Portland Trailblazers: 2009 NBA Draft

Jason Tomassini — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:57:40 -0400

2009 NBA DRAFT: NBA Team Needs/Capsules - NBA Mock Draft - Top 100 Prospects

- We’ll update our Team Capsules with more specific info once the lottery is complete.

Portland Trailblazers

2008-09 Record: 54-28

Draft Picks: 24, 32, 38, 55

Key Free Agents:

Channing Frye (Restricted)

Raef Lafrentz

Shavlik Randolph

Michael Ruffin

How They Got Here:

Despite the crazy hype going into the season, the Blazers somehow managed to exceed expectations. And to think, they got very little out of Mr. Glass Greg Oden, they didn’t trade Lafrentz’s enormous expiring contract and 2005 No. 6 overall pick Martell Webster played five minutes this season. What they did get is Brandon Roy emerging as a legit franchise player, Lamarcus Aldridge doing Lamarcus Aldridge type things and surprisingly strong play from Steve Blake and less heralded rookies Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez. We’ve been saying it a lot lately but, Oden or no Oden, the future is bright.

What They Need:

Probably just depth. They are a little thin on scoring in the rare occasions where Roy or Aldridge aren’t on top of their game and some Steve Blake insurance is probably needed. But again, with Webster coming back, Jerryd Bayless likely stepping into a bigger role and the assimilation process continuing with Batum and Rudy Fernandez, the rotation is basically set for next year and the Blazers should be looking to trade, take some risks or just upgrade a bench player.

Who They'll Take:

A veteran scorer that won’t shake up chemistry. Sam Young or DaJuan Summers would be nice, especially if said scorer can play a little bit of defense like Summers can. With the uncertainty of Oden’s health and the Pryzbillian nature of Joel Pryzbilla, it would make sense to get some big man depth somewhere in the draft too, especially with the team unlikely to match any offer that Channing Frye is fortunate enough to receive. A guy like BJ Mullens would be oh-so ironic. And it’s also not totally insane for the Blazers to take Tyler Hansbrough, just throwing it out there.

Portland Trailblazers Draft History (since 2001)

2008: Brandon Rush (13, traded to Indiana for Jerryd Bayless), Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey (27 and 33, both traded to Houston for Nicolas Batum), Omer Asik (36)
2007: Greg Oden (1), Josh McRoberts (37), Taurean Green (52), Demetris Nichols (53) 2006: LaMarcus Aldridge (2), Brandon Roy (6), Sergio Rodriguez (27), Joel Freeland (30)

2005: Martell Webster (6), Linas Kleiza (27), Ricky Sanchez (35)

2004: Sebastian Telfair (13), Viktor Khryapa (22), Ha Seung-Jin (47)

2003: Travis Outlaw (23), Nedzad Sinanovic (54)

2002: Qyntel Woods (21), Jason Jennings (43), Federico Kammerichs (51)

2001: Zach Randolph (19), Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (50)

2009 NBA DRAFT: NBA Team Needs/Capsules - NBA Mock Draft - Top 100 Prospects

Top Prospects

Stephen Curry - PG/SG - Davidson

Tyreke Evans - PG/SG - Memphis

Blake Griffin - PF - Oklahoma

James Harden - SG - Arizona State

Jordan Hill - PF - Arizona

Ty Lawson - PG - UNC

BJ Mullens - C - Ohio State

Ricky Rubio - PG - DKV Joventut

Brandon Jennings - PG - Arizona

Hasheem Thabeet - C - UCONN

NBA: Teams Looking Good, Bad, or Ugly

Hoopsworld — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:22:36 -0400

By: Mike Moreau

After the first week of the pre-season, how much can you really know about a team? Wins and losses are meaningless as this is a time to set the tone, evaluate talent, work on offensive and defensive schemes, and experiment with rotations.

However, as a coach, you can start to get a feeling for what your team will be like and what kind of year it might be. You don't want to read too much into success or failure in the exhibition games, but your team begins to form an impression on you and often times that vibe carries into the beginning of the season. Sometimes, that first week can tell you everything you need to know. Sometimes, it can fool you.

That being said, some impressions I have gotten so far:

The Good

Portland – The Trail Blazers already have a good vibe with a healthy Greg Oden in the middle, and the year of experience of their best young players gives them nothing but a positive atmosphere to build on. This is a young, fun team that had success last year, and they carry themselves as such. In spite of some early injuries, they have already given a glimpse of what they will be. They can run and score in transition or in the halfcourt, play with effort and intensity, and are already showing signs of good chemistry with their new young additions. They also come into the season armed with the experience of a 13-game winning streak from last year - accomplished without their big man. No guarantee of a win total here, and again, it's only the first week of the exhibition season, but they have not disappointed so far with their effort, energy and production. The vibe is there. Portland fans – don't worry about the dismal economic outlook. A fun year is coming your way!

The Bad

Washington – Between the chronic, rotating injuries among the stars and the silly, self-important soap opera of the Gilbert Arenas blog, this is already a recipe for disappointment for the Wizards' faithful. The Wizards took a huge risk paying gazillions of dollars for damaged goods and now that Agent Zero is even more damaged and seemingly more interested in promoting himself than elevating his team, one could have sat back this summer and almost predicted this kind of pre-season start. The only way for Washington to take a step beyond the first round is for everyone to be healthy, and all you can do is shake your head with the bad breaks they have already had. I was a big Wizard fan last year, picked them to beat the Cavs in their series, but through no real fault of their own I'm not feeling these guys right now. The adversity could bond them into a stronger group for the stretch run, but that's an optimistic, big-picture view that's hard to bank on at this point. When you know more about your star player's fiancé than you do about his game, his health and his future, something is askew.

The Ugly

Milwaukee - With Scott Skiles emphasis on defense, offensive production in the Bucks' first three pre-season games in the 70's, and the coach's reputation for having less than warm and fuzzy people skills, this already looks like a potentially miserable journey for the Bucks. Nobody on this roster has much of a reputation for winning, so one can see Skiles just driving these guys into the ground with a grouchy demeanor and defensive focus - and seeing the offense suffer. That's a formula for low scoring, ugly losses and not much fun for anyone. However, the only way to turn this into a winning situation is to change the losing mentality, which is never a "feel good" process. Skiles has made losers into winners in the past, and maybe he can make the Bucks into a tougher, grittier bunch that can defend their way into close games and have Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson take over in the fourth quarter. A week into the pre-season, there's not much indication of that. Demanding new standards of performance, holding players accountable, and turning around a losing culture is the basketball definition of ugly in the pre-season. So far, the Bucks are wearing that description well.

portland trailblazers

Portland Trailblazers: 2009 NBA Draft

NBA: Teams Looking Good, Bad, or Ugly