Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 5

[Reignman]

You think Burks will go Top 5 Dr?

Good question.

[Prestige]

I'm talking about stars not role players. We don't see the Nowitzkis or Parkers or Mings or Gasols anymore. Just good players and at our pick is it worth taking that risk? Just thinking out loud, but there is a drop in 'star' players being drafted. None of those you metioned will ever be stars. Well - maybe Rubio.

Hate to nitpick, but isn't Yao's first name Ming? I thought Yao was his last name.

[Dr Positivity]

You think Burks will go Top 5 Dr?

I would feel more comfortable declaring top 6, I definitely see Utah being interested

But on paper it seems like he'd the be type who gets upside hype more than Barnes. Burks has elite shot creating potential but lacks a jumper and strength. Barnes has a jumper and strength but lacks elite shot creating potential. Perimeter guys who create with the ball usually end up higher on the totem pole than off ball defensive/shooting types.

I think if we didn't have Demar, Burks would be getting as much love from this board as anyone. We've been searching for a handles reliant SG for years

[Prestige]

Given the year PHX has had and the roster problems the owner's signings have caused, this is the first summer when dealing Nash is a very real option for the FO.

They for sure want your pick - what deal would you make? Nash would bring many millions to MLSE in ticket and merch sales, huge publicity and would really help your young guys shine. Good basketball and business reasons to do it.

You think a 38-year old Steve Nash is worth a top 4 lottery pick to a rebuilding team?

[5DOM]

Yeah, it sounds like Burks is a consistent/reliable jumper and a few pounds away from possibly being the best player in this draft.

[Kevin Willis]

I'm talking about stars not role players. We don't see the Nowitzkis or Parkers or Mings or Gasols anymore. Just good players and at our pick is it worth taking that risk? Just thinking out loud, but there is a drop in 'star' players being drafted. None of those you metioned will ever be stars. Well - maybe Rubio.

Hate to nitpick, but isn't Yao's first name Ming? I thought Yao was his last name.

Yes.

To nitpicking and his name. Chinese surnames are first.

[s e n s i]

I am going to straight-up call you out here...your track record in terms of prospect analysis has been poor. Rubio, Henderson, Thabeet...to name a few, all players you thought had no bust potential, look at em now. You were also pretty wrong about Derozan, as you wrote him off before he even played an NBA game. You wanted nothing to do with Tyreke Evans who was deservedly the ROY last year and has had a down season this year because of injury.

But hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day...so who knows, right?

Whoa whoa whoa. I don't remember pushing Thabeet. I might have said if he falls to 9 or 10 it might be worth it but I don't remember talking about him at all that draft. He wasn't falling to us and it didn't matter.

Yea I'd take him at 3. A defensively competant center is THE most important position in the game, and well, we don't have one. Basically every championship team has had a big defensive presence down low. I think both Thabeet's bust possibility and upside are overblown.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=903575&start=15

Hendo over Derozan, sure. It's not like he's playing worse at this point, despite half as many minutes in his career. I also had Jennings #1 on my big board at 9, and said Lawson, Clark, Teague and Budinger were the most underrated non lotto guys. Looks like I went 50% on that so far but we'll see, it's still early and Clark and Teague haven't gotten much PT.

I'd love to pick Earl Clark, I think his all-star potential is being hugely, HUGELY underrated right now.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=904939&p=19871041

Teague > Derozan and Evans IMO.....After Griffin and Harden, he probably has the best chance of being a 20ppg guy.

viewtopic.php?t=905304

Yea, 2/4 here. It's not so much about your general predictions but rather your evaluation of said players' talent and potential. You whiffed pretty badly on those, but you were right about Jennings and Hill though.

I hated Terrence Williams

I like T Will, I do. But 9 is a stretch. I can't see the argument over Henderson, if they're both in similar 'great role player' molds... Henderson is younger and blows away T Will offensively.

I loved Rubio but who didn't?

I didn't. Neither did quite a few posters as they thought he was the most overrated prospect in the draft.

I didn't argue as much in 10 about the rankings but was higher on Monroe than everyone and said he was the 2nd or 3rd best prospect after Wall. I said Favors was overrated and hated the Udoh and Hayward picks like everyone else. I liked Patterson more than most. I missed on Evan Turner (though it's still early), Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich like everyone else.

No, not like everyone else. I was lukewarm about Turner, hated the thought of picking Henry, and didn't give a crap about Aldrich...a few other posters shared the same sentiments.

I think I gauged Tyreke's NBA career 100% right and wouldn't want him for free as of today.

Tyreke is on track to be one of those best player on a 25 win team guys. He needs to dominate the ball except he's not good enough for it to work. He'll get his 18-20ppg with a crappy efficiency and killing the flow of the offense, but hey, he'll be the "franchise".

If you like Rudy Gay and Al Thornton, you'll like Tyreke. If you're like me and think Joey Graham is more valuable than those two players, then join me by saying NO THANK YOU.

So I guess you were right about Tyreke, though if we acquired him today he'd instantly be our best asset and arguably most talented player. But then you also said Joey Graham is more valuable than someone other than Stephen Graham, so you lose a couple points there.

