this Portland Trail Blazers Locked in at No. 7 overall in last week’s draft lottery, it’s a far cry from this year’s elite.
Now, Blazers fans now have to come to terms with the fact that general manager Joe Cronin will use the lottery picks as his main asset to improve the roster.
But while the draft pick isn’t what we all hoped it would be, let’s move on and look back at what talent the draft pick has produced over the past 25 years.
Here are the seventh picks from the top seven over the past 27 years.
1. Stephen Curry, 2009, Davidson
You may have heard of him. Small, plays for the Warriors, can shoot from long range and more. Regardless, his entry into the NBA wasn’t surrounded by the 10-in-10 publicity that follows him today.
In 2009, concerns about his health and what can only be described as “stupid” Minnesota Timberwolves saw him drop to 7th, and Golden State Warriors.
Sure, he’s the son of another great shooter, but obviously that’s not enough for a lottery-top team to call his name out.this Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder Blake Griffin and James Harden were tested that year and still got passing grades.
But when the Timberwolves have the fifth and sixth picks and decide to draft Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn, questions need to be asked.
Curry has become a three-time (possibly four-time) champion, two-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, four-time NBA First Team, top 75 player of all time, and oh, and nearly single—one-handedly changing the modern era How the game is played.
He averaged 24.3 points, 42 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent of his charity stripes, along with 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.7 steals.
2. Richard “Rip” Hamilton, 1999, University of Connecticut
Hamilton shared Detroit Pistons A champion in 2004 with backcourt, current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups.
originally by Washington Wizards – After Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Lamar Odom and Wally Szczerbiak – three years later, he was in Jerry’s • Stackhouse was traded to the Pistons in the trade.
Within 21 months, he was an NBA champion with Billups, followed by a three-year All-Star selection from 2006 to 2008, before making the chicago bulls.
Hamilton finished his career with an average of 17.1 points on 34 percent three-point shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
3. Luol Deng, 2004, Duke University
Many may recall that, before he announced his retirement from his career, Deng held one of the ugliest contracts of his era. But before that, he was a talented key member of the Bulls, just fingertips away from the competition — where Derrick Rose’s body tends to get in the way.
Deng is the ultimate small forward who can do anything while seamlessly pairing with Rose, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah while earning All-Star awards in 2012 and 2013.
After a decade at Illinois, he was traded to Cleveland Cavaliers For Andrew Bynum, Miami Heat. In 2016, he and Los Angeles Lakers But it didn’t take long for him to make way for young rookie Brandon Ingram. Deng signed a relatively minor deal with the Timberwolves in 2018 after his then-expensive Lakers trade was bought out.
The Sudanese-born swingman is averaging 14.8 points, 33 percent from three-point range, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
4. Jamal Murray, 2016, Kentucky
As our most recent rookie, Murray is unfortunately recovering from a knee injury that has forced him to miss the entire 2021-22 season. But he does have the potential to surpass Hamilton and Deng by the end of his career.
When suitable, 25 is Denver Nuggets A real second banana after their two-time reigning MVP. The Canadian has what it takes to be a top point guard, and while he hasn’t tasted All-Star glory yet, if he can get back to his pre-injury form, Murray will almost certainly get there.
Over five seasons, he’s averaging 16.3 points on 36 percent three-point shooting, 3.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals.
5. Julius Randall, 2014, Kentucky
Few players get so much divided opinion. Yes, Randle is a 2021 All-Star, and yes, of course he deserves it. But outside of that season, we’re still not sure what impact the power forward has and will have on this league. From his early days with the Lakers, a year with the New Orleans Pelicans and his most recent stint with the New York Knicks, Randle has been there, doing something.
Is he a real star? Was the 2020-21 school year unusual? The jury is out. What I’m saying is that with his size and ability, if Randall can consistently put it all together, there’s no doubt he’ll be able to return to the annual show every February.
Career averages include 17.7 points, 33 percent three-point shooting, 9.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
6. Harrison Barnes, 2012, North Carolina
Picking a spot after Blazers star Damian Lillard, Barnes quickly became the fourth option on a dynasty-level team. Not a bad place. But to make room for Kevin Durant, Barnes freely signed with the Dallas Mavericks and was better able to highlight his abilities without the ambiguity in front of Curry, Thompson and Green.
For some reason he likes to play against the Blazers, and we just have to go back to opening night seven months ago when he went 8-for-11 from long range as a member of the Sacramento Kings. At 29, he’s still a dynamic NBA player, and I’ve always been curious about contributing to the Blazers. He’s now a power forward who can play minimally at the 3 — the opposite of how he started his career.
Throughout his career, Barnes averaged 14.1 points on just under 38 percent from 3-point range, along with 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
7. Eric Gordon, Indiana, 2008
Had the injury not taken a toll on him early on, the 2017 Sixth Man of the Year ranking could have been higher. We can’t forget that Gordon was one of the New Orleans Hornets’ prizes in the Chris Paul-to-Clippers trade.
With the Houston Rockets, Gordon was a reliable source of scoring on the bench behind James Harden for several years. Most recently, he became a veteran mentor on the bench for the rebuilding Rockets.
He averaged 16.4 points, 37 percent from three-point range, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Honorable Mention
Damon Stoudamire (1995), Nene Hilario (2002), Greg Monroe (2010), Jason Williams (1998), Kirk Hinrich (2003)
in conclusion
Each draft class varies by talent depth. Portland entered this draft with the seventh overall pick, with four distinct players and a roster of “good,” “interesting,” “talented,” and “raw” prospects, and we don’t yet know how it will be develop.
The chances of signing a Stephen Curry-type player with the seventh pick are slim to none. However, if the Blazers choose to execute the draft, there’s a good chance they’ll grab talent at the level of Jamal Murray, Lorre Deng or Harrison Barnes.
We just have to remember that Damian Lillard wants to play right now and has very little room for error. So by trading draft picks for proven talent, Cronin will almost certainly have a greater chance of immediate success.
