Thank Nation! Raps Pick 9th - Draft on June 23rd 8pm (Part 6)

[raptor jesus]

If Luis Scola can play PF with his speed/athleticism/lateral quickness.....then i have no doubt in my mind that Poeltl can play PF

He does a lot of things that remind me of Pau Gasol, without the ridiculous length and post game. But the face up game, mobility, touch and rebounding all remind me of Pau. I guess Pau is a guy you can play at PF, but I feel like in today's NBA, it makes more sense to have him play as a C.

Yeah, Poeltl reminds me a bit of a long lost Gasol brother because of his fluidity. Very smooth athlete for a guy his size.

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPhT_rl-FFE[/youtube]

[dalton749]

I think I have to stay with skal if nobody else falls. There's always those guys to gamble on with high upside, but most don't work out because they don't go to good situations. I think we have the perfect situation here to give a guy like that the best shot at success.
These projects always go to crappy teams when the guy can't learn how to get easy bucket in the nba, and end up in a position trying to do more than they should.

Skal is raw, but has good athleticism, size, and a jump shot. I think if anyone can, this team can find a way to bring him along smoothly. We don't need anymore role players.

[fame]

Malik Beasley admitted to having a metal rod placed in his tibia. Will probably slide in the draft but could end up being a steal late in the draft.
[url]
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-draft-big-board-likely-first-rounder-reveals-he-had-metal-rod-placed-in-leg/[/url]

[CoachJReturns]

I can definitely see the Scola comparison with Poetl on offense. Has all those scoop shots and plays below the rim on offense. I dont sew any star potential really which would turn some off, but guys who aren't afraid of contact inside and mix it up usually find some minutes. He just seems unlikely to bust like a guy like Skal.

[WeTheNorth123]

I think I have to stay with skal if nobody else falls. There's always those guys to gamble on with high upside, but most don't work out because they don't go to good situations. I think we have the perfect situation here to give a guy like that the best shot at success.
These projects always go to crappy teams when the guy can't learn how to get easy bucket in the nba, and end up in a position trying to do more than they should.

Skal is raw, but has good athleticism, size, and a jump shot. I think if anyone can, this team can find a way to bring him along smoothly. We don't need anymore role players.

Apperently he did amazingly well during the Lakers workout!!

[McFurious1]

I think I have to stay with skal if nobody else falls. There's always those guys to gamble on with high upside, but most don't work out because they don't go to good situations. I think we have the perfect situation here to give a guy like that the best shot at success.
These projects always go to crappy teams when the guy can't learn how to get easy bucket in the nba, and end up in a position trying to do more than they should.

Skal is raw, but has good athleticism, size, and a jump shot. I think if anyone can, this team can find a way to bring him along smoothly. We don't need anymore role players.

Apperently he did amazingly well during the Lakers workout!!

I think Skal has bust written all over him. Hasn't done anything banking on potential.

[dalton749]

I think I have to stay with skal if nobody else falls. There's always those guys to gamble on with high upside, but most don't work out because they don't go to good situations. I think we have the perfect situation here to give a guy like that the best shot at success.
These projects always go to crappy teams when the guy can't learn how to get easy bucket in the nba, and end up in a position trying to do more than they should.

Skal is raw, but has good athleticism, size, and a jump shot. I think if anyone can, this team can find a way to bring him along smoothly. We don't need anymore role players.

Apperently he did amazingly well during the Lakers workout!!

I think Skal has bust written all over him. Hasn't done anything banking on potential.

The odds are certainly high. But there's no pressure of being a lottery pick coming here because we don't need him to produce right away. We have a group of good guys to keep him on track, multiple young guys for him to work with in the same situation, a dleague team for him to go down and work on his game, and solid vet players to get him easy looks when he does see minutes.

If you can get him playing hard on defense(which Casey will force him to), battle on the defensive glass, and have him set picks and take open shots, there's no reason why he can't develop into something really good.

[MEDIC]

I've tried time and time again to deny the legitimacy of Jakob Poeltl, but I give up. The way the draft board is projected, if he's there at 9 I don't see how we pass on him.

I've been looking at videos of this kid and I noticed that he's fairly quick. I'll make a quickness comparison to a former Raptor; Andrea Bargnani. Poeltl looks to have similar quickness to that Italian sack of crap who just happened to play PF. So that leads me to believe that if Poeltl continues to develop that 3 point jumper that he started to show in workouts I don't see a problem playing him WITH Jonas.

Look at the quickness he displays on the fastbreak in this video, in addition to the blocked shots.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqhAnaP-hCw[/youtube]

The Bargnani comparison (as cringe worthy as it is) is actually an excellent one in regards to his size & mobility. Good call.

Bargnani with heart & toughness would be a hell of a player. Poeltl is way ahead of where rookie Bargnani was in terms of offensive skill set. Especially in the post.

I think Jakobs body is more NBA ready than rookie Bargnani's as well.

For Poeltl to come from a completely non basketball country & become as skilled as he has become.....it's pretty damn impressive. He interviews very well & sounds like a focused, hard worker.

[vdhawan17]

Poeltl does a really great job of moving to an open spot to when guards drive. Always seems to find a spot that gives him some room and makes the pass easier for the guard. Can tell he is a high BBIQ player.

My big board right now is:
1.Furkan - Shooting is at a premium in todays league and Furkan might be the best pure shooter in the draft
2.Poeltl - High floor, looks NBA ready but doesnt have that crazy potential imo.
3.Davis - Length and athletism
4.Prince- Same as Poeltl. High floor, low ceiling
5.Ellenson - Would hate this pick, but can see why GMs and scouts like him. Good offensive player.

