Mock Draft Roundup: Trail Blazers Lottery Targets Include Zach Edey, Dalton Knecht & Nikola Topic

Mock Draft Roundup: Trail Blazers Lottery Targets Include Zach Edey, Dalton Knecht & Nikola Topic

in today’s show we round up the latest mock drafts for the Trailblazers plus the team is holding pre-draft workouts starting this week 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 every day what’s up world it’s your pass first point guarden Blazers reporter Mike Richmond you are listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast network available wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so makeing it a part of your daily routine make it your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s show we are rounding up the latest mock drafts uh some some of my favorite internet prognosticators have released some updated mocks on who the Blazers might take in the lottery focus on lottery picks in today’s show next week we’ll get back to some second round love but today we’re focusing on the a couple lottery picks uh including uh what’s going on with ESPN’s mock there’s more to it that meets the eye or there’s nothing to it that meets the eye I think those are those are the two obvious questions uh and then the Blazers are going to start uh pre-draft workouts today as you were listening to this this is Thursday May 23rd show and on today the Blazers will kick off they’re iners at The Practice Facility pre-draft workouts I want to talk about what that means how to pay P attention to them how I’m going to pay attention to them and whether they’re meaningful in any way for us as Tea Leaf readers so before we get out the tea leaves let’s talk about mock draft specifically let’s start with ESPN ESPN um they released a mock draft on May 22nd so on Wednesday morning it was published around 3:30 a.m. Pacific Time 6:28 eastern time and the Blazers uh are in in these in these mocks where the Blazers uh seven and 14 in in the draft um the Blazers at seven are taking Nicola topic and at 14 are taking Zack Ed uh if you are a um obsessive compiler of these things you’ll know that this is a Duo that a couple rounds ago of mock pre- Lottery mocks the the the um ESPN had nikol toic and Zack Ed going to the Blazers and now the Blazers fall back to 7even and 14 kind of they’re they’re in these established positions and ESPN again in their prognostications has the Blazers taking Nic toic and Zach Edy huh what is going on here I don’t think Edy is that confusing maybe not my Huckleberry but that’s like a fairly normal pick in that range I think it’s um we’ll talk about him in a moment but the topic one is the big one what’s going on here what does it mean uh to quote a children’s book that I often read in my home niot toic is a you know 6667 19-year-old point guard who’s been playing in the Adriatic League um I haven’t seen him play much like even in the highlights because he got injured in January missed a chunk of time and then he came back in the playoffs and got injured again another same but reinjured to the same knee um it’s reportedly not that bad of an injury and he’ll be fine and he’ll probably get to um do some some sort of pre-draft workout stuff for NBA teams I see I see ramps up here o over the next month ahead of the ahead of the draft at the end of June but um he’s a point guard who can’t shoot and he’s big right so maybe you could call him an off-ball Wing um and but even if he’s an off-ball Wing his probably role in the NBA is primary playmaker right like he’s an on ball guy who whose value is going to come because he can operate pick and rolls you know get to the rim and use his his his size and his angles to size and like understand of angles to attack um and and and and make plays but he’s not really a shooter so even if you just plug him into the Delano Banton roll and you say that works fine well Banton only got minutes and it only was fine uh because they were so light on on available guards no Malcolm brog and no Shane sharp and and and for the most part no uh no Anthony Simons to close the year so it’s like there were minutes for him um the Blazers are somewhat log jammed at guard uh right now although I think there is a fair safe bet that they will do something to clean up that Log Jam if nothing else probably trade Malcolm brogon um but the topage thing is odd because a non-shooter guy who needs the ball in his hands is a weird fit next to sha next to scoot Henderson um and and more offb stuff for Shaden sharp seems to maybe not maximize what he is going to do although I wouldn’t say that is less certainly much less of a concern it’s the two guys who need to dribble who can’t shoot playing next to each other taking in back-to-back drafts if you take your point guard of the future in 2023 taking your point guard of the future also in 2024 is a weird move unless and I’ve talked about this a bunch before is like unless the Blazers have topic so high up in their tiers and they say he is the second best player in the draft or we even have him as the best player in the draft and he falls to us at seven we can’t do we just we can’t we C we have to do this like we we cannot let this level of talent slip and I don’t I don’t know that they have that I don’t like I’m I’m just offering a scenario in