The Blazers Draft Donovan Clingan And Trade For Deni Avdija | Draft Night Reaction | 121

The Blazers Draft Donovan Clingan And Trade For Deni Avdija | Draft Night Reaction | 121

[Music] D lard you have done it again sh block oh but with a block and the Blazers win the series for the first time in 14 [Music] [Applause] years what is up guys welcome back to the Rip City rundown podcast it is 7:13 Pacific Time draft night the Blazers have picked up two players and I think it’s going to be a happy podcast West how are you feeling oh man dude where do we start tonight because dude I I honestly we’ll just start with this the Blazers take kinging at seven before that this is like pre-draft stuff we’re not even thinking about the draft yet it’s an hour and a half before the draft all of a sudden Denny Advia gets traded to Portland for Brogden 14 the 2029 first round pick that’s goingon to be the least favorable one in two seconds so that was kind of the teaser and then the Blazers draft kingan which according to W I’ll just start this off the top we’ll start with our pick obviously but W said if clinging Ed the draft last year we we could have picked him last year that’s how much our talent evaluators which we talked about yesterday even the day before Talent evaluation is what Portland has to hang their hat on you got to trust Cronin and you got to trust Mike Schmid so AB I fully agree with that clinging a seven so much value um I think something we’ve done the past two drafts is we’ve been totally just our emotions have been so high in 2022 we were like sharp steal the draft let’s let’s go we’re so high last year we were so pissed that we drafted scoot because we knew it led to Damen Lillard we’re gonna keep our emotions very steady but I think the base of the emotions is happiness like this was a good night I said on Twitter when it comes to the value you got tonight and the positional needs and the players you got where they’re going to play you didn’t get a guard positional needs and value this is the best night Joe cronin’s had as a GM of the Blazer as of the Blazers and I think that’s pretty obvious I said yesterday I thought Donovan kingan should be the first overall pick in the draft I think he has the highest floor in the entire draft he’s the most NBA ready guy he’s going to come in and contribute from day one obviously we don’t that’s not huge for the Blazers but it’s such a positive and I think he has a high ceiling as well like this is a guy that is going to roll to the basket set hard screens he’s one of the best screeners in the draft he’s probably the best defender in the draft I would say it depends on what you’re looking at and I thought he should go number one so the fact we got him at seven is I mean I don’t care if we said we would rather have a wing we said we want a guy that’s what taller than 67 and we got we got a guy a lot taller than 67 yeah he’s 72 and and I think an underrated part it’s not really underrated but people don’t talk about this enough I mean he’s coming from probably the most NBA Style offense you can ask for Yukon straight culture the dude’s from Connecticut all right he he can deal with some cold weather all right you know he’s he’s going to be cool in Portland I know in his we joked in his post draft interview like off to the side of the stage he was like you know I’m a two-time like Champion but I just I just I’m not satisfied I want to keep winning and we were like well we can’t provide you that yet but no I mean you thought should have gone one if I was going to my my caveat here my caveat is that I think SAR would have been not one but that was unique in the fact he didn’t want to play for Atlanta for some reason so they had to go rasare but I mean Portland getting clinging at seven is to me probably the in terms of value it’s the best pick you could have at seven um that was realistic at least because for like SAR was not going to drop below two he he just wasn’t and so yeah yeah I think I mean I’m very happy I I think partly again on draft night we’re not emotional but the emotions are higher on draft night because now we feel like we’ve actually done something and have hope for the first time in 365 days so I do think we’re going to be very optimistic about the pick regardless and I think just the way it played out with Detroit absolutely pooping the bed with Ron Holland and you like Ron Holland I like Ron Holland the question is of course it’s five worth it form him that that I wouldn’t say it was a stinker but Ron Holland is more of is a reach it’s a reach and it’s it’s it’s a curveball at least it opened the door and then you had me just to quickly say you had your Memphis and Portland battling it out for number six and I think I even said this I don’t know if I vocalized this to you but I was thinking like to me this is the first time at least I can remember what I’ve really been heavily focused on the draft that the Blazers kind of had Things fall into place for them and what I mean by that is kingan might not have been a Detroit could have gone cling I know they have Jaylen Duran but Ron Holland going there kind of opened up a potential for Portland to take kingham Charlotte had the opportunity to trade with us or Memphis apparently neither one neither one of us gave enough and I I my heart of hearts I think Memphis was probably pushing harder because I think Portland had an inkling that you know Kling was going to be there all along and I think it worked out because I think Charlotte was so high on Saloon I think if they maybe in their heads they’re like if we trade with Memphis go back to nine Portland could take Salon if kingan’s off the board you know I think Saloon was on our top three it was probably Saloon kingan and Cody Williams in that order and they were all on the board going into six so I think Charlotte kind of having to think about that because people are saying maybe saloons a reach at six you could have traded back and got him at nine but who knows what Portland would have done at seven because Cody went 10 and so I think charlot kind of had to think about that the Blazers now for back-to-back years I saw this on Twitter uh uh did not succumb to the Charlotte Hornets leverage attempts uh that’s back toback years now I just thought that was funny and also the last thing is Memphis got Rob doed into taking Edy not saying it’s a bad pick but they they ended up taking Ed reaction to cling and being gone we won W Ed um I want to say a caveat just in case something happens at the end of the draft with