TalkBulls Mock Draft discussion thread, Post your picks here! Options

[Balta1701-B]

F***, you grabbed the guy the Clippers wanted! Blast!

[Balta1701-B]

With the 7th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select:
Danilo Gallinari, Forward, Armani Jeans Milano

[Cowch]

F***, you grabbed the guy the Clippers wanted! Blast!

The Knicks almost went with Russel Westbrook. We can see if we can work out a trade the Knicks are willing to split with many players.

[Balta1701-B]

The Knicks almost went with Russel Westbrook. We can see if we can work out a trade the Knicks are willing to split with many players.

Anyone on my roster other than Kaman is available in my book.

[Steve9347]

Thread updated, we need a pick at 8.

[eddog2]

F***, you grabbed the guy the Clippers wanted! Blast!

Why do you need Gordon when you are getting Martell Webster to be your SG? Unless you plan on him being your 3.

As GM of the Blazers I would like to confirm the earlier report that the Blazers have formally agreed to the following trade: The L.A. Clippers will trade Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston to the Portland Trailblazers for LaMarcus Aldridge, Jarrett Jack, Martell Webster, and the expiring contract of Raef Lafrentz. Due to trade restrictions on both of the players on the Clippers, the deal can not be approved by the league until after the July 1 deadline. However, both parties including the players involved have expressed their desire to accept the trade and once the paperwork is complete I we will sign Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston to new extensions.

I truly believe that this trade makes the Blazers championship competitors next season and for the next decade. While I wish both Webster and Aldridge the best of luck and I know they will develop into exceptional NBA players, we felt we were addressing the need for veteran leadership by trading for both Brand and Livingston.

At this point in his career, Brand is a better rebounder, and better shot blocker and defender than Aldridge and he's a solid veteran with playoff experience. He will be huge for the development of Oden (or any other bigs we have when the season starts). We feel that Brand will complement Oden in ways unseen from a big man duo since Robinson/Duncan. As for Livingston, we understand that he is recoving from a very serious injury and we intend to do everything we can to ensure he has a long successful career in a Blazers uniform. We really like Livingston's unselfish game and feel he has star potential at the PG position. If Livingston does fully recover he will complement a star studed lineup of scorers that include Oden/Brand/Roy/&Outlaw.

I must say that Webster will be missed. He's an excellent young talent. However, we expect big things out Rudy Fernandez and we wanted to ensure that each of our SG's (Roy and Fernandez) would get significant minutes next season. With Webster becoming an emerging starter we simply felt that we did not have the mintutes to spread to 3 quality SG's. We appreciate everything Webster did for this organization and we wanted to trade him to a team where he could battle for the starting position. I truly believe he will do that with the Clippers.

Fernandez will be the lights out scorer off the bench that this team was lacking and we believe his outside shot can be just effective or more effective than Webster's. The Blazers are now deep at every position and ready to charge to the top of the West.

Oden/Pryzbilla
Brand/Frye
Outlaw/James Jones
Roy/Fernandez
Livingston/Rodriguez/Jack/Blake

As a team we have a lot of flexibility with guys who can play multiple positions. We will experiment with Roy at the PG position more next season and we expect to use a smaller rotation at times to get our fast break going. That's why we are happy to have Brand who can play the center position at times and we feel Outlaw should be able to play some PF for us next season.

While I am happy with this trade and how it transforms the team, I will continue to explore possible trades to add another 3/4 to the lineup and possibly add some other quality veterans to the team. I am willing to listen to all trade offers.

[Steve9347]

13, 36, and jack for the 9

^^ above is a deal between portland and charlotte

[eddog2]

Although not as extreme as the originally discussed trade b/w the Bobcats and Blazers the two teams have finally come to terms on the following trade.

The Blazers send Jarret Jack, the 13th pick, and the 36th pick to the Bobcats for the 9th pick and a player to be named (likely Othella Harrington for cap purposes).

The Blazers made the trade b/c they have their eyes set on a few guys with have star potential that the Blazers feel would have been drafted before the 13th pick.

[dasox24]

I'm very surprised by this trade. Portland seems to be giving up way too much. Aldridge put up #'s last year that were very close to Brand's averages, and he's younger. Not sure why they'd trade him. Plus, Livingston is no guarantee to ever be the same after that injury. Just not sure what the Blazers are doing here...

I'm an idiot. I completely thought this was a real trade, forgetting we were in the "mock draft" thread.

[ZoomSlowik]

The Milwaukee Bucks select Joe Alexander, SF, West Virginia.

We need a SF on the roster, and while Alexander is actually bit of a tweener he's got very good athleticism and intriguing upside. A big man wouldn't really get much time with Bogut/Jianlian/Villanueva around and for now we're set in the backcourt with Redd and Williams.

[ZoomSlowik]

Side commentary: while Brand is the better player, Aldridge appears to be a better fit to play alongside Oden (and to a lesser extent Roy). Duncan and Robinson worked, but they were also both phenomenal players and really only had one year together with both of them at their peak, not to mention they didn't have a Roy to help carry the load as well. Oden and Brand bring a lot of the same skills: they both play on the low block a lot, they are both good rebounders and shot-blockers, and neither is what I would call an above average shooter (Oden isn't even average), which would help a lot when people collapse on the other guy and give you better spacing. While defensively it'd be a nice pairing (though not the fleetest of foot, might struggle against smaller teams), on offense they both end up with fewer touches inside. On the other hand, Aldridge is a guy that can play away from the basket a lot more and doesn't need to spend the whole game on the low blocks to be effective, which is probably good with Oden on the roster. Yeah, he's a pretty average rebounder and defender, but assuming Oden is healthy that's a lot less of an issue. Plus you don't need him to be as much of a scorer with Oden and Roy around, he can be kind of like Rasheed Wallace without the crazy as he develops. I personally like that future grouping quite a bit, though they could really use a dead-eye shooter at PG or SF to take advantage of all of the attention Oden and Roy will draw (not a big fan of Jones and Blake as long-term options, and Webster isn't quite dangerous enough from out there yet to be the regular #1 outside threat).

[Steve9347]

Thread updated.

[Balta1701-B]

Although not as extreme as the originally discussed trade b/w the Bobcats and Blazers the two teams have finally come to terms on the following trade.

The Blazers send Jarret Jack, the 13th pick, and the 36th pick to the Bobcats for the 9th pick and a player to be named (likely Othella Harrington for cap purposes).

The Blazers made the trade b/c they have their eyes set on a few guys with have star potential that the Blazers feel would have been drafted before the 13th pick.

Um, haven't you now traded Jarrett Jack to 2 different teams?

[Steve9347]

Um, haven't you now traded Jarrett Jack to 2 different teams?

Has he made two trades? The only one I saw was with me with 13/36/jack for 9/harrington.

[Steve9347]

Via telephone call, Edwin as the Blazers selects DeAndre Jordan, C, Texas A&M. The New Jersey Nets and Bulls91 are on the clock.