which I think it would make sense and I I that would that would be um a defensible scenario where you where a the team just has him so high you better get it right if you have him that high but it’s like but but that would be the defensible scenario and and since he’s big enough you could see a world where he does share the court with with Scoot and with shanen sharp and it wouldn’t be that big of a problem because he’s because he’s bigger but it’s not a clean fit it’s not a clean fit but it’s an interesting one I think the other little guards like the Kentucky guards don’t make sense topic is is like right on the line where he’s big enough that it would make sense but it’s a weird it’s a weird selection Ed is a little different like um he’s the Blazers like they can totally draft a big man they can they can draft a center at 14 and it’ll be totally fine they they they could use some some depth um at that spot anyways you know obviously they have Rob Williams under contract but his his health is uncertain and doop reath but I don’t think wath is good enough that you would say like don’t take you can’t take Zack Ed at 14 because you have to uath that that would be um kind of irresponsible in terms of team building if you’re a longtime listener everyday listener shout out to my everyday you know that I’m not a big Zack Ed guy because I think centers in the league um centers modern centers in the modern NBA they’re they’re um unless they’re Elite offensive players the thing that you want to get value from them is on defense that that’s that’s where that’s like the thing that you want to have the most values want them to be really good defensive players or at least like have the upside to be really good defensive players and I do not I’m sure Ed can guard in the NBA I’m worried about that lateral click quickness um I mentioned that I think his offense is somewhat limited I think he just turns over his left shoulder and and makes right-handed hooks but he’s also like gigantic and he’s in incredible shape and maybe like having a go-to move and being bigger than everyone you play it won’t matter right like I think teams will sit on that left shoulder and say turn over the right shoulder buddy let’s see what you can do um I watched NC State do it to him in in in the NBA in in the excuse me NCA final four and and Donovan kingan also got to that eventually after getting rocked in the first first eight minutes of the of the national championship game I think NBA teams will be able to do it but like he’s productive enough and giant enough and interesting enough that like 14 I’m not g to cry about it he wouldn’t it wouldn’t be what I would do but who am I um I am some dude in his basement but this is a little bit odd and and I want I if this had been any other any other draft service any other prognosticated prognosticators I’d probably say hey this is what they think they’re smart they have their reasons with ESPN it’s more than that Mike mmitch the Blazers assistant GM worked with Jonathan javone at Draft Express for like a decade they know each other they’re they’re friends they’re longtime friends um when ESPN says what the Blazers might do it is worth looking at to it lucky for you I have access to the internet and I was able to go back and look at the past mock drafts of last season to kind of figure out cuz I knew the blade I knew Espin had it right like it had it right but when did they get it right on May 16th the uh May 16th 2023 uh about a month before the draft month 6 weeks before the draft the ESPN had the Blazers taking good Henderson third overall and James Nai at 23 at 24 they had Chris Murray heading to the kings that was on May 16th 2023 that was a very early uh Post Lottery mock that that came out from uh from ESPN then on June 6th a couple weeks later just shy of three weeks later the Blazers the ESPN had the Blazers taking scoot Henderson and Chris Murray June 6th we are now 24 days before the draft a week before the draft ESPN has the Blazers taking scoot Henderson and Chris Murray in that final mock released on June 22nd I believe they released one day of the draft but on that mock released a week before the draft ESPN had nine of the first top 10 picks correct including both Blazers picks at 3 and 23 might be wrong this might not be right this might be the James naagi situation right niichel toich could be a James Nai situation where it’s like hey this is some player that that they’ve heard Whispers in the range and they think it’s there and when you get from the you know over the next month from May 23rd to June 27th when the NBA draft is like the the particularly the back half of the lottery will shift around and the Blazers won’t be there or maybe the middle of that Lottery with topich and particularly in this draft where there doesn’t seem to be a lot of consensus and because ESPN Not only got the Blazers picks right but nine out of the top 10 picks to begin the draft correct um maybe when they get a little more Intel the draft that that particular draft will be that particular mock will be a little bit more predictive and so maybe this is nothing but if this was anyone else that had mocked niik toic to the Blazers several times over and over again I would say okay this is they just like him in this slot