Not sure how you got there. I'm saying passing on great talents/difference makers is bad and can't be spun as good. You're the one who tried to move the goal posts on this debate by including a very good talent (Drummond) when we were discussing wiffing on great talents. At age 24, Giannis is a generational talent and the MVP of the league.
Whats with you making it personal with multiple posters in this thread from the get go? You made it personal in your very first response to me with the "what you fail to understand..." shit. And again, what you somehow still fail to understand is that this thread is about poster's opinions of Neil's ability to manage the club, not mine. Neil should be graded exactly how any poster feels fit. I feel a GM's ability to recognize young talent is very important in constructing a club that contends or not. That my evaluation doesn't fit your silly confines... oh booo hooo hooo for ridiculous you. Get a grip.
So they went with Barnes. Not Drummond.
KJ and I are fine, we're just quibbling over whats a "great" player. You and I are not on the same page at all. Pretty funny that after you proclaim to the world you're done with me, you continue lobbing silly insults. Looking at your participation in this thread, theres been lots of this sort of petty personal crap from you.
We just got a different way of looking at things. No stress here cup. Matter of fact that Bob Meyers has been stellar no question. I had to reach to find a bump in the road. I almost got STOMPED on that one.
That's It! Trade Lillard!
It really irritates me how the consensus now is that Lillard was the obvious choice at #6 that year and that the GM who drafted him only drafted him because the scouts had already chosen him as our target.
Hey, if Olshey had drafted Giannis, then Mitchell could have been drafted to play the 2.
Once upon a time, the Blazers didn't draft the GOAT because they had a young Clyde. I'm for learning history's lessons and applying them. The first step in building a contender is acquiring the best assets possible. I don't see any issue with playing any combo of Dame, CJ & Mitchell together, so they can split all of the backcourts 96 minutes at 32 each. Mitchell already logs some short stints at SF in Utah if you want to play them together and get a little more PT. It's pretty obvious to me that there are plenty of minutes available for those 3 to all shine.
Again, it's Neil's job to form an opinion on guys who are developing young talents. While we and the average press guy doesn't get to travel all over the world to attend obscure games and have an array of scouts working for our benefit, Neil does. Further, he can bring in prospects for private workouts. It's not like GMs pick up an SI hoops issue to form any part of their opinion. Especially with all the 1 and dones entering the NBA, it is essential for a GM to not just recognize talent that is before him but project development.
So this type of post goes back to my original point that you are basing your decision on factors that would be different had certain players been drafted by other teams.
If the Blazers still had their draft pick in 2016 (Afflalo trade) and drafted Pascal Siakam at 19 then last summer you could've made an argument that was a miss. A wing that can't shoot 3's or FT's in today's NBA? Flash forward one season and Siakam might be the best player in that draft class.
I giarantee Donovan Mitchell wouldnt be the Donovan Mitchell we know now if he got stuck on the bench. He got put in the perfect situation.
Nope! Giannis came into the league at age 19 Mitchell at age 21 so it's not apples to apples. By Giannis's 3rd year (when he was the same age as Mitchell was as a rookie) he had a PER of 19 which is better then all of CJ's seasons save 1 so don't give me the wasn't until the 4th season stuff. I watched him as a rookie and was extremely impressed with the young Buck. He oozed talent and athleticism and clearly had major upside.
Good grief man! GMs don't read the opinions of internet wannabes. They form their own opinions through first hand observation and team scouts. Some internet nobody isn't going to go to Greece to scout GA or anyone, hence no reports. How many times does this need to be explained to you!
You just proved my point. Collins was also drafted at 19.
I'm literally shaking my head after every post of yours as each makes less sense. If there is any truth to the red flag medical reports on Oden with one leg significantly longer then the other, damn right Pritchard should have known. You asked for reports glowing on Giannis going into the draft. Who else but internet wannabes produces those? Analysts are exactly the wannabes I'm speaking of. Generally, they know shit about foreign prospects and spend zero time scouting overseas. All they really want to do is fill their columns. Why did Leonard and George project low? Probably because they played at smaller schools and weren't heavily scouted by lazy analysts. Guessing many of the GMs who passed on them are now unemployed.
He wouldnt have been able to get that many minutes off the bat and his career trajectory mightve changed from that point on.
Sorry but no. As I closed in the post you're responding to, Mitchell is only one of the extremely arguable examples of misses in the draft by NO besides Biggie. Though I've my favorites to root for, I also view all the players as tradable commodities. Hopefully ZC will continue to trend up and become the next great Blazer 4/5 alla Sheed & LA, hell hopefully he'll be able to dunk from the 3 point line too, but right now I'm pretty sure that Mitchell would be worth far more on the trade market then Zach. Do you really disagree?
Why in the world not? I already detailed how it's possible. Hell in what would have been his rookie year, Shabaz Napier and Pat Connaughton averaged 39 minutes combined. I'm sure he could have dug into Turner's 26 minutes too.
Lol, oh okay, GMs are sharing their lists with you!!!! To even float that as if is so overboard ridiculous, but I'm sensing a pattern here.