Everyone seems to be really worried over one question: Can Jerryd Bayless be our PG of the future? There are a lot of doubts as to whether a score-first combo guard is really the answer to our current situation. Some even seem disappointed that Kevin Pritchard didn't trade the 13th pick and Josh McRoberts for Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, and Deron Williams. I mean, we all knew that he would land three all-star points in the same draft, so where are they?

What I haven't seen is a realistic look at what we actually got on draft night. Everyone seems to be either really doubtful or unrealistically optimistic; either Jerryd Bayless won't be able to solve our PG problem and is therefore a complete failure or he will magically turn into the next Chauncey Billups. No one seems to find the positive aspects in the trade without being completely unrealistic by suggesting that Jerryd will be the answer to all the Blazers' needs. So here are my reasons why it really doesn't matter whether or not Jerryd is the right PG for us when evaluating the success of the draft:

1. We've been spoiled by KP. He's drafted at least three future all-stars in the past two drafts. Everyone is expecting another miracle. We want to see another future all-star. Everyone's expectations were so high that when we didn't come away with everything we needed, we were disappointed.

2. Because Jerryd is a PG, people assume that he should be the future at that position for the Blazers. Everyone is evaluating him as a starter. Really, though, he should be looked at in terms of who he's replacing: Jarrett Jack. Jerryd will definitely be an improvement over Jack, even if he doesn't become a polished 1. If nothing else, we improved at the backup point guard spot for when we find a real starter.

3. In fact, the trade with Indiana is really about improvement. Essentially, we traded our 13th pick for upgrades on current players. Bayless is an upgrade over Jack and Diogu, as a player who has at least proven that he can play at an NBA level, is an upgrade over McRoberts.

So KP may not have come away with an all-star. He may not have even come away with our starting PG. But what he did do was improve our roster and give us a chance at that starting PG that we need. People want the PG issue to be solved now, whether that means that Bayless is the starter we're looking for or having either Roy or Rudy play point (which, by the way, wouldn't work). And this makes them overlook what actually happened in the draft: we improved at each spot that we traded away. And this, in the future, puts us in a better position when we do find our starting PG. So I hope everyone will realize that we had another good draft even if we don't come away with our starter. The debate over the point has gotten ridiculous; people are way too impatient. We can get a starting point guard, if not Bayless, then in free agency or in a trade. For now, though, we improved at the backup PG and that's what matters. I don't expect us to have found a starter at the point for at least another season, which makes all this debate now pointless. What happened in the draft was improvement and that's what matters. That is why drafting Bayless, even if he doesn't turn out to be a starting PG in the league, was a good move.