During the Kevin Pritchard era, the NBA Draft was like Christmas morning for Blazers fans. Tyco racing set, Nicolas Batum, Dyno GT dirt bike, Rudy Fernandez… with a slick GM and a deep pocketed owner, Portland was the envy of the NBA and the Blazers faithful couldn’t get enough. Of course, as we all know, those days are a thing of the past. Last year’s lackluster draft night, and unceremonious canning of Pritchard, was proof that the party was over.
In a series of lateral (at best) moves, the GM-less Blazers were very active during tonight’s NBA draft, shipping off one starter (Andre Miller), one key role player (Rudy Fernandez), a token Finnish guy (Petteri Kopone), one draft pick (Jordan Hamilton) and some guy from Qatar who no one in the world knows anything about (Tanguy Ngombo). In return, the Blazers traded for Raymond Felton, and drafted Nolan Smith and Jon Diebler.
Felton will now be the point guard of the future, although he only has a single season left under contract. As did Miller, for less money, so it’s a curious move for the Blazers. Felton has suffered on some poor teams (Larry Brown’s offensively inept Charlotte Bobcats) and benefitted from playing on some others (Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks), but it’s hard to think he’ll be drastically better, or worse, than Miller. One advantage is his outside shooting, which isn’t amazing, but it sure beats Miller’s lifeless heave from three-point territory. Felton also stays relatively healthy, which is a plus on a team known for injuries (to everyone but Miller). Portland was well aware that Miller’s best days were behind him and they went with a younger player with a similar skill set. It’s not Chris Paul, but when compared to the sadness parade of former Blazers starting point guards (Sebastian Telfair, Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack), it’s a vast improvement. It will be interesting to see how Felton meshes with Brandon Roy, whose inability to play with Miller was a matter of serious concern for Portland.
Duke’s Nolan Smith might be molded into a starter some day, but it remains to be seen if he has what it takes to be more than a backup point guard in the NBA. Throw him on the pile with Armon Johnson, Elliot Williams, and Patty Mills (who the Blazers probably won’t re-sign). I hope I’m wrong, especially since the Blazers ignored all logic and passed on Kenneth Faried to select Smith.
Jon Diebler is a white guy who doesn’t have the frame to compete in the NBA, but he shoots the ball well (Luke Babbitt alert). Actually, Diebler was superior to Babbitt, and most everyone in college, when it came to hitting from distance. Considering he was selected with the 51st pick in a historically bad draft, it’s tough to expect a lot from Diebler, but if he can find a way to remain calm and hit his shoots during games (unlike Babbitt), he might see some minutes here and there. I guess he’s the new Rudy.
This is crazy. Miller could have easily stuck around for a few more years. And they pass on a 6’10” rebounding dude because…why? Because they don’t need someone to give Aldridge a rest every now and then? I am mad.
I think it’s obvious that the Blazers hate white people. Two white players, and they got rid of both of them. Who are our little white boys and girls supposed to look up to for role models now? Fucking racist professional atheletes.
They fucked up passing on Kenneth Faried. Most talented rebounder in the league now, perhaps. May be a one trick pony, but it is a trick that Portland badly needs.
Upon closer examination Kenneth Faried is only 6’7″, but still!
Win percentage and the number of white guys (not including Euros, Manu Ginobili, or JJ Barea) an NBA team has are negatively correlated.
Oh yeah, did everyone notice what a (relatively) great draft the Bobcats and Rich Cho had? Hang your heads in shame Portland sports fan; we’ve been out drafted by Charlotte!
I’m just glad we picked up another young, inexperienced point guard because, you know, we don’t have too many of those already…
Seriously – why did we pass on Faried again?
@SC: Didn’t some white dude in Texas just win the NBA championship and get MVP and all that shit? I’ll expect a written retration at some poin in the near future from you.
Meanwhile, LMA will continue to play 40-plus minutes a night at both center and power forward. No problem! Staggering minutes didn’t seem to faze Brandon Roy when McMillan kept him in the game all night.
@Graham Note: when I refer to “white” basketball players, I mean Americans who went to a school in the ACC, Big 10, or WAC. European basketball players are different. I’d take a Euro like Dirk any day of the week over an American-born player.
BTW, Jon “White Larry Bird” Diebler and Luke “Soft Serve” Babbitt are still on the roster; so there’s that.
Felton is a quality addition. He’s faster than Miller, has superior ball handling, and can put the ball on the floor and drive. He’s got eyes in the back of his head and finds open teammates you didn’t even know were on the floor. He’ll be great in combination with Batum or Roy.
Felton will fit right in to Andre’s role and shouldn’t shake things up too much. He’ll also be there for 6 – 8 more years if things go well and he stays healthy. Dre was my favorite Blazer… but he was only going to last a couple more seasons, so I think it was wise to deal him while he still had some trade value. I also liked Faried, but 6’7″ is not an NBA big man. The best you could hope for with Faried is that he would become another Gerald Wallace, but does he really have those kind of open court skills? I think Diebler was a great pick for the 2nd round… and could easily take over Rudy’s off-the-bench 3-point-threat role… heck he might even hit a couple. Heck, I love Rudy, too… but I’ll love him even more when he’s throwing up bricks for Dallas.