when it’s ESPN doing it put a star next to it I’m not saying this is a done deal that would be so silly to to think that but like um typically when I have these um tin foil hat things I don’t share them with you all I don’t unpack them because I think they’re um I think it’s a little bit stupid but this one I’m going to unpack for you pay attention to this pay attention to this this is not nothing it’s maybe there’s a there’s a chance that it is doesn’t play out this way but it is not nothing when ESPN does this how about some other mocks some other folks that uh maybe didn’t work with the Blazers assistant GM for a decade have some mock some some of my favorite most trusted Minds from across the internet landscape I want to share them with you in the second segment join me there CU Blazers are got some surprises coming your way in these mocks join me in the second segment won’t you first I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs if you are a small business and you are looking to hire you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that’s why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tool to help you find the tools that is more than one tool the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn isn’t just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals which makes it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else LinkedIn does all that while making the process easy and intuitive hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates so easy in fact that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours when they use LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn is constantly finding ways to make that process easier too they’ve even launched a feature that helps you write job descriptions making the start making the posting to hiring process faster and easier for you there’s over two and a half million small businesses that are already using LinkedIn for hiring so join in on it and post your job for free at linkedin.com loock onba that’s linkedin.com locked on NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply [Music] all right let’s keep it rolling with our mock draft Roundup we talked about ESPN and why I would keep um I would keep a little star next to what they’re doing because they they’ve got some predictive power in this thing and they they were telling you in June of last year weeks before the draft what the Blazers were going to do so um when this next one rolls out early June when the next ESPN Mack rolls out early June we’re going to put a star next to that one as well because I think it has will have some meaningful some meaningful um has some predictive power I I it might not be 100% correct they certainly got things wrong when you look back at their final mocks but um last year I know of the big Services ESPN was the most accurate and they have nailed the Blazers um they had the shade and sharp pick too so like get on it but they’re not the only ones making mock drafts some of my friends are out there making mock drafts too like Raphael Barlo who who writes the NBA Big Board newsletter you should go subscribe to his substack that’s that’s NBA big board he also host right here on this network locked on NBA bigboard shout out to my man Raphael hope you’re doing well out there brother what’s Raph got he’s got two picks for the Blazers Ron Holland and tjon Salon I think this is a popular um mock for Blazer fans I would be intrigued by this um Holland I kind of I waver on um I want to believe I do I want to believe because I like um the things that he does well I enjoy he plays really hard and playing hard as a skill like being um guys that you have to wind up and remind to play hard are very similar to guys that you have to remind to keep their elbow in on jump shots like some some dudes know okay I’m gonna I’m gonna get my feet square I’m GNA get my hip Square I’m going to keep my elbow in and this going to be a clean looking jumper and some guys have to think about it when they’re shooting it in order to get their form right and some guys play hard because that’s what they do when they step on the court and other guys say oh yeah today I’m going to bring it I’m going to be a dog Holland plays hard you like that that is a ski I think that is a skill the more I I watch basketball the more I kind of um consider the the the maturation of players from from lower levels or at least like early in their NBA careers to be to to the end of their NBA careers playing hard is a skill guys who play hard play hard always um is it’s a skill Holland has that skill he has some defensive upside um he has playmaking upside he has some slashing upside he can’t really shoot right now but shooting is a skill you can improve at it’s not like it’s not a skill everyone improves at certainly some players just aren’t good Shooters and maybe Holland is that um and if he’s like an off ball Wing who can’t shoot that’s troubling in the NBA but if you know he was a he was a turnover heavy kind of non-shooter early in his G League career and kind of improved a little bit and then got hurt at the end of the year and didn’t didn’t finish the season but I I like him um I don’t love him I don’t think I love anyone at seven right now I don’t think there’s a player