Should the Trail Blazers Aim For Best Player Available or Best Fit in the 2024 NBA Draft?

Should the Trail Blazers Aim For Best Player Available or Best Fit in the 2024 NBA Draft?

in today’s show we’re talking a holistic approach to the Blazers off season how do they balance best player available and fit in the draft and what do they need to do to maximize the growth of their young roster welcome to lockdown Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday what up world it’s your pass ver point guard and Trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond you are listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of lockon podcast network available wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming out each and every weekday Monday through Friday tell your friends about the show tell them to make it their first listen it’s lock on Blazers your team every day in today’s show uh we’re going big picture kind of um theoretical approach to team building discussion I got a couple interesting questions from longtime listeners uh shout out to the the Reverend Dr Jess Beals and also real Dr Jay uh two long time listen to the program sent me sent me some interesting emails over the last week um and and got me kind of thinking about something that had been kind of bouncing around in my brain and it’s how do the Blazers approach this draft season this off seon with the idea that they need to get better in terms of high-end talent but also prioritize the players they already have on the roster and how do they how do they sort of how do they do both of those things at the same time how do they think about the near term and also the sort of larger picture while approaching this offseason I mean that’s the freaking job of the of the team right is uh is to do both so that’s what we’re going to get into today I want to talk about Bri like how the BL what should the Blazers prioritize in the draft um this idea that that the good Reverend doctor reminded me of which is the the the bell curve of Best Player available and fit that I pitched last year um and then as well as this idea um that the Blazers need to balance production and potential um and uh a phrase that you’ll hear a lot in Blazer circles is that they don’t want to be the Pistons um and I’ll agree but maybe not in the way that you think let us um let us get into Today’s Show let let’s let’s that’s what we’re going to talk about today let’s kind of let’s dive in a little deeper um so I want to start here is like I think there are certain pockets of the fan base in general that either wants the Blazers to try to be competitive next year or thinks the Blazers are like can be competitive next year with very you know if like okay they’re going you know if they just if everybody’s magically healthy for all 82 games they’re actually pretty good I don’t think either of those are particularly true one um I don’t think the blaz is just like straight up they are not talented enough even if they just run back the roster to make the play in in the west um look at the Western Conference look look how good everyone is think about how much better Houston and San Antonio are likely to be think about how much better Memphis is likely to be like I don’t see it I don’t see a run run it back scenario where the Blazers are one of the top 10 teams in the west it just seems outlandish and to pursue being like the 11th best team in the west seems like it would be a misstep not like a a crime right like I think I think building a roster that you hope is competitive is fine but I don’t think it’s Blazer’s priority what their priority is to be bad again and end up in the top of the draft and then in The Following Season which seems like a world away in May of 2024 but in the 25 26 Season build towards a more competitive team you hope that that is the timeline there’s a chance that it’s two years away and we’re talking 26 27 and then we’re it’s going to be a world of hurt on this podcast if it’s that long but I I don’t believe that the Blazers can build a team that is um competitive in terms of achieving postseason participation and I don’t think they should I don’t think they should I I I think what they need to do though is they should try to build an environment that is as beneficial towards Player Development as possible and that doesn’t so like I I don’t think they need to bottom out like I think they will naturally by virtue of how young and how and and the level of talent currently on the roster and the level of talent likely to come back back on the roster via trades if they were to trade veterans I I don’t I don’t think they’re going to get caught in a position where they’re quote unquote too good I I don’t think that’s a problem so I think what you with the understanding that I don’t that they aren’t going to try to be particularly good and there’s not a a a even a remotely in my opinion not a particularly remotely realistic path for them to be like truly competitive in a very very good Western Conference what they need what they can do and what they should do in my eyes is they should add talent in order to Foster the best developmental ecosystem that they can for the young players with a particular focus on developing a good ecosystem for scoot Henderson for Shaden sharp and for probably DeAndre Aiden to flourish I don’t think you need to like build the entire thing about what around what DeAndre Aon does but if the idea is you’re going to run a lot of scoot Henderson DeAndre pick and DeAndre pick and rolls or something that looks like that building an ecosystem that could maximize that could be should be the priority and I think you can do that without quote unquote getting too good and still being like one of the worst teams in the league but in a more a healthier ecos system for the talent that you have which brings me to the first question this asked by Dr J a real doctor thanks Dr Jay for this one this is not really a mailbag but this is like why you can email me lockdown Blazers poot gmail.com