the Blazers we’re currently at like the 21st pick so if you’re watching this tomorrow Thursday and the Blazers traded in on pick 28 just if you want to hear that skip to when we react pick 28 because we’ll probably still be talking by the time that could possibly happen a good point we could we could we could package 3440 for a late first yeah you never know um I just think I am like you said I think it’s the first time I can remember in a while that you can argue last year’s draft went our way because we got the guy we wanted probably all along in scoot but that had such a big caveat with the whole Dame thing and it was weird emotions I think this is the first time in a while I’ve kind of left the draft really excited because even the sharp year we were kind of like oh I kind of wish we traded that pick because it was like OG could we possibly trade for him things of those lines so again I said last night that no matter where the Blazers go unless they go guard I’m gonna trust Joe Cronin and it’s a lot easier to trust Joe kerin when I also have the same views as like this is a guy I think could have gone one like if we went Saloon I would have trusted Joe cron and been like okay you think salon’s the best guy so I’m GNA trust him but like I don’t know a ton about ballon so it’s hard to like I know what I’m getting withing and that’s just to piggyback off that I think the reason why kinging was a potential number one is his floor like okay Saloon is kind of the Boomer bust pick so to speak um kingan is has a solid High floor like you know what you’re going to get out of him assuming health and everything of course like health is for every player the biggest thing and we all know what has happened with bigs in Portland before and no one wants that but it it needs to be addressed and I have my computer on top of a wood right now so I’m going to knock on it all right I just knock on but no I think kingan having such a high floor but also having that that that ceiling as well because I think the KN you know the knock on kinging is what sorry I just saw a tweet just kinging talking saying I want to bring championships back to Portland on last last guy that led us to a championship was a white center I literally was about to say that I’m I’m not going to do the bad take thing but my first thing was like as a joke Bill W part two as a joke um I don’t think kingan will ever be as unique and as U energetic as Bill W Bill W’s like the most unique personalities ever um but yeah C’s got the a high ceiling as well as the high floor and I think that’s where the Blazers uh probably and and again it’s it’s set he’s 72 and I made this joke too like unfortunately wiim banama is probably resetting the standard for like what you need in the NBA and I’m just saying like how many like joic and embiid are great but how many dudes are going to go meet wiama at The Rim kingan will get Dunked On by a wiim Yama 100% probably finals in 27 and the knock on kingan is okay so he does have a injury history you know he did foot injury small but again you with these big guys you can’t take a chance or not take a chance but it’s always going to be in the back of your mind and then of course it’s similar with Ed but not as pressing it’s just lateral movement how he’s going to look on the perimeter and if one day he can extend his range which I’m sure he’s capable of I’m not sure we’re definitely not going to ask him to do that for the foreseeable future but you even said like a valent chunis type offensive game um he’s gonna be better than valent chunis defensively I think and I think like he’s but yeah I think his like ceiling could be of like post up offensive game his ceiling could be Val but I don’t think that’s what the Blazers want him to be we don’t want him to be a back to the basket Center like that’s what you’re getting in Zack Edy if we had drafted Zach Ed that’s why I would have been frustrated because I think that’s twoo onedimensional because when Zach Ed is on the floor to be successful he kind of needs the ball in his hands D or Donovan Kingland again I’m comparing I’m comparing all these guys that can catch lobs to Derrick Lively but he could be like a rookie Derek Lively his Rook year like he could have that big of an impact I really think like kingan could I wouldn’t be surprised if Kling in is a favorite to win Rookie of the Year I know he’s not going to get the the Gody stats the points but he’s GNA get the blocks he’s going to get the boards he’s gonna have the opportunity and we’ll go into that we still got a lot to discuss when it comes to roster construction and who’s on the team but this guy’s NBA ready and he fits what the modern NBA is sure he’s not a stretch big but I think you can you you go two lines with an with two ways with an NBA Center in today’s NBA you get the guy that can be the stretch big and then or you get the guy that’s the rim running Defender like you can go with and of course you want the perfect mold of both for a great NBA Center but like we just saw in the two teams in the finals obviously you want to be like the two teams in the finals because were those were the two best teams this year you had a team with a porzingis and a Horford stretch bigs that could protect the rim Horford not as good as porzingis but stretch bigs that weren’t really basket on the other side you had guys that were lob threats and the and I think you are you’re more looking at for the Blazers you want to be more like the Dallas mold you hope scoot can be your Luca donic obviously not to Luca’s level but the guy that’s attacking defens is throwing lobs so I’m very happy with the cling and pick all in all and I think an underrated part of clean’s game that people have been discussing is is he can playmake a little bit I mean at Yukon he he was used as a hub I’m I’m he’s a capable passer I’m not saying he’s the playmaker Durk is he’s a great screener and that’s the other thing is you not to and we’ll talk about Aiden and Robert Williamson we can we can talk about Doan baji for feeling it but who knows but just to have a guy in kinging who is Young and who just someone who can provide some stability I guess not that Aon can’t but a little more like defined role in terms of like CL you’re not going to take mid-range dump and you you don’t have to have 20 shots a game to have a role on this team and that’s not a shot at eight I’m just saying I think it makes it easier and simpler for scoot in year two when you have a seven2 guy setting a screen for you and can run run to the rim