Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 5

[TheRealDeal]

I was clicking that thing yesterday, it had us dropped down to 7th spot drafting Kanter lol, and of course Irving after the 3rd attempt

well if Kemba is ahead of Kanter now that's good news for the Raptors. If we're stuck at 5-6 and forced to take Enes it might be a blessing in disguise.

[10DeRozan10]

Quick question anyone know when the lottery is?

May 17th.

NBA master calendar: http://www.nba.com/mastercalendar/masterCalendar.html

The day before my birthday.

It'd be a nice early birthday present too see the Raptors win the lottery

[bboyskinnylegs]

Quick question anyone know when the lottery is?

May 17th.

NBA master calendar: http://www.nba.com/mastercalendar/masterCalendar.html

The day before my birthday.

It'd be a nice early birthday present too see the Raptors win the lottery

cool. The actual draft is on my birthday, I hope things go our way then

[bboyskinnylegs]

I was clicking that thing yesterday, it had us dropped down to 7th spot drafting Kanter lol, and of course Irving after the 3rd attempt

well if Kemba is ahead of Kanter now that's good news for the Raptors. If we're stuck at 5-6 and forced to take Enes it might be a blessing in disguise.

I doubt things will shape up that way on draft night, you always see a team or two draft a big early, since they're so hard to get in free agency. Although with Enes in this draft, it might not be early at all. I just hope we can at least maintain our #4 position (or maybe squeak into #3), that way we're guaranteed one of Kyrie/Knight/Walker/Barnes/P.Jones/Williams/Kanter/Valanciunas. That way we have a bit of a choice between prospects, even if one or two teams leapfrog us. Outside of those guys, I really don't like this draft very much at all.

[Rapsfan07]

I wouldn't mind Perry Jones. I think he has the highest ceiling in this draft. My draft board as of now:

K. Irving
P. Jones
H. Barnes
D. Williams

If not, trade it.

[5DOM]

I wouldn't mind Perry Jones. I think he has the highest ceiling in this draft. My draft board as of now:

K. Irving
P. Jones
H. Barnes
D. Williams

If not, trade it.

Something like this for me as well, but with Valanciunas included. I think this is the perfect time to add a mid-to-long term project to our roster. Giving minutes to Jones or Valanciunas will probably make us even worse and hopefully get us another top 3-5 pick in next year's draft which hopefully has a superstar talent or two.

[RaptorReloaded]

I'd take B. Knight over Val. Just my opinion. He's 18 and leading his team to the final 4 which is better then Val only playing 20 mins a game and whos upside is based off what he could do if he did play bigger minutes. Our aim should be best player available and if we are looking at positions it would be sf and pg. Just so happens IMOP that the top 5 in this draft are either a pg or sf. Irving, Willaims, Barnes, Knight, Jones.
I waited 4 years for Bargs to develope. I dont want to have to wait another 4 for another big man we draft to do the same thing.

[bboyskinnylegs]

I'd take B. Knight over Val. Just my opinion. He's 18 and leading his team to the final 4 which is better then Val only playing 20 mins a game and whos upside is based off what he could do if he did play bigger minutes. Our aim should be best player available and if we are looking at positions it would be sf and pg. Just so happens IMOP that the top 5 in this draft are either a pg or sf. Irving, Willaims, Barnes, Knight, Jones.
I waited 4 years for Bargs to develope. I dont want to have to wait another 4 for another big man we draft to do the same thing.

the difference with Bargs is that he wasn't a big man at all, he was a tall wing that we tried to turn into a big man. There's no question that both Kanter and Valanciunas are clear-cut big men, crashing the boards and playing in the paint. So waiting for them to develop is a completely different proposition from what we did with Bargs... it's more like they'll be hustling big men that rebound, defend and live off of putbacks/open dunks at first, before improving on their offensive games and being more assertive in the post. In the case of Kanter, you may not even have to wait for that, he has the potential to be a low-post scoring option right away the way Cousins/Monroe have been.