because you are probably thinking about the same things I am thinking about if you’re a Blazer fan and so help me kind of craft future shows and Dr J asked a question about how the Blazers should um because I’ve talked a lot about on this program how I think the Blazers should should pretty much in with their lottery picks draft best player available and not worry about anyone who’s currently on the roster but if if the front office says this dude is in a high enough tier that we have to take him and hey it’s a weird fit or hey we already have this position taken if if there’s a level of talent that the front office determines is too good to pass up I don’t think they have anyone on the roster that would that should deter them from passing up the best player available but I think there is a notion that if you um if a player doesn’t fit the roster well then maybe they’re not the best player available and I think there is um there is some truth to that I I personally lean much more best player available over fit but I think smart people you know in in the sort of draft world and and basketball world you know really believe that fit matters so I think you can kind of Choose Your Own Adventure on that one and and and that’s more um in some ways in the eyes of the beholder but I do not think that the Blazers should prioritize fit in the draft when thinking about the big picture um and what I mean by that is that they do need shooting to maximize the say let’s think about this as like the offense around the pick and roll of of of deand drton and and Scoot Henderson you need Shooters around that because they’ really sag off scoot Henderson and if you can sag off scoot Henderson and provide help it makes it really hard for him to get to the rim uh deand Ron’s not a L spacer he likes to operate in the middle of the court in the mid-range and so having Shooters around him to give him more space to operate will be incredibly valuable um and the Blazers one of the worst shooting teams in the League last year prioritizing a weakness like upgrading weakness would matter but I would not I would not um with the picks seven and 14 in the draft I would not say hey this is the number one skill we’re missing let’s prioritize the skill we need over the players we might think I think the Blazers at those draft spots need to say hey yeah uh we’re light on shooting we have like a bunch of intriguing like Chris Murray intriguing Defender tman Kamar intriguing Defender uh Jabari Walker intriguing like hustle guy rebounder type right NE none of them can shoot right now at a particularly high level toan Kamar showed some flashes of it that the other guys haven’t but like on the whole he did not shoot well on on on the season right and I think take the whole sample size not just the one that makes him look like a good shooter but so they could they have some defensive Wing so I don’t think that’s that’s necessarily the pro the a skill set to prioritize but they could use some more playmaking they could use some more shooting but for me I think those are best pursued in the uh in in trades and Via minimum free agent signings Blazers don’t have cap space right now they don’t really have a natural path towards cap space because of what they chose to do and not do at the trade deadline um they’re just going to be a team that when they trade some veterans are going to bring back some some other veteran players CU they’re going to need to make the money match almost certainly with who they who who they trade to there’s I guess there’s scenarios in which they don’t need to bring money back but it seems relatively unlikely that they will P pursue those so when if they were to trade the likes of Malcolm Brogden or Jeremy Grant or anre Simons they’re going to be receiving money back 20 25 $30 million of in salaries depending on who they swap out so like those are going to be veteran players and I would rather prioritize the skill sets that you need to maximize what the Blazers are through those tra and say okay well in a trade we would like some shooting back in a trade we would like some playmaking back in a trade we’d like some size back and through minimum signings once you get on the market right like find veteran minimum guys who will come here who are would fill your you know your need to add more Frontline depth or fill your you know standstill shooting need if you can find that on on in in free agency the draft for my money Remains the Same the Blazers are light on high-end talent and teams in the Blazers position these are small mid non-g glamour markets is the term I like to use in non-g glamour markets who aren’t going to be uh factors in free agency and increasingly no one is really a factor for signning signing stars in free agency we’ll see what happens with Paul George maybe we’ll revisit that but like increasingly almost no one signs stars and free agency stars move via trade we’ll see we’ll see what what the sort of new CBA makes make makes this look like so the Blazers path because they’re unlikely to trade for a star because of the assets they have and unlikely to to sign to sign a star in free agency because of the history of the franchise and history of the NBA um their path to Landing star Talent as it has been since since this team was conceived in the 70s is that you got to draft it you draft your stars you you you draft bill walon you draft LaMarcus Aldridge you draft bran Roy you draft Amy Lillard you draft Clyde Drexler you you know look like you these are if you’re going to add St if you’re going to add players that are anchors of the franchise you can do in the draft and at the top of the draft that should absolutely be their priority so if there’s players that maybe don’t fit perfectly with scoot but you think they have upside and I’m thinking like the Ron Holland Stefan castles even mat pelis cuz he’s a non-shooter niik toich to some extent it’s like even if if the if the front office views them as stars as potential to hit home runs they still need to take that