that’s something I just thought of I think this pick not that getting a wing wouldn’t have been this way because it would have fit the mold we needed but this pick specifically is like this is help this is it’s not signaling this but it’s almost like okay scoot like this is a guy for you like this fits your game this is a guy that perfect with you I don’t think Aon and Scoot were a perfect fit together because Aon again wants the ball a little more now a was amazing to end the year 20 like you said 22 and 14 yep what were you saying I was just gonna say and honestly anything else on kinging like specific I say I think uh I like another reason I like the pick a lot is because you’re slowly starting to see the type of roster and players complimenting each other and that goes for the other guy we got tonight which we’ll get into later helps when you get a seven when s to just paints a clear picture um let’s move into just because we’re talking about Sinners Let’s Talk About eighton Time Lord what we’re thinking here and then we’ll jump into Denny and the whole watching Wizards um move we had earlier you you said you made a comment that prompted this to me you didn’t mean to do this but it made it seem like aon’s no longer has a role on this team and it I want to ask you do you think now all of a sudden Aon is on trade watch for example or do you think he’s a guy that can coexist with kingan for a year half a year to the deadline into the summer is this something the Blazer do they want to ease clinging in or throw them to the Wolves at Center day one I no one knows the answer to this obviously but what do you think we should do um for Aon I would be I would be surprised if aon’s not on the team starting at Center to start next year um I think I would be also surprised if Robert Williams is on the team I think that’s the next Expendable guy um I don’t think I think a irresponsible thing to do is just trade the guy just because you drafted his possible replacement um yeah so like like it would have been malpractice to trade Anthony last year just because we got scoot because I agree I agree with that and I’m in your Camp there I think if I was making an argument the other way the only thing thing I would say is in terms of if you had to trade one I mean they who knows what we do we could have all those centers on the roster and who knows but if if we’re choosing between Aon and Robert Williams I think there’s a case to keep Robert Williams and trade Aton now because Aon kind of revitalized his value a little bit the contract’s crap it doesn’t matter how good he’s going to play the contract’s crap so that’s just the fact of the matter there but I feel like ords I feel like if you trade Time Lord now you’re kind of trading at an all-time low because play at all and I think he’s a guy you want to keep around the deadline kind of showcase a little bit that’s just me talking though I do think that’s a good point actually I think you’re like you said time Lord’s um value is probably at the lowest it’s been at least as his time on the Blazers so sure would you like him to be healthy play really well for a two- Monon stretch hope he stays healthy for that stretch and then flip him at the deadline I think that’s a very realistic way to go I just think again things change in the NBA so fast M I don’t necessarily want to give up on Aon just yet because as much as I’m saying kingan has the highest floor like that’s also because this draft isn’t crazy Elite like I I mean we saw gaffer Lively coexists fine for a whole year I’m sure Aon and Aon and King can do that for like for sure like you said Aon just had a great second half of the year so like he was improving with the Blazers I mean I saw some people say oh Aon you can finally play the four because you’re too soft to play play with the fives I don’t want to do that that’s just too many big people on the floor um at one time I mean Aon commented on the Trailblazer post saying yes sir to kinging being drafted so yeah I don’t think whole like I don’t think you’re gonna see Aon like be pissed off that we drafted this guy because honestly I think Aon is one of those guys that his attitude is not going to change no matter what he’s happy he’s making money um is that a great thing for him to not have some killer attitude I mean no but he’s not like some dude that doesn’t care at all I think he’s a pretty even killed guy and his attitude’s not going to change that much yeah and and I think Aon his um it would or sorry it would be irresponsible for the Blazers to trade Aon without cling and stepping on the floor that that’s if that’s an emotional play that’s coming out of tonight of drafting him yeah I I definitely think having a eighton kinging front court is great in terms of starting in bench but the other thing is and kind of making this narrative or making this point more generally now to the Blazers roster uh in totality is you with Drafting klling and you like you said you have a a a vision now you you put pen to paper in the sense of you kind of can see what this team wants to do and I don’t know I just think that I’m Dreaming right now I’m Dreaming right now I’m sorry but I’m just thinking like like of all the guys we’ve gotten for the future who’s our point guard hopefully for the future that but that’s what I’m saying like just let me go through this thought exercise for me I feel really good right now who’s our point guard for the future scoot who’s our shooting guard sharp as of right now who like who’s our small forward I guess odia odia who’s our Center kingan do we have a four I mean Jeremy right now but for the future who could we possibly be wanting the draft in the 2025 draft that fits like a glove at number one Cooper flag just no that’s why I like the cling and pick a lot because it’s not a guy that like needs the ball in his hands so you’re not like it’s always scary to have so many young guys on the roster because like with uh Pistons right now you have AAR you’ve got uh Ron Holland you got jayen Ivy and you’ve got Kade Cunningham those are all guys that aren’t off ball Shooters so they all need the ball in there hand so it’s clunky like I no I agree and I see a vision if we just want to talk about Detroit they they don’t want to shooting but that’s neither here nor there um I was just going to say with kind of seeing the blueprint now it’s you start to think as fans you start to think as probably even Joe Cronin you you start to think like what is a you know Simon is Simons a part of this team for the f I think