What the Desmond Bane Trade Means for Portland | Derik Queen, Egor Demin & Noah Penda Draft Workout

What the Desmond Bane Trade Means for Portland | Derik Queen, Egor Demin & Noah Penda Draft Workout

in today’s show the Orlando Magic paid up to land Desmond Bane what does that mean for the Portland Trailblazers it’s got a couple ripple effects welcome to Locked on Blazers let’s get into it you are Locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what’s up world it’s Passver first point guard and trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond you’re listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the Locked on Podcast Network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s Locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s program we’re talking about Desmond Bane the newest member actually I don’t think the trade is official as I’m recording this but soon to be the newest member of the Orlando Magic the Magic make a splash they land a shooting guard they land some shooting they make a they pay up to make it happen and it isn’t with Afrey Simons and the Portland Trail Blazers we’ll talk about uh that magic deal its impacts on the Blazers i think there’s a couple different angles that it impacts the Blazers from uh in sort of maybe in both directions and then we’ll talk about a private workout the Blazers held uh a private workout on Friday for three first round talents probably players that will be selected or at least could be selected right in their range with where they have the 11th pick in the draft we’ll talk about who was there and what it means and give a little a quick quick profile of each of the participants we will get into that to close the show first let’s start with Desmond Bane whoa whoa uh on Sunday the it was reported I believe first by ESPN Sean Trronia uh and then many other places that the Orlando Magic traded for Memphis Grizzlies two guard wing he’s really a two but he’s strong I guess two guard Desmond Bane and it was a hefty price in exchange the Memphis Grizzlies receive Contavius called what cole Anthony 2025 first round pick from Orlando a 2026 first round pick that is uh protected in a couple different ways between Phoenix and Washington um 2028 first round pick 2030 first round pick and a 2029 uh swap that is top two protected according to Philip Rossman Reich of Locked on Magic wo that’s a lot of four firsts and a swap for Desmond Bane is a lot somewhere Nico Harrison’s ears are bleeding did you know you can ask for more when you trade players um yeah I think like on its face let’s start here uh this is seems to be an overpay for Desmond Bane just because of the cost right i’m I’m a pretty big Desmond Bane believer i like him i think he’s a good player um you know he’s a 40% three-point shooter who shoots some volume he’s got a little bit of um he’s he’s better at flybys like a pump fake sideep um but he can he can attack a close out a little bit he can run a little bit of pick and rolls although you wouldn’t want him to be a primary creator by any means but he can score at all three levels to some extent um I don’t think you wouldn’t confuse him with a defensive stopper but I think he can be a competent and talented defensive player certainly part of very very good defenses and Orlando clearly prioritized that they it was it it had been made clear by the Orlando front office in their uh in their end of season interviews that you know going allin making a trade to get better and particularly prioritizing shooting and a little bit of create offensive creation was 100% their goal and their their stated goal um and and their needs and all of those things and they were going to pursue that this summer which is why there was some speculation and some reporting that the Blazers could get involved and that the Magic had some interest in Anthony Simons but uh it ain’t Anthony Simons no ant to Orlando and if you are trying to pretend like that to trade uh Anthony Simons could still get trades with the Orlando Magic no that ship done sailed um it’s just um this was the move they made and boy was it a big one so I I I want to unpack this from a couple reasons maybe a little bit like why not Simons and then what it means for the Grizzlies because I think both of those do change um the sort of they change things a little bit for the Trailblazers so I mean the magic of their shooter and their scorer Desmond Bane is better than Afrey Simons um he also kind of fits their like he’s just better like in a vacuum he’s a better he’s a better basketball player um but like they’re they’re not like identical by any means cuz Afrey Simons has a lot more pick and roll game to him but I think like you know Bane shot Bane shot better from distance if he’s supposed to be a better shooter and and like uh and Bane has been a consistently better defender during his career um he’s under contract for four more seasons um at a at a big at a big number but if they traded for Anthony Simons he’s entering the final year of his contract they’d have to pay him and he’d be under contract for four more seasons at a big number after this one so I guess you’d get one more team control but it’s like it’s it’s a similar similar thing in terms of money um because