**list is based on nobody in the top 8 falls**

[DreamTeam09]

You really think poeltl n JV could ever really share the floor together? Skal n Chriss have a way better shot at the 4 spot longterm than poeltl can.

Skal has a better shots covering the small 4s n tweeners compared to poeltl. Ya'all trying to fit a square into a round hole.

No point on taking a 5 when we have JV.

[raptor jesus]

You really think poeltl n JV could ever really share the floor together? Skal n Chriss have a way better shot at the 4 spot longterm than poeltl can.

Skal has a better shots covering the small 4s n tweeners compared to poeltl. Ya'all trying to fit a square into a round hole.

No point on taking a 5 when we have JV.

That's the same logic that leads to taking Drummond over Ross.

[MavCarter]

You really think poeltl n JV could ever really share the floor together? Skal n Chriss have a way better shot at the 4 spot longterm than poeltl can.

Skal has a better shots covering the small 4s n tweeners compared to poeltl. Ya'all trying to fit a square into a round hole.

No point on taking a 5 when we have JV.

Ya no point in taking a bust in skal either

[RaptorsLife]

Poelti is not Drummond potential. Of we passed on jamal Murry or Kristen Dunn if they dropped. Because of Lowry would be similer

[MikeM]

Poeltl is not a PF come on. Cant guard the position. Look at where the league is trending. Poeltl is basically at peak athleticism right now, as he ages foot speed will decrease while the NBA might get smaller.

The NBA is basically a match or mismatch league right now. You cant do anything with players that can be so easily disadvantaged with mismatches.

A guy like Kevin Love is not even useful anymore. Theres a clear direction of where the NBA is going.

I would actually say Skal has lower bust potential because his athleticism + rim protection + jump shooting will guarantee he is a rotation player in the future.

[nowayguy]

Poelti is not Drummond potential. Of we passed on jamal Murry or Kristen Dunn if they dropped. Because of Lowry would be similer

Not really, the point is if Poetl if is the top guy available on the Raps board, management should take him. I'd rather have an above average center playing backup minutes than a medicore starting power forward.

[Syd-TK3]

I don't see what's so great about poeltl looks pretty average
Not sure how he's considered the BPA at our pick

[RaptorsLife]

Poelti is not Drummond potential. Of we passed on jamal Murry or Kristen Dunn if they dropped. Because of Lowry would be similer

Not really, the point is if Poetl if is the top guy available on the Raps board, management should take him. I'd rather have an above average center playing backup minutes than a medicore starting power forward.

That's exactly it. Whoever raptors have as the top player avaliable they will choose not who Draft express, nba Draft.Net or Chad Ford. So whoever we pick just accept it and trust masai judge ment

[CoachJReturns]

Poetl actually has decent foot speed for a center and in DX preseason scouting video he shows some nice pick snd roll defence. Not sold on him seeing any significant playing time with JV, but as I mentioned earlier if Masai takes him I think it's for his value as an asset. A center who can rebound, defend the pick and roll, has great hands and finishes well sounds like an NBA caliber player. Something that hasn't been discussed much is he apparently is a very good pick snd roll finisher. He dives to the rim quickly snd seems to catch everything thrown his way. If he can continue to improve that mid range shot of his he would be similar to JV on offense which I like. I'm quite sure that this team needs to run the ball inside out more and having a starting center and backup center with similar offensive strengths could be lead us in that direction, or I hope it would.
Realistically, Poetl won't see more than 10-15 minutes beside JV, but as others have mentioned he is still quicker than Scola was.

One question for the Skal fans that hasn't been asked to my knowledge:

Are there any great players or even NBA starters who were as awful in their freshman season as Skal was? And don't say Drummond. He was underwhelming, but not as bad as Skal. I honestly can't think of anyone who has become a star or at least a starter who sucked as much as he did in college. If we take Skal be prepared for some Bruno level growing pains. I mentioned it before but s lot of his strengths are the same as Bruno's if we called him a face up 4 and he has similar weaknesses as well. Nothing wrong with that, but everyone thinking he has such high star potential is very likely setting themselves up for disappointment. There have been some guys with ad much physical talent as Skal who had better collegiate careers and busted or disappointed mightily. I'm just curious why some are totally sold on the guy. Heck some have given up on Bruno already who is only 6 months older than Skal and did a lot more in D League this past year than Skal did in college against other kids.

[CoachJReturns]

Poelti is not Drummond potential. Of we passed on jamal Murry or Kristen Dunn if they dropped. Because of Lowry would be similer

Not really, the point is if Poetl if is the top guy available on the Raps board, management should take him. I'd rather have an above average center playing backup minutes than a medicore starting power forward.

That's exactly it. Whoever raptors have as the top player avaliable they will choose not who Draft express, nba Draft.Net or Chad Ford. So whoever we pick just accept it and trust masai judge ment

I think of Rabb had declared he might be the pick, but he didn't so brace yourselves. We could very well have multiple young players at the same position. That's fine. We have Ross, Patterson, Bebe, Cojo, Delon, the Raptors 2016 and 2017 picks and the Clippers 2017 pick to find a decent upgrade at power forward. No point in wasting the team's highest pick for the next several seasons on someone mediocre just because we don't want overlap. Poetl isn't a physical beast like Drummond, but if he was a Lopez brother level center, that's a solid asset. Half the team's on the league would use a solid young center. He would have nice value.