Listening to natl. radio and natl. websites, lots of people are picking the Spurs as the draft winner.
The Spurs needed a Bass, BigBaby, Millsapp type of bigman to bang in the paint. I hope this guy can do some of that.
i like the blair pick but jamstone makes good points. also, his knees are worse than mine. there is no way he can have a healthy career in the nba. finally, let's not forget he is a 19 year old 6'6 PF. the guy is not going to come in and be an instant contributor. it's gonna take him time to figure out how be effective in the nba with such a size disadvantage.
Two major questions:
Can they?: to offer him more than minimum, the Spurs would have to use a small slice of their MLE. So, if they use their entire MLE on a FA Big, then they will only be able to offer a minimum deal (2yrs which may be all or partially guaranteed plus the right to tender a QO in third year to make him an RFA). If they have a small slice of the MLE left over, say 700-800K, then they can sign him to a 4 yr deal with the first two years guaranteed and two years of team options. This allows the Spurs to push off his first FA year to his fifth year instead of his third year.
Will they?: If they have the money to do it and believe he will perform well, then the slightly larger guarantees for the first two years buy the team his services for two additional low-cost years before free agency.
This is done quite often. You mentioned Dorsey. Chalmers, CDR, and Bill Walker are some other recent examples. Doing this prevents a situation like Boston now has with Big Baby. They got two cheap years and tendered the QO for next year. To keep him will probably require giving him a 3-5M raise and a long-term deal.
Where would you rank Millsap out of his draft class? How about Boozer?
What "size disadvantage"? He has the wingspan and standing reach of a player 6'10" tall. How are defenders going to be effective against him?
Anyone that is being serious about a size disadvantage is on some really good stuff. The guy has a hugeeee wingspan, and like MB said, the standing reach of most 6'10" players. just because his head isn't level with everyone else's doesn't mean he's SMALL. he plays like he's 6'10"
Sean Elliott probably had worse knees than you too but it was his kidney disease, not his knee without an ACL, that induced retirement.
In other words, you don't know, robbie, how healthy a career Blair will have.
BFD. There are plenty of players who have had injuries to their knees and continued to play exceptionally well. You should be familiar with one of those...
Way to totally 100% avoid the question.
When the only other college bigman to dominate the NCAA like Blair was the #1 overall pick, I think it's safe to say Blair was a "steal." And that will likely be an understatement.
linkFirst, I cannot believe that DeJuan Blair didn't go in the lottery, let alone the first round. I understand that there are knee issues, but the guy routinely beat the out of people in college. He's huge; he's got a California Condor-like wingspan; he looks to be a hard worker; he has some offensive game. I don't get it. I'm not opposed to taking projects and guys with upside, but how does passing on a guy who can help a team tomorrow, a good idea. As Blair kept getting passed over, each time a team was on the clock, I'd think, "Ok, this team could really use Blair…" and each time they passed.
I gotta agree with you. R.C. did good......AGAIN & as USUAL...!!!
linkRyan Blake, the NBA’s assistant director of scouting, gave Blair high praise in a story last week by Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“The guy’s the best offensive rebounder we’ve had (come into the NBA) in 10 years,” Blake said. “He eats glass.”
They did a fine job.
I wonder if, given the opportunity, Blair would have a chance of competing for ROY.
most solid rebounders in college translate to solid rebounders in the NBA as well. he is going to be a nice addition to the frontcourt indeed.
That opportunity only exists on a team that isn't the Spurs. Blair won't get the minutes here that he'd need in order to put up the kind of numbers he'd need.
That being said I have no doubts that Blair is going to make a lot of people wish he had never ended up in San Antonio.
i think its arguable that he was a top 2. i personally agree with jamstone in saying that hes more likely a top 15 player. either way this was a huge steal.
RC said he expected 20 mins a night, if hes real productive and effective he could get up to 25 minutes. if he does get 25 minutes, look out, cause hes got a nice shot at the award.
http://www.nba.com/summerleague2009/...gue_blair.html
Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair aims to eat up space
Art Garcia, NBA.com
Posted Jul 12 2009 8:35PM
LAS VEGAS -- He's been called the steal of the second round, but DeJuan Blair wants to be known for something else.
"I'm a space eater," Blair said with a grin.
The 37th pick in the 2009 Draft by the Spurs didn't waste any time gobbling up real estate and rebounds Sunday afternoon, throwing his 265 pounds (and considerable backside) around as soon as he checked into his first Summer League game.
A jumper from one of his new teammates went up and Blair made a beeline for the paint. Clearing room against a taller New Orleans defender, the 6-foot-7 Blair snatched the rebound and went back up. He missed but got it back before muscling the ball in.
"You cannot teach space," Spurs assistant and Summer League coach Don Newman said. "He's a space eater. He knows how to take it up, he knows how to hold his space and he's a physical guy by nature.
"He's going to get accustomed to how the game is called and those things will come, but one thing you don't want to do is back him off. You want to play like he plays. He'll continue to take that space."
Blair hadn't even broken a sweat and he began to fill up the box score. In five first-quarter minutes, the Pitt product had five points and five boards. The line after Blair's first pro game read 13 points and 10 rebounds, including three offensive, in 22 minutes.
"I'm not here to score, I'm here to play," he said. "I've been going a good job of preparing myself to come in and rebound, and I feel good. I think I played good. I went out there to rebound. The points just happened."
Blair just happened to fall in the Spurs' lap. Projected by many as a possible lottery-worthy talent after deciding to leave school as a sop re, knee concerns sent Blain spiraling out of the first round. Specifically, he's missing the ACL in both knees.
An MRI done during the scouting combine in Chicago revealed the unique condition. Blair had surgeries to repair both ACLs in high school and hasn't had any issues since. He doesn't play with a brace on either knee and, if not for the test, wouldn't give the situation a second thought.
"I'm not worried about that," he said. "The knee problems are over."
Twenty-nine other teams felt differently about his medical prospects. As much as San Antonio is credited for pulling off a Draft steal, picking Blair was a no-brainer. General manager R.C. Buford admitted as much, adding that the team never expected the Big East player of the year to still be on the board seven picks into the second round.
Blair has found himself in the enviable spot of joining a le contender that had a need for frontcourt bulk behind Tim Duncan. Along with the recent signing of Antonio McDyess, Blair will be playing behind and learning from two of the premier power forwards of the last decade-plus.
"It doesn't matter what happened in the Draft," Blair said. "I went when I went and I ended up being on a team with great players, great coaches and great fans. I'm not complaining about it."
could they? yes
probably? no
most likely? Blair will be a top 10 rookie pickup
According to the combine reports, Blair's standing reach is 8' 10.5", one and a half inches more than Blake Griffin's 8' 9".
What "size disadvantage"? He has the wingspan and standing reach of a player 6'10" tall. How are defenders going to be effective against him?
Griffin is 6' 10" and Blair is 6' 7", so Blair's arms are 4.5" longer than Griffins.
In response to the "we want production not potential" argument, I present number seven on Hollinger's Draft Rater 2006 Adam Morrison
That is the same spot as Blair
Rebounding is one basketball trait that directly translates to the next higher level. That's because it's about desire more than anything else. An illustration of this is Amare. He's 6'10" and can jump out of the gym, and wouldn't be in the league if he didn't score. His pathetic rebounding surely wouldn't keep in here. Are you kidding me? He's played 34+ minutes per game over his career and averaged 8.9 rebounds? If Blair gets those 20 minutes, he'll average that and more as a rook.
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