of the cap has gone up so you’ll eventually probably you won’t be paying a that much you’re not going to make it $45 million but he would have been in line for a hefty payday if you trade for him you’re trading for him for it’s a commitment right um so you know they get this Bane fits a little bit of Orlando’s MMO right he’s not a true point guard and they’re clearly saying like we believe in the creation ability of of Suggs of that’s Jaylen Suggs of France Vagner and and Palabancero and and enough of Bane’s shooting that we can like we we can make it work we can create enough advantages with with that um and just like plus one plus shooter on the floor and and maybe if Suggs comes back he was a pretty good shooter before he got hurt uh that one season so like yeah there that’s the bet they’re making but this is also like this is an overpay and the Magic chose to overpay and one of the reasons why was like maybe they would be down to make a similar move for Simons from the Blazers perspective not this sim not identical to this by any means but like something not too dissimilar from this this is basically the the trade idea everyone’s kicked around anyone with anyone with access to trade machine it’s like KCP and somebody else often Cole Anthony and some and some picks or a pick depending on uh your your vision of what Simon’s trade market is but the Magic kind of had to do this because they needed the the East is kind of wide open right the East is seemingly wide open next year with with um Damen Lillard’s injury and Jason Tatum’s injury certainly the Bucks and Celtics look to be worse the Celtics might also be unloading some salary to get a little bit cheaper um you know the Knicks are a good team but not a perfect one the Pacers are are a darn good team but not a perfect one you don’t feel like that’s like an elite team that’s going to march back to the finals every year forever um it’s just you know we’ll see what happens with the Cavs but it’s like there isn’t there seems to be a vacuum in in terms of like the maybe not the very top of the East standings but certainly in that like three four homecourt advantage range uh that the Magic could easily waltz themselves into and this is a chance to do so and in addition they’re um they’re betting on themselves in 2026 to you know in 2025 and 2026 like they’re they’re saying “Hey we’re not going to miss these immediate coming up first round picks too much.” And I guess they project themselves to be pretty good cuz when you’re trading unprotected picks in 28 and 30 you’re saying we’re not going to get burned by this we’re not going to be awful but that also just might have been you know they they had to go all in uh do I love the the price they paid no but they um they’re banking that they won’t feel the burn but they also needed to do this now they need to do this this summer and from what I understand this trade is going to go down before um the end of the league year this is actually be a trade that takes place in the 2425 season before the calendar year rolls over because if the Magic had waited they would be subject to some of the um some of the provisions of being a first apron team and it would be a little bit harder and they would um like and there would be some uh there would be some challenges in navigating a trade of this size in addition Palan Carol is going to get a big contract extension this summer they’ve already paid Fran Vagner jaylen Sug’s not a giant contract extension but big money you know years and money on his contracts right they’re going to be an expensive team and they’re going to get expensive and it would be harder to make moves at pretty much any point into the future if not now the Magic had to act they chose to act they paid a whole bunch and they went in a way that the Blazers that didn’t involve the Blazers so what does it mean for a Simons like trademark it you know it it always was going to be somewhat narrow because I don’t think his his archetype is particularly valuable i think we’ve seen that over the last you know three to five seasons um that like comboy guards that don’t really defend are not in high demand across the league certain specific teams could use Ampres Simon’s skill set because he can shoot he can play on on the ball and off the ball and he provides a little bit of individual like go get my shot own shot type of offense and in specific settings that is valuable and the Magic with just this horrendous offense and elite defense and some young creators that that could allow Ant to toggle on and off the ball they did seem like a really nice fit they went another way they paid a whole bunch of money to go the other way and I I do think Desmond Bane is better than Afrey Simons um but like you know the cost maybe balances a little a little bit the Blazers don’t it’s not like they legally have to trade Afrey Simons i’ve been in favor of them trading every Sims for like two years so um obviously they don’t have to do that but I do think his I do think this was the obvious landing spot for him but sometimes the obvious things don’t pan out sometimes they do see Jeremy Grant on the Portland Trailblazers or CJ McCollum on the New Orleans Pelicans for a Blazers version of very obvious but I think