Blackjack
06-26-2009, 03:43 AM
A Dream Come True: Assessing Blair
In an unexpected turn of events, the Spurs were able to draft power forward DeJuan Blair with the 37th pick in the draft. Blair was a consensus top 15 pick.
Considering that this was one of the weakest drafts in recent memory, the Spurs acquired something I never believed would be available in the 2nd round: A player who can contribute immediately. Blair may not be a starter but in his rookie season he will be prepared to play 15 minutes a game. Given how shallow our frontcourt became in the wake of the Jefferson trade, the fact that we were able to acquire a rotation big without sacrificing a current member of the squad is unbelievable.
I’ve been very high on Blair for some time now. In fact, I’ve gone so far as to say that Blair will be the 2nd best big man drafted in this class behind Blake Griffin. He has an instinctual sense of spacing, a solid back-to-the-basket game, and off-the-charts rebounding numbers (During the 08/09 season, he successfully rebounded the ball 31% of the time). Add on the fact that the man is a pit bull when on the floor, and it becomes clear that Blair is an absolute steal.
The most frequently expressed concern about Blair is his height: At 6′6.25″ with shoes, he initially comes off as too short to legitimately earn minutes in an NBA frontcourt. But then you consider his 7′2″ wingspan and realize that he has a taller standing reach than Blake Griffin. Tack on the fact that he has one of the most NBA-ready bodies of any draft pick (you couldn’t shoot a 12-gauge through him) and it suddenly becomes clear why, every time he matched up against Hasheem Thabeet in college, he dominated this year’s number 2 pick:
I don’t want to even mention that he had the highest PER of any member of this draft class (including Blake Griffin).
Those looking to react negatively to what was an unequivocally great night for the Spurs will look at the questions surrounding Blair’s knees and claim he isn’t all he is cracked up to be. They will say he slid to 37 for a reason. I have two responses to that:
First, there is no way in Hell the Spurs could have landed a more talented player at 37. Yes, there are a couple questions surrounding our early second round pick. Welcome to the reality of having only second round picks.
Second, even if Blair’s knees are a long-term issue, they are exactly that: A long-term issue. With the Jefferson trade, the Spurs announced their intention to make a run for a 5th title and make it now. Aside from Blake Griffin, I would argue no big was more prepared to come onto an NBA squad and readily earn significant minutes than DeJuan Blair.
The truth of the matter is, being able to select Blair with the 37th pick is an unmitigated coup. Blair was a dream, someone we mentioned just in case the front office became unexpectedly aggressive and moved up into the lottery. Well, sometimes dreams do come true.
http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2009/06/25/a-dream-come-true-assessing-blair/
In an unexpected turn of events, the Spurs were able to draft power forward DeJuan Blair with the 37th pick in the draft. Blair was a consensus top 15 pick.
Considering that this was one of the weakest drafts in recent memory, the Spurs acquired something I never believed would be available in the 2nd round: A player who can contribute immediately. Blair may not be a starter but in his rookie season he will be prepared to play 15 minutes a game. Given how shallow our frontcourt became in the wake of the Jefferson trade, the fact that we were able to acquire a rotation big without sacrificing a current member of the squad is unbelievable.
I’ve been very high on Blair for some time now. In fact, I’ve gone so far as to say that Blair will be the 2nd best big man drafted in this class behind Blake Griffin. He has an instinctual sense of spacing, a solid back-to-the-basket game, and off-the-charts rebounding numbers (During the 08/09 season, he successfully rebounded the ball 31% of the time). Add on the fact that the man is a pit bull when on the floor, and it becomes clear that Blair is an absolute steal.
The most frequently expressed concern about Blair is his height: At 6′6.25″ with shoes, he initially comes off as too short to legitimately earn minutes in an NBA frontcourt. But then you consider his 7′2″ wingspan and realize that he has a taller standing reach than Blake Griffin. Tack on the fact that he has one of the most NBA-ready bodies of any draft pick (you couldn’t shoot a 12-gauge through him) and it suddenly becomes clear why, every time he matched up against Hasheem Thabeet in college, he dominated this year’s number 2 pick:
I don’t want to even mention that he had the highest PER of any member of this draft class (including Blake Griffin).
Those looking to react negatively to what was an unequivocally great night for the Spurs will look at the questions surrounding Blair’s knees and claim he isn’t all he is cracked up to be. They will say he slid to 37 for a reason. I have two responses to that:
First, there is no way in Hell the Spurs could have landed a more talented player at 37. Yes, there are a couple questions surrounding our early second round pick. Welcome to the reality of having only second round picks.
Second, even if Blair’s knees are a long-term issue, they are exactly that: A long-term issue. With the Jefferson trade, the Spurs announced their intention to make a run for a 5th title and make it now. Aside from Blake Griffin, I would argue no big was more prepared to come onto an NBA squad and readily earn significant minutes than DeJuan Blair.
The truth of the matter is, being able to select Blair with the 37th pick is an unmitigated coup. Blair was a dream, someone we mentioned just in case the front office became unexpectedly aggressive and moved up into the lottery. Well, sometimes dreams do come true.
http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2009/06/25/a-dream-come-true-assessing-blair/