Don't know if you saw or heard anything about yesterday's NBA draft. The Blazers were by far the most active team in the market, making six trades and spending millions of dollars. In the end, we end up with Lamarcus Aldridge at #2 and Brandon Roy at #7. We also added veteran power forward Raef LaFrenz, Dan Dickau and Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez. We gave up Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and Viktor Khyrapa. So much happened so quickly that it has taken awhile for me to absorb it all. All things considered, I think the Blazers had a great day that could literally transform the franchise. I'm impressed with interim GM Kevin Pritchard. Quick thoughts...Telfair - He was good, but didn't have a great head for a point guard. And he's small. After Stoudemire, do we really need another small point? I'm happy to turn it over to Jarret Jack with Steve Blake as the backup.
Ratliff - Getting old and often injured, Theo's best days are over. Time to move forward.
Viktor - Sorry to see him go. He was a great scrapper off the bench.
Aldridge - He certainly has potential to be a Kevin Garnett-like power forward. Great speed and quickness to go with his size. Can shoot from inside and out. Runs the floor like a guard. Not all big guys turn out to be all-stars, but Aldridge has all the tools. A great character guy from all reports. Nate and Maurice Lucas will help him put on some muscle and turn him into a tough guy.
Roy - This may well be the pick that truly transforms this team. He's a Husky, so you may have seen him play. Many, many other teams wanted to get their hands on Roy yesterday and Portland pulled the strings to make it happen, even after having spent their own high pick on Aldridge. They literally stole Roy away from Houston who thought they had worked out a rock-solid deal with Minnesota to get him. Roy does just about everything well. Can play 3 positions. Won't surprise me to see him win R.O.Y. in 2007.LaFrenz - He a solid, reliable back-up. He can score and defend.
Rodriguez - Don't know much about him. He's young... 19. Guess he's a ball-handling and passing wizard that has dazzled the scouts watching the Euro-leagues. Potentially a future Manu Genobilli??
Paul Allen - From all reports, PA was extremely involved in this draft and was very instrumental in making these deals happen. He attended all of the workouts of all of the Blazer's draft candidates. He opened his wallet in a big way (he literally bought the Sun's 27th pick for 3 million!!) He appeared on the radio during the draft and sounded very excited about all of it. Do you think this sounds like a man about to sell his ballclub? Me neither. Now that the ownership issues regarding the Rose Garden have been smoothed out, I expect PA will buy-back the arena and keep the team as his favorite (Seahawks are still #2 for Paul) plaything. Paul likes football, but he loves basketball.
What's Next - Blazers still have to find a way to re-sign free agent Joel Przybilla. And they simply have to get rid of Darius Miles. They may have to give up some money and a good young player like Travis Outlaw or Juan Dixon to get rid of Miles, but I think they'll do it.
Starters next year (unless more big trades are on the way)...
Point - JACK (Blake, Dickau backups)
2-guard - ROY (Dixon, Webster backups)
Small Forward - WEBSTER (Outlaw, Roy backups. Miles? He's gone.)
Power Forward - RANDOLPH (Aldridge, LaFrenz backups)
Center - PRZYBILLA (Aldridge, Ha backups)
In a couple of years our foundation will be Jack-Roy-Webster-Aldridge. Could be great!!