[daner01]

New to the forum but I have been reading quite a bit on the potential draft picks. The one dude that scares me is Perry Jones as he seems too much like a power forward which we have no need for. I know not to always believe what you read, but draft express has this guy labelled as strictly a power forward and seems to have no three point shot whatsoever and potentially insufficient defense. I understand we need as much high ceiling talent as possible but is this guy truly worth risking a top pick on?

[JamesNaismith]

I'm willing to bet anyone here that BKnight turns out to be all hype.


Lou Williams 2.0

[Supercollider]

I'm willing to bet anyone here that BKnight turns out to be all hype.

Lou Williams 2.0

I feel the same way.

As for Kemba Walker, I see him as an undersized combo guard – three words I wouldn't want to pin the hopes of a franchise on.

[dballislife]

come on kings u can do it, winnable game vs suns it looks

[FluLikeSymptoms]

I really don't know why any of the underclassmen not floating on hype would come out this year.

Not only are they staring at a season off in a major developmental year, but all of the organizations near the top of draft are abominable- not typically good franchises, riding out the low part of the cycle after a window closed, but typically bad franchises, in undesirable(TBD?) locations with serious question marks regarding ownership/management/market/direction.

[Prestige]

I really don't know why any of the underclassmen not floating on hype would come out this year.

Not only are they staring at a season off in a major developmental year, but all of the organizations near the top of draft are abominable- not typically good franchises, riding out the low part of the cycle after a window closed, but typically bad franchises, in undesirable(TBD?) locations with serious question marks regarding ownership/management/market/direction.

To get drafted higher in a weaker draft class and to secure a position in the NBA. That's all it boils down to. How many players really care about the list of teams in the lottery or going back to school for any other reason than raising their draft stock? Sure, they may miss half or a full season and go to a terrible team, but at the end of the day they'll be in the NBA making millions. That's hard to turn down.

[bboyskinnylegs]

New to the forum but I have been reading quite a bit on the potential draft picks. The one dude that scares me is Perry Jones as he seems too much like a power forward which we have no need for. I know not to always believe what you read, but draft express has this guy labelled as strictly a power forward and seems to have no three point shot whatsoever and potentially insufficient defense. I understand we need as much high ceiling talent as possible but is this guy truly worth risking a top pick on?

Perry Jones is certainly a risk, but imo he's not a big man at all--he's a very tall wing. I think he has definitely been played out of position at the 5 at Baylor this year (plus he had some terrible ball-dominant guards to work with at Baylor). He's comfortable handling the ball, finding the open guy from the perimeter, and blowing by his man with his first step to get to the basket/dish it off to a teammate.

He doesn't have much of a post game (his offense in the post mostly consisted of simple dunks/hooks over smaller defenders) and isn't a great rebounder (7.2rpg) for a big, but he is comfortable taking pull-up/spot-up jumpers. I think his mindset is definitely that of a 3, and with his speed/athleticism I think he can actually play there (unlike Bargs). Imo, he looked much more like a taller wing in the TMac/Rudy Gay/Paul George/Danny Granger mold than a versatile, face-up big man like Bosh/KG. At the 3, his rebounding, help D, and shotblocking would be strengths, rather than being mediocre for a big.

I think his court vision and ballhandling are better than the other wing prospects projected to go high in the lottery, and while his consistency on his jumper hasn't been good this year, his form looks good, and I think that that's probably the easiest part of his game to improve on (his first step/court vision/ballhandling/length/quickness/fluidity are difficult, if not impossible to teach). If he checks out as being the elite athlete that he appears to be in the workouts, and looks like he'll be able to defend on the perimeter, then I'd definitely be on board with drafting him. You'll have to be patient with him, and let him play through his mistakes, but if he pans out he's got legit star potential--and with him, DeMar, and Ed, you could have a very athletic, talented young core to move forward with.

here's some highlights of him this season at Baylor until early December. While obviously this is a highlight mix (so you don't see the missed shots and bad plays), it can give you some insight into how he can play as a wing player. If this is him playing as a 4/5 for Baylor, I'd like to see him playing the 3 full-time:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WcbIPgU38Q[/youtube]

here's some from high school, at the McDonald's All-American and Centrestage Tournament:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OadA5Wm6ISU&feature=player_embedded#at=28[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quxsxSe1YTo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Salted Meat]

I really don't know why any of the underclassmen not floating on hype would come out this year.