like the Denny Obia trade came out of nowhere Dame getting traded to Milwaukee out of nowhere the Blazers have have landed on both sides of the we saw this coming all along versus wow where did that come from type of spectrum uh so maybe there is an Anthony Simons trade that we don’t see coming out there and I but I don’t know that the Blazers are deeply motivated to move off Anthony Simons like well they certainly haven’t been to this point and they don’t like they don’t have to to me it would make more sense if they already done so or they chose to do it now but um like they don’t have to and with one suitor off the board maybe they just say n that’s not our move you do at some point back yourself into paying Anthony Simons like the there is I don’t think while I do think there’s a world where where DeAndre Aiden walks without getting paid i don’t think there is a world in which Ary Simons walks without getting paid i think the Blazers will just walk themselves into a space where they feel like we would rather extend Anthony Simons versus if we can’t find like a palatable trade for him and we’d rather extend him and then maybe try a trade for him in the future uh to me a big mistake but you know I’ve been banging the same drum for I don’t know 15 months or something so a little maybe even longer so what are you going to do uh I I will uh it’s it’s not the route I would go but I I do think it is a route that they are potentially headed because the um because this Bane move happened um this also has some implications because like what the heck are the Grizzlies doing what was this let’s talk about that in the second segment what where did this come from why did they do this we will talk about that because that has some implications for the Blazers particularly in this upcoming season join me in the second segment we will talk about just that before we get there though I want to tell you that today’s show is brought to you by Monarch Money you ever look at your bank account and think like “Where did all my money go where where hath it gone?” Well you you know you’re doing stuff you’re you’re buying meals you’re going grocery shopping you’re entertaining yourself and your family it can be easy to lose track of your funds and that’s where Monarch Money comes in it’s your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances 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time and I’m like what is going on with this deal first my first reaction is that it’s you know wow that’s that’s a lot for Desmond Bane even as as a Desmond Bane appreciator boy has the has the has the price gone up but like what is Memphis doing they did need to create a little more financial flexibility to sign Jiren Jackson Jr to a contract extension and Santiel Dama to a contract extension but it seemed like they’d already done that by salary dumping uh Marcus Smart at the trade deadline by like actively getting a little bit worse in order to have some future financial flexibility seems like you know like okay well if you got to sign trip and you got to sign Aldama like you’ve created a space to do that um I think undoubtedly if you just look at the at the like if the Grizzlies had to play a basketball game you’re listening to uh Monday June 16th program like if they had to play a basketball game on June 20th yeah they’re worse like they got worse today control Pope has had a really really really tough season in Orlando but he has been better than that uh in recent seasons and if you think like maybe a change of scenery and like better context could allow him to get back to being like a really useful part of good teams certainly you can talk yourself into KCP being better but like you know time is undefeated perhaps he’s just he just got gray in a hurry um I’m I’m not a I’m a Cole Anthony appreciator but I don’t um I’m not a fan of him as a basketball player uh I think I don’t think he’s very good um but maybe he can help because he’s just has um some relentlessness he plays hard if nothing else um but I’m I’m not a particularly big believer in him being like a positive basketball player so I’d say they’re worse desmond Bane’s better than both those dudes having Desmond Bane is better than having both of those guys like um he’s there is no like you know depth ad here the value is in the picks they got a hall so why did they get a hall like real quick actually hold on the Grizzlies are worse and if you’re rooting for the Blazers to be a playin team or whatever next season I think um this is one more team that took a step back for now so that’s that helps the Blazers right if you’re if you’re someone who like really wants the Blazers to win that 44th game next season um having another team that is worse is very helpful grizzlies won 48 games last year and they’re worse than they were um they’re worse they’ll wake up worse tomorrow than they were yesterday right um so that helps if if that’s something you’re after for the Blazers so why would they do this i think you do this for a couple reasons one it’s just a huge hall right and you feel like okay we’re not we’re just like you know we won 48 games but we feel like we’ve kind of we were this hot young team that was going to take over the West we’ve kind of