approach but I don’t think they need to take that approach through the entire draft and I want to talk about uh the bell curve of Best Player available and fit an idea that I pitched last year had briefly forgot about but I’m going to reintroduce and talk about how the bell curve fits with this draft um we’re getting theoretical we’re talking bell curves this is for the Nerds welcome to Monday May 27th show I appreciate you listening um let’s talk in the second segment about that bell curve and how the Blazers can prioritize their needs versus their sort of holistic larger approach when considering the bell curve join me in that second segment won’t you first though I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by e e Bay Motors and eBay Motors wants you to know three words passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors 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a fit and best player available you do it but I don’t think the Blazer should prioritize fit aggressively over their best player so what I sort of let me be a little more specific here because I think I am talking in generalities but I want to be as specific as possible I think guys like Dalton connects and Jared McCain in terms of just raw fitting and particularly connects right because he’s bigger and he’s athletic and he’s and he can really he really scored well at the college level and he profiles as the best shooter in the lottery maybe the best shooter in the draft right U and you know relative size in the wing pretty darn good athlete who can score that sounds helpful for the Blazers so I wouldn’t be um I wouldn’t be torn up if the Blazers drafted connect and with one of their lottery picks either seven or 14 but my personal approach my personal opinion has been that the Blazers should because I don’t believe connect has this super high ceiling because I don’t think he has um sort of the athletic profile to turn into much High Lev Defender and hasn’t been so far in his in in college he’s a little bit older so he’s probably closer to a finished product than someone who you’re drafting at 19 although connect more like maybe maybe somewhat more likely to be more productive in year one um although that’s always hit or miss like sometimes 23 year olds are also not good rookies but for the most part you know a little bit older rookies have tended in in in recent years tended to be more productive early see Christian Brown for the Nuggets but also like see the other older rookies BL the Nuggets drafted this year and like didn’t get the rotation is tough but that’s at the highest levels that’s a championship level the Blazers are in a different spot um I have no doubt D connect could help the Blazers I have no doubt DT connect has the skill set that is like very specifically if you’re just say what’s what’s kind of skill set they need like a an athletic shooting Wing that sounds really valuable he could be there but to me I don’t think that he has star in the league upside whereas obviously a guy like Ron Holland or matus pazel and like Holland is the name I like there it’s like he’s got a long way to go to get there and he has a Hu a bunch of question mark s to even get to like productive role player status and then beyond that um you know from productive role player to to Beyond is always is always a long path for literally anyone so while I understand that you maybe you’re hitting someone with a lower floor theoretically versus someone with a higher floor theoretically I lean that way again this is like two Adventure if you lean the other way that’s fine right but it brings me to a a theory that I had pitched in the past and I think I still hold this Theory and I want to share it with you I was reminded uh by the Reverend doctor uh Jess Beals uh who who sent me uh who sent me an email to remind me of this thanks locks on blp gmail.com great great great spot to send me emails uh and to the good Reverend doctor I appreciate it for for as far as I know not a real doctor um but um the idea was a a bell curve and I said in the past that I think early in the draft you draft best player available that’s that’s the the beginning of the slope then as you get to the m or get to the middle you think about right because you’re in that late first early second range where you’re like hey these guys probably don’t have as highest ceilings um you know you’re you’re looking for role players here so if you’re if you’re thinking like if you’re star hunting at the beginning of the draft best player available if you’re if you’re in the role player range in that like you know Post Lottery middle of the first to the first couple picks of the second then you’re you’re back at the the fit part of the bell curve and then on the down slope of the backside you’re back to best player available because if you’re just throwing darts in the second half of the draft guys who are unlikely to maybe make a roster per period why not shoot for like incredible upside why not say okay let’s let’s take a real risk maybe this guy doesn’t work out but he’s you know he has a chance to be GG Jackson or whatever like you know he he has this is like someone who was at one point thought was going to be this star Prospect let’s let’s like let’s take it let’s take a different risk but I will recognize that in this draft from the people who are smart about this that they say this isn’t the star draft right this isn’t the draft where you find the franchise changer this is a draft where there are more role players so I will say this well I think the Blazers should still follow the bell curve early in the draft best player available middle of the draft fit back half of the draft best player available they have some spots so like they have 34 which is very high for second round pick and 40 which is like that kind of right on the cusp I think you go BPA at best player available at at 40 but you could think about fit at 34 based on my previous reasoning but because this draft is maybe heavier on role players I think you