Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Bell tonight

[A$AP Meyers]

Kuzma: 27 points 14 rebounds

Bell: 20 points 10 rebounds


Both taken after Caleb Swanigan, who played 2 minutes tonight in a blowout game where Nurkic was horrible. Both played in the Pac-12, right under the Blazers nose. Swanigan may end up being serviceable but it's already clear he'll never be half the player Kuzma and Bell will become. Kuzma especially, he's a star in the making.


Nice pick Neil.

 

[ripcityboy]

Hey. Your not going to get any regret we didn't grab Bell from me. I'm glad he's on the Warriors. I love that kid. Better repping the Ducks on a contender than stuck on a franchise going nowhere.

 

[TBpup]

One on the defending champs, one on a struggling but scrappy team. So it's not just guys getting tons of stats in garbage games that don't matter. Some people really like what Olshey has done in the Draft but outside Dame (who some say was whom they were going to Draft before Olshey even got there) he drafted duplication in CJ which I never though was going to work and instead of the Greek Freek and then absolutely nothing since.

Now Collins looks like he has potential but if you believe that, why then draft Swanigan (duplication) instead of someone like Bell who is someone you didn't have or Kuzma who is someone you didn't have?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/all-things-jordan-bell.314292/

Btw, Kuzma is the epitome of the modern positionless big.

 

[Tortimer]

I really wanted the Blazers to draft Bell and I wasn't the only one. I know at least 4-5 others wanted Bell. I would have drafted Bell just outside the lottery if had to but a lot of people on this forum that didn't want anything to do with Bell. I thought he was exactly what we needed and we passed him up. At least take a chance on him with where he ended up being drafted. It was the same thing as Green from GSW.

 

[Rhal]

ah I love it when players take in the 2nd round or late in the 1st play well. then we have threads like this. If people knew they were going to be this good then they wouldn't have fallen as far as they did, 25+ teams passed on these guys not just us. But please continue to troll away, its fun to read.

 

[GrandJury]

Damn we fucked up on Kuzma he would have been the absolute exact type of SF we need. Omg he would have been perfect for us.

Fuck

 

[HailBlazers]

Swanigan may end up being serviceable but it's already clear he'll never be half the player Kuzma and Bell will become. Kuzma especially, he's a star in the making.

Already clear 30 games in his rookie season? Sorry but your cred goes out the window with statements like this.

 

[Natebishop3]

ah I love it when players take in the 2nd round or late in the 1st play well. then we have threads like this. If people knew they were going to be this good then they wouldn't have fallen as far as they did, 25+ teams passed on these guys not just us. But please continue to troll away, its fun to read.

Well, I don't think that's really fair. There were A LOT of people who wanted Bell. Pretty much going back March Madness.

 

[Sarni]

I am not sure Bell would have a big impact here but Kuzma would have been a perfect choice. Still, nobody knew they would become this good or else they wouldn't have gone this low, there were plenty of teams before us who also took somebody that is not having an impact right now - Lydon, Ferguson, Allen or Wilson for example, and most players below Swanigan are not having any impact either, see White, Bradley, Iwundu etc. Kuzma will be the odd case of a very late first round pick who has turned into something truly very good.

 

[Mediocre Man]

ah I love it when players take in the 2nd round or late in the 1st play well. then we have threads like this. If people knew they were going to be this good then they wouldn't have fallen as far as they did, 25+ teams passed on these guys not just us. But please continue to troll away, its fun to read.

Posters were screaming from the rooftops to draft Bell. People did know he was going to be this good. Apparently a couple of BS red flags popped up about his foot?

He's not trolling, he's frustrated that his favorite team didn't draft a player most thought would be a contributor, and some thought would be really good.

He's being a fan

 

[Mediocre Man]

Already clear 30 games in his rookie season? Sorry but your cred goes out the window with statements like this.

If Collins can have a limitless ceiling after 103 minutes, why can't Swanigan be serviceable after 30 games?

 

[joeBlazers]

Stotts wouldn't have played Bell and we would be bitching. Kuzma ... yup. That was the big miss.
This team needs a big trade. or a coaching change. or both.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Stotts wouldn't have played Bell and we would be bitching. Kuzma ... yup. That was the big miss.
This team needs a big trade. or a coaching change. or both.

Stotts didn't miss on Kuzma, and he's playing our rookies, so why wouldn't he have played Bell?

