BY KERRY EGGERS
Even the Trail Blazers aren’t sure what they will do with the 21st pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft.
They have ideas. General Manager Bob Whitsitt, assistant Mark Warkentien and their bevy of scouts have observed and charted hundreds of prospects and rated them in order in two categories — by position and overall.
The Blazers have charted which players they think the other 27 teams will take (Minnesota has no pick). But nobody will know for sure until the draft unfolds.
There are indications the Blazers have tried to move into the lottery (top 13). One report says Portland and the L.A. Clippers have reached an agreement in principle to send the No. 12 pick to Portland for second-year forward Zach Randolph and $3 million. Portland is said to be enamored of 6-9, 230-pound high school phenom Amare Stoudemire, 6-11 Stanford center Curtis Borchardt and Brazilian big man Maybiner “Nene’’ Hilario, all expected to be gone by No. 14.
Another source says the Blazers are one of many teams hot after 7-foot forward Nikoloz Tskitschvili of Georgia (Eastern Europe, not southern U.S.) and would be willing to give up Randolph and even more cash to get into or close to the top five of the draft.
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http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=12186
Even the Trail Blazers aren’t sure what they will do with the 21st pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft.
They have ideas. General Manager Bob Whitsitt, assistant Mark Warkentien and their bevy of scouts have observed and charted hundreds of prospects and rated them in order in two categories — by position and overall.
The Blazers have charted which players they think the other 27 teams will take (Minnesota has no pick). But nobody will know for sure until the draft unfolds.
There are indications the Blazers have tried to move into the lottery (top 13). One report says Portland and the L.A. Clippers have reached an agreement in principle to send the No. 12 pick to Portland for second-year forward Zach Randolph and $3 million. Portland is said to be enamored of 6-9, 230-pound high school phenom Amare Stoudemire, 6-11 Stanford center Curtis Borchardt and Brazilian big man Maybiner “Nene’’ Hilario, all expected to be gone by No. 14.
Another source says the Blazers are one of many teams hot after 7-foot forward Nikoloz Tskitschvili of Georgia (Eastern Europe, not southern U.S.) and would be willing to give up Randolph and even more cash to get into or close to the top five of the draft.
for the rest of the article click below
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=12186