Yeah, I definitely admit that I was wrong about Portland this year. I mean they definitely still have a long way to go and a lot of waiting to do, but they have made much more progress this season than I would have expected. They started off around .500 for a while, from what I can remember, and they got some solid wins early on in the season.
But I really like the young players in Portland. I've always been a big fan of Brandon Roy. He's so heady and he has the complete package. He doesn't blow you away like Kevin Durant, but he does everything well. Jarrett Jack is another one of those just flat out solid players. He'll be in this league for a long time. He plays defense and he can run an offense, and he's pretty quick too. Sergio Rodriguez is a good playmaker, but he's going to have to work on his defense immensely. Martell Webster is a guy we'll have to wait another year or two before he starts getting into the flow of things, but he has potential to be a pretty good player as well. He has a great jump shot with great mechanics and range. He came into the league with a solid frame and an NBA body. He's a better defender than I think some people realize as well.
LaMarcus Aldridge is a guy I like. When he has gotten minutes this year, he has produced. You could obviously see the talent in this kid coming out of Texas (wow, imagine if he stayed another year to play with Durant?). He's long, athletic, he can finish, he can block shots (not only because of his length, he's got pretty good timing). He just needs to add a little muscle and upper body strength before he can be a real valid starter at center (he'll have to succeed at center in Portland as long as Z-Bo is in town), but he's going to be a good player.
Also, blazerspwnu, I don't think you guys will be bad enough to get one of the top couple picks in the draft. And even then, it wouldn't work out for the best because the top 5 prospects in this draft class are big men. There is no room to bring in another good young big with Randolph and Aldridge there, and Przybilla is there as well. I think you guys will end up with a pick between 5-9, and you could end up with a guy like Julian Wright. Wright would be perfect in Portland, IMO. He's long, athletic, does a little bit of everything, and he's a very good defensive player. I think he'd be perfect at the 3. Jack, Roy, Wright, Randolph, and Aldridge would be an excellent young core. Excellent.
