Who cares about Batum? I still can't believe we could have had Rashard Lewis and Richard Jefferson on this team.
wish we could've kept him somehow but we probably wouldn't have Artest if we did but as long as we can resign Artest than I am happy.
Morey is a great GM, had T-Mac not quit on the team we would be absolutely loaded with talent. Von Wafer was a great pick-up and he was a free agent.
I think he will be a good player but not special. The comparisons to Pippen is a little off too IMO. Pippen was a great all around player who could create for others as well as defend. Batum may very well be a good defensive player but he will never be able to create for others. In all my years of watching BBall, I have never seen a wing player of any age suddenly develop the ball handling skills necessary to be considered "elite" after he was drafted.
I thought everyone was saying Batum was nowhere near ready and suggested the Blazers might stash him overseas for a couple years? Either way, I agree he has been impressive for a rookie. I don't agree with this Scottie Pippen-level talk, but he definitely does play beyond his years. I'm very impressed with his intangibles, seemingly strong work ethic and "coachability". Barring injury, he'll be around for a long time in the NBA, but you still have to take Artest if you had the option to do it over.
Classic being caught between a rock and a hard place: help the Blazers or help the Spurs! What did we get for helping the Blazers? Aren't they the ones that scooped Brandon Roy out from under us?
Next Pippen? You mean he'll totally screw over the team and get traded for a Kelvin Cato type that Les Alexander overpays? No thinks.
The Rockets selected Batum at 25 (ahead of the Spurs at 26). The Blazers took Darrell Arthur at 27 and traded him and Dorsey (taken at 33) to the Rockets for Batum. The Blazers snagged Roy but there was nothing malicious about it. Forgive, forget and move on.
What if we drafted Michael Jordan? Yeah just cut this what if bullcrap, we still got a good player by getting Ron
It's not a coincidence that Batum is turning to be a productive player. This just reinforces Daryl Morey's amazing talent to pick out effective players from the rubbish bin end of the draft. If Morey had foresight to see the potential in Batum then I'm sure he weighed the pro's and con's of letting him go.
Batum was picked by Houston on Portland's behalf. Houston had no intention of keeping him. Morey did not think he would be any use to Houston,he shouldn't get any credit for that.
what the hell does this have to do with anything? From Tmac quitting on team to picking up Von wafer? Can you see OFF-TOPIC?
Shawn Marion was an all-star averaging around 18/9 like numbers before Nash ever came to the Suns. That's a common misconception when people think of Nash's affect on that team. Marion has always been a great rebounder and was a great finisher when he had the athleticism. Batum doesn't seem to have any great qualities, other than defense. But i agree, it's rare to see players with the production he's had this season become anything more than a solid role player.
Sigh! If I remember correctly, we picked Rodrick Rhodes instead of Lewis. And Eddie Griffin (RIP) instead of Jefferson. Sigh!
I wish it was Rhodes who we picked, I actually have a few good memories of him. Instead we passed on Lewis THREE times for the awesome trio of Michael Dickerson, Bryce Drew, and Mirsad Turkcan. IMO, passing on Lewis all three times after allegedly promising him we would take him has to go down as one of, if not the, biggest draft blunder in Rockets history.
