Raptors Draft Bruno Caboclo (DX Scouting Video on Pg. 1)

[Ramako]

From Mitch Lawrence:

So basically confirming that Ujiri is working harder than most of the NBA. Love it.

Yeah, along with the fact that there is probably a 99% chance he would have been there at #37.

But what bothers me most is Masai's changed tone regarding the #20 pick. Since being hired, Masai has continually stressed the value of draft picks and (in obvious reference to Colangelo) has emphasized the necessity of not wasting/throwing away said picks. Now, after selecting Bruno at #20, he has been harping on about how it is only the 20th pick and if Bruno doesn't pan out, well, you can't really expect much from #20 anyway. While I am excited to follow Bruno's development (or lack thereof), I think Masai became a bit too invested (emotionally) in Bruno, leading to an irrational selection at #20.

Masai's talk about not throwing away/wasting picks referred to BC's practice of tossing in picks as sweeteners in trades for mediocre players, not the quality of players that BC picked (which was actually pretty decent). It's absolutely true that you can't expect much from the 20th pick. For this pick to be a winner, all Bingo Copacabana needs to do is turn into a rotation player.

[inthecolours]

From Mitch Lawrence:

Try finding a GM who thinks that Toronto made a good move by taking Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick. It’s virtually impossible. It’s not that scouts didn’t know about Caboclo, a 6-9 Brazilian forward. “Don’t even know if he’s a second-rounder,” said one personnel man who studied Caboclo on tape.

Don't know how much stock to really put into anything Lawrence says. From the same article...

Tell me again how Orlando traded Aaron Afflalo to Denver and got back Evan Fornier (who?) and a second-round pick.

C'mon now....Fournier didn't have a great season, but he's not a totally unknown asset.

The Hawks might not have to worry about deciding whether they should finish in eighth place anymore. Drafting Michigan State center Adreian Payne will allow them to put Al Horford back at his natural power forward spot.

I'm sure that Payne can play C in some lineups, but he's pretty much universally regarded as a PF.

Or maybe I'm just hoping he's clueless...because he says this later...

Once the Heat gets Kyle Lowry in free agency, then LeBron James just has to find a player or two with size and the Heat will be on its way to nailing down its fifth straight Eastern Conference crown. Adding Toronto’s guard and getting Shabazz Napier is already an upgrade over Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole. ...

Haha. Good on you for having the patience to go through this guy's piece.

Re: Fournier. It's funny how we always talk about sophomore slumps being normal, but then when players go through them, we write them off. Fournier was considered a big up and comer in 2012. I don't see why that should change.

Sooo Payne is starting at C, Horford at PF, and Millsap off the bench? OK Horford is more a C than Payne is.

I find it very difficult to believe that no team would have drafted Bruno if they knew about him. His handler said that 5-7 teams came down to scout him, which means that he wasn't widely known. There were whispers that PHX or Utah would snag him in the later 20s. We're talking about an 18-year-old kid, possibly still growing, with one of the biggest wingspans in the league, a nice 3pt shot, shot-blocking ability, and some court awareness as demonstrated through nice outlet passes. I can't fault anyone if they want to look for a more immediate rotation player at 20, but if you're going to go pure upside, I can't think of a better pick.

[Tortiglioni]

Yeah, along with the fact that there is probably a 99% chance he would have been there at #37.

But what bothers me most is Masai's changed tone regarding the #20 pick. Since being hired, Masai has continually stressed the value of draft picks and (in obvious reference to Colangelo) has emphasized the necessity of not wasting/throwing away said picks. Now, after selecting Bruno at #20, he has been harping on about how it is only the 20th pick and if Bruno doesn't pan out, well, you can't really expect much from #20 anyway. While I am excited to follow Bruno's development (or lack thereof), I think Masai became a bit too invested (emotionally) in Bruno, leading to an irrational selection at #20.

No, you've misunderstood. He's talking about the point of a risk/reward pick in a range where most players don't even crack a rotation. If he didn't value the pick, he wouldn't have travelled to Brazil 3 times to see a kid that didn't declare for the draft until late April. The rest of the league risk looking foolish for not doing their homework, while Ujiri looks foolish for not following consensus. Ujiri's been mostly successful in his NBA career. He gets the benefit of the doubt here, not whomever some New York hack is talking to.