narrow um I think you shrink up the bell curve a little bit and um or excuse me widen it out a little bit so so like the the range where you would think about fit is probably a little bit longer while I still believe personally the Blazers should probably go best player available at both seven and 14 and just aim for stars and if they and like not worry about low floor there is a case to be made there’s a probably a pretty compelling case to be made to the contrary where in a draft where there aren’t highlevel like there aren’t a lot of play like gamechanging productive players where you think like this dude’s going to be an All-Star year two and like really be a franchise anchor where where most people think the draft is pretty freaking flat from like 10 to 40 in terms of overall Talent then drafting for fit might be more valuable in this specific draft because you have a wider range of role players and very very narrow spots of Best Player available so I will say this I think the Blazers should I’m I’m still a best player available guy I still am uh but I think in this draft you could make a case that fit is more important so what is fit what is fit like what fits on this team and I think that’s the question so instead of instead of like you know hey the first 15 picks you have to go best player available I think maybe in this draft the first six seven picks you have to go best player available then you start thinking about fit for a long time and then you get to that back half maybe the that 40 40 pick the Blazers half you start thinking about best player available again that would give you a wide range of saying let’s prioritize skills we need the types of players we need the types of players you can build with you’re always thinking about that but in terms of like when your balancing best player available and fit you might say like this guy fits us better now but we think this player could grow into from 19 to 21 could grow into the thing we need although he doesn’t possess those skills now and he has a physical profile that says like hey Matel is like a skinny teenager but if he fills out over the next three years oh he’s a huge person with some ball handling skills right like that’s that’s why you maybe prioritize it recognizing he shot 26% from three in the g- league and doesn’t look physically able to play power forward in at the NBA level that’s the balance the skills the Blazers need is they need more shooting as I’ve talked about they need a little more playmaking and they probably need size on the front line it would be somewhat helpful if that size on the front line could also shoot they were really bad defensive rebounding team last year I’m not sure rebounding is a thing you chase in the draft but certainly if you could find a player that fits the profile like hey can shoot a little bit hey can rebound a little bit that seems to be really appealing um obviously you don’t want it’s like everyone’s like they should draft two-way players like players who can play on both sides of the ball absolutely absolutely every player you wish that you draft could play on both sides of the ball it’s not really realistic to say like we’re only going to draft players that are both good on offense and defense right like players have when you’re drafting you play the board and the board’s going to have humans with flaws players with flawed games like you just kind of have to play with it I think you know you you roll with you roll with what’s there right you you got to kind of operate in reality but the Blazers should prioritize those skills that they need right because the ecosystem they want to create is one where scoot Henderson can be the best version of himself um it is uh listener Dr J compared it to um the quarterback without receivers like you have a franchise quarterback with no one to throw to and I think in some ways that’s scoot Henderson while he has certainly his own personal flaws and all those things putting him within a better ecosystem is incredibly important putting him around better Shooters putting him around guys who can maybe attack Closeouts and and and put the ball on the ground and make plays uh as second side attackers and all of those things like that matters and figuring out ways to maximize the scoot Henderson and Shaden sharp pairing which you hope plays a ton of minutes together this season but the thing you get when you have a team that is Lottery bound yet again is the reminder that plenty of teams the dimer Wolves the gings and now the Pistons spend a lot of time stuck in the lottery is that you don’t get out of it and that’s why the folks who say tanking doesn’t work and they they’re yelling from the rooftops tanking doesn’t work like sure there are times when it truly truly truly does not um but I will offer this I think um I think that there are mistakes along the way that aren’t just losing and ending up in the in the lottery that can throw teams off and I think the Blazers while they might be stuck in a pretty bad stretch for these next couple years at least this next season um there are moves along the sort of edges and lessons you can learn along the edges from teams that have been stuck in the lottery to not end up there and also um you can you’re going to need a little luck along the way as well the thing you hear a lot in Blazer land is the Blazers don’t want to be the Pistons I don’t think they do right I don’t think they do but what does that mean and in addition to what does that mean what what are the Pistons sort of done wrong that has made them be quote the Pistons and what can the Blazers learn from those things and try to avoid it let’s talk about that to close the [Music] show all right still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Richmond you are still listening to locked on Blazers let’s talk about that phrase don’t be the Pistons I think you see that online some a little bit I think there’s been some reporting from local uh reporters that says like the Blazers don’t want to be the Pistons um