Simons is has more of a future with this team than Jeremy Grant does for sure Jeremy Grant’s like going to be the next Domino I think to fall I’m not saying that Domino’s soon um I think it’s I don’t know soonish I mean Define soon next summer deadline I mean I think but now you start asking yourself does Jeremy Grant go get us draft does he get us draft compensation does he get us another young player I mean it’s it’s you start with kinging now you can see the vision and now you’re starting to like these these guys who have been the stop Gap guys Jeremy Grant the definition of that just just by the way um it’s it’s just something now I’m just you can start thinking about the next step it was premature before the draft think what are we gonna do with Jeremy because like you didn’t know are we gonna take a wing does Jeremy need to Mentor Cody Williams but now you have like a center who people can say can not gonna say start day one but was a guy that could have been a number one overall pick and he’s a guy that comes from I’m going to assume he’s a mature guy coming from Yukon back to back champ I’m gonna assume he’s mature and Dan Bob not Danny Hurley fre freaking Danny Hurley Bob Hurley yes no no I’m sorry one yeah yeah side note watch too many Arizona State games back in the day we’ll just say that I’m sorry that dude I had flashbacks right there and I agree like getting a guy from Yukon is in a draft of uncertainty go ahead and go with guys that have played for a national championship team and this guy has been for two times uh before we go into the other guy we brought in tonight the one there’s I mean there’s pros and cons to every move the one I think thought that I that came to my mind when we took Kling in is dang it’s unfortunate because the two guys we traded two two of the main pieces of the Damen Lillard trade were Sinners and this is kind of signaling both of them might not be a part of our future your respons to that I think my response to that would be uh yes I agree it is unfortunate and even with it just happened last year that the camp Miss Prospect was a point guard and probably un unfairly to scoot we we we compared him to Dam Lord because of the positional similarities obviously this year it’s it’s we wouldn’t be talking about this if the C Miss guy that fell to seven was a small forward we would be talking about this so it is unfortunate you can’t plan for that now what you could if you if you’re an anti Chone if you’re not part of the Crone Zone you can say well they’ve liked kinging for two years they should have asked Boston for a non Center if they knew kingan was an option but again you still have to be like they probably before the draft lottery they were like okay well kingan’s number one on our board we got to be top we gotta get in the top three to get him yeah and he fell a seven so there’s you can’t project that so yes I think it’s unfortunate but also we’ve now seen I mean Denny Avia is now a part of the Daman L trade I mean you can you it’s never going to stop it’s just going to keep going down the line but I mean now it just provides you flexibility of potentially trading someone in the future and we talked about it we’re comparing klling and Aon aon’s the better player obviously went to the finals I mean he’s he’s a top half of the league Center you could already use a top 10 Center when he’s engaged um but he’s on a bad contract he he is Young he’s 25 but now kingan is going to be on this rookie deal for freaking five years and he’s G already a better Defender than Aon is at least at the rim and I think for like you said when you have ball dominant players in terms of fit I can convince myself that kingan is a better fit than DeAndre Aton and I don’t think saying we drafted a center here is fair to now go back in time and be like well why did we trade for Center Aon was Pro Aton was the I think Aon is it was Aiden for nerk I mean who great no that’s great I yeah I kind of agree with exactly what you’re saying um it’s one of those things where it’s kind of you can just say dang kind of unfortunate how it turned out but that doesn’t change the fact that we got a guy that’s we got a guy at seven that shouldn’t have been there at seven and we got a guy that I mean you can’t be mad at leaving so that’s kind of anything else before we close the book on the clinging side of tonight nothing I I don’t want to be too excited because who knows any yeah he could he could be bad all right the second or the first thing but the second thing we’ll talk about the first thing the Blazers did on draft night I’m GNA kind of just spill everything just so I don’t forget anything and then I’ll let you I’ll let you Yap um okay the Wizards traded Denny ABIA to the Blazers for Malcolm Brogden the 14th pick a first round pick in 2029 that’s going to be less favorable so probably not that value in two second round picks AIA he I’m just going to read a tweet from NBA University I’m just going through kind of what I retweeted and stuff like that Abdi is on a clear upward trajectory as a 23-year-old 69 ball handler that can defend feels very unlikely anyone drafted 14th in this draft will have as much promise as Denny Big Time Talent INF Fusion for Portland absolutely love this swing for him I said this is my own tweet this is not someone else’s so give me some props for Brogden two first and two seconds for abdia like I like the player in fit but that seems so steep makes me think brog has zero value and 14 is worth nothing which we expected the Optics may look like an overpay but the odds you get a guy like Denny from those from what you gave up was very slim oh and the contract is beautiful as of now and I think I’m officially declaring this this is a good trade for Cronin and Co it takes you under the luxury tax you save $16.8 million and you get a two-way player that’s 69ine and he’s only 23 years old and so all that sounds really good it does sound good and I think for people who are hung up on the draft compensation well when you when you shave $16 million and you get the younger better prospect that it’s going to cost you something and and it is kind of strange I don’t think you see this very often bad team trading to another bad team like this yeah that’s kind of weird was interesting that what I mean I’m not sure what brogen’s you gotta think they they flip Brogden that’d be my guess they might hold on they will be I mean they I guess they could hold to the deadline and then get like a a Clippers or something who just need like who of course