05-23-2026, 10:07 PM
(05-23-2026, 09:41 PM)F Gump Wrote: Schmitz has never had the final say, so we probably can't read anything into his past places. But, for the record, but the last few years in POR, there have been a few draft day swaps. IMO the most notable was a move down last summer, from 11 to 16. Instead of getting Coward at 11 (who turned out to be a decent rookie) or some other pick, they took Yang Hansen at 16 (who they apparently had prioritized and wanted to take, period, and figured he would be there at 16). Hansen (a project, by their own admission) was fairly bad as a rookie (but they said he's a 3-year development). However, they did also land 3 future picks for trading down (one FRP, 2 SRP). So the score on that deal is TBD. But again, Schmitz didn't make that decision to trade down.
While true that he didn't make the pick, I wonder if his influence as an advocate for Yang (assumption on my part) is the reason he was their pick. It isn't hard to imagine the real decision maker moving down once convinced Yang would still be there a few spots later. If Yang was who they wanted anyway, the meh return of future picks are now free shots that can be used on players or put into a package for something else desirable.
Point being, if for some reason Schmitz is enamoured with someone mocked to go later and the intel holds up, It doesn't seem that much of a stretch that Masai might make the same call as the Portland GM did.