

We didn't get immediate results from him, and that's why I thought it was the wrong choice. We had three first round picks, and we took two bigs that weren't able to contribute really anything this season.

How did that end for us? A sweep in the first round.

I wanted to trade those picks for a veteran who was going to contribute right away. We already have enough young project guys that don't contribute on a nightly basis. Harkless, Nurk, Pat, etc. They're all talented young guys that we can't count on to give us something every single game. Instead of trying to find someone who would, we instead drafted a 19 year old who has a bright future, but clearly isn't ready to contribute every night, and a slow footed big who probably won't be in the league in four years.

 

[julius]

Lots of great, logical takes in this thread. Here's my thought:

Why speak logic to someone who clearly doesn't deal in it?

So it hopefully drowns that person out, and creates an atmosphere where talking rationally and with logic becomes common place.

At least thats why I do it.

 

[dviss1]

But that was really my issue from the very moment that we made the trade to move up to 10th.

We didn't get immediate results from him, and that's why I thought it was the wrong choice. We had three first round picks, and we took two bigs that weren't able to contribute really anything this season.

How did that end for us? A sweep in the first round.

I wanted to trade those picks for a veteran who was going to contribute right away. We already have enough young project guys that don't contribute on a nightly basis. Harkless, Nurk, Pat, etc. They're all talented young guys that we can't count on to give us something every single game. Instead of trying to find someone who would, we instead drafted a 19 year old who has a bright future, but clearly isn't ready to contribute every night, and a slow footed big who probably won't be in the league in four years.

We aren't in contention bro. Which is why Zach was a good choice.

 

[The Professional Fan]

Unless something drastic is done to shake things up, I don't see a huge difference coming next season.

I think it's a very real possibility that if we remain status quo we won't even make the playoffs next season. That 3 seed was an illusion at best.

However, I think Collins is completely legit and I'm really looking forward to watching him develop. It's not like any move we make will catapult us to contender level. We aren't that good and that has been painfully proven.

 

[kjironman1]

Eh, if we took Mitchell people would say he's too small to be playing in our backcourt. So whatever... I'm happy with Collins.

Not to mention he would have sat on the bench most of the time.

 

[Chris Craig]

Always draft the best talent available over need. This franchise already doesn't have the best history with drafting for need instead of taking the best guy on the board.

Not that it matters too much, but most of the mock drafts projected us to take Mitchell.

You would think the Blazers would have learned their lesson after Jordan and Durant

 

[Sarni]

Not to mention he would have sat on the bench most of the time.

Not if we traded CJ for George.

 

[Sarni]

You would think the Blazers would have learned their lesson after Jordan and Durant

It’s not even remotely the same.

The only reason we moved up from 15 and 20 was that we wanted Collins.

Mitchell was not the obvious pick at 10 which is why he wasn’t picked at 11 (Monk) or 12 (Kennard) either and is also why Denver traded that pick for no. 24 and average Trey Lyles.