they’re always in the market for someone um my thoughts on Denny odia uh when I the trade first happened I was like really um and that’s not a knock on Denny I just think when you watch players I mean Wizards fans probably think the same about like shayon sharp honestly and Blazer fans think shayon sharp is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I think Wizards fans might be like Shane Sharp’s good but like is he that good because you play for such a bad team and I think that masks people’s Talent sometimes like we went to the Washington Portland game when we lost by one in Portland and Denny like he’s 69 he is a shooter he can defend but he’s not leave that game going oh man we should Target ABIA but that’s more because the Wizards are a a joke and not because Denny isn’t a a good player and I think he fits timeline wise he’s 23 the contract is I don’t know I don’t know how they signed him to that in the first place like it goes down and it’s 15 mil at this at its highest that is guys it sounds like a lot that is a steal in today’s draft J Jaylen what did Jaylen Brown get Co I don’t I don’t even know it’s like 360 260 something crazy it was something CRA it’s it’s like compar like he makes the same amount of money as pton Pritchard like yeah and six he’s 69 and he can actually he’s probably better on the defensive end than he is on the offensive end even though his numbers are good and so I think that again 14 in this draft uh would you rather have odia or someone who went or odia D connect I guess taking I’m taking a 69ine guy that has Prov that this is the thing in a draft full of uncertainty where you don’t know if you’re getting a good guy and how with how bad the drafted supposedly you said okay I’m gonna trade Malcolm Brogden who I’m sure probably didn’t have much value which I think we all understood Brogden just just didn’t have much value that’s fine you’re trading two seconds who cares we traded we got five seconds for Gary pton the second we are fine second we traed 2029 first less favorable so at best that’s going to be 20th probably well and the thing about that is like you’re Joe crin to me when I saw were trading 2029 I mean it’s the least favorable so it could be ours or Milwaukee I I I don’t think we have 20 we might have Boston’s 2029 too yeah I don’t remember so we might have three in 2029 the second least favorable so the middle one you’re kind of saying you’re betting on yourself to be good in 20120 yeah if if if we’re gonna like I’m sorry but I’ll deal 20 I’ll deal mid 20s low 20s draft pick for Denny Avia right now I mean you saw what Rob Dillingham went for to First in fre my final thing with that is like in a draft full of uncertainty when you could have got a guy that connect the whole thing is this is you don’t know what you’re getting in this draft you could just get a bust you’re getting a guy that’s proven it in the in the NBA he’s on the same contract I mean a little more than a rookie contract but practically a rookie contract in today’s NBA he fills a position of need he’s a small forward he’s not a power forward he is a small forward but he’s 69 like and he can shoot the ball and he can defend he’s not a guy that needs the ball in his hands and he’s a guy that is going to do exactly what you need because there is a there’s a world where like you have too many stars on your team too many guys who want the ball we saw that like with the Nets like I’m sure if the Nets could go back or the Suns the Suns recently I’m sure if they could go back they maybe would rather have male brid and Kevin Durant maybe they would probably rather have M Bridges and cam Johnson on their team right now than solely Kevin Durant because there’s there’s a cap on how many stars that need the ball on your team so like AIA fits perfectly like he could be a perfect role player for a playoff caliber team um and you have him for four years on this contract like that is that’s not normal on today’s NBA I agree and again what did what did Cronin say defense versatility length Shane sharp is versatile he’s long he has the defensive tools of course Shane’s gonna have to actually want it and we’ll discuss that later scoot is an absolute dog and then get I again the for this team to take the next step and get out of the rebuild either scooter shade have to take the leap or you have to find that like Wing score two-way player but just for now Kamar batis thol Denny Avio those are long defensively minded guys who actually compete and I’m not saying that alfamino and harkless didn’t compete it’s just I don’t know so I mean if you could tell me we’re gonna have another version of Mo haras and alfro cinu like that’s that’s good those are two quality role players that helped us go to the the playoffs many years and helped us go to the Western Conference Finals like we’re not expecting These Wings on our roster right now and Kamar abdia matis Jabari to be our Stars like you need your role players I think the two things that I’m taking away from tonight is we finally addressed what we on this podcast everyone in Blazer World especially Cody has been asking the Blazers to do for years on years on years and that is prioritize defense you got two guys that hang their hat on the defensive side of the ball clinging in a elite caliber way and Denny Avia in a very above average way and the second thing is you I said last night like sure you want to take your swings but you also want to like you at some point you got to draft your role players too like Brook Lopez is a star no age but if Don cl’s Brook Lopez for the next 10 years that is an absolute home run of a pick because now you’re at the point where if scoot if Shaden if this 2025 pick booms then you’ve got a team you’ve got like if scoot turns out to be Jaylen Brunson then you’ve got The Supporting Cast around that star now of course the most important part of the NBA is to find that star and hopefully he’s on the roster right now and that’s still something that we’re not going to celebrate yet but because like if if scoot was so good last year if we had a star on our roster last year then it wouldn’t have mattered because we didn’t have the surrounding pieces around it like the Nuggets wouldn’t be good if joic didn’t have the guys around I mean you’re kind of discussing you’re kind of lowkey talking about the Damen lard era yeah I mean at a at a trying to win a championship level this is different but it it’s the same thing and just to piggyback off that this is a role players draft as much as people want to tell