MVN - Most Valuable Network

More Good News for the Blazers

We knew it was coming, but say it with me… Rudy is a Blazer.

At 23 and with seven years of pro-league experience under his belt, I don’t expect Rudy to have quite the same learning curve as many rookies coming into the league. That said, 82 games will be more than double the league games Rudy played this year (30, so it will be interesting to see how his stamina holds up.

As we’ve heard before, KP considers the Spanish league to be the top level of competition outside the NBA. Again, it will be interesting to see how Rudy’s high-flying game translates to the NBA. He moves great without the ball, which should make him and immediate scoring threat off the bench (sounds like a certain guard we just drafted out of Arizona…). His defense has never been lauded, but hopefully that doesn’t earn him a spot in Nate’s dog-house…

I think we’re going to see good things out of Rudy this year, but he’s not going to be Ginobilli out of the gate. My hope is that Nate finds 18-20 minutes a night for him off the bench, backing up Roy and playing in a three-guard lineup, and that he gels well with Bayless such that they can provide the bench scoring punch we missed at times last year. You never sub all 5 bench players for all 5 starters, so I think the 2-man depth at each spot can be a bit overrated (inevitably, there are starters and benchers on the floor together), but if Rudy, Outlaw and Bayless can be the core of our 2nd unit and take some of the scoring pressure off Roy and Aldridge, then I’d call that big progress.

Its easy to be excited right now. I can’t wait for October to get here and to start getting a look at this team. If Oden is as healthy as the reports indicate, and Rudy and Bayless can contribute soon, this team will be greatly improved even with the loss of James Jones.

Speaking of Jones, I hadn’t mentioned this here yet but was asked about it in the comments to another post. Jones was a huge find last year, much like Ime Udoka was the year before. But the rumor is Jones has an offer of $25M for 5 years - if that’s true, then I’ll wish him good luck. And I’ll hope his agent isn’t bluffing like Udoka’s was. Both players were great to have around and a positive influence on our youngsters, but both limited the minutes we had for Webster and Outlaw, and at this point I think the Blazers need to learn more about these two players. Do we have our long term SF on the roster, or does the search need to continue there? Leaving that spot open for Webster (4th year) and Outlaw (6th) to sink or swim with will inform that decision, and its not going to cost the Blazers a title shot (the window isn’t open yet).

The roster for next year continues to come together. All we’re waiting on now is the official, official announcement of the Bayless deal, and a decision on whether Batum comes now or waits another year or two. C’mon October, hurry up!

Behind the Scenes with the Blazers

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the draft the last few days (obviously). Aside from more fawning over GM Kevin Pritchard and his seeming ability to dominate the activity on draft day, or geeky predictions about what adding Bayless to the mix could mean for next season, I just haven’t been getting the spark that would lead to a good article here at MVN.

Then, I read this. Its not particularly in-depth, and could have been book-long and I’ve have loved every page, but getting a glimpse into the machinations of the Blazers’ draft from Mike Barrett is recommended reading for any fan of the NBA - whether you’re a Blazer fan, or the fan of a rival team who’s sick of hearing about the exploits of our front office.

Quite possibly my favorite nugget of Barrett’s post is KP’s suggestion that this will be remembered as the “smoke screen draft.” That has got to be the sickest thing I’ve ever heard. Pritchard didn’t just have all of us fans leaning the direction he wanted, he had the whole league convinced that his desires lied elsewhere.

I’m not suggesting that I think other teams changed strategy simply because they thought the Blazers wanted certain players and not others… But, as KP has said many times, the draft is poker. And in this case, not only did he and his staff figure out what cards all the other teams were holding, but he had them all bluffed off his actual hand.

The result? The Blazers end up, starting with the 13th pick, getting the guy they had rated #4 overall on their board, giving up two players whose roles were quickly evaporating from the Blazers future. Then, he did it again, taking the 27th pick he bought from New Orleans for nothing ($3M is peanuts to Paul Allen, and represents no actual team asset and has no salary cap impacts - that pick was essentially free), packaging it with one of his 2nd rounders, and securing the other prospect they’d identified. Its become known that both the Kings at #12 and the Spurs at #26 were going to take the players KP wanted, and he outmaneuvered both of them.