that like oh yeah he’s my guy I I’ll probably try to develop a stronger opinions I might not ever develop like true infatuation but um maybe like narrow my preferences down but Holland is on my short list of like yeah for sure intriguing right there at 7 um and salong like he’s been sort of for me if you’re a long time listen to the program the guy I would Circle at um 14 that it would be really intriguing the problem is there’s a lot of reports that he is in rising up draft boards and probably or could go in the top 10 including ESPN’s latest mock where they have him going at eights um if he’s it’s like would you take salon at 7even I don’t know enough to make a strong call um if you if the Blazers like him and they know that he’s not going to be there at 14 that’s the choice is to go ahead either trade back if you can or like or or or go ahead um salon’s big like I I think again like his his downside is that he’s not an NBA player right is that he’s just like he’s he’s farther enough away in sort of his overall skill set that he’s just like can’t play in the league but he’s just really big like you know 69 with with a big frame has some shooting upside and plays really hard the Blazers got two guys that really play hard that like kind of like keep the RPMs revving run hot um I don’t I don’t think you could be too upset about that obviously there like players have downside it’s always a dart throw the draft is hard to get right so maybe Salon just like doesn’t hit his upside but his upside is like a really really intriguing player gigantic frame shooter Defender multi-positional Defender um guy who can attack the rim and shoot um very interesting that’s a high-end outcome for him I’m not sure he hits that but but he’s to me he’s a pretty intriguing Prospect um that’s Rafael Baro over at NBA Big Board uh friend of the program Keandre over at hoop intellect on YouTube has the Blazers taking mat’s POS zealous of the g- league ignite at 7 and tan salon at 14 salon’s a popular pick I’ve been on salon at 14 for for months and and um it’s because Friends of the program and smart people think uh he could be in the range too um I I think I like bazis um as as a prospect like I think he would be someone I wouldn’t be I disappointed he might go higher like I’ve seen him mocked at five to the Pistons um maybe some some I don’t think I’ve seen him much higher than five but like he he you know five is two picks away from what the Blazers are so um he’s he’s going to be right in their range I worry about his physicality a little bit when I saw him in person the physicality was too much for him he was getting outmuscled in the G League um and if you’re getting outm muscled in the G League you’re going to have problems with with physicality in the NBA but he’s like 610 with some shot blocking upside he was a good shooter in high school could not shoot at all in in in at the pro level um if he be if he becomes a shooter he’s like 610 with some sort of like end to end ball handling skills um and some like plus side as a as an off ball Defender that’s a really intriguing power forward in the NBA that’s like a really intriguing guy who could play who could play Gigantic three play a little bit of four or if he’s not physical enough to play Four play a like a bunch of three with like some shot blocking upside like that’s an intriguing player again this is like but if if he doesn’t hit his upside if he can’t shoot and if the physicality if he never gets there physically he’s just kind of like a wiry non- shooting three non-shooting small forward that’s not a really appealing player so I think that that is um for me those are the two um Holland and and bazis I both I like them both and I would like I could easily talk myself into them at seven like for and talk myself out of them at seven for a variety of reasons but neither of them are like obvious home runs for me over at Bleacher Report our third third and final mock draft of the of today’s show Jonathan wasman at bleach report was has been doing this forever feels like 15 years uh since the since the NBA draft net days he’s got two names that you don’t typically see at the Blazers picks and I think it’s worth considering because they’ go against my some of my prior held opinions and I think it’s always good this time of year to challenge your opinions uh wasman has the Blazers taking Dalton connect of Tennessee at s and Jared McCain of Duke at 14 this would be a weird draft this would be a weird one um I don’t think either of these guys have star upside in the league I think D connect has a fairly decent chance of being a good offensive player in the league he’s really athletic on offense like he’s like get into the rim he doesn’t that offensive that you know offense is downhill north south athleticism defense is east west athleticism it’s lateral movement so it’s not the same it’s just not the same type of athleticism it does some for some guys it translate some some guys it doesn’t but connect is like a really good athlete who absolutely lit up the SEC was just nuts as a as a productive College player and one of the best Shooters in in in the draft class um the Blazers desperately need shooting I don’t think it’s hard to talk yourself into connect being a good fit on the Blazers 66 