I don’t know do do they right they’d love to have the number one Kate Cunningham style um I think there’s some truth to that right the Pistons have been you know the worst record in the league for three straight years they’re kind of um they’re they’re they chased a coach that they thought would be the thing that would get them out of it and he wasn’t that that solution they’re kind of um they’re a they’re a team that has sort of has a vague identity but not a strong one and they’ve been down in the mud for five years to end up with a not a particularly strong identity of what comes next and the Blazers don’t necessarily want they don’t want to be that right they don’t want to be awful forever with no hope no team does the Pistons don’t want to be the freaking Pistons right but I think that some of the lessons from the Pistons fit with what the Blazers are with the caveat that I think Kate Cunningham is pretty clearly a significantly better Prospect than anyone on the Blazers roster in terms of um what he can be now yeah I think like anrey s is probably more productive than him um just in terms of like what Cade was this year but Cade certainly has a higher sign sign significantly higher ceiling to what he can be and like um and when you’re building it’s like you you think about kind of a year out as opposed to not confusing confusing production and potential and I think that’s that’s the trick here for the Blazers what the Pistons kind of did wrong was they paired they paired Cade with the wrong guys jadeen Ivy doesn’t look like the right guy to play next to him kilan Hay’s clearly not the right freaking cut and off the team not the right guy to next to play next to him and the other thing the Pistons did and I think this is the one that I what that people miss and I really want to highlight it this is the thing I think the Pistons actually did actually did wrong they had some productive veterans and they held on to them too long the Blazers had or excuse me the Pistons had uh buen bogdanovic and they just held on to him too long they just held on to Bogi for a year a year longer than they should have Alec Burks now he W Alec Burks probably on his own wasn’t going to be a highly coveted trade chip but again they held on to him too long and they ended up trading him for kind of like throw away stuff to to the Knicks um not a particularly sexy package when all was said and done when it was feeling like bogdanovich could have gotten you maybe a first round pick and end up getting a couple seconds right it’s just different they ended up in a different spot because they kind of they kind of they didn’t want to trade productive vets because they didn’t want to be truly terrible then they were TR truly terrible anyways and they trade those productive Vets For Less desirable packages that’s lesson one do not wait if a player is not part of your long-term plans go ahead and move off of him because when the Pistons did make those trades and they did get back other less coveted veterans right they got Mike muscala and Danilo galinari initially well guess what they were significantly more productive adding spacing shooting around a non shooting ball dominant young guard Mike muscala and Danilo galinari are not exactly high invests that are deeply coveted you know Dilo denil o galinari has at one point a very very good young very very good player when he was a little bit younger and hadn’t had as many injuries and ended up signing with a team that fancy themselves a contender in Milwaukee so certainly he had some um he was eventually coveted and mcal ended up back in OKC so they both ended up on on you know on uh on Contender types but these aren’t players that are like deeply deeply sought after in the market but they are players that fit better around the Pistons core and I think that’s the lesson for the Blazers is that when they are and I so again let’s let sort of uh back up to get here I think the Blazers should prioritize best player available in the draft best player available over fit but they can’t ignore fit and so when you are talking trades with Malcolm Brogden talking trades with Jeremy Grant talking trades with with amre Simons when you’re shopping them around the market you have to think about if we’re going to bring back veterans we want them to fit the plan we want them to fit what we need so players that are less ball dominant Less on the- ball type of players like Brogden and and Simons or or players that can really shoot it it’s not like they need guys who just stand in the corner they they don’t only need Mike mcals and you don’t value that you like you still want talent but um in the trade market thinking about the ways to okay what is the baz’s weaknesses shooting and playmaking and rebounding let’s see if you see if you can prioritize prioritize those things they pretty good offensive rebound team they just don’t clean the glass on defense um so I I think while Kate Cunningham is a significantly better Prospect in this exact moment than than scoot Henderson thinking about hey if this is the the vision we’re committed to a scoot Henderson shade and sharp type of thing and if we’re worried that that scoot Henderson is even outside of his own struggles and his own weaknesses he needs to be put in a the right ecosystem playing around the right type of players then I think the lessons you need to learn are if you have a young Jaden Ivy and it seems like the Pistons are probably at least going to explore some trades for Ivy this this offseason it’s like sometimes you got to cut bait with with the with youngsters that don’t fit the plan even if they’re somewhat talented at some point you have to say their their productivity never lined up with their potential and as their potential continues to like as there you know your potential Fades quickly right you’re like all of a sudden you’re from Young you have a lot of potential as you play in the league three years it’s like oh people start to think it goes the other way and then it matters your production