The guy the Trail Blazers are most likely to want if they can move up in the draft
This is sort of a random guess, as I don’t have any inside information. Everyone knows how careful Portland is about giving away its intentions prior to the draft.
But if I had to guess about a player they’d want in this draft, I think I’d go off course a little bit from what many other people would predict. I would guess that the Blazers would have the most interest in Stephen Curry.
He’s not exactly a traditional point guard, for sure. But he’s smart, a very good passer and he’ll make shots. I think he could man the point well enough, given that the Blazers seem to want Brandon Roy to have the ball in his hands all the time, anyway, and stretch the defense with his outside shooting.
The kid’s got star quality. He might prove to be a whole lot better NBA player than people think, but the Blazers would likely have to move up pretty high to get him. But they’ve got plenty of ammunition, between spare point guards, draft choices and small forwards, to get that done.
For me, I’m still a lot more interested in getting a veteran point guard, but you know how this organization loves the draft. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them add yet another young player to the mix.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | June 14, 2009
Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, NBA Draft, Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen Curry
I don’t think I’d consider it off course to name a player the Blazers have been rumored to be very intrested in. Steph Curry was rumored to be a Blazers target weeks ago.
http://dimemag.com/2009/06/nba-draft-09-rumor-blazers-trying-to-get-stephen-curry/#more-12278
I don’t know why you go after a player like Curry when you already have a better more experienced version of him named Rudy Fernandez. Of course, if KP does make a move for him there must be good reason, but it would be the first KP draft I would question. Adding another shooting guard masquerading as a point guard who is primarily a jumpshooter, albeit a really good one, does nothing to answer our need for a veteran PG and tough rebounding backup PF. Its…well, that would be going the opposite direction. Drafting that kid would screw both Rudy AND Bayless (you could even throw in Blake) at the same time. But worst of all, you’d probably be screwing over the kid the most. No way Nate lets him off the bench for at least a year, and it’ll be another 2 before he gets a shot at being “handed the keys.”
Curry is the only player in this draft I want. He is a perfect fit next to BRoy. Just because you have Bayless doesn’t mean you put all your eggs in that basket… we need a 2nd PG prospect developing along side Bayless, just in case… and Curry might end up being a better fit in the long run.
I love Dwight and consider him one of the truly informed and studied Blazer blogger/analysts out there. But it’s amazing to see someone get it so wrong.
Curry makes little sense for Portland, and I’d be shocked if we drafted him much less moved up and traded assets to get him. I say this for two reasons:
1. Curry is by all accounts not a great defender, does not have great length for his size, and would do nothing to shore up one of Portland’s glaring weaknesses: perimeter defense at the guard position.
Steve Blake was routinely torched all season as was Sergio. Bayless possibly has the tools to become a good perimeter defender but he hasn’t shown it yet. For everyone who bitched and moaned about Oden picking up a busload of fouls (and I was one of those bitchers) a big part of the reason is that our guards could not stop penetration and forced an often slow reacting Oden to foul the penetrator.
Curry does not help the Blazers one iota in their defensive weaknesses.
2. Curry is by all accounts not a great distributor. He’s a shooting PG. It’s everyone’s fantasy that Brandon Roy can be both the team’s franchise scorer and do-everything guy while at the same time running the team’s offense and getting the team into their halfcourt sets. We don’t want Roy doing this and neither does Roy.
So Curry will be an undersized SG masquerading as a shooting PG and the Blazers will really be no better off.
If Curry fell into the Blazers laps in the mid to late 1st round, sure, you take him. But that’s not going to happen.
So trading players to get that guy, in one of the weakest drafts in years, just makes no sense.
Curry is a better passer than you guys are giving him credit for. Remember the guy didn’t have much to work with at Davidson as far as dependable pieces around him. I’m luke warm on him either way, he could help, he may not. I think he’ll be a better PG than people think though, whether that’s with us or not. Regardless of what happens, just trust the guys in the front office, they do their homework well enough to be sure on anything.
if they draft curry im gonna laugh my arse off! Johhny Flynn is the next chris paul! get him at all cost!
First of all Curry can play defense, and I’ve read a few eye raising accounts of his ability to stay with Brandon Jennings in pre-draft workouts who is suppose to be the quickest player in the draft.
Second, an extremely high basketball IQ is something Portland desperately needs. Blake, Outlaw, and yes even Roy went all to pieces too often against Houston and it would seem a big brain would help alleviate these mental wind breakers.
But here is the kicker, for me at least…. John Paxson, Craig Hodges, BJ Armstrong, and Steve Kerr; all of them were deadly shooters who were not true point guards and suspect defensively, but when the double teams came they won games for Chicago with their shooting….. And not to point out what is too obvious, but Derek Fisher has done pretty damn well with a limited skill set.
All these same disclaimers, shooting guard in a points body, no defense, not a passer, were also said about another college point guard carrying a dead weight team on his back, and Steve Nash turned out to be pretty good.
We have no idea how well Curry can distribute, there wasn’t anyone on his college team to pass to. He had to score, and boy did he.
He fits because he can of course ball, but he also carries a very serious profesionalism which falls in line beautifully with what’s already in place. And considering Rudy will never have a chance to start here, and will eventually leave, another shooter becomes even more important.
So let’s draft Curry, trade Outlaw and Sergio, and sign Grant Hill and Antonio McDyes to balance the roster and bring the ‘mental toughness’, that has become so chique lately, and keep building towards a championship.
kdjinx had me until he mentioned Grant Hill…lol
Why not Grant Hill? We have two very young small forwards with tons of potential and desperately in need of some veteran influence, and who better than the Grand Daddy of them all?
