Yes, I think Martell can be one of those guys. At 21, he still should be able to improve his defense significantly. And his percentage on 3s, already decent, should bump up another 2-3 points. He actually has the potential to be more than just a 5th-7th man, but if we want to talk probabilities rather than possibilities, it is probable that he can be a solid defender, decent rebounder, and very good long-ball threat to keep defenses honest.

Yes, I think Blake is probably another of those guys. He’s won before, in college. That matters. The guy knows how to play a role, to win. We can win with him as our starting PG, with the dominant players we have elsewhere. We may trade to improve at the point, or one of our young PGs may develop into a starter, but I see Blake continuing as one of those championship role players.

Trout and Rudy could both be that guy. They both could play the role of instant offense off the bench. Travis can play the role of the guy who will hit the game winner for you. He might only play 12-15 minutes a game on a championship team, but would win a few games with 4th quarter heroics and a few others by making a blowout happen early. Rudy is the kind of scorer that could come in off the bench and singlehandedly outscore the other team’s bench in one of those 5-8 minute stretches. Again, he may be much more than that, a true star. But it is probable that he will at least be a key role player, the kind of guy who will, playing beside your stars, win you a championship.

Joel is the guy who can come in after Greg picks up his second foul halfway through the first quarter and holds the fort for the next 12-15 minutes.

Sergio is the guy who comes in and lights a fire when nothing has been happening, and gets you back in the game.

We have lots of guys who can win a handful of games for us, keep us in a game when our stars are out, and make key contributions at important times. Which ones will rise to the occasion of being championship-level rotation players?

Probable: Martell, Steve, Joel, Travis, Rudy.
Reasonable possibility: Channing, James, Jarrett
Not so likely, but could happen: Sergio, Koponen

Any of these guys could be traded, of course. It is possible (but unlikely) that none of them will really pan out, although with Joel and Steve we pretty much know what they are. They’ll be solid role players for us, or for someone else.

All the above is why KP commented that with Rudy and Greg coming in this year, it’s already been a good draft. And, it can only get better. Portland does have some good and improving young talent. We’re solid in the front court – indeed, almost too solid, and Rudy seems to have a scoring and ball handling ingredient that the Blazers want to see in the backcourt – making us stronger there. And, as anyone who watches these over-hyped drafts knows, most of the talent is 19 years old, and has one year of history. Drafting Freshmen is a real crap shoot. As often as people talk about who does make it, you have that other list of those that don’t – or don’t remotely live up to their draft spot hype. You know who you have with people like Blake, Pryzbilla, Webster, Outlaw and Frye. KP has made a living off of the mistakes others routinely are making with these drafts. The Aldridge trade was a classic, as was getting Fernandez for little or nothing at the bottom of the first round last year. If we keep what we have, then Outlaw will start playing minutes behind Webster – and can still back up the PF spot when needed. And, at guard, if you get three good ball handlers into your rotation, having the “star” may not be as important as we think. An interesting post pointed out that none of the championship PG’s have that many assists – primarily because the players on those teams all distribute the ball well. It’s called “teamwork”. So – what do we “really” need? Good Question isn’t it.? Other than some patience. After all, once Oden and Rudy have a year under their belt – we’ll know a lot more about what we “need” – or don’t need.

Still, I get a sense that they feel like they want to upgrade at SF, and would take a good PG if they could find a better one than Blake. But that could be as much a trade, as a draft.