Going into the 2008 NBA Draft — before Baron Davis signed a five-year, $65M contract to serve as the Clippers point guard through 2013, and before Elton Brand slipped out the back door — the Clippers were a team in desperate need of a backcourt scorer, and preferably one that could play the point. Unlike this upcoming draft crop, the 2008 draft class was perfectly suited to the Clippers’ needs. Between Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, Jerryd Bayless, and Eric Gordon, there were any number of collegiate guards the Clips could pluck off the board and plug into their anemic backcourt.
At Clipperblog, we were extremely bullish on Jerryd Bayless:
Bayless personifies everything the Clippers desperately need in their backcourt – an athletic ballhandler who can create off the dribble and shoot the rock from beyond. And look at those FTA numbers: Double-digit attempts in five of his last 10 games. Bayless’ attributes aren’t limited to the offensive end. Arizona interim head coach Kevin O’Neill demands that his squad play a straight-up man defense, and Bayless has been up to the challenge. O’Neill has routinely assigned Bayless the opponent’s best scorer and Bayless‘ quick lateral movement has served him well. Bayless isn’t flawless. He had a horrendous night against USC’s triangle-and-two a couple weeks back, wilting under the constant ball pressure, racking up six turnovers in the process. But all and all, Bayless has shown an uncanny breadth of skills that you want from your PG – penetration, range, ballhandling, the ability to guard opposing points, and good instincts in the halfcourt game.
The Clippers ultimately chose Eric Gordon over Bayless, then filled their PG with the signing of Baron Davis. Here was CB’s assessment of the pick at the time:
The Clips pass on Jerryd Bayless in favor of sharpshooter Eric Gordon. The suggestion here is that the Clips will look outside the organization to fortify themselves at the point. Gordon has the prettiest shot in the draft and can hold his own defending opposing shooting guards, but he’s not a transcendent talent. He’ll spread the floor, to be sure. But for a team that desperately needs some personnel that can move the ball around — and move off the ball — Gordon provides more rawness than refinement.
Last night, Mike Dunleavy explained the decision this way:
We liked [Bayless]. The difference between the two of them for us was that we really felt like we could project Eric Gordon to be a 2 guard and he could survive as a 2 guard and not have to play any 1. With Bayless, we kind of looked at him more like he might need to play 1. If he can do that, then he’ll be a pretty good player, too.
That’s a reasonably fair assessment of the two players, because it’s uncertain whether Bayless can make it in the league as a pure shooting guard. So if you’re less than enamored with Bayless’ ballhandling abilities and can’t envision his holding down the PG position, then you’re stuck in that old combo guard conundrum.
It’s entirely possible that the Clippers had already designated their PG slot for Baron Davis — or more generally, for a veteran TBD — which would make the Gordon selection a no-brainer. It’s also possible that Bayless’ lack of a true position was the reason he dropped to #11, and was immediately dealt by Indiana for Jarrett Jack, a pure point. Either way, the selection of Gordon has been a bright spot in an otherwise dreadful couple of years.
15 Responses
Totally agree, a group of my buddies could not decide between Bayless or Gordon. Bayless was a dynamic scoring PG but he did not look like a PG but Gordon was a Shooting guard that was short.
Since we had no PG, it was probably better to go w/ Bayless but no it Gordon is one of the few bright spots on this team
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Bayless has those wacky short arms. It’s not like it should have been a surprise to people – they just had to look at him in college and see, ‘hey, that dude has short arms.’ But when he got to Orlando and the measured him, I really think a bunch of GM’s got spooked – ‘length’ is like a religion in the NBA. That’s why he dropped to 11.
