Jerryd Bayless .... question from raps fan

E-TRAK · Post #1 » by **E-TRAK** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 5:12 am

hi, first of all i just want to say how sorry I feel for you guys for losing the sonics. i just wish you guys get back a NBA team soon.

My question is about Jarryd Bayless.. I`m just curious why seattle passed him and why he dropped when he was projected to go highly at Seattle or LAC.

Were there any inside source from sonics media, about why Jarryd dropped ?

Thanks

BenjaminH · Post #2 » by **BenjaminH** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:45 am

If you scroll back on this board to around the draft, most of us thought the Sonics would -indeed should- draft Bayless. We liked Westbrook too, but many of us thought he was a bit of a stretch at #4.

djthesonicsfan · Post #3 » by **djthesonicsfan** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:19 pm

To answer your direct question, no. At least I'm not aware of direct reports regarding why "Bayless dropped". However, there's a couple of points that could be made.

First, Presti is uber tight concerning personnel related matters. He never indicated one way or the other on any player. So it's difficult to say any player "dropped" in his perspective. In the media's perspective, but not Presti's.

Second, Presti is recognized for being a good judge of talent. He's the guy credited with finding Tony Parker. Which actually led to at least some of the Bayless speculation, in my opinion, because Parker & Bayless are somewhat similar players. As for his decision on Westbrook > Bayless, he worked them both out, interviewed them & watched their college games. Time will tell if he made the right pick. Early returns on Westbrook are very positive. They are also high on Bayless. But I will say there's a strong perception Westbrook has the advantage in the work ethic & character department. For what that's worth. And it's worth something. Ask JR Smith's agent. It's why those "reports" in the OKC paper this morning about Presti targeting JR Smith are so ridiculous. Never going to happen.

Post #4 » by **sonictecture** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:52 pm

I think the obvious reason, is that Presti didn't believe Bayless could play point guard effectively. Bayless has a chance to be effective in Portland because McMillan prefers to run the offense through Roy. Bayless still has to demonstrate he can play with other offensive players and be effective without disrupting a team offensive flow. He also has to show he can defend opposing point guards.

It was interesting to hear McMillan state that Steve Blake was still the starter after the impressive play by Bayless in summer league. Perhaps Bayless still hasn't shown McMillan what he is looking for?

wiff · Post #5 » by **wiff** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:25 am

I think the biggest reason OKC drafted Westbrook over Bayless is, even though Bayless is and should be a great scorer at the NBA level Presti is creating a team built on defense. Westbrook plays D.

RMoreau35 · Post #6 » by **RMoreau35** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:36 pm

It was interesting to hear McMillan state that Steve Blake was still the starter after the impressive play by Bayless in summer league. Perhaps Bayless still hasn't shown McMillan what he is looking for?

I think he was just saying, Bayless is still a rookie and hasn't proven anything yet. Blake is a solid veteran PG that knows the offense so rather than throwing Bayless in there, they can give him time to learn and develop at the Pro level before he starts

SoupOrSonics · Post #7 » by **SoupOrSonics** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:08 am

I was really hoping the Sonics would have taken Bayless. He seems to have a lot of tools, in addition to appearing to be a good character guy. As if the Blazers haven't taken enough from Seattle. :-?

Saul · Post #8 » by **Saul** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:35 pm

Weren't Westbrook and Bayless both amazing in summer league, but for different leagues? I think it's a tossup really. Either will make the team great.

PDXKnight · Post #9 » by **PDXKnight** » Sat Aug 9, 2008 4:12 am

sonictecture wrote:It was interesting to hear McMillan state that Steve Blake was still the starter after the impressive play by Bayless in summer league. Perhaps Bayless still hasn't shown McMillan what he is looking for?

No, I think more than anything it's the fact that Blake is an experienced PG. From what I've seen, Nate feels very confident in Bayless and Rudy and is mainly starting Blake until Rudy and Bayless transition to the NBA.

BenjaminH · Post #10 » by **BenjaminH** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:04 am

Saul wrote:Weren't Westbrook and Bayless both amazing in summer league, but for different leagues? I think it's a tossup really. Either will make the team great.

I watched a few of the Blazers summer league games. Yeah, Bayless was impressive. He put up a ton of points. His most impressive quality, I think, was his ability to get to the basket at will. But we already knew he could. And this was against summer league defenses. So he might have a harder time penetrating against NBA defenses. Also, he did not show that he could run an offense. Although his ballhandling was decent, he hardly ever assisted others in scoring. He didn't look like a liability on defense, but he also didn't look like a stopper. In my opinion, Koppinen was far more impressive.