shooter like could you plug him into a line to a lineup yeah could you plug him into a lot of lineups on the Blazers yeah and would he be helpful absolutely absolutely so I don’t think it’s for me it’s just like I don’t see him because he’s a little bit older spent you know spent time in college before transferring to Tennessee um it’s like I don’t really see his upside as Beyond like a role player but but like as I just explained with Holland and bazis they have a lot of things to hit to to get you know their upside relies on some of their um some of the things they’re bad at hitting if conect just does what he’s already good at he’s going to hit like sort of role player level um I just don’t know that he has more beyond that in his game but like in this draft in a draft that’s maybe heavy with guys that project as role players projecting someone that has a slightly safer floor and connect maybe is more appealing to you wouldn’t be what I would do but um again like I think to talk yourself into McCain is interesting cuz he’s smaller right I I think he measured below 6’2 Barefoot at that combine but like I think he’s a pro I just don’t for the Blazers I wouldn’t want he’s a two to me like at least from what I saw in college he’s not an on-ball guy he’s not a point guard if he’s an off ball player like if he’s a two guard he’s more of like a 6-2 wing um I don’t I to me that’s not ideal for what the Blazers currently have with Scoot and amre Simons and on on the roster I do think he’ll be a longtime Pro because I think he’s a really good shooter and I think he’s got good touch on driving Closeouts and and some in between game there he can shoot off movement he can shoot off he can shoot off the catch he can shoot off the dribble a little bit shooting translates typically in the league uh if he’s able to get a shot off and he had some really big games at Duke as a shooter um couple games against Carolina that were re really nice shooting games lost them both though sorry but my apologies but um like I bet he’ll be a pro for a long time like I I do I I think he I think he has the skills to translate but again I what I don’t see the upside and I don’t love the fit but again like drafting two Shooters and connect and McCain are is exactly the skill set if you listen to yesterday’s show it’s like someone someone in a mailbag episode um I believe was listener Jason who asked like what’s the skill the Blazers should add and I said the skill that they should add like it’s a boring one but it’s probably the obvious one is shooting and now I’m poo pooing two Shooters so it’s like I understand why you would I understand why you would these are probably the two best Shooters you could draft in the lottery and the Blazers get both of them would that help the team it absolutely would I would probably a I would probably swing bigger knowing you might strike out but if you wanted to hit on needs in this draft and know that you’re they’re probably not going to change your trajectory much next for next year and you might be back in the lottery at the top of it maybe again um this you could do worse than than those picks okay in the in the final segment uh to close the show I want to talk about MB I want to talk about pre-draft workouts the Blazers are going to host their first pre-draft workouts today as you’re listening to this um so let’s talk about what they mean join me in that third segment and we’ll talk about their predictive Powers cuz that’s what today’s show is all about is predicting stuff join me in that third segment won’t you before we get there though I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by better Help Therapy can be incredibly valuable for whatever you are going through so if that’s an acute traumatic event a major trauma in your life talking to a neutral third party a therapist can be incredibly Valu but if that is just getting through the dayto day therapy can be incredibly valuable an analogy I like to use here on the show is it’s like routine maintenance for your car why you take your car to the mechanic at 25,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 miles um in my car’s case 15,000 miles whe um like why you do that is because you want things to run smoothly it just makes things easier when things run smoothly and that’s how therapy can be can help you develop the tools to be the best version of yourself and it can just allow you a chance to get things off your chest so if you’re thinking about give start if you’re thinking about starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely online it’s designed to be convenient flexible and sued to your schedule you just fill out a brief questionnaire you get matched with a licensed therapist and then you can switch therapist anytime for no additional charge get it off your chest with better help visit betterhelp.com lockon NBA to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com Lockton [Music] NBA still a pass first point guard still Mike ridgeman you are still listening to the lock on Blazers let’s talk pre-draft workouts Blazers are going to host the first of uh several pre-draft workouts from what I understand they’re going to host a couple of week starting today uh as you’re listening to this uh Thursday May 23rd up through you