Exclusive Official 2020 Draft Thread

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glazeduck said:
Totally fair, although there's been some talk of him sneaking into the first. I guess a better way to say it is that Oregonians and Duck fans tend to inflate/overrate his abilities a significant amount, I think. He was a great college player, unquestionably, I don't see that translating, so the Blazer fan in me wants Neil to stay far away from him.
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I don't know, the majority of Duck fans seldom overrate their basketball players when it comes to the NBA. Almost everyone in the last few years has exceeded the expectations that were being discussed on their message boards. Luke Jackson was the last one I recall that was overrated, but he had a pretty bad injury.

Those saying he will sneak into the first round are not shared by most Duck fans for the reasons that you listed. (He is not explosive enough to ever start) But I will say that both his improved range and handles during his senior make me believe he can make it as a backup. 2nd round makes the most sense.
 
Scalma said:
some real interesting names still around that range

Azubuike
Paul Reed
Ramsey
Bey

I’d be completely fine with Scrubb though.
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Paul Reed would be a good pick at #46, in my opinion. I think he could be pretty successful at the NBA level.
 
Scalma said:
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/11/18/nba-mock-draft-final-projections-buzz-rumors

Jeremy Woo has Portland taking Azubuike at 46. Interestingly, he does not have Scrubb being drafted.
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Azubuike is a throwback, super long, shot-blocking, physically imposing center who knows his role and shoots a high percentage taking shots he knows he can convert at a high rate. Thing is, he can't shoot from outside, or even the FT line. If he could improve that, he is a brute with a ridiculous 7'7 .25" wingspan.
 
Think we have a quiet night here with no trades or noise. We don't really have anyone we can/will move for a draft pick, nor do we have future assets that we can put into play to move up.

Our work starts Thursday night at 9 PM during the start of free agency.
 
MickZagger said:
Interesting. I mean I like him. But just don’t know how well he’ll score at the next level. He reminds me of a really good college PG named Aaron Craft who went to Ohio state
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Craft averaged double digits (10ppg) at tOSU and was a bad 3pt shooter. I mean, they’re both white as a comparison, but their games in college are nothing alike. Pritchard is by far the better player in almost every category.
 
glazeduck said:
We'll see, and again I hope I'm wrong. My concerns around PP lie mainly in his lack of athleticism and general lack of conditioning (which makes me question the "hard worker" narrative). I saw a player who routinely played *fine* in the first half, coasted for much of the second, and turned it on late when he needed to -- that was his MO. I saw a player who gambled a lot on defense and often struggled against more athletic players. It could be that some of this was on Altman and his system, but I tend to believe my eyes and what I saw time and time again. Perhaps he'd be better in a limited/backup role, but I'd feel much more comfortable with a DJ Augustin type as Dame's backup.
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He averaged 37 mpg last year out of 40 and you’re on him about conditioning as he handled the ball all game long? 35 mpg his SO and JR seasons, too.

Tough crowd when you’re killing a guy for playing almost the entire game.
 
illmatic99 said:
Think we have a quiet night here with no trades or noise. We don't really have anyone we can/will move for a draft pick, nor do we have future assets that we can put into play to move up.
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The most exciting and suspenseful element of the draft might be who we select for the Rockets...
 
RoseCityRebel said:
He averaged 37 mpg last year out of 40 and you’re on him about conditioning as he handled the ball all game long? 35 mpg his SO and JR seasons, too.

Tough crowd when you’re killing a guy for playing almost the entire game.
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Just assuming it was conditioning, I wasn't in the locker room and timeout huddles so there could've been other contributing factors. I just know that Oregon team would go through LOOOOOOOONG stretches of stagnant, awful basketball, and he -- as the PG and leader of the team -- was both a significant reason WHY it stagnated and struggled to ever change that. As I mentioned, there obviously could've been other factors at play, clearly Altman didn't trust anyone else running the team, so that stagnation could've simply been the result of that. To me, great players figure out a way to change weaknesses, whether systemic or personal, Pritchard never did that.

As I've also said, I suppose it's possible that he'll be a fine 5th guard type of player, I just feel like he's grossly overrated by Oregonians and Duck fans who like to compare him to the Ridnours of the world and he's just not that...
 