And this is Jedi mind-trick - KP gives value for value. KP may prey on other teams’ faulty player evaluations (Telfair with Boston, Ty Thomas with Chicago, Foye with Minnesota), but he gives them value. Indiana got the player they wanted and would have taken at #11 (Rush), and gave them Jack (they needed guard help) and McRoberts (local legend) for their trouble. Houston’s dealing of Arthur was a little more curious, but at the end of the day KP was giving a top 10/15 talent in Arthur for his guy. I love this draft ethos - once you identify your targets, stop at nothing to get them.

Look again at the move for Aldridge in ‘06. Chicago was likely to take Thomas on their own at #2 anyway. KP knew he wanted Aldridge, and was sitting at #4. Most teams would have crossed their fingers and hoped Charlotte passed on Aldridge. KP wasn’t willing to take that chance, and while the Greg Anthony’s and Stephen A. Smith’s of the world cackled during the draft about these needless moves, KP was ensuring he got his guy at the simple expense of Viktor Khryapa. Sounds pretty worth it, no?

Most of us dream about working for our favorite team, or in some capacity within the industry of our favorite sports. In the case of KP, I cannot imagine working as part of a more dynamic and progressive organization, or for a more thoughtful and proactive leader than Kevin Pritchard. The collaborative effort that goes into these drafts by he and his staff gets a little underrated as fans throw around terms like “Pritch-slap” and so forth, but as KP has said repeatedly - after he and his staff have worked over the data and through the decision making process, its KP as the GM that has to stand up and make a decision. We’re watching a great organizational leader exploit the strengths of his team and out-perform all of the competition.

Prior to last season’s resurgence, Blazer fans hadn’t had a lot to be thankful for in a number of years. Even with Paul Allen writing the checks, somehow this team’s financial model was broken, the product was garbage, and this city’s relationship with the team had been damaged. But, to my fellow Blazer fans I say this - Camelot is back. Portland had one of the leagues model front offices in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. After the scourge of the Whitsitt and Patterson administrations, young Kevin Pritchard has this team on the fast track toward one of the most successful eras we’ve seen yet.

In KP We Trust - Blazers 2008 Draft Round Up

Well folks, despite the lack of posts around here I’ve been eagerly looking forward to tonight’s draft for the past month and, after all kinds of crazy rumors and a stream of player workouts in Portland, wonder-kid Portland GM Kevin Pritchard hasn’t disappointed.  In fact, I think KP, after two franchise-altering drafts in ‘06 and ‘07, has taken some low-key steps toward sanding off some rough edges on the roster tonight.

We started the week sitting on #13, with three 2nd round picks.  The ball got rolling early, when the Blazers added a second 1st round pick (thanks George Shinn - ask Sarver in Phoenix how selling picks to the Blazers has worked out for them).

Portland trades SG/SF Brandon Rush (#13), PG Jarrett Jack and F Josh McRoberts to Indiana for PG Jerryd Bayless (#11) and PF Ike Diogu
I love this for the Blazers.  I’m concerned that Bayless never worked out for the Blazers - KP is a guy who likes to evaluate players on his home turf before deciding if they’ll make good Blazers.  They didn’t get that chance with Bayless, but the guys they did workout (Westbrook, Augustin) saw their stock rise and were long gone by the time the Blazers and their lined-up trading partners could get them.

Aside from his Arizona Wildcat heritage, Bayless fully fits the bill of what I’m looking for in a future PG for the Blazers.  Not as good a defender as Westbrook, but not as vulnerable as Augustin.  Good size at 6′3″, even if his wingspan isn’t particularly great.  Good athleticism, and a good scorer - a PG that can work with Roy even when Roy is running the offense like a PG.  I thought Augustin would have been nice, but overkill - as long as we have Roy, we don’t need a traditional/pure PG. Size, defense, and someone who can score when the offense gets stale - nice.

