Blair falls to second round, perfect situation

When DeJuan Blair slipped some 20 spots lower than most people thought he would be taken in last… When DeJuan Blair slipped some 20 spots lower than most people thought he would be taken in last week’s NBA Draft, many in his camp and around Pittsburgh were furious.

But not Blair.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said in a conference call last week. “I should have been a first-round pick, but God wanted me to drop to the second round.”

Blair was selected with the seventh pick in the second round (37th overall) by the San Antonio Spurs.

Because of the drop, Blair’s contract offer will be different than if he had been picked in the first round. First-round picks are guaranteed a contract for two seasons, but second-round picks must make a team before earning an NBA salary.

If Blair makes the Spurs roster, he could be offered the league minimum of $457,588 — although his agent, Happy Walters, expects him to make more than that.

Still, Blair has many reasons to feel so optimistic despite his freefall into the second round.

By not going early in the first round, Blair avoided joining a losing team with a high pick.

Instead, he goes to a perennial NBA powerhouse, who finished fourth in the Western Conference last season and has won three NBA Championships in the past seven seasons.

Not only that, but Blair will get a chance to step in and play immediately. The Spurs frontline is relatively thin behind superstar forward Tim Duncan with only Matt Bonner and Drew Gooden averaging more than eight points per game last season.

The Spurs still seek to improve the forward position with a trade last season that sent Kurt Thomas to the Milwaukee Bucks for Richard Jefferson.

And this opportunity is a perfect fit for the young Blair, who finished his sophomore year at Pitt last season.

“I couldn’t have landed in a better situation than I am in now,” he said. “[San Antonio] just traded Kurt Thomas, their starting forward.”

While Jefferson is a forward, as well, his game is more suited toward playing on the perimeter. Jefferson plays primarily small forward, so he and Blair probably won’t be competing for playing time at the same position.

With superstar Duncan on the Spurs, Blair will get to learn from one of the best power forwards in the league. Duncan has averaged more than 21 points and 11 rebounds per game during his 12-year NBA career.

And his level-headed demeanor on the court is the model for what coaches try to preach to young players entering the league.

There is no answer as to why Blair fell in the Draft, but sportswriters and fans say his knees won’t be able to hold up over the course of an NBA career.

But this is just the next wave of skepticism that Blair has had to overcome. Critics said he couldn’t play in the post at just 6 feet 7 inches tall, but he proved them wrong.

Now, Blair seems to be on a mission to show all the teams that passed on him that he can still be the kind of player that terrorized opponents in the paint during his two years at Pitt.

As Blair put it, “It’s time to go to work and show people what they missed.”