OT: Thon Maker is actually 23 years old

[Dr Positivity]

Looks like the more evidence dug up, the more it points up towards this being legit. Some people on twitter are saying they've talked to people from his graduating class, etc.

His whole timeline getting moved around from Australia to US then Canada, staying in high school an extra year, then sneaking into the draft while avoiding the NCAA, makes too much sense if this is true too. He should have been on an NCAA team last year if following a normal pathway.

Amazing thing is Yi and Ilyasova are two of the great age con artists... and both were also drafted by the Bucks!

[Jonn]

This is disappointing for many reasons if true...

I was looking forward to him getting citizenship so he could compete for our National Team. But this also explains why he has completely Stonewalled the Australian National Team by not even communicating with him despite previous commitment. There was an article in an Austrillan newspaper about Canada trying to poach there talent. And they fear Thon has been trying to gain Canadian citizenship along with his brother for years.

Perhaps he was trying to avoid the demons of his past. NCAA has quite the investigation system so it makes sense why he didn't want to play and get revealed.

And honestly where does this leave his younger brother. Hes going to be a high school senior this year. He has scholarship offers to Arizona State and Indiana. How old is he really and how does this effect him. He's obviously not on the same level as a basketball prospect but many expect him to have success basketball career somewhere. He was a lot more raw. I don't know if that's because he's actually 17 unlike Thon.

[Jonn]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/basketball/canada-looks-to-poach-rising-australian-basketball-star-thon-maker/news-story/ff8c695a2bf7e7ffc54707fae0e051be

Here is a link to the article.

[The_Hater]

Amazing thing is Yi and Ilyasova are two of the great age con artists... and both were also drafted by the Bucks!

If any NBA team should have been worried about doing a proper due diligence, it's the Bucks. The irony.

[slothrop8]

The bigger issue for me is that based on the few times I've seen him - which granted were All Star game settings and thus not the best venues to judge - but I'm not particularly convinced that he's good at basketball. I feel like being good at basketball is going to be important for his NBA future.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

[The_Hater]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

[PD28]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

No. I wasn't being serious with that post. I don't think either situation is very good actually, taking a raw 24y year old 10th, or taking an NBA ready 23 year old senior and make them sit for a couple years. Obviously one is far better than the other for the team. For example the Bucks pick is great for Thon, may be bad for them, maybe not all depends what he does on the court in next few years. The Delon pick, except for getting nothing yet for the asset, i guess is good for our depth, but tough on a guy to be on the other side of 25 before they really get their start in the NBA, if they get it.

Back to the question, clearly the projections of a players future potential will be affected. But I also think another aspect is not just age and the relationship to physical maturity, but also just how long has the person been playing basketball. For example, even if a guy was 22 and not 19, but had recently discovered the game, then you'd expect there to be growth with added experience and training. And of course it's always different for the individual. There's no guarantee a raw guy will become better, just because they are raw.

On the other side of the coin, I really like Delon Wright and we are wasting his youth and our asset with this situation. I think we should find him a path to playing time, either by making Corey a non-shooting SG, or trading one of them. Moving Delon to a back up 2 is likely not very good for his career in the league either. Given his age, I think it's asking a lot for him to wait till next year when there's some answer on the Kyle situation after this season, when most likely the situation will remain the same. You don't have to be fed up with a player to trade them. Delon Wright may have some value, especially in this pg lite draft and free agent market. We just messed up int he past by letting too much contract money just expire, when we could have used them to help in trades in the past. But this is a topic for another thread.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Did he lie to Jared? Unforgivable.

[Lord_Zedd]

Looks like the more evidence dug up, the more it points up towards this being legit. Some people on twitter are saying they've talked to people from his graduating class, etc.

His whole timeline getting moved around from Australia to US then Canada, staying in high school an extra year, then sneaking into the draft while avoiding the NCAA, makes too much sense if this is true too. He should have been on an NCAA team last year if following a normal pathway.

