Boob was very hot for the team to draft Blair after he dropped due to injury concerns.
Heck, before the draft, I was hoping we'd trade up for a chance to draft Blair. When he fell and we passed on him THREE times, I was livid. I couldn't believe it. The guy was EXACTLY what we needed in a back-up 4. As predicted, his rebounding has successfully translated to the NBA game, where he continues to be an elite level rebounder. The knee injury thing ended up being a total red herring. Since high school, Blair hasn't missed a single game, or practice due to a knee injury. He played in all 72 games his two years at Pitt, played all 82 games his rookie year and missed a single game, due to a sprained wrist, during his second NBA season. He started 65 games for a team that won 61 games and had the best regular season record in the Western Conference during his second NBA season.
He has contributed far, far more as an NBA player (3293 Minutes Played, 1360 Points, 1110 Rebounds) than the three guys we took instead combined (2771 Minutes Played, 837 Points, 537 Rebounds). It's unfortunate and cruelly ironic that one of the guys we took instead of Blair missed his entire second NBA season due to a torn ACL.
It was stupid to pass on him at 22, and insane to pass on him at 31 AND 33. To date, he has proven to be the second best big man in that entire draft, trailing only Blake Griffin.
BNM