you that this was a draft that like you can find your home runs sure there’s going to be one or two home runs maybe Saloon is salon’s a boomer bus guy SAR could turn it but like the number one overall pick R share I mean is he he’s not gonna be a number one option for a team and if he does I will eat my words and come back to this podcast and I will say I’m sorry guys that’s the number one pick a role player went number one for now who knows how he develops but kingan is like that guy and even Denny like you said it without the ball in their hands it’s the most thing in the league is like first it’s like shooting with size like real shooting with size like but then I think an underrated one and you also have like defense of course can’t can’t have enough defense but to me an underrated one is like guys who can impact winning without the ball and it’s so early of course I’m not saying CLE can do that but he at least has shown in college at least that he can dominate a game by throwing down a couple couple dunks and playing good defense and it’s different in the league I understand and you know rookie year you’re talking about if our 2025 pick Booms that we’re g to be bad this year we are and that’s fine but I I see the vision and just don’t freak out if cing is getting blown by like for the first couple weeks like and the other thing like go ahead here’s the thing here’s the reason why I don’t see a world where I’m mad at kinging next year I actually watched kingan be elite for an entire two for a full year pretty much two years at the best university at the best college basketball team on national TV night in and night out I didn’t watch scoot Henderson or Shaden sharp obviously I didn’t watch Shaden sharp because he didn’t play and I didn’t watch the g-league night who watches the g- league night nobody they’re shutting down now so it’s hard it’s sometimes like hard as a fan when you haven’t seen the guy dominate any level with your own eyes of course they have but when you haven’t seen it for your own eyes you’re like damn is he really going to do it at some point obviously have faith that they will but I like at least know like I’ve seen Kling and dominate he’s gonna he’s gonna get to that point where like he can provide winning basketball I know he’s gonna get there and like you said if he or like you said earlier like if he doesn’t I’ll eat my words um and one more thing like I’m kind of glad we didn’t go with like the saloon um even though I liked Ron Holland I’m kind of glad we didn’t go with the G leag night thing like we finally went with the guy that we went with the good college guy and I think there’s value in like taking the good college guy because most great NBA players played in college I know we have a ton of international guys now but I would assume the average good player in the NBA of course came from college I’m assuming the hit rate on college guys to be a good role player is higher than International guys so I mean you you you have the upside for kinging but you also just like you have a good floor I think that you can lean on I mean if you want to talk about not drafting college guys our entire back court did not play in college and I mean we do have a a colle we do have Chris Murray he’s he’s a nice college guy but I’m just kidding one day Chris Murray is gonna be the eighth man on a playoff team for the Blazers and he’s gonna be like Rodney Hood and I’m gonna love him but anyway I hope you’re right um I want to talk about just let’s just talk about the first 10 picks of the draft and just how it went [Music] um any surprises from you I think there’s an obvious one I mean obviously Holland is very surprising um it’s just surprising in general because no one expected it but if it was any team other than the Pistons I wouldn’t be mad but the Pistons are genuinely the worst fit for him because you need to surround him with shooting and the Pistons don’t have that so Holland was a surprise I mean I still think Ed was a surprise like to pick him at nine and for the Grizzlies I just don’t think he fits the Grizzly style of play whatsoever um because you’re trying to play Fast jaw Bane and JJJ and then like if Ed is gonna be your starting center then it did kind of feel like a reactionary pick to what we did yeah um because I’m gonna be honest Clinging On Memphis is disgusting yeah like pairing him with jiren Jackson Jr is crazy good with jaw I mean that’s lowkey kind of what the I mean I’ve always compared scoot to jaw in terms of like play style and I thought ISM um you know we’re we’re projecting here with scoot obviously but um I think my biggest surprise was Rob Dillingham going to Minnesota was interesting did not see that coming it’s pretty cool um I was kind of upset I mean obviously once we took Kling in We’re not gonna get him but like I was I’m so high on Cody Williams and I think it’s more of just like a a feel-good story for me because he’s like Pack 12 guy he’s got a brother in the league he’s young he’s like the perfect like mold for what you want and so I’m just I’ll be watching him carefully because he’s the guy would have wanted if Kling and had gone off of three the other thing is no one ended up trading up for three and I think when that happened you were like all right so kingan’s not going three it’s like Spurs aren’t taking kinging and then it was like what do the Pistons and the Hornets do and Jaylen dur and Mark Williams are good players but it’s like if they believed in kingan strongly enough those are replaceable guys I think Mark Williams more so than dur and D’s interesting to me uh but Ron Holland was a shocker and the other thing is Memphis trading up in front of us and they couldn’t do it with Charlotte I’m curious if information comes out in the coming days about what Memphis was offering um because I’m just curious what moving up from nine to six in this type of draft does uh because it’s it’s not a great draft and the other thing is odia 14 I know it’s not actually odia at 14 but we said we have seven and 14 guys got to be six6 at least we go 69 72 um and the Optics look great too at least for the clinging deal uh not deal the clinging pick the Optics look great because again you’re you’re getting the value you’re extracting out of that is great and honestly I think that’s kind of stupid sometimes and I might have said this before because no one gives a rat’s ass what your value is if the player ends up being bad you know like you know what I mean yeah but it just makes you look good on draft night and so and