Nah, I've understood quite well. Masai claims to have had Bruno as the BPA when the Raptors were one the board at #20, so clearly they think highly of him and believe he is worth the risk. I respect that. I simply ask that a GM stand by his selection and not use the fact he was taken at #20 as a means of deferring responsibility (re: talent evaluation) if things don't pan out down the road.

[MEDIC]

From Mitch Lawrence:

Try finding a GM who thinks that Toronto made a good move by taking Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick. It’s virtually impossible. It’s not that scouts didn’t know about Caboclo, a 6-9 Brazilian forward. “Don’t even know if he’s a second-rounder,” said one personnel man who studied Caboclo on tape.

I wonder what everyone would be saying had the Spurs picked him with their 1st rounder........

[Tacoma]

...I probably would have been overjoyed if we landed Ennis at 20 and this kid at 22 (as was the rumored plan).

Unless someone has a direct quote from Masai or Casey to the contrary, lets nip this "rumour" in the bud. According to Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun:

"Plan A, according to head coach Dwane Casey was to take Ennis at 20 and then get Caboclo with the 37th overall pick."

Like all other previous Raptors attempt to get more 1st round picks, it failed. According to Casey, #22 was not an option. So if the feeling was that Caboclo was not going to fall to #37, then Masai should have realized his Plan A was more of a wish list than a plan. Or maybe he was still evaluating.

[bigscrims]

Haha. Good on you for having the patience to go through this guy's piece.

Re: Fournier. It's funny how we always talk about sophomore slumps being normal, but then when players go through them, we write them off. Fournier was considered a big up and comer in 2012. I don't see why that should change.

Sooo Payne is starting at C, Horford at PF, and Millsap off the bench? OK Horford is more a C than Payne is.

Not even. Lawrency outlines a C-Payne PF-Horford SF-Millsap frontline as being one of the best in the league. For sure a talented frontline, but not quite one that fits real well. Probably exposes Millsap on the defensive end against quicker forwards, and takes away his advantage matched up against slower PFs.

[inthecolours]

Haha. Good on you for having the patience to go through this guy's piece.

Re: Fournier. It's funny how we always talk about sophomore slumps being normal, but then when players go through them, we write them off. Fournier was considered a big up and comer in 2012. I don't see why that should change.

Sooo Payne is starting at C, Horford at PF, and Millsap off the bench? OK Horford is more a C than Payne is.

Not even. Lawrency outlines a C-Payne PF-Horford SF-Millsap frontline as being one of the best in the league. For sure a talented frontline, but not quite one that fits real well. Probably exposes Millsap on the defensive end against quicker forwards, and takes away his advantage matched up against slower PFs.

That is...hilarious.

For the record, I love the Payne pick. I think he'll be a great first big off the bench. But that has to be his role, doesn't it?

[bigscrims]

Not even. Lawrency outlines a C-Payne PF-Horford SF-Millsap frontline as being one of the best in the league. For sure a talented frontline, but not quite one that fits real well. Probably exposes Millsap on the defensive end against quicker forwards, and takes away his advantage matched up against slower PFs.

That is...hilarious.

For the record, I love the Payne pick. I think he'll be a great first big off the bench. But that has to be his role, doesn't it?

I'm with you, I like Payne's game as well. However, provided Horford and Millsap are still there, I think that has to be his role. I think he has starting potential, but not over those two guys. As for guarding the C spot, one of the knocks on him in college was that he struggled holding his position in the post on both ends. I see him struggling, at least initially, to hold his position against the bigger 4s in the NBA, let alone 5s.

[SirKen]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109067/

Was I the only one who thought of this movie after a quick google search to see what kind of player Bruno was?

[Boogie!]

I hate that clown fraschilla for saying they call him the "brazilian KD". He got that sh** from some random dude who used it as youtube clip title. Now the casual idiot fans will call him a bust if he isn't a superstar

anyone that is seriously referring to a 20th pick as a BUST though, is overreacting. if bruno was taken top 10 and sucked, that's definitely bust material. 20th, not so much.

[chuckdevlin]

IMO his basement cant be anything lower than great bench player/decent starter

[Maternal]

If you can't take a gamble with the 20th pick, when the hell can you ? He's 6'9 and possibly still growing, a respectable NBA shot at the age of 18, pretty good athlete, etc. Get him on a good weight program, hire basketball specialists to help him with certain parts of his game, and throw him to the wolves (DD,Lowry, JV, etc) during practice. In 4 years if he's not a star or respectable player then so be it. But if he even ends up being a 6th man then what a steal. But people need to stop overreacting. We didn't draft him over Wiggins for goodness sakes. In today's NBA where 18/19 year olds declare for the draft nowadays, GM's have no choice but to draft based on potential. And that's what BC did. Lastly regardless of his stats, he was still an 18 year old who was playing against grown men and former NBA players.