But MDsr’s logic plays in as well. Gordon’s arms are much longer, plus he’s strong as an ox. So even though there’s no big difference in their heights, EJ can physically defend 2’s and Bayless can’t. So if Bayless can’t transition to NBA point, he’ll have problems.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 10:50 am
In my eyes gordon was the much safer selection, a potential top-3 pick that slipped because of team drama at indy with some questionable coaching ethics, who at worst you knew he would be a prolific shooter that could spread the floor and create driving lanes for al thorton and whoever they found to play point, as well as preventing teams from doubling off him when kaman and the other bigs were in the post. plus he had the upside of a dynamic two guard, who though not that tall had the strength to dribble drive and get to the lane whenever he wanted, and who could develop the handles to run the point when necessary. knowing that cat was on the decline and would need to play more limited minutes, and had an expiring contract, he fit perfectly into the clippers future plans.
bayless had the potential to be the next kevin johnson/tony parker type, a point who can score on anyone with his quickness, but the fact that no one knew whether he could handle the ball well enough to trust point guard duties made selecting him in the top 10 a risky move.
at the time i was praying they would trade up to get one of the local college boys mayo or westbrook (still would have loved having either of those guys), but liked what they did in taking gordon considering the other options they had (bayless, dj augustin). taking a second look at their selection now after a half of a season i’d say they certainly made the right choice as gordon looks well on his way to not only being a dynamic offensive player, but a far better on-ball defender than i could have possibly hoped for around draft time.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am
This was the best draft we could have possibly had. Gordon has exceeded all expectations, especially considering he’s a only a year removed from high school.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
As a Blazer fan I can assure you that Jarrett Jack is in no way a pure point guard at all.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Yeah, another blazer fan here. Jarrett Jack is a less athletic version of Jerryd Bayless. Thanks for passing on Bayless btw… while he definitely has some work to do to be able to handle full time PG duties I feel pretty comfortable that he will do that in the next couple years.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Gordon is the only reason i continue to watch the clippers this year. i love his shot. i hope when the slackers , i mean starters, return that he does not lose playing time.
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Clipsamba Reply:
January 28th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Why not? I want Gordon to lose his playing time by 10mpg. He’s too young ang shouldn’t be playing more than 35mpg.
He may not realize it now, foot/ankle wear & tear is common and he should be aware of it now.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Bayless isn’t a pure shooting guard, nor is he a pure point guard. You’re absolutely right at his double-digit free throw attempts: Bayless is a guy that will fearlessly drive to the hoop, or ball fake to draw the foul while shooting á la Paul Pierce does often.
But more than that, the guy is a straight up competitor. That Arizona team was one of the most dysfunctional teams I’ve ever seen, yet Bayless didn’t make excuses or quit on the team like others have in years past. Instead he led the team as a freshman and didn’t back down to any challenges. That dude hates losing more than anything in the world, yet keeps his composure at all times. He’s all business.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Bayless sucks, havent seen him go for 41 lately or for back to back 3’s or average mid 20’s. This isnt even a debate worth having.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
It’s pretty crazy looking back on that old post during the draft. That guy tw couldn’t have been more wrong about Gordon, or with any less conviction. The whole thing about trading up for Mayo doesn’t seem like too big a loss now. All the draft is is an educated guess, and someone has to credit the Clipper brass for doing a flawless job in the 2008 draft. We had some luck with how we were positioned, but targeting Mayo or Gordon was pretty dead on, and we should see the benefits of this draft for years to come.
Being a fan (Blazers/Clippers), you gotta like the guy you picked unless it’s obvious there’s a substantial talent difference. There’s still plenty of time for these guys to develop and seperate from one another.
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
EricGordonsAnkleBrace: Gordon has been great for you guys and he looks like the right pick for you. It’s not fair to compare him and Bayless at this point though. Bayless has not been given starter minutes or been asked to be a focal point of the offense. He’s being brought along slowly because the Blazers are aiming to make the playoffs.
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Posted on January 28th, 2009 at 5:44 am
[...] Finally, a breakdown of Eric Gordon vs. Jerryd [...]
Posted on January 28th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Eric Gordan all day!
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Posted on January 28th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I mean, Eric Gordon all day!!
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Posted on January 28th, 2009 at 9:45 am
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