 

[BonesJones]

I hate fuckers with hindsight bias.

If you didn't call it before the draft, don't talk. Most of y'all didn't even know Kuzma before Summer League.

 

[Sarni]

Yeah Kuzma was supposed to be a late first in nearly all mocks, there were a couple of cases where someone predicted him to go to Chicago at 16 but that's about it.

It's similar with Brogdon the year before, nobody really expected him to go much higher than he did and once he started playing well and it became clear he could contribute from the start (having spent 4 years at college basketball I think) everyone suddenly had a revelation.

If you could redo draft now then you would probably see a lot of different picks. Mitchell wouldn't have gone 13th, Kings wouldn't have traded no. 10 as it would have been either Mitchell or someone pushed from top 9 to 10th by Mitchell and Kuzma, Kuzma would have gone top 10, John Collins would probably be at Milwaukee or Minnesota... Thing is, it was hard to know all these things before the draft because you cannot guess how players will adapt to NBA life.

A lot of teams have players who have outgrown their draft positions. Utah have Mitchell and Gobert, Denver have Jokic, Milwaukee have Giannis and Brogdon... We are still waiting on ours but it could be worse, we could be Sacramento Kings.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I hate fuckers with hindsight bias.

If you didn't call it before the draft, don't talk. Most of y'all didn't even know Kuzma before Summer League.

I know I didn't. Bell on the other hand.....I was begging the team to draft

 

[BonesJones]

I know I didn't. Bell on the other hand.....I was begging the team to draft

Bell is different. I hate the fuckers that act like Kuzma was an obvious pick at 26. The dude did nothing in college and was a had the stock of a late 2nd rounder last March.

 

[BonesJones]

Yeah Kuzma was supposed to be a late first in nearly all mocks, there were a couple of cases where someone predicted him to go to Chicago at 16 but that's about it.

It's similar with Brogdon the year before, nobody really expected him to go much higher than he did and once he started playing well and it became clear he could contribute from the start (having spent 4 years at college basketball I think) everyone suddenly had a revelation.

If you could redo draft now then you would probably see a lot of different picks. Mitchell wouldn't have gone 13th, Kings wouldn't have traded no. 10 as it would have been either Mitchell or someone pushed from top 9 to 10th by Mitchell and Kuzma, Kuzma would have gone top 10, John Collins would probably be at Milwaukee or Minnesota... Thing is, it was hard to know all these things before the draft because you cannot guess how players will adapt to NBA life.

A lot of teams have players who have outgrown their draft positions. Utah have Mitchell and Gobert, Denver have Jokic, Milwaukee have Giannis and Brogdon... We are still waiting on ours but it could be worse, we could be Sacramento Kings.

Kuzma rose to being mocked in the 1st round/Early 2nd Round about a week before the draft.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Bell is different. I hate the fuckers that act like Kuzma was an obvious pick at 26. The dude did nothing in college and was a had the stock of a late 2nd rounder last March.

Agree. It's like saying we should have taken Greek freak instead of CJ

 

[TBpup]

ah I love it when players take in the 2nd round or late in the 1st play well. then we have threads like this. If people knew they were going to be this good then they wouldn't have fallen as far as they did, 25+ teams passed on these guys not just us. But please continue to troll away, its fun to read.

Not trolling. There were a LOT of people wanting to take Bell with the 2nd first round pick.

I hate fuckers with hindsight bias.

If you didn't call it before the draft, don't talk. Most of y'all didn't even know Kuzma before Summer League.

A lot of people were calling for Bell and those who actually pay attention to college basketball (which was easy for Kuzma since he was in the Pac-12) saw things he could do that translated much better than Biggie for sure. Love Biggie's work ethic but no explosion around the rim and not much ability to finish around guys his own size. He just didn't play against many of those in college.

Agree. It's like saying we should have taken Greek freak instead of CJ

D69 was calling for that months before the Draft....and people mocked him left and right.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Not trolling. There were a LOT of people wanting to take Bell with the 2nd first round pick.



A lot of people were calling for Bell and those who actually pay attention to college basketball (which was easy for Kuzma since he was in the Pac-12) saw things he could do that translated much better than Biggie for sure. Love Biggie's work ethic but no explosion around the rim and not much ability to finish around guys his own size. He just didn't play against many of those in college.



D69 was calling for that months before the Draft....and people mocked him left and right.

