Post#1386 » by Landomar » Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:55 am
Sullinger looks like a definate top 3 pick to me. He looks likely to be at least a David West type impact player in the NBA, and has the potential to be a perennial allstar. If he's available, we should probably take him and sort things out later.
The only two guys I might prefer over Sullinger are Irving or Valanciunas. I'm not as high on Irving as the board in general seems to me, but I think his career will probably be at least as good or better than Andre Miller's, which would land him solidly in the top 10 PG range (even if he never becomes a Rose, Nash, or Paul level guy). For Valanciunas, I'm leading the band wagon. All the video, statistics, and scouting reports I've seen for him suggest to me that he has some very special tools. He already seems to be an elite rebounder, and that should translate well to the NBA. His length and athleticism give him a great defensive foundation, although he'll definately need to add a lot of strength. On offense, his touch around the basket is impressive, and he's a very good FT shooter. Right now, he's kind of like Ed Davis as a scorer, but I believe Jonas can develop some quality go-to moves and a mid-range jump shot. I have visions right now of Valanciunas even becoming the next great big man out of Europe (up near the Nowitzki / P.Gasol range in terms of overall impact), even though that's just a hunch, and he'd need to improve a lot in the next few years to become that kind of player.
The safest order would probably be Irving, Sullinger, Valanciunas, but I would consider any of those guys as high as #1, even though Valanciunas at #1 would be a pretty big gamble (and one that I imagine most Raptors fans would revolt over).
After those 3, I'm not really sold on anyone, but I probably would have D.Williams at #4. The other guys I would consider drafting with our pick, in a tentative order, would be Kanter, Barnes, P.Jones, Vesely, T.Jones.