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

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Those chevrons on the back are making me feel ill. Why would you introduce our future players to this?!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Raptors/status/742448954420408320[/tweet]

yikes those are hideous. let's hope we aren't the only team sporting this look...

Seriously who the hell has been doing our marketing & branding?! Our Playoff "swag" was a flaming pile of dog crap too.

I think this was all on Adidas. They design the same crappy hats every year for all teams.

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[tweet]https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/742461707411394560[/tweet]

[TheGoodDoctor]

Dunn to Minny is a lock. They probably promised him already. As well - Forza Italia

I do think it's VERY highly likely and would be hard to imagine if he didn't land there that SAC would pass on him too.

But I will say that I don't think he's some all-star guard in the making. He's a great defender, does everything fairly well but he really isn't excellent at any one thing per say and isn't an elite athlete. I'd be a bit more excited if he was a freshman but as a junior (3rd yr) player his numbers don't really leap off the pages, in fact they're VERY comparible to DELON's.

Just saying...someone is either underrated or overrated here.

[BadWolf]

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.

Jordan

[BadWolf]

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.

Jordan

Westbrook's year one

[Stromile12]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fne9GYiguvY[/youtube]

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http://www.nba.com/news/features/david_aldridge/david-aldridge-big-board-shooting-guards-2016-nba-draft/index.html?ls=nba:specialssplit4

David Aldridge's Big Board 2016: Shooting Guards
RANK | NAME | SCHOOL/TEAM | CLASS/AGE | HT | WT > PROJECTED
1. Buddy Hield | Oklahoma | Senior | 6-5 | 212 | High-Mid Lottery
2. Denzel Valentine | Michigan St. | Senior | 6-5¾ | 210 | Late Lottery
3. Timothe Luwawu | Mega Leks | 20 | 6-7 | 200 | Mid-First
4. Malik Beasley | Florida St. | Freshman | 6-4½ | 190 | Mid-First
5. Furkan Korkmaz | Anadolu Efes | 18 | 6-7| 175 | Mid-First
6. Patrick McCaw | UNLV | Sophomore | 6-6¾ | 181 | Late First
7. Wayne Selden | Kansas | Junior | 6-5¾ | 232 | Late First
8. Caris LeVert | Michigan | Senior | 6-7 | 191 | Late 1st/Early 2nd
9. Grayson Allen * | Duke | Sophomore | 6-5 | 205 | Late 1st/Early 2nd
10. Malcolm Brogdon | Virginia | Senior | 6-5½ | 223 | Late 1st/Early 2nd

David Aldridge's Big Board 2016: Point Guards
RANK | NAME | SCHOOL/TEAM | CLASS/AGE | HT | WT > Projected
1. Kris Dunn | Providence | Junior | 6-4¼ | 220 > High lottery
2. Jamal Murray | Kentucky | Freshman | 6-4 | 207 > High/mid lottery
3. Tyler Ulis | Kentucky | Sophomore | 5-10 | 149 > Mid-first round
4. Dejounte Murray | Washington | Freshman | 6-4 | 170 > Mid-first round
5. Kay Felder | Oakland | Junior | 5-9½ | 177 > Late first round/Early second round
6. Demetrius Jackson | Notre Dame | Junior | 6-1¼ | 194 > Late first round/Early second round
7. Melo Trimble * | Maryland | Sophomore | 6-2½ | 192 > Second round
8. Tyrone Wallace | California | Senior | 6-5 | 205 > Second round
9. Monte Morris | Iowa State | Junior | 6-3 | 175 > Second round
10. Anthony Barber | N.C. State | Junior | 6-2 | 190 > Second round

David Aldridge's Big Board 2016: Power Forwards
RANK | NAME | SCHOOL/TEAM | CLASS/AGE | HT | WT > PROJECTED
1. Ben Simmons | LSU | Freshman | 6-10 | 240 > High Lottery
2. Dragan Bender | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 18 | 7-0 | 216 > High Lottery
3. Henry Ellenson | Marquette | Freshman | 6-11½ | 242 > Late Lottery
4. Marquese Chriss | Washington | Freshman | 6-10 | 233 > Mid First
5. Juan Hernangomez | Estudiantes | 20 | 6-9 | 230 > Mid-Late First
6. Skal Labissiere | Kentucky | Freshman | 6-11¾ | 215 > Mid-Late First
7. Domatas Sabonis | Gonzaga | Sophomore | 6-11 | 240 | Mid-Late First
8. Deyonta Davis | Michigan State | Freshman | 6-10½ | 237 | Mid-Late First
9. Brice Johnson | North Carolina | Senior | 6-10½ | 208 | Late First/Early Second
10. Gerschon Yabusele | Rouen (France) | 20 | 6-7 | 240 | Late First/Early Second

