Still Shocked About DeJuan Blair
I just can’t get over the fact that the Bulls passed on 2 opportunities to draft DeJuan Blair and that the Spurs got him in the 2nd round with the 37th pick.
It makes me all the more frustrated when I read this:
“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.” – 48 Minutes of Hell
ESPN reports that Jamie Dixon said Blair never missed a single practice or game in two seasons at Pitt, and that he reiterated this fact to every team in the league.
So I don’t get why he fell so far. All I know is that years from now we might be laughing about how the 37th player taken in the 2009 Draft was one of the best 2nd round picks ever. We won’t be laughing about the missed opportunity.
im no pro athlete, but ive torn the acl in both knees and gotten them reconstructed. ill be ok for now but the concern is years down the line. will blair make it through the grind of an nba season year in year out? that’s probably the bigger issue than his height.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:58 pmThis is not the issue with Blair. A first round contract is only guaranteed for two years. The third and fourth year are TEAM options. The Bulls are idiots of passing on a guy who they could have stolen late in the first round and risked less than signing a Vet to rebound the ball. If knees get bad over time b/c of arthritis (this is what occurs when one has no ACL’s) it will be an issue 507 years down the road. Bulls need interior rebounding and toughness now. Nice job to the new GM.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:45 amI’m a Spurs fan, so I hope you are correct about Blair being one of the best second round picks of all time. But THE BEST second round pick of all time? That, friends, was the incomparable Manu Ginobilli, picked 57th overall by the Spurs.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:09 amNo doubt about that Casey. And intheknow you make an excellent point.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:11 pm[...] Pippin Aint Easy – How Did Dejuan Blair Slip So Far? [...]
June 28th, 2009 at 1:00 pmCavs passing on him made me sick too
June 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm@intheknow
Looks like the Bulls new GM is picking up right where the old one (yes, you JPax) left off. Blair really would have have been a great guy to bring off the bench for 15-20 minutes a game. A lot of other teams are going to rue the day they let Blair slip away.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:41 pmLots of talk lately about how stupid GMs are for passing on Blair, but consider this. Blairs cieling was probably, what…13 to Indiana? That means (if my simple addition is correct) that 18 teams passed on him with 24 picks. Not just the Bulls and Cavs (who, for personnel reasons I suppose, are being talked about the most), but 16 other teams!
This does not happen to a guy that, as commenter intheknow put it, will have issues “507 years down the road.”
EVERY team’s doctors red flagged this guy. Meaning they specifically told their GMs that Blair was too big of a risk to use a first rounder on.
So if you’re running a team, (the Bulls for instance) and a medical professional, who you have hired to provide you with the best injury and medical information possible, tells you that DeJaun Blair’s knees make him unworthy of a first round pick, what do you do? Do you essentially flip your team doctor the bird by going totally against his professional medical advice? Because that’s what Foreman (and every other GM with a mid to late first rounder) would have been doing by selecting Blair.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:21 amI would have put Blair’s ceiling at #10 or #11 (Milwaukee and NJ).
Teams rarely, if ever, get better by playing it safe. As stated above, first round contracts are only guaranteed for two years. Blair’s upside was simply too good to pass up and now the rich get richer. If San Antonio can add one more piece (like Sheed), they are almost a lock to get back to the finals in the West. Oh, and Blair is going to be playing 15-20 minutes on that team and averaging 10 pts/8 rbs…
June 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pmI agree whole-heartedly Drew!!!
June 30th, 2009 at 12:53 pm