RoseCityRebel said:
Craft averaged double digits (10ppg) at tOSU and was a bad 3pt shooter. I mean, they’re both white as a comparison, but their games in college are nothing alike. Pritchard is by far the better player in almost every category.
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Both solid defensively and floor generals. Pritchard is a much better shooter. Craft had elite defensive abilities
 
glazeduck said:
These both can be -- and are -- true.
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If people feel like writing him off already so be it. I think he has a great skill set and can be one of the premier shot blockers if he puts it all together. It’s too soon to write off a big like that.
 
MickZagger said:
If people feel like writing him off already so be it. I think he has a great skill set and can be one of the premier shot blockers if he puts it all together. It’s too soon to write off a big like that.
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I want to believe Zach still has greatness -- or at least verygoodness still in him, so you and I are on the same page. My point was that it's probably equally fair to say that he's had to work through injuries throughout his short career and thus has not really had a true and comparable developmental onramp AND when healthy, has also underwhelmed to a lesser or greater degree. The sum of which has been disappointing so far.

I'm not ready to write him off yet, I love what he brings in PnR defense and you can clearly see a skilled and intelligent player at times, but need to start seeing results. He needs to get stronger, he needs to stay healthy, and he probably needs to JUST be a C, or at least a low-post 4.
 
Scalma said:
Jeremy Woo has Portland taking Azubuike at 46. Interestingly, he does not have Scrubb being drafted.
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Udoka Azubuike
Per40: 19.8 pts, 15.1 reb, 3.7 bpg, 74.8% fg, 44.1% ft
#1 NCAA fg%.
#2 NCAA Box +/-
#3 NCAA Def Rating
#9 NCAA PER
#16 NCAA bpg
#19 NCAA rpg
#19 NCAA Dbl-Dbl
2020 Consensus All-America 2nd team

upload_2020-11-18_14-0-30.png

I'd be happy taking a gamble on Azubuike at #46.
 

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42N8Bounce said:
Udoka Azubuike
Per40: 19.8 pts, 15.1 reb, 3.7 bpg, 74.8% fg, 44.1% ft
#1 NCAA fg%.
#2 NCAA Box +/-
#3 NCAA Def Rating
#9 NCAA PER
#16 NCAA bpg
#19 NCAA rpg
#19 NCAA Dbl-Dbl
2020 Consensus All-America 2nd team

View attachment 35045

I'd be happy taking a gamble on Azubuike at #46.
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He’s gotten comps to Deandre Jordan, which is pretty funny considering Olshey drafted him.
 
I've posted this before, but it's kinda fun to look at during draft time.

This graphs shows all of the Blazers draft picks charted by career WS. The blue line represents the NBA average Win-Share by draft position.

upload_2020-11-18_14-10-41.png

Let's hope we get an 'above the line' player at #46 this year!
 

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glazeduck said:
Just assuming it was conditioning, I wasn't in the locker room and timeout huddles so there could've been other contributing factors. I just know that Oregon team would go through LOOOOOOOONG stretches of stagnant, awful basketball, and he -- as the PG and leader of the team -- was both a significant reason WHY it stagnated and struggled to ever change that. As I mentioned, there obviously could've been other factors at play, clearly Altman didn't trust anyone else running the team, so that stagnation could've simply been the result of that. To me, great players figure out a way to change weaknesses, whether systemic or personal, Pritchard never did that.

As I've also said, I suppose it's possible that he'll be a fine 5th guard type of player, I just feel like he's grossly overrated by Oregonians and Duck fans who like to compare him to the Ridnours of the world and he's just not that...
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Not sure if you noticed this but not a single underclassman on last year’s Duck team declared for the draft. It was a mediocre team that Altman coached and Pritchard willed to the regular season conference title. Arizona has 3 first-round picks in this draft alone tonight and possibly 4. I don’t expect Pritchard to be a starter, but he’s better than TJ McConnell who has a niche career off the bench for good teams. Pritchard has legitimate 28’ range off the dribble. I think he’s a solid backup PG. I don’t see the downside unless he’s expected to start. I see a potential Fred VanVleet in a best-case scenario.
 
MickZagger said:
Both solid defensively and floor generals. Pritchard is a much better shooter. Craft had elite defensive abilities
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That’s true. Craft was a much better defender but he didn’t have to be a primary scorer, either, so that was his role. I’m going to go homer and say Pritchard is in the bench rotation for a decent team in two years.
 
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