Death Knight wrote:DHK wrote:TheGoodDoctor wrote:If I get into my Hot Tub Time Machine I swear you're talking about Bargnani.
Bargnani has had 6 years to prove himself to be something more than a big who can score; he's 27.
Demar only has 3 seasons under his belt thus far and he came into the league very raw as opposed to bargs, and he's 23. I think a fair evaluation can be made in 1.5 seasons time but in my opinion, its still too early to make an overall judgment on DD
Waiting that long for Bargnani has become a mistake. So why should the Raptors make the same mistake again? Aren't they supposed to learn from their mistakes? 3 years is enough to evaluate a wing player my friend. Those handles and quickness aren't going to get any better.
And $8-10mil for a rotational player? WTF would the Raptors have left for their starters?
His handles and quickness isnt an issue and from another post; he doesnt possess tunnel vision; he's made strides on kicking the ball out at times when there's no openings leading to some good open shots for JC/Ross/Lowry. His issue at the moment is defense + shooting, both aspects which can be improved on with repetition/practice and experience. You don't absolutely need quickness to be a good defender in the league. Clearly, he's not a 1st option but if he has a teammate he can defer to where the opponent's defense is catered to stopping player X rather than Demar; he can be an effective player. the problem right now on the defensive end is that he's too aggressive on defense at times and he's clueless on positioning himself so he gets blown by countless times and gets called for those unnecessary fouls. He's not playing smart. On the offensive end, teams are just clogging up the lanes forcing away the drive and daring DD to beat them from the outside and sadly it's a good game plan because he has no jumper beyond the midrange to speak of.
The difference I see with Bargs is that we actually attempted to build around Bargs based on his potential, and flashes of what he's shown and he's made us unanimously hate him for never living up to it because of his laziness and poor conditioning/work ethic. Right now we're clearly not building around DD, he's being treated like a complementary piece to the core and that he should be.I still see a chance of him fitting and still see areas for improvement that he can work on over time especially given his work ethic. Call me foolish/delusional but i'd still give him 1.5 seasons and in the end I still see him as a starter type of player.
My friend, if you were to look at the salary situation; it's not Demar that's holding us back of anything; it's the unnecessary Kleiza signing, Bargs Fields, and Gray holding us back from making that one final splash for the final missing piece we sorely need (ie. franchise player).