know draft week uh they won’t host them every week because things I I’ll talk about that a moment because the the nature of agent workouts has changed a little bit but I expect them to host you know five to seven of these bad boys um a couple of week uh over the next five weeks as we get to the NBA draft um do these matter yes I think they do here’s the thing for teams they can’t matter too much you can’t put too much stock into them because the the reason that you do a pre-draft like the reason that you build your books on players and you watch the film and you talk to their coaches and you talk to their you know people in their circles and you you try to get Intel on folks and so you have you know the data from watching them play the you know the data from watching them play in person the data from from breaking down the film um the advanced numbers from from all of those things and sort of the personal stuff that you can glean from doing your research you build the book so that way when someone comes into the gym and they light up the you know the the standard shooting drill uh I was told by someone that that Brandon Miller destroyed his workout with the Blazers like did maybe didn’t miss a shot like he was so good obviously BL didn’t have a chance to draft him but like cuz he went second to the to the Hornets but like so you don’t get enamored with brand Miller wouldn’t pretty good but like for example like so you don’t like don’t you don’t get enamored with someone who just burns down the Nets of their draft workout um like you build your book so they can’t matter too much to teams but they matter to us like to me and you because for the most part these these have been relatively predictive in terms of who the Blazers would pick um last year they basically brought in Five Guys scoot Henderson and four other guys who were all in the number three range and then prettyy much everyone else who worked out was a second round pick they had the 23rd pick in the draft in person like in their building I got a handy dandy spreadsheet so I I I I Revisited this before the before the show and I’ll start my spread a new spreadsheet for this year tomorrow new tab in the same spreadsheet to be honest with y’all but um like they didn’t really work out anyone in that sort of late first round range uh mostly second rounders right it was mostly second rounders and then five guys who were in play at three Bren Miller scoot Henderson the Thompson Twins and cam Whitmore um they that was pretty predictive right here are the five dudes were thinking about at three if one of them’s off the board here the four Dudes who were considering at three um it’s a three-player draft scoots the most likely one and here the if we don’t take scoot here are the three dudes we’re going to draft behind him the Blazers gave it to you right there they they showed you what they were going to do with public workouts the prior year to that um Shaden sharp came into the building and then Shaden sharp in a non public interview came back to the building that was later revealed that he came back a second time but again like under Joe Cronin both picks they’ve made have come in person to the have come in person to the facility and publicly publicly um disclosed workouts no if you want to track this the way I do here’s the way you do the Blazers they do not share the names prior to um prior to the day of the event they tell media members hey there’s going to be a draft workout tomorrow here’s the time you’re going to show up then when when folks show up at the PF that’s a practice facility uh when they show up at the PF they give you the names uh the team will share the names on social media you’ll see reporters share the names on social media look up those names on Google like look them up or what or Bing I don’t care what search engine you use look them up ask jees like and then they say like okay this dude is in this this is this is a name that’s mostly in the second round this is a name that’s that’s I don’t even see UNM drafts he’s an undrafted Guy this is a name that’s on Sam vini’s deep Big Board this is like and this is a dude who’s Avail who’s going to be on the board at 7 like just track it because these are predictive and even prior to this uh you know Joe Cronin was a member of the of the Blazers um front office prior to getting the job and over the course of Neil O’s tenure where Cronin worked for him like the Blazers they had a stretch during Jo during ‘s um that was broken in 2017 where every single first round pick they made under under Neil OE came into the building they’ve been predictive they’ve been valuable they’re not every time like again they didn’t work out Chris Murray uh under the Blazers uh under Joe Cronin they didn’t work out Jabari Walker they didn’t work out Chris Murray they did work out toan kamaro who end up trading for heading into training camp and they did work out Ryan ruper who they end up drafting like it’s not everyone it’s not going to be perfect 100% of the time but it is going to give you a sense of names that they are considering you’re not going to get 100% but you’re going to get 80 of 80% of it no prob um and again for on the team side these draft workouts are only a small part of it some of it is you’re doing agents