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May 30

Ford: And Portland Picks ...

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By caseyholdahl Posted in: 2012draft, 2012nbadraft, draft2012

So now we know. The Trail Blazers will have the 6th and 11th picks in the 2012 NBA Draft. It's about as good of a turnout as we could realistically expect. Sometimes it's good to be greedy, but this wasn't one of those times.

And almost as soon as the picks were released, new mock drafts from NBA pundits followed. Chad Ford, one of the foremost experts when it comes to the NBA Draft, released his fifth mock draft, and both of Portland's picks are players he hadn't had going to Portland in his previous mocks.

At No. 6, Ford has the Trail Blazers taking UCONN big man Andre Drummond

Analysis: The Blazers need size and Drummond is huge. He's a major project, but in the right team environment, Drummond could be another Andrew Bynum.

That ought to drive some discussion. The Trail Blazers certainly need to address center, but is a project the best way to go about doing it? If the ceiling is Andrew Bynum (hopefully with a little less attitude), you'd have to take that project on.

At No. 11, Ford has Portland taking less of a project, but not as much of a need in another UConn player, Jeremy Lamb.

The Blazers really need a center or a point guard. But with Lillard off the board, I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the trigger on Lamb, who could go anywhere from No. 6 to No. 13 on draft night. Portland's scouting staff has been high on him all year and, while he wouldn't fill a primary need, he has the talent to eventually earn a spot as the team's starting 2-guard.

I think Nic Batum is a shooting guard, so I'm not as high on this one, but I could be convinced otherwise.

So let's hear it Trail Blazers fans. What do you want to see happen with No. 6 and No. 11? You good with taking the two UConn-ians? You have your heart set on someone else? Trade one or both? Have at it.

Previous Story: Allen: GM Search Down To Four

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12 Comments

Drummond and Lamb are Oden and Roy...

by alanb on 5/30/2012 5:48 PM
Trade as many picks as is necessary + whatever players (any players EXCEPT E-will & LMA; we gotta do a sign & trade w/ Batum when the time comes hopefully in a 3-4 team deal that includes getting Paul George over here as part of the following :) & $ that is reasonable to land Ibaka (IF we can't get him for ~$8mill/yr then we go get Biyombo, he's the MUCH cheaper non-scoring, defensive, athletic copy ;), Dragic, & the rights to Thomas Robinson & Kidd-Gilchrist (IF the price is too steep for THE Kidd, we go get Derrick Williams; a lot of ppl have given up on this guy already which makes him possible to grab now; don't worry, he WILL b awesome in this League :)! These r ALL good character guys! We do this & we b a contender & then it's championshipS!!!

by Simpson on 5/31/2012 9:06 AM
definitely we need a center, so we must draft one, Drummond is the best center in this draft, but i think Drummond talent is too great to not be selected by a team with pick 1 - 5 in this draft, so i don't see we have a big chance to draft him.. if we can't get Drummond, i go with Harrison Barnes at 6 and Tyler Zeller or Meyers Leonard at 11

by KevinMontoy on 5/30/2012 8:18 PM
We should get Beal with pick six, if still available, if not we should go after Barnes. This would make Batum expendable and give us some trade options and gives us more money in our cap to go after big free agents. I'm unsure about Drummond, due to his questionable passion to play the game and inconsistency. With our 11th pick, I believe we should go after a PG. Marshall is a true facilitator which is what we need, however he is unable to create his own shot on occasion. This brings in Lillard who is a dynamic scorer and would take the load of LA. The pieces are there, its just who do we choose..

by Landfill90 on 5/30/2012 8:29 PM
PPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLZZ every1, NO Drummond! His BEST-case scenario is Bynum; THIS is the EXACT reason we DON'T WANT HIM! The guy is/will b a chemistry nightmare AND will @ HIS BEST, put up strong #'s BUT in doing so WILL cost u the game! I like Marshall's skills BUT he will have a lot of off-court issues & a town like Portland won't suit the kind of guy he is off-court.

by Simpson on 5/30/2012 8:40 PM
Casey, I have to wait for a while to digest all this.

by Hg on 5/30/2012 10:42 PM
Pick jeremy lamb or harrison barnes and tyler zeller for a center. or if we dont get a center we can get a pg. lillard or marshall and harrison barnes or jeremy lamb.

by reg828 on 5/31/2012 1:39 AM
or we can pick both harrison barnes at #6 and jeremy lamb at #11

by reg828 on 5/31/2012 1:54 AM
Drummond will be gone by number six; he's a project, but his sheer size and potential take him off the board by then (not chiding you, Casey, as you're just the messenger here!). i hate to say it, but our best bet may be to either trade that sixth pick up to be able to nab either Drummond or Robinson, or trade down in order to take someone like Zeller or Meyer. the only thing the sixth pick is going to do is really avoiding filling a position of need (i.e. pg or center).

i would also suggest that if we take a pf with a lottery pick, it' becomes less likely we pursue Hickson in the off-season (unless, of course, we want to pick the best player available so he can ride the pines for the duration of his rookie contract). i'm not specifically against the best-player-available tool; however, it should be just one tool when considering drafting; not the end-all, be-all strategy (actually, i don't really think it is that, despite all the support for it, but that's something i may address when i get around to ressurecting my own blog around here).

also, let's trade picks 40 and 41. ultimately, we're just not going to do anything with them. look at our second-round selections from the past five drafts (in descending order:

2011: Jon Dielber - jury still out.
2010: Armon Johnson - minimal impact, gone.
2009: Dante Cunningham - nice impact, traded for Crash Wallace, who is now gone. Jon Brockman - traded and gone. Patty Mills - had potential, gone. Jeff Pendergraph - minimal impact, gone.
2008: Joey Dorsey - who? Omar Asik - immediately traded to chicago. Mike Taylor - never played for the blazers.
2007: Josh McRoberts - rode the pine, gone. Derrick Byars - traded to philadelphia. Taurean Green - rode the pine, gone. Demetris Nichols - traded to knicks.

my point is this: we don't take advantage of our second round picks. why not trade them for something we can use? it makes more sense than to follow the history of that list.

~ KMM

by Kassandra on 5/31/2012 10:42 AM
Jordan will draft Drummond (bc Jordan's stupid ;) so this should make Biyombo easy/cheap to get :)

by Simpson on 5/31/2012 9:08 AM
@Simpson: regardless of who the bobcats draft, they are not letting go of Biyombo. he, Walker and the number two pick are the building blocks around which they are building their team. simply put, there is a better chance the thunder will waive Durant than the bobcats let Biyombo out of their sight.

also, Paul George is good, but not the future major piece of a franchise (frankly, Nicolas is better). it's also highly unlikely the thunder will let go of Ibaka; that would make no sense for them. we don't have enough to trade away to get the rights to Robinson AND Kidd-Gilchrist. Dragic would be my top choice for free agent pg (my realistic top choice at least.

i see your wish list as interesting, but not realistic.

~ KMM

by Kassandra on 5/31/2012 9:56 AM
I know some may not like him, but Andrew Bynum is a VERY good player. Drummond at No. 6 would be a complete homerun if he could get to Bynum level, at least from a production standpoint.

by caseyholdahl on 5/31/2012 10:11 AM