[gutobr]

Bruno blocked 7 times in a game of our Development League last year (U23 players)

was against Bauru I think.

[gutobr]

Bruno blocked 7 times in a game of our Development League last year (U23 players)

was against Bauru I think.

2.4 blocks per game its his average in 31 games (the scond, behind Ronald, with 2.46, and 3 years older)

28 minutes

14.5PPG (18), 6.84RPG (29)

Cristiano Felicio (one of guys that you list for the summer) had 13.75RPG and 19PPG in 35 minutes, Cristiano is 1992.

to take as an parameter

[bigmandinky]

NbaDraft.net actually compares him to Serge Ibaka, which does make some sense considering he seems to have a pretty broad frame that he could put a lot of muscle on and good shot blocking instincts. Thats whats most intersting about Bruno IMO, the fact that he could develop into almost any type of player he wants. He seems to have a very well rounded, albeit raw skillset at only 18 years of age to go with an incredible frame. He has the length, broad frame, rebounding, and shot blocking instincts to be an interior defender. He also has the length, high release, and promising jumper to be a strech 4. And while his handles are raw, he seems to have the quickness and basketball IQ to be a big scoring threat at the 3, hell, he's even got some good looking hook shots.

4 years from now can't come soon enough!

[MEDIC]

NbaDraft.net actually compares him to Serge Ibaka, which does make some sense considering he seems to have a pretty broad frame that he could put a lot of muscle on and good shot blocking instincts. Thats whats most intersting about Bruno IMO, the fact that he could develop into almost any type of player he wants. He seems to have a very well rounded, albeit raw skillset at only 18 years of age to go with an incredible frame. He has the length, broad frame, rebounding, and shot blocking instincts to be an interior defender. He also has the length, high release, and promising jumper to be a strech 4. And while his handles are raw, he seems to have the quickness and basketball IQ to be a big scoring threat at the 3, hell, he's even got some good looking hook shots.

4 years from now can't come soon enough!

I guess that's why this pick was criticized by so many. It is really hard to gage what we have on our hands. Raw, skinnykid that can't speak english, hasn't played high level competition, only started playing 5 years ago, nobody knows how his frame is going to fill out, nobody knows if or when he will stop growing. That's the big mystery.......nobody can gage where this kid will be in 4 years. It's going to take him 2 years to simply be comfortable in his surroundings.

I really like the pick, but I can see the issues others may have. Especially for a team that is expected to try to advance in the playoffs next year.

We just got even younger though.........a team that was already young. We have a really interesting collection of young talent on this team. If we can re-sign Lowry, this team will be in good shape for years to come. Excellent mix of veteran players & youth. The best position you can be in is to be winning while also having multiple youngsters with upside.

[gerrit4]

I'm fine with the pick, at least until I see him more.

I think the reason that MU isn't boasting about how he outsmarted the league is this:

This won't be the last time we reach on a guy like Bruno. I think there are future draft picks that will be like this, and the reality is that I think Masaii realizes that only 1 in 3 Brunos may turn into a star player. So if he gets two more guys like this in future drafts, and one of them (even if it isn't Bruno) really pans out while the other two bust, it could still be better than three years of safe picks. I really don't think Masaii feels it is a guarantee that Bruno becomes a good player, but if he keeps taking high risk/high reward players then eventually one will out weigh the others. It's a gamblers mentality, kind of like losing $100,00 four of five nights, and winning a million on the other night.

Obviously 1 in 3 Brunos is a completely made up number. My point is that the reason Masaii isn't acting like Bruno is the second coming of Jordan is that there is a very high risk of failure.

[MEDIC]

T-mac same age:

[Joker]

So if he gets two more guys like this in future drafts, and one of them (even if it isn't Bruno) really pans out while the other two bust, it could still be better than three years of safe picks.

At the #20 range, is there even such thing as a "safe" pick?

I think a false choice is presented between unknown w/ high potential vs. known reliable commodity. At #20, it's always a crapshoot, whether you pick a high schooler or a college senior, in terms of whether they're going to be an integral part of your rotation down the road.

[kidr1211]

Bruno blocked 7 times in a game of our Development League last year (U23 players)

was against Bauru I think.

He got blocked 7 times or he blocked 7 shots?