Hill was good last year; injury free and still one of the smartest players in the game. And he doesn’t need minutes, so Batum and Webster still get all the time they need with a personal tudor there to guide them.
But come playoff time it sure would be cool to see Hill playing point foward with Rudy and Roy and able to actually guard Artest or Battier. I watched him play plenty of times last year and he can still really ball in spurts.
Any talk of getting Curry leads to losing Outlaw, so some insurance at the 3 will be a must, and we all want some Vet’s to balance the squad. So let’s go get the most profesional, been there done that, solid citizen, Inexpensive, player out there. Hill, McDyes and Curry would be a heck of an over-haul without disrupting the core.
Let’s not forget all this jabbering about mental toughness….. Grant never had to come back; he didn’t need the money, could have gone to work as a coach, broadcaster, whatever, but choose to spend 3 years re-habbing just because he loves the game. That would seem to fall comfortably in line for the Blazers search for some mental steal.
hey man, I’m not discounting that he’s a good guy, or that he loves the game, or he wouldn’t be a good influence…it’s just that every report I’ve read indicates that he’ll only play for one or two teams, or he’ll retire (incidently McDyess is saying the same about Detroit or retirement). I don’t think he’d be willing to come to Portland and sit on the bench while we develop our guys…I could be wrong..but I don’t know.
Aside from that, we don’t need another SF, I don’t see how he’d get any playing time behind Webster, Roy, Batum, and Rudy. It’s just my opinion, and I could be wrong, but I don’t see him in PDX.
Huey — I gotta tell you, I probably should read Dime Magazine, but I never have. Sorry I missed that story.
kdjink, you just made a great argument to keep steve blake! not the best pg but can hit the open shot right? and for everyone who thinks curry is a pg, just look at Davidson the past 2 years. 2 years ago curry had a senior pg who ran the team’s offense. all curry had to do was be himself. a shooter. they go deep into the tourney and curry makes a name for himself. this year, curry tries to take on the pg role and they don’t even make the tournament. underrated passer maybe but the kid can’t run an offense. he is what he is. I get that we may not need a traditional “pure” pg but I’m pretty sure we already have a few of those.
oh, and please take it easy with the rudy’s already gone stuff. I like dwight’s stuff too but don’t drink ALL the koolaid.
I like Curry, a lot.
But I’d still go after Hinrich or Kidd.
If we don’t get Curry I hope he goes to a good franchise, I’m rooting for the kid.
2004 Draft – Telfair
2005 Draft – Jack
2006 Draft – Sergio
2007 Draft – Koponen/Green
2008 Draft – Bayless
Please Mr. Pritchard can you break this cycle? There’s a track record here and it doesn’t seem to be working out in the Blazers favor. A veteran pg would be welcome.
Dwight – you mentioned a preference for a vet PG. Now if there is any truth to the New-Orleans-can’t-afford-to-keep-Chris-Paul rumors, we better be on that like white on rice! But, in the real world (where N.O. execs are smart enough to avoid the lynching which would follow letting CP3 go), what does Mr. Jaynes (or anyone else here) think of free-agent Andre Miller? Check out that PER of 18.7! (http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=557&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fplayers%2fhollinger%3fplayerId%3d557)
I’m a guy who would tinker cautiously with a team who won 54 last year, but if a vet point is truly what we need, and we don’t want to give up the young, talented, developing pieces we’ve assembled, why not show this guy the money? We’ve got the cap room, and we give up nothing. What say you?
I’m with you Jason.
For some reason Portland has a horrible track record drafting a point guard.
Time to look to FA; but I’m afraid they won’t pull trigger.
mslivkoff…..
I was right there with you on Miller this season at the trading dead-line, up until Andre and Theo pulled there little mutiny in the middle of the playoffs. Being a Veteran team leader and screwing your young team-mates, even when you are on your way out the door, is in-excusable and not really any sort of influence to have around. Besides, he’s slow, never has been able to shoot, and looking for one last swollen contract he can underachieve on…… Much rather have Bibby if we’re looking at Vets to start.
re: Chris
I prefer Tang over Kool-aid, and if I’m gonna lace anything with LSD it would be Vodka…. Right, and how do you suppose Rudy fits in long term? Certainly aren’t enough minutes as a 2 assuming Roy stays healthy. As a point? Didn’t see the ball handling to make that happen, and certainly not as a 3- don’t see him, or Roy, guarding the likes of Carmelo, Lebron, or Turkoglu at 6’5″; gotta have a bit more size there. A lot of people have compared the situation to Ginobli, but Manu isn’t playing behind Brandon Roy….. Oh, and now Websters, with a contract, is thrown into the mix…. just don’t see where Rudy fits, long term anyway.
Curry averaged 28.6 pts, 6 assists, and 2.6 steals a game last year on a very, very weak team. Blake missed big free throws, couldn’t play any defense, and made some huge mistakes against Houston. Oh, and Steve can not run the break…. Why not at least attempt to get better at our weakest position?
Havent seen Curry play much but Bob Knight said he was one of best passers in all of college basketball and has a great IQ. Add that to his deadly shooting ability and I think he may be a nice PG to play beside B-Roy, LA and Oden.
I say you draft the best PG you can and let him and Bayless battle it out. Whoever wins, gets all the backup minutes, the other guys sits.
We should try to grab every PG prospect in the universe and stick them on our roster!
Also lol at all you idiots already writing Bayless off after one season. Get a grip.
Ah Chris, jabbering about idiots and missing the whole point….. we are all simply moving on from Rodriguez and painfully aware of what we have, or more astutely don’t have, with Blake; think you could get up to speed?