10 Years of Blazer Draftee's graded (01-04)

While watching the Phoenix game on Friday night, I saw a lot of Blazers draftees on both sides of the ball. Thinking back to the past decade of drafts and how they effected our team make up today, i decided to do a decade in review. Grading by the players contribution to the Blazers while they were/ still are here, and the careers they made for themselves after, beginning in ...

2001

Round 1 pick 21: Qyntel Woods- North East Mississippi Community College: A poor mans Michael Vick, spent 3 years with the Blazers averaging around 3.0 points a game amid controversies surrounding an animal cruelty charge for staging dog fights and his home, and marijuana possesion, he madepit stops in Miami and New York before flopping out of the league. Since then he's bounced from European team to European team. His biggest Highlight was being the 2008 Greek League slam dunk champion. His biggest lowlight, having a contract terminated while being caught with marijuana during the Greek League Finals.

Grade: F

Round 2 pick 43: Jason Jennings- Arkansas state: Never made the team.

Grade: W ( WITHDRAW)

Round 2 pick 51: Federico Kammerichs- Argentina: Never made the team.

Grade:W ( WITHDRAW)

2002

Round 1 pick 23: Travis Outlaw- Starkville HS: His best year for the Blazers was 07-08 when he average 13.3 PPG, used as a sort of Hybrid 4 to backup Aldridge. This allowed Outlaw to use his speed, athleticism, and jump shot against slower defenders. The next two years he average closer to 10 PPG while not showing much more improvement. He was eventually traded to Clippers along with Steve Blake for Marcus Camby, before being trade to the New Jersey Nets after just 23 games. The Nets liked what they saw in his scoring potential, signing him to a 5 year 35 million dollar deal, however, after being unable to produce as a focal scoring option, he was waived by the Nets after just a season. He was eventually picked up off waivers by the Sacramento Kings.

Grade: B-

While Travis never became more than a solid starter, and effective back up for the Blazers, the coaching staff was able to get more production out of him than any other team has been able to since, and he was a key player in the rotation during Portlands rebuilding seasons. The Blazers got a capable defender in Camby in trading him, and he was able to get paid a large contract by New Jersey and make some good money. A good kid that always had a smile on his face. Nothing to regret about that pick.

Round 2 pick 54: Nedžad Sinanović- Bosnia: Never made the team

Grade: W

2003

Round 1 pick 13:Sabastian Telfair- Lincoln HS: The highest ranked high school player in his class had a lot of hype coming out of New York ( #2 ranked player? Dwight Howard) He started at point guard during one of the worst seasons in Blazer history. The next year got injured and sat for 12 games while back up Steve Blake came in to create more assists, while giving up less turnovers. Telfair backed him up the rest of the season before being traded to the Boston Celtics. Since then, he has played for 5 other teams, playing mostly as the number three point guard. His defense has improved, and he can still get to the rim, but still struggles with finishing and turnovers.

Grade: D+

Round 1 pick 23: Sergei Monia- Russia: Never made the team

Grade: W

Round 2 pick 47: Ha Seung-Jin-South Korea: Played Sparingly for the Blazers for two years, even started for 11 games when centers Theo Ratliff and Joel Pryzbella went down. Eventually got sent down to the D League before dropping out completely. Huge body, few basketball skills.

Grade: D

While he didn’t accomplish much, we got him for next to nothing at the end of the second round, and actually got quite a bit of publicity from him, due to his overseas popularity.

2004

Round 1 Pick 6: Martell Webster- Seattle Prep: Taken a year after Telfair in hopes of suring up the back court, Webster came in as a hot shooter and was recognized as an excellent athlete, though he never could quite produce up to the status of his high draft selection, he did average solid points of the bench and improved his shooting percentage and defense every year, though his ceiling was lower than hoped. He was eventually traded to the Timberwolves for Ryan Gnomes and the rights to Luke Babbit.

Grade: C

Was a solid player while here, and a good person as well. Missed a year because of injury, and never fully blossomed liked we had hoped, but eventually became a dangerous long ball shooter off the bench who could occasionally put up 20+ point nights.

Round 1 pick 22: Jarret Jack- Georgia Tech: Was the Third string PG his rookie season, started the following year, then was again back up to Steve Blake the year after that. While starting he averaged 12 PPG and 5 assists while shooting 45% from the floor. He eventually got traded to Indiana, where he started and produced good numbers, before the raptors signed him to a 4 year 20 million dollar deal. He is currently having his best season statistically to date, averaging 16.7 PPG and 7.6 assists.

Grade: B-

While he was a solid performer for us, and has since improved his game and averages in the league, we didn’t get to see the complete product until now. He has found his niche in the league. He almost completely stopped taking 3’s and now guards the opposing teams SG when he can, having better success defensively against them. His averages while improved, have been produced on subpar teams, making it hard to tell how he would fair on a contending team. Still, for where he was picked in the draft, he has shown great production.