Pryz not going to be ready until late November/December

You are free to interpret them literally if you prefer, I just think it was more about turf than actually "not caring about fit".

Sorry I totally disagree. KP was very clear whenever he was specifically asked about fit. He said he thought it more important to get the best players available and Nate would figure out the best way to use them because he was very good at it (KP’s opinion of Nate). He said exactly that about fit in multiple interviews.

1. … Twenty-nine GMs passed on Blair based on medical advice.

29 other GMs did not have the 31 and 33 picks in the 2nd round. KP had already used (wasted?) his first round pick on Claver and then had two more chances to take Blair with a low risk 2nd round pick. As I said it is understandable that no GM wanted to take Blair in the first round with a guaranteed 2-year contract. But Blair went 37, the 7th pick of the 2nd round. Only 4 other GM’s passed on Blair in the 2nd round, not 29 other GMs, only 4. And no other GM had two chances to take Blair in the 2nd round, only KP. San Antonio must have thought it was Xmas when Blair dropped to them. I think it was ridiculous not to take a chance on Blair’s knees with one of those two 2nd round picks. They could have drafted him, sent him to summer league and spent the entire summer testing him before deciding what kind of contract was worth risking on him. Even then, the amount of money risked would have been small.

2… The stats are a lot kinder to JP than the eye test.

He’ll be a 10th guy at best on a healthy team. They grow on trees every year and Paul can buy all the 2nd round picks for a player like that he wants.

3. … KP made one consolidation trade: Blake and Trout for Camby … He made another trade of Webster for Babbitt that saved money and allowed us to go after Mathews

He traded Blake and Trout for Camby (a very good deal by KP) only after we lost both Joel and Oden and were in danger of not making the playoffs. So great KP trade, but he would have never went after it if it hadn’t been for injuries, IMO.

Trading Webster had absolutely nothing to do with saving money to get Matthews. (We first tried to trade Rudy to Minn for that draft pick but Rudy’s agent told Minn he would never report there.) Paul isn’t afraid of paying luxury tax (which we are still doing). He way overpaid for Camby and Matthews because he wants to build a winner and isn’t concerned about a few million extra bucks to do it. Besides, Webster would have been traded later anyway to make room for Batums minutes and Matthews minutes (Matthews isn’t getting $33M just to back up Roy).

Twenty-nine GMs passed on Blair based on medical advice. To expect KP to ignore that advice, when the team’s two best players Roy and Oden have both struggled with knee issues, strikes me as unreasonable.

Are you sure that every other NBA team was in the first round early 2nd (up to choice 37?) Most years there is a team that has dealt it’s #1 choice away, and the same franchise can have several choices in the first round (the Wolves come to mind, from the ’09 draft)

Blair was drafted by the Spurs, who have the reputation of creating medical rumors to cause college prospects to slide (Batum heart problem, etc) I suspect Blair was just another one of these ruses and to say that KP was not duped along with the rest of his peers (except RC Buford…) is the opposite of praise.

He [Pendergraph] is never going to be a great offensive threat, but if he plays within himself and sticks to what he can do well, I think he can be a decent role player. He is a smart kid, good attitude, good effort

I suppose we should be happy if he’s a decent role player for a couple of years, based on the average results from 2nd round draft choices. But Jeff will never become what DeJuan already is, and Blair was available at #31 so this ciriticism of the ’09 draft is valid

Folks wanted consolidation before our core was set and before we had given our young talent much of a chance to develop

And yet, the kinds of consolidated that fans were calling for were finally done (Blake/Outlaw traded, Webster flipped, etc) months after they were “suggested” here at BE. Unfortunately, the Rudy “consolation prize” deal was not made when he still had trade value. I’m hoping Cho will be an improvement in this area, but (to be fair) KP had trouble convincing Paul that Fernandez “needed” to be dealt. last winter

You can certainly argue that we would have been better off pulling the trigger earlier on deals for Sergio and Rudy

I would add Channing Frye to that discussion. As the Suns have shown, Frye had some trade value at the ‘09 deadline that was not realized by KP/Portland, and Channing was not helpful to the team’s front line during the Rocket’s series

been better spent on a backup 3 who can play defense and shoot the corner 3 (e.g., Keith Bogans) along with a backup 2 who can run an offense with good handles (e.g., Roger Mason, Jr.) rather than overypaying for a backup 3 in Wes Matthews. Next to Jerryd Bayless, Mason, Jr. is the kind of big guard with court vision that you want in the backcourt.

That, of course, isn’t on Kevin Pritchard, but rather Larry Miller, Mike Born, and Chad Buchanan. From a scouting perspective, I’m in awe Born and Buchanan think that Matthews can effectively play the 2 on occasion in the high-low zone offense. To me, that puts into question their understanding of fit.

Oh well, that’s at least not as utterly ridiculous as David Kahn thinking Martell Webster can play either wing postion — regardless of whether it’s his natural 3 or the 2 — in the Triangle offense.

Also, we all know in detail why I’d prefer someone such as Darren Collison or Kirk Hinrich at the 1 alongside Brandon Roy. I stand by that, too, but there’s no need for me to rehash it.

I’d move him right now in a consolidation trade for Andre Iguodala without a second thought.