the Blazers can’t confuse production with potential they have to they have to be realistic about what that is and at some point they’re going to be realistic about what that is with scoot Henderson I don’t think that that you do that that this summer but I think that’s why you’re prioritizing best player available because you don’t have that high end Talent on the team and you can’t wait on trading vets if they’re not part of the of of what’s what the future is uh Oklahoma City to some extent learned this with like dumping trayman and jere Jeremiah Robinson Earl it’s like when they played a little bit it’s like huh those guys look like they might be some part of the future and then when the team determined that they weren’t they moved off of them quickly with JRE especially especially it’s like oh he’s a really intriguing young big and and they were like nope he’s not going to be part of the future we are moving on like we view him as you know probably like a rotational backup um into the future I think the Blazers need to be honest about that they need to be honest about what what their vision is and then they need to prioritize the skill sets to do so because when the when the Pistons get Simone fonio when they had briefly Mike Mullin briefly denil galinari they were more functional because their young players with flaws like Kade Cunningham were put next to off ball or like non-ball dominant veterans that could make life easier that’s what the Blazers need to prioritize it doesn’t mean you have to trade Jeremy Grant because Jeremy Grant and an off ball role is like a pretty darn good shooter and could maybe space for um for scoot Henderson but if the offense is still Jeremy Grant posting up at 19 ft you are not putting the Blazers youngsters in an ecosystem that is going to Foster the best version of themselves um it is like they don’t need to get rid of they probably need to trade one of brog and Simons and and and Jeremy Grant and for my money they should probably trade two of them because this is the this is the summer to do so but like they need to clear up a little bit of like usage rate like a little bit of like who’s going to dribble um confusion and who’s going to have the ball in their hands Confusion And while still prioritizing some of their skill sets if Brogden and Grant are healthy those are guys who can play off the ball and be all right and then you make some and anrey Simons to some extent too but if you’re going to if you’re going to run Anthony Simons at point guard you need to think about the sort of holistic the holistic what you’re building to is Anthony Simons part of the future if he is you need to make decisions with that in minds and you kind of need to do it sooner rather than later uh I think the Blazers have the luxury of patience because they’re not very good but the longer that you are patient and I think the Pistons have shown this the further you can say well we were patient and it didn’t pay off and now we’re in a worse spot I don’t have a perfect solution for the Blazers and again I don’t think they’re going to be competitive next year and I don’t think they have a path to be competitive next year either but I think they should recognize kind of where they are here are the parts we think are going to be the long-term part of the future what do we need to do to maximize that to me that’s obviously Shaden sharp and Scoot Henderson but I’m not a decision maker believe it or not for the franchise other folks are okay identify who is your long-term part of the future or at least that you believe is part of the sort of medium-term part of the future maximize the skill sets around what that is you know if they go a little bit older maybe it’s it’s Wing defense and other things right but if they go younger like I believe they’re going to do it’s shooting and playmaking that’s those are the skill sets they need prioritize those things prioritize those things through veteran minimum signings and as well as as as trades as you explore the market for your veterans are going to trade and still stick to the idea that drafting has to be best player available because that’s where you end highend Talent with the notion that in this particular draft where there isn’t a ton of high-end Talent available being cognizant that fit is going to matter and that maybe you have a wider net where you say let’s draft for fit for a longer portion of the draft than we otherwise would because this is a draft chalk full of role players as opposed to Stars if they take that approach they aren’t going to be good next year there’re probably still going to lose 55 games or whatever it is 50 50 Lost season incoming but a 50 loss season in a better developmental environment than the one they had this year is going to feel feel so much better if you can say hey this stuff works and if we do XX and X we’ll get there but if you don’t create a positive developmental growth environment you’re going to end up in a mess again so I think what the Blazers need to do identify make your identify the core make your moves around that core and then make your decisions don’t get don’t confuse potential with production at some point lack of production identifies the lack of potential get off players when you need to get off of them and and move from there you’re going to have to make some tough decision decisions but for where the Blazers are the way you get out is you get a lot of swings at being good you know a lot of swings at good players at the top of the draft and then you got to make the smart decisions on the back half of the roster that is my holistic idea of what the Blazers should do this offseason um five days a week where get Podcast also on YouTube that’s how the show Works tell your friends all about it and come back for tomorrow’s show I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you soon [Music]

Some thoughts on team building, the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA Draft

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