Entering the 2004 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers’ roster was a hot mess a work in progress. Rip City had an unreal 24 players suit up that year—a year in which the team finished 10th in the Western Conference.
That season, the Blazers finally dealt Rasheed Wallace, but more change was on the horizon. Damon Stoudamire was entering his last year on Portland’s books, and it was clear that a young, promising floor general should be the draft-day target with an eventual rebuild inching its way toward fruition.
By the time the Blazers were on the clock with the 13th pick, two point guards had already been taken. Shockingly, none of them was Jameer Nelson, whom many thought would be a top-10 selection.
In other words, the player who had won the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, the Bob Cousy Award, the Rupp Trophy, the Oscar Robertson Trophy, and had numerous other accolades on his collegiate resume had fallen into Portland’s lap.
But the Blazers chose to go a different route. Instead, they went with the flashy, if not alluring appeal of Sebastian Telfair, a New York City high school phenom who’d averaged a maniacal 33.2 points per game as a five-star recruit.
While the risk of a prep-to-pro guard was obvious, the reward was too much for then-general manager John Nash and owner Paul Allen to ignore. Slam Magazine had even gone as far as to say that Telfair and LeBron James were going to “rule the world.”
As it turned out, the publication earned a 50 percent success rate on that bold call, while the Blazers swung and missed on their point guard of the future.
Still waiting for Sebastian Telfair to rule the world… pic.twitter.com/JJqvjgGRvZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 21, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsEleven years later, the Blazers have a shot at redemption. Despite once being a franchise fixture with the Orlando Magic, Nelson has become somewhat of an NBA journeyman. The St. Joseph’s product played for three teams this past season and is ready to opt out and become a free agent, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
If Nelson is willing to accept a backup role on a (hopefully) contending team, Portland has the chance to offer him just that. Steve Blake, while never expecting to be a savior, saw a dip in production in 2014-15 and proved to be completely irrelevant in the playoffs.
Between Blake’s decline and C.J. McCollum’s emergence as a true shooting guard (he played just 1 percent of the team’s total minutes at the 1 this past season), there’s more than enough room on the roster for a veteran floor general with excellent court vision and a strong aptitude from long range. If there’s any concern with Nelson, it’s defense. Blake’s never been known as a defensive juggernaut, but he shows just as much passion and grit on that end of the floor as he does in all other aspects of his game. That’s questionable for Nelson at this point in his career.
But while perimeter defense has been problematic at the point guard position, think about where Portland has truly struggled in years past: scoring off the bench. With Nelson, you know you’re getting a veteran who can put the ball in the basket.
Just as importantly, you you’re getting a competent player who can give Damian Lillard something he hasn’t had throughout much of his three-year career: rest.
The Blazers Should Consider Jameer Nelson http://t.co/k7QEd23m9m pic.twitter.com/z5hwadIos8
— Blazer’s Edge (@Blazersedge) June 8, 2015
Although Nelson likely isn’t the piece that gets Portland over the hump and on the cusp of a championship, he would unequivocally push the team in the right direction. Considering this group isn’t far off to begin with (at least as currently constructed), that’s a solid outlook for a squad with high expectations.
It’s not often that an NBA franchise—let alone anyone anywhere—has an opportunity to make up for a mistake after 11 years. That’s a long time living with a blunder, but the Trail Blazers have a chance to amend their original oversight with free agency this summer.
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