SLAM Says 'Bledsoe'

[ABM]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/06/slamonline-mock-draft-eric-bledsoe-no-22/

Given the trail of woe the Blazers burnished last season, sticking to Kevin Pritchard’s best-left NBA Draft philosophy makes the most sense. As top front office assistant Chad Buchanan succinctly put it, “our needs in 6 months may be different from our needs now.” Rose Garden denizens pray a trembling storm of injury will stay far from their door; they pray Nate McMillan won’t have to pull another 50 victories from his hat.

Whether the Blazers draft for trade considerations or for an immediate contribution to next year’s lineup, they will pick the best remaining player in the draft pool and develop their strategy from there. Because the Trail Blazers needs are varied, as noted by Buchanan, the options of choosing a point guard or a small forward or a 7-footer remain equally viable.

If the Blazers draft big, their new center would make the deep frontcourt of Oden, Przybilla, and Camby nearly fathomless. They would then be able either to trade a big man for another piece while remaining strong in the paint or mount one of the most formidable frontcourts in the game. In the post, the Blazers could improve their offensive rebounding and defensive acuity by picking up either Solomon Alabi or Larry Sanders.

If the Blazers draft small, they could bolster the point guard, granting Andre Miller his long-awaited heir. That young squire would not only benefit from Miller’s tutelage (imagine an athletically gifted youngster with the court-read of elder Miller), he would reduce Miller’s minutes, ensuring that the master of the basic game (Cam’ron) could steward his squad in to summer. With the addition of a three, especially a sharp shooter, they could then ship a stock-sunk Rudy Fernandez and still have several scorers coming off the bench. If Fernandez is retained, then he may feel some extra pressure to perform.

Given all this…

With the 22nd pick in the 2010 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select…

Eric Bledsoe from the University of Kentucky..............................

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'm not averse to this, but I think "no" for several reasons:
1) I don't think the 2nd- or 3rd-best PG in the draft will be there at 22.
2) Taking a raw PG that didn't get a ton of burn in college isn't KP's M.O.
3) Brandon Roy hates pure PGs
3a) How did Miller do teaching his "heir" Bayless last year?
4) Is Bledsoe (if he makes it to 22) really that much better than Bayless, Mills, (Kopo)?
5) We move up to get Turner.

 

[ABM]

2) Taking a raw PG that didn't get a ton of burn in college isn't KP's M.O.

Seriously, do you really think KP's M.O. will be in play here?

 

[tlongII]

Highly unlikely as he's too small.

 

[Blaze01]

6'1.5 is not too small for a PG

My concern is that we already have Bayless as a SG\PG, not so sure we need another.....

I think given that Rudy is likely gone, Roy's tendency to get banged up during the year, getting a young SG would make more sense, but maybe they will address that via FA?

 

[Tince]

This is far from an official study, but in looking over some past drafts, it seems like the best "value" teams get in the later part of the 1st round comes from drafting the position that there was a lot of early the first round.

In English, if there were 3-4 PF's taken in the lottery, there seemed to be good value in taking a PF in the late first round. We got Jack the year Paul, Williams, and Felton were all taken top 5. Having said that, it would seem to me that taking a PG in a weak PG draft might not be wise. The year we took Webster, it was a super weak SF draft and guys like Webster and Gerald Green got taken way too early. Just throwing that out there...

 

[hasoos]

I really love it when they have us picking the guy who is sinking the most. Right now Bledsoe is sinking badly from what I have read..

 

[Nikolokolus]

Highly unlikely as he's too small.

Small as in an inch shorter than Jerryd, but "long" as in a 6'8" wingspan. So gtfo with that "too small" nonsense.

The biggest knock I have on Bledsoe is that we haven't seen him actually play point guard in college and his pure point rating was garbage.

 

[hasoos]

To me Bledsoe=Project. We are long past the time where the Blazers need another project player.

 

[STOMP]

Highly unlikely as he's too small.

you don't play hoops with the top of your head... Bledsoe's wingspan and standing reach are both better then Bayless's and 190 lbs is stout enough so the measuables aren't really in question. Dude is supposed to be quite an athlete as well. The question is can he play?

I'd expect them to have him in for a workout

STOMP

 

[hasoos]

you don't play hoops with the top of your head... Bledsoe's wingspan and standing reach are both better then Bayless's and 190 lbs is stout enough so the measuables aren't really in question. Dude is supposed to be quite an athlete as well. The question is can he play?

I'd expect them to have him in for a workout

STOMP

That's the whole thing though. From what I have read, his basketball IQ is having problems in workouts.

 

[LittleAlex]

I watched the kid several times last year. He reminded me of Bayless quite a bit.

To the point where it seems absurd to draft him.

Portland doesn't need two ball dominating combo guards in their lineup do they?