Why Brandon Roy is a winner

A couple of weeks ago I pondered the thought of the Blazers drafting rather high in this upcoming draft, and what this team would look like if they traded up to grab a Wright, Oden, or Durant. I mean, I think if you are in the top-2 picks, you wouldn't trade your pick for your life (the only time in the past 15 years this was ever the consensus was the year Orlando was awarded the #1 pick and drafted Shaq!). The idea of tanking at the end of the season is a very tenuous position to be in or to think about, Bill Simmons actually writes a good article on this subject. Here is a quote from Brandon Roy about draft picks after the Blazers won the other night, and B-Roy had 25 second half points, for a career high 29 points.

"As long as I'm on the court, I'm going to keep trying to hurt that lottery selection," Roy said. "I think we got great guys in this locker room -- a great draft pick would be great, but I'm going out to win basketball games. The lottery things, I leave that to Kevin Pritchard."

The loss would have propelled the Blazers into the 5th spot in the draft...Man I love B-Roy! Easily the best rookie this year, maybe the best draft pick for the next two or three years out of last year's draft. Rudy Gay, Tyrus Thomas, LaMarcus Alderidge and the Toronto appendectomy disaster (Andrea Bargnani) have a chance to become great players down the road. But Brandon will be the best of this draft class for two to three years to come.