stagnated each of the last two seasons desmond Bane owed us all this money in the future we don’t feel like we can uh push that far forward with that core and the way out of this right now even though we take a little mini step back we get all this future draft capital we have all this future draft capital now to like make make other moves with upgrade the roster in other ways so are they positioning themselves for a bigger move is is Kevin Durant going to be a Grizzly right is this what they did they they made this this trade to add 37year-old Kevin Durant is there another thing we don’t know about like another sort of bigger prize um you know because the Grizzlies were reportedly kind of in on Jimmy Butler and Jimmy was like I don’t want to play for Memphis is that type are they still in that mode right where they’re trying to add like veteran win now parts and this was a way to like hey first we get off Bane step one step two we add all this draft capital and then we can you know we can flip KCP and Cole Anthony and whatever it needs to forward to like to make that deal or is this the beginning of a rebuild like I I I mentioned that they’re they’re worse now but like could they be getting Even even worse uh Jiren Jackson Jr eligible for a contract extension this summer i believe John Morant is as well it has been long assumed that the Jiren Jackson Jr was going to get a max or near max deal depending on kind of the wiggle room they had financially but a fat contract right like a like a $50 million annually for for Jiren Jackson Jr for Triple J he’s good like he’s he’s um any team would be thankful to have him but like that’s a big financial commitment and if you’re not planning to be good making those big financial commitments changes like the calculation changes a little bit are they are they just done with being in the Jarant business is that is that what this is and they the reason that they fired Taylor Jenkins and redid the coaching staff and collected all these picks is cuz they’re also going to try to move off Jaw and they feel like this is step one of a major tear down are they going to rebuild with just uh Jiren Jackson Jr and kind of like try to cycle back up quickly based on the trades they make uh with a bunch of draft capital like what where are they headed i I don’t I’m I I think like that is something that remains to be seen but certainly if this was a this allows them space to say okay we we are going to be able to be in the market for big big trade action um or it’s like allows them to this is step one of tearing this thing down and saying like that that era didn’t work and we’re going another way and um boy did we get paid handsomely to start this path um I think this is um a pretty safe bet for for Memphis i also think like you know you look at it from both sides like Memphis is maybe in some ways motivated because like they’re they’re kind of a okay but not elite roster was getting really expensive well the Magic are about to have an okay but not elite roster get very expensive some teams go for it and it doesn’t work some teams uh went for it like we go for it doesn’t work and they have to bail out and other teams they cycle back up and where the sort of the magic are in their their roster building cycle they’re the team that’s going for it and spending big um albeit I think there’s a maybe east versus west thing that is that is maybe the difference in some of the reasoning here because of um the path to get deeper into the playoffs is just a little bit different a lot of bit different in the Eastern Conference than it is in the West so is there another team that’s going to drop below the Blazers in the standings or is are the Grizzlies going to be part of this big shakeup you know it was reported in several spaces that there was some speculation that big summer that big trades were going to come this summer this offseason was going to be the year of big trades not particularly intriguing uh free agent class whole bunch of teams dealing with the kind of challenges of the new apron place that the the CBA finds itself in that the trade market and big massive structural trades were going to be the thing that um that really like made this summer that we saw the the biggest action this summer was the trade market doesn’t seem like right now Janosko is going to be involved in that but it seems very certain that Kevin Durant will be and perhaps there’ll be other dominoes to fall uh certainly worth tracking from the Blazers they didn’t get in on the one that they might have but the Grizzlies also got worse so by doing nothing maybe the Blazers climbed in the standings today um although we’re not able to get in on a trade into the future um you know what else the Portland did they had a private workout for three names that you probably know derek Queen Jagor Dean and No Appenda in the building on Friday for a private workout by that I mean no no press invited uh to do any media following it but has been reported that it happened let’s talk about those gentlemen and what it means for the Blazers uh we’ll talk draft stuff to close the show join me there first though let’s talk about fan duel look the NBA finals are are are coming to a coming to a very ends we’re we are into