a favor hey my guy wants to get in the gym he wants to work out can you get you know can you get him there sometimes agents won’t bring you players right they don’t say either they don’t want they don’t that’s a situation they don’t like or like uh say the Blazers you know at 14 this won’t really happen at 14 but last year at 23 say an agent like didn’t doesn’t want their player to slip past 12 or slip past 17 well they’re not going to work out with anyone past 17 right they’re going to they’re going to say okay our workouts are only in the 11 to 17 R range we’re working out with these six teams and nobody else if anybody else wants to see us we’re going to host a pro day and that’s what you’ll see a lot um not only with like the Blazers attended Chris Murray’s private pro day with I believe priority sports with his agency um like you know I guess scour social media see if you could find Mike Schmitz or Joe cron in the background of the video but like um if players don’t come in doesn’t mean the players didn’t see them in person if they do come in doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to be drafted but it has been pretty predictive over the last I don’t know 15 years 12 years as well as when when an Neil together a job like June of 2012 um what’s that yeah 12 years it’s been PR it’s been pretty useful um and and it’s been and under Joe Cronin it’s been it’s been a pretty useful tell particularly with lottery picks with the lottery picks you’re going to have a sense of I think who’s on their board this draft is more open it’s it’ll be more interesting it’ll be more it’ll be more curious but I think this is like I think you could I think you could learn things from the names so do do what I do you could just do I’ll just like I’ll sometimes um sometimes I’ve like I have some a little bit of minor Insider information or I’ve done this long enough to kind of know how know how it works and know how the league works and I’ve been around the game for a decade but like here’s what I’m going to do tomorrow someone’s going to Tweet out the names I’m going to save those names in a spreadsheet later that night I’m going to look up the names where they are on a couple different draft boards I’m going to put them I’m going to put numbers next to them in my little spreadsheet and then I’m going to say like okay here’s the range of here’s here’s like the type of guys they worked out I’ll do that for all the draft workouts and at the end of the end of the draft workout season will kind of have a little more data to work with I think they’re I think they’re meaningful um again they can’t be too meaningful on the team side they are meaningful for us um the the way they’re meaningful on the team side is that you get guys in the building and you get to talk to them and you get to meet them um talking with Joe Cronin uh he values that he values that face-to-face interaction a lot um because you can learn some stuff from from the film and from and from asking around but that talking to someone face to face he’s he has told me that he he values that a great deal um because it’s a way to get a sense of what you what what you think a guy is going to be like because it is really hard to project how someone can is going to evolve as a human um and grow as a human from 18 to 24 and kind of getting them in the building and talking to them 19 to 24 however old whoever old they pick as 22 to 24 they take Zak 22 to 26 if the take like how how those players how those players mature I I I think that’s that’s incredibly um that that’s there’s some value there but the on court stuff it’s like take some photos and shoot some jumpers you can’t even play five on five and and and uh Team workouts it’s three on three it’s a lot of single shooting stuff some agents won’t even let their players play three on three that’s like why the Blazers had like one-on-none workouts for for Miller and Scoot and and cam Whitmore because they weren’t going to come in and and work out against anyone they were going to come in and work out against a chair and they were going to have beat that chair’s butt I’m give that chair buckets all day long so pay attention to who works out and how they work out and that will give you a u give you some insight also read the ESPN mocks closely and uh pay attention to everyone else who does this because even if ESPN gets it right on who goes where they might not get it right on who’s actually good so use all your tools this time of year be a five tool fan um then come back for tomorrow show and check us out tomorrow show Andy Patton of uh locked on college basketball locked on U locked on Gonzaga and many other plac this on the internet my man’s doing doing work covering the sport of basketball Andy Pat’s going to join the show we’re going to talk NBA draft um you’re going to enjoy it come back that’s fun so what we do it’ll be a good conversation um five days a week R get podcasts tell your friends about the program I appreciate you listening I will talk to you soon [Music]

Rounding up mock drafts and talking predraft workouts for the Portland Trail Blazers. Why you should keep an eye on ESPN’s odd mock draft, other lottery targets and how to track predraft workouts.

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