New Draft Pick

by rmcdougall on Jun 23, 2008 9:31 PM PDT

Hey Guys. ESPN.com has a new mock draft and it features a new guy I haven't heard of.

Here's a big box quoted from their site:

Portland
Alexis Ajinca Position: C
Height: 7-1
Weight: 240
Age: 20
Country: France

The skinny: It seems unlikely the Blazers will actually keep this pick. They are loaded with young players and have a history of draft day activity on the trade market.

GM Kevin Pritchard is already burning up the phone lines. I think either he'll package some of his young players with this pick and move up in the draft to get a solid prospect or he'll trade the pick for a veteran. The Blazers have had talks with the Nets about Richard Jefferson, the Suns about Leandro Barbosa and the Grizzlies about a deal that would send the No. 13 pick and the expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz to Memphis for No. 5, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins.

In case they do keep the pick, the Blazers have been eyeing Joe Alexander and Russell Westbrook. The Blazers would like to move up to get one or both players, but so far they haven't found the right deal. For the past several weeks we've had Brandon Rush in this spot. But the more I talk to the Blazers, the more I think they may go for a bigger splash. Ajinca is a long, athletic big man who is pretty skilled. He doesn't fill a need for the Blazers, but Pritchard loves to gather assets.

Found here:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=MockDraft-080623

What do we think?

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Comments

saw him at hoop summit

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/4/13/223816/476

he was one of the two foreign guys that was top 10 players on the court. big, skilled… but definitely a project.

taking him at 13 would be a serious reach.

"Honor Terry Porter." Email me with your TP stories and memories.

by Ben Golliver on Jun 23, 2008 9:47 PM PDT reply actions

Nah.. Lets Go A Different Direction

You guys should be making a run at Mike Conley or J.J. Redick, not Richard Jefferson and Leonard Barbosa, those are stupid pick ups in my mind

Brent Jonathan Beck

by Brent Beck on Jun 23, 2008 10:00 PM PDT reply actions

JJ?

Von Wafer has had more PT than JJ in the last two years

The pictures kinda small, but Im giving the C's a big thumbs down

by Blazermaniac77 on Jun 23, 2008 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions

lol

Trail Blazers are really cool

by Outlaw is Rejector on Jun 23, 2008 10:42 PM PDT up reply actions

oh and after finding out Joe Alexander speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, there is no possible way he is going to slip my the Shanghai, I mean Milwaukee Bucks…. haha, that is just crazy though right? The dude I guess grew up in China, Hong Kong, and Taipai for the first eight years of his life, pretty nuts, but yeah, they have loved Yi all along, so this is there first chance to actually keep him for long term! Sorry guys…

Brent Jonathan Beck

by Brent Beck on Jun 23, 2008 10:03 PM PDT reply actions

Wouldnt it be nuts if Joe Alexander played for the Chinese national team, I mean Kaman is playing for Germany and he never even lived in Germany… Joe has a lot up on him… I dont even think Kaman speaks german either…. imagine if they had Joe Alexander as a guard…. nuts!

Brent Jonathan Beck

by Brent Beck on Jun 23, 2008 10:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Aren't the bucks considering trading Yi

I can’t figure out why. Seems like he has great potential, but who knows what those knuckle heads do.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Jun 24, 2008 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions

More importantly

God no to brian cardinal and collins

President of the Petteri Koponen fan club.

by Sabonis4Ever on Jun 23, 2008 10:07 PM PDT reply actions

Cool post

I like what you did thars with the quoting and such.

That being said, it would be a HUGE reach, unless of course we were drafting for someone else, which I’m all for. :)

Trail Blazers are really cool

by Outlaw is Rejector on Jun 23, 2008 10:43 PM PDT reply actions

This would be a shocker.

Ajinca averaged 5 points per game in Europe. This is way higher than he was projected to go. Either Pritchard is just toying with other GMs to see if they will change their view of him or the Blazers are planning to drafting Ajinca for someone else. I hope.

by PoliSam on Jun 23, 2008 10:51 PM PDT reply actions

The above

Was sorta my thoughts in posting this. I hadn’t heard of the guy and there seems to be a reason for that: he’s a pretty big reach at #13.

What do we think of the rest of the blurb? Richard Jefferson seems to have some very good qualities about him: Plays SF, Veteran Leadership, would help trim our rotation to a managable level, works well without the ball. Do we know about his defense?

Who would we pick at #5? Do we assume that’s Westbrook, or would a Gordon or Bayless be interesting?

by rmcdougall on Jun 23, 2008 10:59 PM PDT reply actions

No FRENCIES please.

Did you hear about the NEW french tank ?

It has 6 gears. One forward and five reverse.

We have enough Euros right now !

DOWN WITH COINCAST !  BRING BACK OUR BLAZERS !!!!!

It's GO time !

by walkoff41 on Jun 24, 2008 3:02 AM PDT reply actions

yikes

"Besides, AnntheFan will be here any minute to #25 you." T Darkstar

by annthefan on Jun 24, 2008 3:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah

When we play in Phoenix, he’d probably…

... get fried.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jun 24, 2008 4:43 AM PDT up reply actions

Trade Up, or Set the Table for a Vet

Sure, and we could pick Ibaka or any number of possible “future” assets. The practical fact is that Alexander is the best SF in the draft (no-one else looks any better than what we already have) Westbrook is a good defender with an upside, and Augustin followed by Chalmers are the best PG’s left on the board. I don’t think Gordon’s a fit, and we’d have to get to 5 to get Bayless or Mayo – and we might not get them there. We’ll trade up, or we’ll set the board to get a vet. I don’t actually see anything else in this draft that could help us, given that we have youth and depth, and certainly no need for big men (there aren’t any in the draft better than what we have in any case). We have a lot of pieces to deal, which is why every report indicates KP has been working all the trade channels. #13 might not be a bad pick, but our problem is we have a roster loaded with players that are likely to be every bit as good as anyone we can get at 13. Some think Brandon Rush would be a help, but I don’t know that he’s “better” than Webster, which, given we have both Outlaw and Webster already at that position, makes me wonder why we’d draft him.

by Eben Calder on Jun 24, 2008 6:10 AM PDT reply actions

Garbage Time

The mocks have seen the early hype on the SF’s drop all but one down the list – Alexander. Recently, I’ve seen Ajinca, McGee and Koufos projected to the Blazers, and Rush. The first 3 are irrelevant other than as trade bait, and Rush is said to be coveted by Phoenix, so that if we draft him there, he’d probably end up being some part of a trade. Bottom line. What these mocks keep doing is make my point above, which is that there are only a couple of players we might want, and the only way to get them is to trade up. Barring that, everything else will be directed towards a vet, and/or the salary cap next year. Hopefully, KP can convince other GM’s that the 13 has more value to them, than it does to us.

by Eben Calder on Jun 24, 2008 7:24 AM PDT reply actions