Beyond Bowie : Portland Trailblazers News & Updates : Blazers Commentary

• Print
• Comments (15)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Here's how this breaks down, we have two players (of any importance) that are still marinating in Europe - Petteri Kopenen and Joel Freeland.  Given that there are two areas that most arm chair GMs can agree we need to look at this off-season - point guard and a forward-banger type (Brandon Roy is even calling for a banger) - it's interesting to note that these guys can help fill both roles.  The question you ask is how soon and how much?

First the "How Soon?"

I wanted to start with Joel first as the images of Scola, Artest, Landry and Hayes pushing us around in the paint is still freshly burnt in the psyche (as is the sleeplessness caused by Channing (the-buffet-of-goodness) Frye launching jump-shot after jump-shot).

It's been tough to find good updates on Freeland (damn near impossible for Petteri) since we drafted him back in 2006, but in the last 8 months, there has been a relative dearth of coverage on our British Bull Dog.  What we do know is this:

1) He's had a breakout year.  He also has an NBA opt out clause with Gran Canaria after this summer and is drawing a lot of attention from the biggest clubs in Europe.

2) Unfortunately he's not going to make it to the Summer League (again) this year.  Not because his team Gran Canaria won't let him like last summer, but because he is a member (starting member at that) of the UK national team and this summer is the EuroBasket which is an enormously important qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Championships next summer (Rudy, Batum, Tony Parker et all are playing).

3) In light of this, Kevin Pritchard himself will be flying to the Eurobasket this summer to specifically scout Freeland's progress.

If you don't know what this all means, then you need to read this from the Blogfather - "You know how in soccer the World Cup is head and shoulders above the Olympic title? It's almost like that in basketball."

To refresh:

Joel Daniel Freeland was born (February 7, 1987 - yes, only 22!) in England. Football (soccer) was his first sport, since his father, Rob Freeland, was a diehard fan. "I started playing basketball when I was 16, so I had been playing football for eight years already," Joel said. "I got introduced to basketball at high school and I loved it."

Joel Freeland is listed as a 6'10"/6'11" forward currently with CB Gran Canaria, of the Spanish ACB League (same league as Rudy) and has been described as both a power forward and center. His playing style has been compared to David Lee of the Knicks and former NBA player Keon Clark.

On June 28, 2006, Joel Freeland was selected by Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft with the 30th overall pick - ahead of Craig Smith, Paul Milsap, and Leon Powe (all guys that fit our forward-banger need). The Trail Blazers encouraged him to return to European play to further improve his game; in August 2006 he signed a 2-year contract with CB Gran Canaria.

There was a big contingent of people who felt that he was on his way to earning a training camp invitation two summers ago at Las Vegas if he hadn't been injured.  Back on July 9, 2007, Jason Quick had this to say:

"With Aldridge resting, Joel Freeland got a lot of play at power forward and did well. I like this kid and think he will be a factor in the coming years...believe me, this kid will be a blue-collar, lunch-bucket player in the NBA who Blazers fans will fall in love with."

Since summer 2007, he's put time in the gym and has gained weight. "I think that I put on 10 kilos of muscle in the last year," Freeland said. "I am not getting pushed around anymore."  He was listed at 225 in the draft so this would put him in the 250 range, roughly the same size - height and weight - as LaMarcus Aldridge for those keeping score.

Freeland has averaged 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes in 27 regular-season games for Gran Canaria whilst shooting 59 percent from the field. He has been even better in EuroCup games: 12.5 points, 6 rebounds in 20.2 minutes while shooting 66 percent from the field (12 and 6 in 20 minutes are exactly the numbers the Blazers need from a back-up PF). Freeland also ranks sixth in the ACB in PER at 25.1 per Draft Express.

As mentioned in the Euro Cup Basketball article, Freeland is set to become a free agent at the end of the season and could well step up to a Euroleague team. 

Draft Express continues: "He has an NBA escape clause and is drawing major interest around Europe from some of the top teams around, for example Real Madrid, Barcelona and Fortitudo Bologna, who all appear to have interest.  It wouldn't be shocking to see Gran Canaria decide to cash in and sell his rights at some point, which would likely make Freeland's spot on the NBA rookie scale."

So the long answer to "How Soon" is this summer.  However, if we want Joel Freeland, we'll have to start trotting out the Rudy Fernandez style full court press if we want a fighting chance to lure him away from earning millions by staying in Europe and signing with one of the bigger name European teams.

Now we tackle "How Much?"

Kevin Pritchard had this to say in a recent interview with Ian Whittell (24/7 is the leading Bball magazine in the UK so they say things like "the unfancied Blazers") - in summary:

24/7: Will Joel play in the NBA one day?
KP: Without question he will play in the NBA.

24/7: Presumably, you always knew it would take time for Joel to make the NBA grade?
KP: We knew he was a project but he's a tough kid, he works hard, he's got some physical tools and as long as he keeps getting better, advancing his skills, he will be in our league.

24/7: Is it fair to assume 2009-10, when Joel is a free agent, will be too early for him to be looking at a place on your team?
KP: I don't know that. I don't know if it will be next year. I want to see him, I want to see how he's doing and talk to him. I'd like to see him myself in Summer League or the British national team and then make the decision then.

So the verdict is out, having not seen Joel since summer league (summer league!) 2007, it's close to impossible for us to have a view other than what we have read by various media resources. 

Brian Henderson Hendrickson wraps it all up: Joel Freeland is still only 22 years old and generally regarded to still have a high upside. And if you look at this summer's expiring contracts -- Michael Ruffin, Channing Frye and Shavlik Randolph -- this could be a perfect time to add Freeland at a cheap price (about $800,000) and allow him to develop on the bench." 

At eight hundred grand, this should be an easy financial decision for the Blazers to make, (assuming of course that we can convince him to walk away from millions a'la' what Rudy did for the honor of wearing red and black).  And, eight hundred grand sounds about the right price to pay for what will likely amount to be a 12th man on the bench for a playoff-bound team.

With a reputation for doing most of his work in the paint, I will be trying to watch him play as much as possible this summer as the stars seem to be aligning for our British Bull Dog - Joel Freeland to finally be a Blazer.