Not only are they staring at a season off in a major developmental year, but all of the organizations near the top of draft are abominable- not typically good franchises, riding out the low part of the cycle after a window closed, but typically bad franchises, in undesirable(TBD?) locations with serious question marks regarding ownership/management/market/direction.

The teams at the bottom of the standings right now are likely to be the same teams at the bottom of the standings next year (and possibly the year after).

Unless someone thinks that staying in school could significantly improve their stock, there's not much incentive for them to leave guaranteed money on the table, go back to school for another year, and risk injury or depreciation of their value.

[Rapsfan07]

New to the forum but I have been reading quite a bit on the potential draft picks. The one dude that scares me is Perry Jones as he seems too much like a power forward which we have no need for. I know not to always believe what you read, but draft express has this guy labelled as strictly a power forward and seems to have no three point shot whatsoever and potentially insufficient defense. I understand we need as much high ceiling talent as possible but is this guy truly worth risking a top pick on?

I see where you're coming from but still. The three point shot is fixable though. He already has the form. I like Perry Jones and I think given the lack of strength in this draft, Jones III at #4 or #5 is something you must consider VERY strongly. Because he hasn't been at Baylor for a while, a lot of it is gonna come down workouts, which I'm pretty sure he'll look good in. For me personally, all I need to hear is he can defend other NBA SFs and I take this guy for sure. To me, he looks like Durant without the three ball.

[MEDIC]

Two reasons I don't want Perry Jones:

1. I don't want a tweener. I want somebody who has played a particular position for years, knows the position & knows that he's working hard to get better at that position. I'm sick of experiments. Can he play NBA SF? Can he play NBA PF? Nobody knows. He seems to want to play SF. Does he want to play SF because he is soft/ weak & doesn't want to bang down low? All these big tall guys wanting to play a finess game these days.........the chances of him becoming another Durant are very slim.

2. Doesn't sound like a competitor & sounds kinda soft.

I'd rather take a 6'7" or 6'8" player that we know can play SF. We already have a 6'10"+ player that wants to play like a SF instead of a big.

What happened to people wanting to build a more traditional team?

[Rapsfan07]

Two reasons I don't want Perry Jones:

1. I don't want a tweener. I want somebody who has played a particular position for years, knows the position & knows that he's working hard to get better at that position. I'm sick of experiments. Can he play NBA SF? Can he play NBA PF? Nobody knows. He seems to want to play SF. Does he want to play SF because he is soft/ weak & doesn't want to bang down low? All these big tall guys wanting to play a finess game these days.........the chances of him becoming another Durant are very slim.

2. Doesn't sound like a competitor & sounds kinda soft.

I'd rather take a 6'7" or 6'8" player that we know can play SF. We already have a 6'10"+ player that wants to play like a SF instead of a big.

What happened to people wanting to build a more traditional team?

I still would like a traditional team. I'm all for them. That's why I said, a lot is going to ride on the workouts. If he can't guard NBA SF's, I'm not interested. He looks like a SF to me but can it do it at the next level is the big question. Where the competitor thing is concerned, I've heard that also but I don't know. Assuming that Barnes, D-Will, Irving are all of the board, I would definitely take him.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

I'd rather take a 6'7" or 6'8" player that we know can play SF.

Barnes? Sure. But after Irving and Barnes, the only pure-position players in the top-half of the lotto IMO, I'd take Perry to trade. Somebody will always think they can get something out of Perry Jones.