Chad Ford: Bledsoe Might Get the Nod and Not Bradley

[Doc]

This from Chad Ford's ESPN Buzz:

The real question for both players will come down to one spot in the lottery -- the Raptors at 13. While I've been hearing for weeks now that Bradley has the edge on Bledsoe, I had a trusted source tell me over the weekend that it may be Bledsoe who gets the nod in Toronto.

Source - Click here

[LBF]

thursday night can't come fast enough.

[EarthJuice]

If they take Bledsoe at #13, its a big mistake. Save him for the second latter 1st round pick. You draft the BPA, not for need.

[Jive]

for the record I've always had a blind guess that we'd pick bledsoe

[Marz]

Bledsoe may be high at #13, but this may just be a ploy to try and force the Grizzlies to pick him up (Bledsoe is tied to them at their pick in the 20s) so that we can get Paul George. Personally if George and Aldrich are off the board I'm fine with taking Bledsoe over Bradley.

[bigmanshaq]

If we are picking either one of these talented player, we would want them to be our point guard, not an undersize 2 playing out of position. Seems like both these guys are similar that they are both Athletic, good defensive players, with Bradley better scoring, and Bledsoe better passing.
Do we have any stats that say who's shown more leadership quality that is so important in being a franchise-starting point guard? I think great leadership quality goes along way in shaping a starting point guards.

[sleepz]

Starting to think the Bradley talk might have been smokescreen to take Bledsoe all along. He's definitely an athlete and if you want a guard that can push the ball, he wouldn't be a bad choice to do that. He'd have to work on to's but many guards have that problem initially.

Think BC might be hurting that he didn't take another high energy pg in last years draft (Mr. Jennings)

[Raptorsss]

I'm giving Raptors brass more credit than telling Ford who they plan on picking. This is just a ploy to convince another team like the pacers or the grizzlies to pick him up.

[Bendit]

Here we go again...sources but I guess this one must be a keeper ...its "trusted". Jeez I wonder if anyone is keeping tabs on these prognosticators.

However, Bledsoe is intriguing. He was on a team with the next #1 overall (Wall) playing pg. And he says (verifiable I suppose) that he has always played the point before Kentucky.

[santimo]

I really wouldn't mind either one of Bledsoe or Bradley but I do like Bradley better because of his greater potential on the defensive end. Both players can score, Bledsoe's probably better at finding teamates but if the Raptors are really going to lose Bosh and going to try and build around Bargs they're gonna have to get better defenders at the PG and wings.

[DuCa00795]

I think Bledsoe will be a steal like Jameer Nelson in the fradt. Just saying, he's in great shape and I think will be a great player in the league.

[Apollo]

If they take Bledsoe at #13, its a big mistake. Save him for the second latter 1st round pick. You draft the BPA, not for need.

Maybe he is the best player available?

Bledsoe may be high at #13, but this may just be a ploy to try and force the Grizzlies to pick him up (Bledsoe is tied to them at their pick in the 20s)

There's interest in him as high as 10th. He may not even make it to the Raptors.

[Tim W.]

I really wouldn't mind either one of Bledsoe or Bradley but I do like Bradley better because of his greater potential on the defensive end. Both players can score, Bledsoe's probably better at finding teamates but if the Raptors are really going to lose Bosh and going to try and build around Bargs they're gonna have to get better defenders at the PG and wings.

The question is whether Bradley's defense is that much better than Bledsoe's defense (which is also very good, by the way) that it makes up for the fact that Bledsoe is a much better PG than Bradley. I'm pretty sure it's not. In the end, Bledsoe's a very good defender AND he can run an offense, something Bradley has never shown he can do.