Collected Media Draft Grades

by douglast on Jun 27, 2008 7:23 AM PDT

Chad Ford, ESPN: A-
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftGrades-080627

Analysis: For the third straight year, the Blazers walk away with an "A" in the draft. Portland GM Kevin Pritchard continues to be the most daring, creative and active GM in the league. If I were to use a draft term to describe him, I'd say he's got an amazing motor.

The Blazers had a prearranged deal with the Pacers to move up to No. 11 if D.J. Augustin or Bayless were on the board. After the draft, Pritchard told me they had Bayless ranked fourth on their board -- so that's great value at No. 11. As part of the trade, they also picked up Ike Diogu, an undervalued big man who's been injured a lot.

Pritchard also bought the No. 27 pick from the Hornets and traded up late in the first round to get another player he wanted, Nicolas Batum.

In the second round, Pritchard turned three second-round picks into four future picks. That works because, given the roster crunch of the Blazers, they just didn't have any room for more players now.

Bayless is an upgrade over the guy the Blazers lost in the trade, Jarrett Jack. Bayless is a better athlete and a much better shooter. If he develops his point guard skills, he could be a Chauncey Billups-type of point guard.

I'm not as high on Batum. The guy Pritchard traded away, Darrell Arthur, will probably be a much better NBA player. But some scouts believe Batum has great upside, and the Blazers felt he was worth the risk.

Mike Kahn, Fox Sports: B
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8288054/Did-your-team-make-the-grade-in-NBA-draft?

This is the second year in a row general manager Kevin Pritchard has made five deals on draft day, with this year's version actually leaving them without any of the players they picked in the first place. Bayless isn't the pure point guard they were looking for, but he can really shoot from the perimeter and is a strong defender, which is big for their future. The hope is he'll earn minutes quickly. Batum, only 19, is likely to stay in France, Meanwhile, Pritchard also added four future second-round picks.

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports: Winner
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArG.quQM_Eo3UJsh_C63.Xq8vLYF?slug=dw-nbadraftwinlose062708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

When your owner, Paul Allen, is willing to buy up other team’s draft picks it should be a good night. A year ago the Blazers were a big draft-night winner when they chose Greg Oden, a franchise center out of Ohio State, with the No. 1 pick overall. Then Oden’s knee got hurt and he was lost for the season.

A year later, the Trail Blazers weren’t expected to make things happen again, but after a respectable 41-win season and Oden set to return, the push for the playoffs starts now.

GM Kevin Pritchard pulled off a trade with Indiana that brought in Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless and bulky forward Ike Diogu in exchange for Kansas forward Brandon Rush and guard Jarrett Jack.

The Blazers’ decision to buy New Orleans’ pick at No. 27 for $3 million worked out when Kansas forward Darrell Arthur, a lottery pick level talent, dropped to them due to rumors about a possible kidney ailment.

With no room on the roster for Arthur, they were able to move him (along with second-rounder Joey Dorsey) to Houston for highly-regarded French forward Nicolas Batum, who will stay in Europe this year. Later they traded Omer Asik, a second-round selection out of Turkey, to the Bulls for three future second-round picks.

The Blazers got better, got more picks and foreign talent for the future and had a hand in all sorts of interesting moments of the draft (They traded all five players they originally drafted). Not a bad night.

Marty Burns, CnnSI: A-
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/marty_burns/06/27/grades/index.html?eref=T1

For the second year in a row, they made a dizzying array of moves. When the dust settled, they had a dynamic scorer in Bayless as well as a boatload of future picks.

Sam Smith, Sporting News: A
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=428492

They've had the ability the past two years to make bold moves to add talent. And they've done it again by dealing with the Pacers to get guard Jerryd Bayless, who could team nicely with Brandon Roy in a retro-style backcourt like the Celtics of the mid-1980's. Undervalued Ike Diogu, also acquired in the trade, could be a big surprise. Nicolas Batum, acquired through second-round dealings, is a good risk. He is talented, but sunk on questionable reports of heart irregularities.

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Amusing

The amusing thing about some of these grades is how some teams get an “A” for just showing up. Miami in the second one above got an A because, for example, they drafted Beasley. Well, what else were they going to do. It doesn’t take rocket scientist to do the obvious. But it does take one to do what KP did, which is convert the #13 into the #4 pick on his board and give up nothing more than Jack. Had he tried to move directly up to the #4 pick of Seattle – they’d of wanted an arm, a leg, and something else to boot. And that would’ve been a lot more than just Jack. So, he played the smoke and mirrors. Talk up Augustin and Westbrook. Pump up their stock. And as time went by, they just kept rising up the board – forcing Bayless down. The great irony was Seattle seeming settled on Bayless, and then decided on Westbrook.Everyone said KP was hoping to get Augustin, Westbrook, or Alexander. The reality was, he was never hoping for any such thing. He was hoping for Bayless. And got him. Now that’s worth an A. Just taking the obvious player? How about a C – any GM would’ve done that, after all.

by Eben Calder on Jun 27, 2008 10:16 AM PDT 0 recs

yeah

You have to make the grade relative to where teams stand in the draft order. You can’t give a team an F because they draft a scrub at #30. If they found the gem at that spot, or turned the pick into another asset, then that is an A or B.

Conversely, if you draft the consensus #1 and do nothing else, then you get a B at best. Now, if you add other things to that (see Portland 2007 draft), then you earn the A.

by douglast on Jun 27, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up 0 recs

Ford shouldn't penalize us for trading Arthur

The problem for us was that Houston wanted Arthur, and would have taken him at 25 if we didn’t ask them to trade. We knew that SA would grab Batum if he was available, but both sides (Houston and Portland) were willing to gamble on the fact that SA wouldn’t sniff out the deal and take Arthur at 26. This allowed Portland to grab one of the two prospects, rather than end up with neither. It was actually a pritchslap of magnificent proportions against SA.

by premthegrem on Jun 27, 2008 10:33 AM PDT 0 recs

Absolutely a Pritchslap

One amusing comment by a writer was that he still couldn’t figure out why, if Houston wanted Arthur all along, they didn’t just take him at 25. Well, because, my somewhat dense writer, because they didn’t want SA to get Batum – that’s why.

by Eben Calder on Jun 27, 2008 10:56 AM PDT 0 recs

Also

because they wanted our #33 pick.

Good deal for both teams. Perhaps a better deal for Houston than for us.

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

by jscot on Jun 27, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up 0 recs

is batum staying in europe?

that would be an additional angle for considering the value of the trade.

by premthegrem on Jun 27, 2008 11:06 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm hearing both ways

so I don’t know which report to believe.

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

by jscot on Jun 27, 2008 11:34 AM PDT up 0 recs

This is from Dan Wetzel on Yahoo!

“WINNER

PORTLAND

When your owner, Paul Allen, is willing to buy up other team’s draft picks it should be a good night. A year ago the Blazers were a big draft-night winner when they chose Greg Oden, a franchise center out of Ohio State, with the No. 1 pick overall. Then Oden’s knee got hurt and he was lost for the season.

A year later, the Trail Blazers weren’t expected to make things happen again, but after a respectable 41-win season and Oden set to return, the push for the playoffs starts now.

GM Kevin Pritchard pulled off a trade with Indiana that brought in Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless and bulky forward Ike Diogu in exchange for Kansas forward Brandon Rush and guard Jarrett Jack.

Blazermania - It's not just for die-hards anymore.

by Blazerholic on Jun 27, 2008 12:05 PM PDT 0 recs