it’s going to look like a great pick of Kling and becomes like a steady steady NBA big I just think it’s dumb that people say like oh my gosh Blazers won the draft off the expected value like I don’t care let me win the draft because we drafted the best player yeah and I’m just like gon to keep going back to it like I literally sat here last night and I don’t actually I don’t even know if I officially said it on the Pod but I know you heard me like for the last five days I was like if I’m the Hawks I’m taking kinging because in this draft I would rather just take the guy that I know is gonna be a good player um I keep saying that a lot and I again I hate my words a my words like you got to have an opinion and you gotta stand on something but I just think in a world where the Blazers could have easily gone with the wing and no one would have been mad the Blazers kind of went with yes in in a sense it’s the obvious little bit zag it is the obvious pick but it’s also not at the same time because if you’re looking at our roster you don’t need you didn’t a center wasn’t the biggest need right but I I I like going best player available uh not guard I’m curious if I think going into the night or coming into the draft the strategy was like we need a wing we need a wing and I’m curious if getting the odia deal done uh prompted us to take clling and I think if was available at seven he might have been there all along but I’m curious if Joe had some like a belief or an inkling or some sources from or maybe promises from other GMS I don’t know how that works obviously we don’t work in front offices but like you like let’s do this obvia deal because what it’s looking like is klling is GNA possibly be there if you know Memphis doesn’t jump yeah I’m lowkey sure that if kingan isn’t some if they’re not assuming kingan could be there then and they’re more so going a wing route who yeah who knows if they actually go through this AIA deal another thing that just like sounds sour but I’m honestly just happy I’m glad just Malcolm Brogden is gone because I didn’t want to keep on trying to draw up trades and be like oh we can add this and this classifies as the Dame package and Brogden actually is worth two first but it maybe and he’s so his value so bad that he’s worth two seconds like I’m glad we got a player out of Malcolm brogon so yeah I am too and I I agree with you there because I do think that brogen’s time here was very important uh but it just does it didn’t make sense to keep him and everyone knew that and um OB did you see Cody’s text by the way I can’t wait for Cody to be back on the Pod we’re still awaiting that uh interesting news he has yeah just just absolutely keeping us on the edge of seat there um but yeah okay I’ll just ask you this um give me a grade for the draft for the Portland well give me a grade for the day not the draft the day um and it could be unfinished because we have a second round and if there’s a guy you love and you want to be like cool and be like oh this guy’s gonna move it up I’ll say I hope the second round I don’t really want to go with like the high upside guy I kind of want to just take a guy that is a good college player because I think we did that last year with repair um and the year before went with Jabari and Jabari turned out great there’s value in guys like that so I think we have enough guys like Scoot and Shaden at this point like they are high upside guys that we’re hoping reach their ceiling obviously they have a better chance than a r but we have enough stock already in guys that we hope can be a lot better and hope to be stars that we don’t need to take this big ass swing excuse my language um grade I’m not gonna say an A+ but I don’t know really how what would have made it an A+ maybe like not having to trade a second first round pick in the trade I’ll say it’s an a it’s an a night for Joe kin um if we’re in a vacuum it’s a better draft than even last year because I think you overdrafted for Chris Murray scoot was the obvious pick so like he didn’t fall in your lap really like no this year is way better than last year because and and not even that last year they it wasn’t bad because you got you got scoot that’s not even including the whole like d thing no it’s the thing that he said he was gonna do something that he didn’t but it’s not even that it’s like in a vacuum still even without the whole Dame being involved if it was just based on the picks and where we got him and who we just basically who we brought in I think bringing in Denny abdia for what we for what we had to give up and bringing in Donovan kingan is better than what we did last year that’s not to say scoot’s not going to be the best player out of all the players we mentioned but I think like value wise this was an amazing night so so just just to kind of put some perspective on or just to kind of think about this I because I even didn’t think about this is Drew holiday got us Time Lord Brogden and 14 basically got the Warriors pick and so we got Denny basically got Denny avvia and Time Lord yeah and one of the 29 picks and one of the Boston picks so like we it’s like we halft traded that too because we kind of half still have it so yeah so Drew holiday basically extract Drew holiday got us Robert Williams of first and Denny odia just if you wanted to look at it that way um you could say that’s good you could say that’s bad I don’t really care I think it’s good because he’s 69ine and he’s on the absolute he’s like on the like male Bridges contract type thing where he’s like on a great team deal obviously male makes more but he’s kind of like that I’m not going to say he’s that type but he’s 69 I thought he was 67 he’s 6’9 69 and and he’s all 69 we’re not we’re like we’re slurping up Denny Abdi and Donovan kinging so much and I’m sure if other fans got them like maybe they have a different reaction but it’s a we’re having this reaction because I don’t think people understand how starved for Defense US Blazer fans have been for the last 10 years and starred for wings and starred for shot blocking centers not just paint protectors like nerk was a paint protector he wasn’t a shot blocker no I’m just this is gonna sound weird and I’m just gonna say it I mean we’re starve for size yeah we are we’re star that’s a real thing so to see Joe go this way and to see us be able to get guys that prioritize defense to see guys that are on good contracts literally the things that killed the Blazers over the last 10 years in the Neil OE era and even the very beginning of the Joe