Amazing thing is Yi and Ilyasova are two of the great age con artists... and both were also drafted by the Bucks!

Sounds like the Bucks were looking for veteran help all along at the draft

[Jonn]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

[cram]

Meh. If we keep Delon Wright, and don't change the pg situation, he'll likely be 26 before he gets a chance to play. Age is just a number.

That's kaka and you know it. Delon Wright had 4 more years of basketball and was one of the most productive players in the NCAA.. Thon is a raw high school prospect.....who happens to be the same age

[Got Nuffin]

The thing is, most reports out of the Hoops Summit training sessions a year ago had Skal Labissiere just owning Thon Maker left, right and center every time they matched up. Imagine if Skal had gone into hiding since then or not worked out for teams- he probably would have gone no3 in this draft.

Instead, Skal who is younger and quite likely better at basketball in general, attends NCAA in the national spotlight, gets scrutinized to pieces and goes 29th. Thon Maker does almost nothing of note and is four years older than his listed age (and competition) by some reports, goes 10th.

Not saying I wanted Skal for our pick because I certainly don't, but I just find it funny how scouting today is so advanced,, and yet so primitive that organizations more than ever can be fooled by the hype.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I can think of 3 good reasons 1. giving another year of hope among the believers thus keeping Masai's image untarnished is the first. 2. it would confirm the first 3 years were all the work to develop his was wasted 3. Is it too early in the 905 history to take away it's main draw. There's hardly anyone watching anyway, if you take away the idea that some have that Bruno is just cutting his teeth there before becoming our future 3/4 - and if our current older rooks don't have to spend a lot of time there, will it flounder?

I mean, you take Bruno out, and all 905 was this year was a feeder for other teams, who actually had extra roster spots, and we're like us, who today before free agency only have two roster spots and next year we have two more first round picks coming in. It's great that we are holding draft workouts for the 905, but if we have no room for guys like Ronald Roberts, or Axel Toupane, we're just developing them for our competition and calling it a win. Don't give me the Devlin about the 905 doing stuff for Powell. Putting Powell and Wright on a team that's just focused on teaching Bruno basketball and letting him shoot, was never fair to them. It gave them some run, and some practise. But Norm would have Normed regardless, and I think Delon gave up on basketball and joined cast of Orange is the New Black.

I mean, we had a great year, but in my opinion we carry too many guys who aren't ready. We are at five now, not counting Norm, and next year we go to 7, unless somethings done or someone's moved or waived. That's just about half of a 15 man roster.

[PD28]

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I can think of 3 good reasons 1. giving another year of hope among the believers thus keeping Masai's image untarnished is the first. 2. it would confirm the first 3 years were all the work to develop his was wasted 3. Is it too early in the 905 history to take away it's main draw. There's hardly anyone watching anyway, if you take away the idea that some have that Bruno is just cutting his teeth there before becoming our future 3/4 - and if our current older rooks don't have to spend a lot of time there, will it flounder?

I mean, you take Bruno out, and all 905 was this year was a feeder for other teams, who actually had extra roster spots, and we're like us, who today before free agency only have two roster spots and next year we have two more first round picks coming in. It's great that we are holding draft workouts for the 905, but if we have no room for guys like Ronald Roberts, or Axel Toupane, we're just developing them for our competition and calling it a win. Don't give me the Devlin about the 905 doing stuff for Powell. Putting Powell and Wright on a team that's just focused on teaching Bruno basketball and letting him shoot, was never fair to them. It gave them some run, and some practise. But Norm would have Normed regardless, and I think Delon gave up on basketball and joined cast of Orange is the New Black.

I mean, we had a great year, but in my opinion we carry too many guys who aren't ready. We are at five now, not counting Norm, and next year we go to 7, unless somethings done or someone's moved or waived. That's just about half of a 15 man roster.

