The Blazers had Jerryd Bayless rated No. 4 overall
You can give Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard a lot of credit for the 2006 NBA Draft, in which he netted Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. And you can give him credit, maybe, for knowing what to do in 2007, and picking Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. But I think he did an excellent job on Thursday.
My Friday column in The Oregonian is on the bungy-jump-draft-experience that is Pritchard.
He drafted five players, then traded them all away. In the end, the Blazers got better, and the roster got leaner, and Portland didn't give up anything valuable in doing so.
A source inside the Blazers front office told me the scouting staff had Jerryd Bayless rated as its No. 4 overall player in the entire draft.
They got him, too.
We'll visit with Pritchard today on the Bald-Faced Truth radio show (3-6 p.m. on 95.5-FM