there are maximum three games remaining in this thing so um I hope we get a lot of fun ones but if you want to add a little more fun to the final three games of the NBA playoffs the NBA finals FanDuel’s a place to do it um whether it’s a the in-game action that you want to get on or pregame stuff FanDuel makes it easy before tip off or live player props performance trends same game parlays fans have more ways than ever to play smart and win big so whether you want to get in prior to tip off on of game five and make wages on the money line or the spread or once the game starts if you want to build a same game parlay or bet who’s going to win the second quarter second half spread anything with with the live bets FanDuel’s got it all there waiting for you and if you’re new to FanDuel it’s a perfect time to sign up because you can head to FanDuel.com and place your first $5 bet and if it wins you get $200 in bonus bets make every moment more with FanDuel an official sports betting partner of the NBA all rights so still pass point guard still my great still lockdown Blazers so the Blazers held a um held a private workout on Friday reported by Danny Morang of 1080 the fan the Blazers hosted um three prospects derek Queen from Maryland Jaggor Demine from BYU and Noah Penda a 20-year-old playing professionally in France um the the difference in like private verse public does not mean that it’s deeply secretive although it is it just means that is not uh publicized uh it has to be reported by someone uh like Danny at all like or or whatever um it could be it could be someone who doesn’t live here it could be the it certainly has happened times uh in the past where national folks report this news uh but like it just means that there’s no um media members invited and this happens for a couple reasons sometimes a agents like don’t want it out there publicly where all of their um players have been sometimes they just um it is just the sort of preference of of many handlers not because they’re worried like “Oh my gosh they’re going to think my client is like interested in 11,” but that that they just say “If you’re going to do a workout you’re going to do it on our terms and part of our terms are that the media doesn’t come in and that you don’t say anything about it.” Just kind of a um kind of the throwing your weight around thing that happens with agents and etc etc um this stuff has a way of getting out one way or another uh and indeed uh the Blazers hosted these three guys typically when you have these workouts these type of workouts you don’t see they don’t you don’t get a lot of live action it’s it’s also another thing that agents do when they hold these workouts is it’s just you verse the chair right you go through some shooting drills you go maybe do some agility stuff but it’s it’s single one-on-one or you verse the coaching staff type of workouts it’s not like freaking Derek Queen was going to be posting up Diego Dean and they’re going to be playing ones in the corner conceivably they could but usually the way these private workouts go is like instead of like getting into the they are they are agent dictated certainly team controlled but agent dictated you can we’ll bring my client into the gym no problem but it’s going to work out this way he gets to go through shooting drills he gets to go through these things he gets to chat with him and then and then they go home he doesn’t play against anybody blah like you know um it happens uh it is controlled for a reason right um these are this is kind of the game you play um when you are when you are where the Blazers are right they don’t have a coveted spot they’re 11th in the draft they got to listen to somebody else to kind of get this stuff done so let’s talk about Queen let’s talk about Dean and let’s talk about Penda um Derek Queen I’ve talked about a bunch on the show he’s obviously someone who is going to has been projected to go right in the Blazers range um a bunch i like him as a player um like and stylistically he’s uh you know a creative high post a little bit of post up a little bit of face up game big he has some passing skills he’s got some ball handling skills not much of a shooter doesn’t seem like he’s like this elite motor guy highle defender but like a skilled big physical player who was really really productive in college like you know uh 16 and a half points nine boards just shy of two assists more than a block more than a steal shot 53% from the floor um like that includes he didn’t shoot well from three 20% from three and 77% from the free throw line but it’s like just just productivity alone just like a a very productive player and like had had a game winner in the NCA tournament like um fun player my concerns with him is that I don’t think he can be a defender like a rim protecting center um just because he’s you know he’s he measured 69 and a quarter barefoot he’s not like super big and he hasn’t doesn’t have like the sort of indicators that suggest he’s like a high level defend defender and and rim protector and so like really you’re talking about offensive skills and I don’t love like centers who’s who you banking on their skill being offensive um first and foremost like most of their value comes on the offensive end