IMO Bebe does not start his next season in a Raptors uniform. He is too injury prone and did not really develop in the time he was here. We need to package and deal him with Ross for an upgrade to the second unit.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I can think of 3 good reasons 1. giving another year of hope among the believers thus keeping Masai's image untarnished is the first. 2. it would confirm the first 3 years were all the work to develop his was wasted 3. Is it too early in the 905 history to take away it's main draw. There's hardly anyone watching anyway, if you take away the idea that some have that Bruno is just cutting his teeth there before becoming our future 3/4 - and if our current older rooks don't have to spend a lot of time there, will it flounder?

I mean, you take Bruno out, and all 905 was this year was a feeder for other teams, who actually had extra roster spots, and we're like us, who today before free agency only have two roster spots and next year we have two more first round picks coming in. It's great that we are holding draft workouts for the 905, but if we have no room for guys like Ronald Roberts, or Axel Toupane, we're just developing them for our competition and calling it a win. Don't give me the Devlin about the 905 doing stuff for Powell. Putting Powell and Wright on a team that's just focused on teaching Bruno basketball and letting him shoot, was never fair to them. It gave them some run, and some practise. But Norm would have Normed regardless, and I think Delon gave up on basketball and joined cast of Orange is the New Black.

I mean, we had a great year, but in my opinion we carry too many guys who aren't ready. We are at five now, not counting Norm, and next year we go to 7, unless somethings done or someone's moved or waived. That's just about half of a 15 man roster.

IMO Bebe does not start his next season in a Raptors uniform. He is too injury prone and did not really develop in the time he was here. We need to package and deal him with Ross for an upgrade to the second unit.

How do you overpay Ross, attach him to Bebe, and expect to get a player better than Ross back in return? I guess we could attach future picks. But I think at this point Delon Wright is the only guy who we aren't using that positive value. I think if we traded Ross, he would have been a throw in for Salary with Lotto pick, kind of Orlando and Ibaka, only Oladipo had far more value ( which is why we don't have Ibaka).

Or he's just dumped to a team with capspace. I don't think it's realistic to expect something good back for him, now. I mean you go to a team and say we'd like to trade you Terrence Ross, and they say for what, and we say, how about some 3 pot shooting off the bench? What's that say about Ross's value, being paid over 10 mil for the 3 pt shooting off the bench we are looking for. At this point, if we weren't so short of options to add bigs, you may as well keep Ross for now anyway. Any other gm in the league knows that if Toronto wants to get in the free agent game it depends on them finding takers for guys like Ross and Carroll. Carroll would never pass a physical, I have no ideal how he passed one when we signed him, I'm thinking we didn't even make him take one. Guys like Jonas would have value, of course, but it just creates a bigger hole.

[Volcano]

Are you saying it doesn't matter if Maker is 19 or 24? In terms of his development/upside/floor?

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I see someone went to the Vivek school of asset management

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I see someone went to the Vivek school of asset management

Well it all depends how they feel about it, in reality. Even though I posted 3 reasons not to cut him, I didn't include his potential, because I'm not sure he'll be an NBA level player. If they doubt it too, there really is never a good reason to throw good money after bad, especially when Cap space and roster spots are finite. If we don't have Bruno of Bebe on the roster, what are we missing out on? And if we subtract their salary, and we sign Biz first, there's about 3 to 4 more million more we could have used to keep Biz, someone who we may very well miss.

[The_Hater]

If Bruno was now 24 and not 20 we would waive his ass....

He should be waived regardless. No way his 4th year entry level option should be picked up.

I see someone went to the Vivek school of asset management

Bruno is not an asset right now. He has no trade value whatsoever.

I can see why people are intrigued but his skill set isnt well rounded and his bball iq is barely that of a 9th grader. Some people actually think the Greek Freak is lurking in there but he has none of those same skills. His best case scenario is that of a 3 and D type role player and he's a long way from being that player on the NBA level.

The only question is whether or not worth it to ride it out another year and see if the light bulb goes on? My personal expectations are very low for this.