I bolded the ones I rate over Duren, though I'll hedge and list the next 3 as possibilities. I'd like to stretch a tape on Ivey as I don't see him as a PG. He is a very dynamic player, but he's a scorer not a distributor and he'll have to be paired with someone else who can run the show in the half court. If he's 6'2ish 200 lbs as I suspect, thats Dame sized which limits him defensively and on which teams he fits. Smaller scorers are not that hard to come by but he's pretty dynamic so maybe. Sharpe is the mystery man who seems like he could be the real deal 2 guard and could turn out to be the best player in the draft. Like many I truly don't have a bead on him other then knowing he looks the part and has all the measurables. Maybe. Murray is a safe pick (high floor, modest ceiling) who would likely would contribute more in the short term. I wouldn't stand up and cheer, but I do think he's likely to be a solid pro & understand why PDX would to select him to try to appease Dame's window.
I hadn't read that, it just makes sense as they've both a need there and the low fan base expectations to allow him to develop. What makes little sense is Ivey paired with Fox in Sacramento. Maybe the Kings extract some value from Detroit swapping picks and then go with Sharpe or Murray?
Still, I hope they measure his legs.
In the unlikely chance that Nurkic becomes proficient enough shooting 3-pointers, Duren and Nurkic would be able to play together, like Jaxson Hayes and Jonas Valenciunas did to end the season.
Casey and Brooke were gushing about him nonstop in their podcast.
Was told he was consistently draining shots. Has a long way to go offensively, but can get there. Was told expected ceiling is Dwight Howard
Nope. Either that or I’m weird too
Sadly, I scheduled a family road trip for that whole week--I'll be in Yellowstone during the draft.
Fair.
Sadly, I scheduled a family road trip for that whole week--I'll be in Yellowstone during the draft.
Thank you! I don't get paid the big bucks for my opinion either and I'm likely overlooking some things on other prospects as I haven't done a deep dive on everyone, but I am quite sure given health Duren is going to be a force in the league. I get the devaluation of 5s in today's game, & how much like the RB position in football they usually don't go at the top of the draft anymore. But when a true plus prospect comes out, you make exceptions to rules.
I’ll bet Duren goes ahead of Sochan
I definitely think we could and should trade back if we decide he's our guy but how far we can is something I'm not sure about. For sure we could get him if we traded back to San Antonio at 9 plus whatever else they gave us (20 or 25). We would probably be able to get him if we traded back to the Knicks at 11 and hopefully also got them to send out Randle as well, while we sent cap relief in the form of Bledsoe who would save them over 97M through the lifetime of Randle's deal. After that, I don't know if Duren will be there and he could even be gone at 11. This draft is really hard to predict.