if they’re not non-shooter and he’s like a non-shooter who most of his value comes from like being a creative player that you play through and I it’s like is he talented enough to play through and if he is like I I I I mentioned this before it’s like is he Alan Shenun or Deontto Sabonis that’s like the highest end outcome or is he Andre Blotch right where it’s like oh yeah that’s a talented offense talented big offensive player but like can never start on a good team because doesn’t provide the help in the other areas queen is is is probably better than Blotch who was like a second round pick um but like I think there are there’s a lot of middle outcomes between the sort of like low end and the high end where where Queen is like totally fine um if I was more confident with him being a multi-position player like him being able to play a ton of power forward I would be into it but I worry that he’s just not quick enough laterally to guard fours and guard like and be you kind of have to switch if you play power forward in the NBA most likely um is he like can he be a switchy versatile perimeter defender enough to get away with it four on offense and can he shoot enough or and excuse me on defense and can he shoot enough to get away with it on offense i kind of think no on both counts which means he’s probably a five um and I don’t love what he brings in that in that way i’m not like totally like that’s that seems a little negative i’m not like totally out on him just because I can like I’ll bet on the production and the skill level um I just like for me he’s not the ideal pick at 11 although like eh I wouldn’t be I’m not I think that’s more personal preference than like deep scouting understanding i will say ESPN has Queen as 15th on their big board sam Bassini has him at 11 and Raphael Barlo of locked on of NBA big board and locked NBA big board raph has uh Derek Queen at nine jaggor Demine uh he’s a really interesting player for me because I think you’re just betting that it all clicks for him he you know he’s he’s 19 he’ll be he not not at opening night he won’t he won’t have turned 20 yet um maybe the best passer in the draft and he’s 68 measured over 68 barefoot right it’s just he is not hasn’t in college his season at BYU he didn’t shoot very well 27% from three he wasn’t like this like crazy downhill guy who got himself into the paint with regularity and if he can’t like turn the corner and get into the paint then the pros like the passing matters a lot less because like if if you can’t get past anyone and create an advantage your your creativity really gets muffled and if you can’t shoot they can it gets even harder to get past folks but what you’re hoping would deine is like at his frame 68 200 lb um that’s barefoot right call we’ll call him 69 69 200 lb it’s like with all of the skills that he has as a ball handler and as a as a really really good passer he’s like a point guard right at at that size with all of those skills catch up the shooting gets there and and he kind of figures out a way to be more functional in and getting past folks and then the bet is like a player of his size with that level of skill is really good you’re betting though you are i think like I think as opposed to like where it’s where with Queen it’s like well the production is undeniable with Dean the production isn’t undeniable the production is the production itself is is is somewhat theoretical but like the skill is there the the skill is there there’s a world in which he’s like Kyle Anderson who doesn’t defend very well that’s not like Kyle Anderson’s gonna play in the league for 10 or 12 years um if not longer but like that’s not a that’s that’s not like your perfect outcome at 11 and there’s a world where like it hits where he does shoot well and because he shoots well he’s able to get into the get past people turn the corner you know get his get his hips and shoulders past folks create an advantage off the bounce and if he can create an advantage and he can shoot a little bit then the passing comes into play and I’ve said this a bunch with with players like him at six foot nine it’s so easy to it’s so much easier to fake it on defense because like even if you’re slowooted you’re still gigantic like you’re just still still so big and so you can like get away with it and it would like allow the Blazers to play their dream of like just being huge across the board uh with him i with Dean I feel like if it hits wow what a what a highle interesting outcome that that you’re ending that you end up with right it’s like the that’s that’s a really good player if it doesn’t hit there’s there are there are some out there are some challenging outcomes that are not ideal but like that’s that’s what it’s like picking at 11 right you’re not going to find perfect players in the draft so so there are some there are some bets you have to make and with Dean you’re making a bet that the um that the sort of other skills allow the undeniable skills to come out and that the he can be a much more productive player in the pros the last name is Noah Pinda um playing professionally in France 20 years old measured over 6’7″ barefoot he’s 245 lbs dude is huge um I will say I don’t know much about him uh prior to pressing record