Cronin era is we got guys that couldn’t play defense and they weren’t tall we got two guys that were tall and can play defense and they made a lot of money that that well wait that’s literally what I was gonna say and for some reason I didn’t say that contracts it’s great contracts it’s a rookie contract and it’s the one of the best contracts in the NBA three things that Blazer fans don’t get we I will give it a I’m gonna give it an A minus I’ll give it an A minus wow I have a higher grade than you yeah I’ll give it an A minus because I don’t I don’t want to do the thing where like I say a and then like it ends up I want room for me to improve it um because I think it’s such a cop out if you give your team an A+ draft sure um unless you’re the Spurs last year but even then it’s like it’s more about like a plus for the lottery like obviously you’re taking Wendy um so I mean I’ll give it an A minus I’m I’m curious what we um and you know just to provide some context I think it’s an A minus because of um I think the grade could be moved determining or the grade could be moved up or down dependent upon uh what what happens with time order aen and so that’s gonna be I think that’s I think if you have any questions leaving tonight that’s the only question it’s what what’s this what’s the centers GNA look like here I don’t think you have any questions about the obia move yeah no obia makes sense I mean it’s the underrated part that no one talks about is like the the business side of things you’re getting under the tax and you’re you’re offloading of of veteran guard which is a good player but you just had to do um and you can I mean you have eight second round picks in the in the cup board so get rid of two of those please take them you get a second you get a second everyone gets second we got five we got five from Gary pton so let’s get rid of those anything that has a stench of Gary Payton get them off the last thing I’ll say is a minus because I mean at the end just to put some perspective like kingan did go seven in a bad draft so not going to like absolutely hypee this guy up yet yeah I I did on the podcast but now I’m going to be like I need to see growth from him I want to see what’s going with teren Shannon Jr Terence Shannon Jr and Ron Rob Dillingham that’s interesting those are two like those are fun I mean it makes sense they they couldn’t score when it mattered yeah like Shannon coming off the bench would be big and Rob in the starting lineup would be interesting um even Robin Off the Bench year one with Conley um yeah by the way you see the Bucks picked just because for the Damen Lillard watch Aj Johnson from the NBL a three points and half a board wow I did see OKC OKC sent five seconds to the Knicks for pick 26 to take Dylan Jones the guy of the Weber State okay but back to the Blazers well we Weber State’s Dame that that counts yeah sure um do you think the Blazers are I don’t want to say done until summer league but do you think we’re done until summer league um if if you’re talking like big actual roster construction moves then yeah like I’m sure we will sign one or two Fringe free agents just to fill out the roster sign a couple guys maybe some two-ways or something like that but yeah I don’t think we make any more trades I I don’t think Jeremy Grant’s gone you don’t have a supplement to put at the four right now and I don’t think he’s I think it’s just more likely all the guys that we think could not be a part of the future are more likely to get traded at the deadline so dude I am I’m sorry but I just had the Epiphany too I’m thinking of scoot Shaden odia Cooper flag and kingan I mean Cole that’s that’s like that’s awesome that’s that is I mean the best part about tonight is non-rail Blazer fans are talking about how the Blazers won the draft Phoenix takes Ryan Dunn possibly the best defender in the draft perimeter defender in the draft who took that Phoenix that’s a good pick okay I’m glad you said that about people saying that because the general consensus from the public at least on Twitter social media NBA fans is like Portland Has Talent yeah they we have serious Talent um of course you want to be able to get out of the the rebuilding Purgatory that you know the Pistons has drafted themselves into again um you know what sh like like you said on the Pod last night we’re competing against Washington Charlotte Detroit San Antonio to like we we need to prove we’re a better run franchise and we can draft well because Charlotte’s not gonna Charlotte’s not going to be better than us from free agents yeah or probably even trades for being honest because they’ll probably does veto Trade Charlotte but same with Portland so I like the pick and again Charlotte liked Saloon over Clan who knows Salon could be great that’s the this draft’s such a wild card but I am happy that we actually Joe Cronin he look he did what he said it’s a low bar but he he did what he said and he didn’t do that last year yeah he did so I I can only it’s kind of crazy that I’m like thank you for like keeping your word and I’m complimenting him but that’s like how bad it was last year uh so thank you Joe Cronin for doing that and I’m sure you guys are very happy that the number one guy on your board fell to seven and you can’t you if even if you don’t like clinging you can’t help but be like that’s like that’s good that’s a good thing so um this is the final podcast before Cody’s back with us and we break the news what he’s talking about that’s again it’s not a joke Cody has Cody has one Cody has some an inside source let’s just say that Cody’s got sources you would think if anyone has sources it maybe wouldn’t be Cody but Cody’s got him so um make sure to stay tuned and come back to that podcast because he might break it down a little bit and I’m curious to hear what it is too and overall this was a good night for the Blazers it’s a happy pod it’s a fun pod we got defense it’s all we’ve wanted for the longest time questions are still there there’s always going to be questions until you’re back in the playoffs but Blazers took two steps into the right direction tonight and for that I say good job Joe Cronin so thank you guys for watching you got anything else West I do not that is all I have well thank you guys for listening we’ll see you guys next podcast peace [Music] go

Our initial reaction to draft night is LIVE. Deni Advija and Donovan Clingan??? SIGN ME UP! That’s a ton of defense and just what Portland needs. Great night!

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