Sad. Still dont know who that is

 

[TBpup]

Sad. Still dont know who that is

He's a local analytical Draft enthusiast that used to be on RealGM and then modded for another basketball site for a while. He would come out with this picks before the Draft after disappearing for a month or two to do research. He would come out with who the Blazers should pick at their selection and who his top-5 was regardless of who was picking. He had Kevin Durant over Oden which is why there was a picture at the Draft Lotto holding up a Durant sign...he had convinced me. He wanted Serge Ibaka at #13 in 2008 for Portland. They drafted Brandon Rush and traded for Bayless. He had Greek Freek as a top-3 player the year the Blazers drafted CJ and had Gobert as a top-5 player that year as well. I believe he had CJ at #6 and had Anthony Bennett completely out of the top-10. In 2010, he had Jimmy Butler as a top-10....he went #30. (You could say he missed on that because in a re-Draft, Butler would probably be around #2 or #3.)

Last year he had OG Anunoby as a Lottery pick (selected #23 and currently shooting 50% from the field and .456 from '3' for Toronto) and had the Blazers drafting Bell at #26.

He's had a few misses as well. He liked Gerald Green at #6 for the Blazers (2005) instead of Martell Webster. Webster never really panned out either but Green has been a bench player most of his career. He had Steven Adams as a Top-5 pick in the 2013 Draft, although that class didn't turn out great and if you re-Drafted, Adams might actually make the top 5.

Every year we get together at either the Blazer Draft party or I host one just to see what he has come up with for the year. He is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

If anyone should be pissed about Bell its the bulls fans. In the middle of a complete rebuild, they sold that pick for 3 million or whatever to the warriors. Incompetence.

 

[A$AP Meyers]

I hate fuckers with hindsight bias.

If you didn't call it before the draft, don't talk. Most of y'all didn't even know Kuzma before Summer League.

Pretty much everyone knew Kuzma if you watched Oregon/Pac-12 basketball.

 

[A$AP Meyers]

Bell is different. I hate the fuckers that act like Kuzma was an obvious pick at 26. The dude did nothing in college and was a had the stock of a late 2nd rounder last March.

He averaged a double-double and was a first team All-Pac 12 selection

Dude, I know you don't want to believe it, but the closer we got to the draft the more mocks had him going late first. We dropped the ball. Period

 

[Mediocre Man]

He's a local analytical Draft enthusiast that used to be on RealGM and then modded for another basketball site for a while. He would come out with this picks before the Draft after disappearing for a month or two to do research. He would come out with who the Blazers should pick at their selection and who his top-5 was regardless of who was picking. He had Kevin Durant over Oden which is why there was a picture at the Draft Lotto holding up a Durant sign...he had convinced me. He wanted Serge Ibaka at #13 in 2008 for Portland. They drafted Brandon Rush and traded for Bayless. He had Greek Freek as a top-3 player the year the Blazers drafted CJ and had Gobert as a top-5 player that year as well. I believe he had CJ at #6 and had Anthony Bennett completely out of the top-10. In 2010, he had Jimmy Butler as a top-10....he went #30. (You could say he missed on that because in a re-Draft, Butler would probably be around #2 or #3.)

Last year he had OG Anunoby as a Lottery pick (selected #23 and currently shooting 50% from the field and .456 from '3' for Toronto) and had the Blazers drafting Bell at #26.

He's had a few misses as well. He liked Gerald Green at #6 for the Blazers (2005) instead of Martell Webster. Webster never really panned out either but Green has been a bench player most of his career. He had Steven Adams as a Top-5 pick in the 2013 Draft, although that class didn't turn out great and if you re-Drafted, Adams might actually make the top 5.

Every year we get together at either the Blazer Draft party or I host one just to see what he has come up with for the year. He is a wealth of knowledge.

Anywhere to see his stuff?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Bell is different. I hate the fuckers that act like Kuzma was an obvious pick at 26. The dude did nothing in college and was a had the stock of a late 2nd rounder last March.

Yeh, I just saw yesterday; I think it was Green of the Warriors said that Kuzma looked very inconsistent and unmotivated in a lot of games in college.

 

[TBpup]

Anywhere to see his stuff?

Some might be in some old RealGM archives somewhere. The sight he was a Mod for went down a couple years ago so that probably isn't available.

 

[Mediocre Man]

So why not ban the fuck out of the people who chased him away from here. Seems better than updates on nba players people have had sex with.