on this particular show I watched you know a YouTube video of of some of his strengths and weaknesses um and I and I read Sam Vini scouting reports and I read a little ESPN blurb about him but like I I I can’t sit here and tell you I I feel I’ve I have learned a lot about Derek Queen and even seen him play um and and learned a lot about Jor Demine during during this pre-draft process penda is much more of someone that I personally do not know about but he does seem kind of blazer Z right he’s he’s big six a 67s you know maybe with shoes on over 68 245 lb wing who can maybe guard multiple positions has some of that like connector uh shoot shoot pass quickly but not a lot of creator type of skills on the wing like he’s not going to break you down off the dribble it seems like but he can like maybe shoot and make quick smart decisions keep the ball moving and pass like that seems the type of sort of mold of highle role player that you’d want and he’s just really stinking big 68 245 like that you know if you feel like he can guard guards at that size then he can guard four positions pretty easily and you could probably get away with switching him one through five if he’s that big on a lot of centers like maybe Joic would put him in a body bag but like um yeah I I feel like he’s I feel like he is very blazery in in the way that it’s like this is a athlete with length who has some skills that clearly make you a useful NBA modern wing and like a lot of other things that mean that you like you know that that you have to check a bunch of boxes to get there again you’re picking at 11 um I don’t know that I’ve read anywhere or seen anywhere sort of that that projects that Penda could be like this breakout star but I do think um his path to being a useful like one of those like plays on every team in the league type of wings is relatively clear just based on his size and defensive skill set um whether he hits like the high-end outcomes and becomes like an elite high-end starter defender you know 3 and D guy or he doesn’t I think is is is the you know you’re kind of banking on the jumper he didn’t shoot great um he doesn’t have a big sample of shooting well although he did shoot better his last season in France um he’s intriguing espn has him at 28 sam Vassini has him all the way up at 15 vini loves Penda and I guess I guess Raphael Barlo doesn’t like him uh ref didn’t have him in his in his uh this is about a month old but his his top 70 that it came out in May and didn’t have him in his recent mock uh in the first round so uh ESPN has him as like a borderline first at 28 uh Raf does not have him as a first round prospect and Vini has him all the way up at 15 um so like some of this is maybe eyes of the beholder right like some of this is like the fun part of the draft where a guy’s range is anywhere from like as high as 11 with the Trailblazers to way deep um I don’t read into any of these this stuff as like the Blazers are trying to trade back don’t don’t don’t make the simplest decisions here like this is this is AAM’s razor the reason that these gentlemen have been brought in is not because the Blazers are looking to trade back to 15 or 18 or whatever it’s because these are who they can get in the gym and they’re interested in them they want to see them up close it doesn’t mean they have to draft them but they want to see them up close i will say this the Blazers under with their lottery picks under Joe Cronin they have brought players they draft into the gym it happens so when you get guys who are kind of in the range and I’d say all these guys are kind of in the range although Panda might be a little bit of a reach at 11 these are all players that are that put a star next to their name when you’re thinking about who the Blazers might draft because folks that have been in their building has been a strong indicator for folks for for the player that ends up on the team um I think all these are intriguing in their own way uh again like with all these guys some of his eyes the beholder like if you see Queen as a guy who can play power forward in the league maybe you love him if you see Demean as a guy who’s going to figure out the shooting and and like leverage that into being an awesome passer maybe you love him at 11 if you think Penda has like all of the tools to be an elite 3 and D wing and you there are skills to map on to the rest of that yeah maybe you love him at 11 i think that is um the fun part about the draft is like you can um you are looking at guys who need it’s like this but if he does some other stuff this is what he brings and but if he does some other stuff and if you can talk yourself into or you can see a clear path for the other stuff it’s pretty easy to get excited about a whole range of folks that is going to do it for today’s show uh come back for more the rest of the week it’s what we do five days a week wherever you get podcasts also on YouTube tell your friends about the program i appreciate you listening i’ll talk to you soon

The Magic traded a bunch of stuff for Desmond Bane. The Anfernee Simons to Orlando dream is dead. What now? Plus, Derik Queen, Egor Demin and Noah Penda worked out for the Blazers last week.

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