Fittingly I think my most regrettable stance was being anti Derozan now that Hendo's playing well, but otherwise I don't think my track record is anything to sniff against

I'd say you're straddling the mendoza line with last years projections. I will keep track of how you do this year, if you insist on continually making outlandish assumptions and predictions, such as labeling Barnes a bust.

[Prestige]

Some of the suggestions on the Suns board about trading us Nash for our pick are just laughable:

Toronto: Bayless/Johnson/Johnson/1st for Nash/Lopez.

I like this one:

Nash, Lopez, our first FOR

Bargani, Bayless, and their first ( 4 or 5)

With that we draft Kemba or Knight

Nash + Lopez to Toronto for Davis + 1st rd pick.

Toronto gets to move Baragnani to his natural position and they get a young center in Lopez.

Also Nash can run pick & pop with Bargnani all day and it will speed up the Raptors young players developing process.

[Dr Positivity]

Honestly had no idea I'd said anything positive about Thabeet. Whoops! I didn't take a particular stance about him like Hendo tho

I must have flip flopped on T Will a bit because I was dishing hate here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=915556&start=0 I think lemondrop either made me hate him more or like him more

I'm not saying my record is my perfect, but saying someone's a Mendoza like evaluator because they liked Teague and Clark is seriously stretching it. On that note those guys are far from lost causes so far. Anyways if you want to see one of my really bad threads, here you go: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=913392&start=0

[Dr Positivity]

And for the record on Barnes. I see a 16-18ppg, 6rpg with defense player which is valuable. At 5 or 6 he's a good pick. Just think that if Minnesota takes him over Irving, that's a very very bad Marvin Williams esque idea

[Kevin Willis]

Yeah, it sounds like Burks is a consistent/reliable jumper and a few pounds away from possibly being the best player in this draft.

I don't know much about Burks because I figured he would be low first round and now he's lotto. Why would he be a better pick than Walker or Jones.

I'm just curious because I haven't seen him play.

[5DOM]

Yeah, it sounds like Burks is a consistent/reliable jumper and a few pounds away from possibly being the best player in this draft.

I don't know much about Burks because I figured he would be low first round and now he's lotto. Why would he be a better pick than Walker or Jones.

I'm just curious because I haven't seen him play.

I only watched him once myself (his final college game) lol, so I can't really help you there.
But he's said to have

- Good length
- Explosiveness
- Lateral quickness
- Ability to create for himself and others
- Good ball handling skills
- Basketball IQ
- Court vision
- Great potential defensively

If he can knock down the jumpers and add some strength, he's like the perfect SG prospect

[Dr Positivity]

Apparantley basketball IQ and motor are question marks for Burks but the rest is true

[Reignman]

And for the record on Barnes. I see a 16-18ppg, 6rpg with defense player which is valuable. At 5 or 6 he's a good pick. Just think that if Minnesota takes him over Irving, that's a very very bad Marvin Williams esque idea

I don't see a single team out there that would take Barnes over Irving, not even Kahn. My best guess would be that Minny takes Irving #1 and then moves Rubio unless someone comes up with an offer for Irving they can't refuse.

[Alfred]

I am going to straight-up call you out here...your track record in terms of prospect analysis has been poor. Rubio, Henderson, Thabeet...to name a few, all players you thought had no bust potential, look at em now. You were also pretty wrong about Derozan, as you wrote him off before he even played an NBA game. You wanted nothing to do with Tyreke Evans who was deservedly the ROY last year and has had a down season this year because of injury.

But hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day...so who knows, right?

Whoa whoa whoa. I don't remember pushing Thabeet. I might have said if he falls to 9 or 10 it might be worth it but I don't remember talking about him at all that draft. He wasn't falling to us and it didn't matter.

Yea I'd take him at 3. A defensively competant center is THE most important position in the game, and well, we don't have one. Basically every championship team has had a big defensive presence down low. I think both Thabeet's bust possibility and upside are overblown.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=903575&start=15

Yeeeeee-OUCH.

[Cool-Hand-Luke]

lol ChoclateSensi owns Dr. Mufasa for 1 week.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

http://www.nbadraft.net/ has a top 5 of Williams, Irving, Vesely, Kanter then Burks. Valanciunas 11th.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

This is fun. What outlandish assumptions/statements can be made about this draft?

[Dr Positivity]

lol ChoclateSensi owns Dr. Mufasa for 1 week.

Well there was a lot of people less than prophetic about Thabeet in that thread

I'm right more often than not. That's enough for me.

[sunny]

Anyone who thinks its appropriate to rip on Dr. mufasa for stuff like that should GTFO of this thread.
The draft is impossible to predict. What people are discussing is given everything we have seen, what the current draft order should look like.
This thread is not making a prediction for in 5 years from now, who are the best players from the draft class. Frankly, that concept makes no sense.

Consider this statement: "wow, you're an idiot, you had Pittsburgh over Butler, obviously you know nothing about basketball because Butler is in the final four for the second time in 2 years now".