Ike Diogu is fine as an insurance post-player - with Aldridge and Frye ahead of him, I’m not expecting to see a ton of Diogu in Portland.

I know KP was loving Brandon Rush, but our wing situation is more than crowded (well, less than it looked this morning, before James Jones opted out of his deal - more on that later).  Outlaw and Webster will man the small forward spot, Roy and Rudy Fernandez will handle the shooting guard spot, and now we have our point guard rotation with Bayless and Steve Blake (I’ll enjoy watching Faris try to figure out who to complain about - does he stick with the demand that Sergio needs to play, or does he back a beloved Wildcat - maybe Blake will become the fall guy now that Jack is gone!).

McRoberts was no great asset, so I’m not feeling anything there.  But Jarrett Jack, boy, am I glad he’s getting a new start somewhere else.  I always liked Jack - he could have been a great fit here, but not he took a major step back last year and just had the look of a guy that needed to go somewhere without the baggage he’d collected here in Portland.  Glad its the Eastern Conference.  A heartfelt good luck to Jarrett - and thanks for being a good Blazer for two tough years and the first of many good ones.

Oh, and lastly - finally, a 2-for-1 trade to ease up some roster space.

Portland trades F Darrel Arthur (#27) and PF Joey Dorsey (#33) to Houston for SF Nicolas Batum (#25)
Batum has been to Portland a couple times, and I know KP and Paul Allen are big fans.  We had NO USE for two more power forward prospects (see the paragraph above on Ike Diogu), this is just good use of all these picks to find a trading partner and ensure you get a guy you like.  This is classic KP.  Batum has been described as a Pippen-like small forward, thin and athletic at 6′7″ or 6′8″.  We can leave him in Europe and we might see him in a couple years, or he’ll be a tradable asset.  With the amount of players the Blazers still have under control, this is no surprise.

Portland selects C Omer Asik (#36)
Again, more euro-prospects we can stash until a later date.  What franchise did the Blazers hire KP away from again?

Portland trades PG Mike Taylor (#55) to Clippers for future 2nd
Sounds about right - if there isn’t a player you want, move off for the future.

A couple other thoughts…
I am anxious to see Petteri Koponen play point guard in the summer league this year.  With Sergio Rodriguez shooting himself in the foot by deciding not to play, we’ll actually be able to see what Petteri can do and he’ll have a better shot at winning a job in training camp.

James Jones decided not to exercise his player option this year, and like with Ime Udoka last year, I’ll say thanks for the great year and good luck.  James completely deserves to go get paid after the positive influence he had on this team, but now is on the time for the Blazers to sink mid-level money into a player like him, and its time to give the small forward sport to Outlaw and Webster and see if they’re the guys or not.

Thats all for now - great night to be a Blazer fan.  We got a point guard that may prove to be the guy we need, and we didn’t have to give up Frye, Outlaw or Webster to do it.  I won’t be surprised if KP has more up his sleeve, but our rotation today is much, much cleaner than it was three months ago - our primary depth issues have been addressed, and new talent has been brought in to boost the point guard spot.

PG - Blake, Bayless, Rodriguez
SG - Roy, Fernandez
SF - Webster, Outlaw
PF - Aldridge, Frye, Diogu
C - Pryzbilla, Oden, LaFrentz
(Subtracted Miles, Jones, Jack, McRoberts, Wafer)
(Added Bayless, Diogu, Fernandez)
(Koponen, Freeland, Asik, Batum in European storage) 

Where is the Love

The obvious rigging of NBA games, coupled with the utter excitement of Euro 2008, has me uninterested in Thursday’s NBA draft. I think this league is moving away from sport, and into the realm of contrived entertainment, and ultimately it will hurt them. It’s already started to.

But I will say this. When it’s all said and done, the best player in the 2008 draft will be Kevin Love. Period. End of story. If Portland gets an opportunity to take Love, and they don’t, I will be shocked. He’s better than Rose, and Beasley, and Mayo put together, and he’s gonna have a good career in this league.