David Aldridge's Big Board 2016: Centers
RANK | NAME | SCHOOL/TEAM | CLASS/AGE | HT | WT > PROJECTED
1. Jakob Poeltl | Utah | Sophomore | 7-1 | 239 | Late Lottery
2. Ante Zizic | Cibona Zagreb | 19 | 6-11 | 240 | Mid/Late 1st
3. Ivica Zubac | Mega Leks | 19 | 7-1 | 240 | Mid/Late 1st
4. Diamond Stone | Maryland | Freshman | 6-10¼ | 254 | Late 1st
5. Stephen Zimmerman | UNLV | Freshman | 6-11¾ | 234 | Late 1st
6. Damian Jones | Vanderbilt | Junior | 6-11½ | 244 | Late 1st/Early 2nd
7. A.J. Hammons | Purdue | Senior | 7-0 | 250 | Late 1st/Early 2nd
8. Zhou Qi | Xingiang | 20 | 7-2¼ | 218 | Second Round
9. Chinanu Onuaku | Louisville | Sophomore | 6-10 | 245 | Second Round

[Double Helix]

Locked On and Draft Express have a podcast out about the wow factor of picks 1-8 today. Listening now. So far so good.

They will be doing a second one for picks 9-30 tomorrow.

Host talks about Norman Powell a couple times as well.

[RaptorReloaded]

Locked On and Draft Express have a podcast out about the wow factor of picks 1-8 today. Listening now. So far so good.

They will be doing a second one for picks 9-30 tomorrow.

Host talks about Norman Powell a couple times as well.

What did he say about Pow?

[Mark_83]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Utah supposed to be in a weak college conference facing weaker competition.

[CoachJReturns]

I have no idea how likely it is, but I'm all for trading 9th for 15 and 19 to take Maker and any of Korkmaz, Prince, Jackson, Sabonis, Luwawu or whoever falls.
I like Korkmaz the most, but Maker sounded like a grown man in his interview. Makes it hard to not like the guy.

[Double Helix]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Utah supposed to be in a weak college conference facing weaker competition.

Nope. The Pac12 is decent. The overrated conference is actually the WCC where Sabonis posted his big stats. With the exception of Nash there really hasn't been a notable star from the WCC I can think of since Nash. Before him it was Stockton. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant about Sabonis. Olynyk dominated the WCC too and we see how he looks as a pro. (Solid but nothing special).

Here's a list of current and former Pac12 players who play(ed) in the NBA for reference:
http://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Pacific-12-Conference/7/nba-players

[Double Helix]

Locked On and Draft Express have a podcast out about the wow factor of picks 1-8 today. Listening now. So far so good.

They will be doing a second one for picks 9-30 tomorrow.

Host talks about Norman Powell a couple times as well.

What did he say about Pow?

Basically that he liked him last year and likes older second round picks. Said he wasn't sure if what we saw of Powell this year was the extent of what we'll see out of him as a pro and also mentioned a player out of Cal who he saw as this year's Norman Powell (though not necessarily for the same reasons).

[PoundTown]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Utah supposed to be in a weak college conference facing weaker competition.

Nope. The Pac12 is decent. The overrated conference is actually the WCC where Sabonis posted his big stats. With the exception of Nash there really hasn't been a notable star from the WCC I can think of since Nash. Before him it was Stockton. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant about Sabonis. Olynyk dominated the WCC too and we see how he looks as a pro. (Solid but nothing special).

Here's a list of current and former Pac12 players who play(ed) in the NBA for reference:
http://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Pacific-12-Conference/7/nba-players

Good point, which I have never thought of before. Dellavadova did quite well in the WCC as well. I don't think Damantas will be a star, but I could see him be as effective as a prime Scola, which is very good. His footwork and mobility to me is definitely good enough where I am fairly certain he won't be a liability. The thing I don't like is as a small ball C, he will provide very little shotblocking.

[Too Late Crew]

I have no idea how likely it is, but I'm all for trading 9th for 15 and 19 to take Maker and any of Korkmaz, Prince, Jackson, Sabonis, Luwawu or whoever falls.
I like Korkmaz the most, but Maker sounded like a grown man in his interview. Makes it hard to not like the guy.

He might be a grown man for all we know. He might be 30 years old

In all seriousness I can't tell you how much I don't want Maker.
I'm not too worried about it since Masia has been pretty up front that we don't need any more projects. He's try to build the Raptors into champs not build the 905 into the Dleague champs.
Only thing maker would be good for would be to give Bruno someone to beat up on in practice.

[MavCarter]

Im trying to be open minded about skal because of all the physical tools and the shooting stroke but his 6 pt 3 REB college career is scaring me. 3rebs a game while you're bigger than a lot of guys is pretty bad

[nabbs]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/742506468868395008[/tweet]

[OAKLEY_2]

Im trying to be open minded about skal because of all the physical tools and the shooting stroke but his 6 pt 3 REB college career is scaring me. 3rebs a game while you're bigger than a lot of guys is pretty bad

Maker and Skal are wastes of time.

[MavCarter]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/742506468868395008[/tweet]

This is why its so important to draft well. Chicago drafted him 30th and now has teams calling begging for him with the 3rd and 5th pick

[CoachJReturns]

I have no idea how likely it is, but I'm all for trading 9th for 15 and 19 to take Maker and any of Korkmaz, Prince, Jackson, Sabonis, Luwawu or whoever falls.
I like Korkmaz the most, but Maker sounded like a grown man in his interview. Makes it hard to not like the guy.

He might be a grown man for all we know. He might be 30 years old

In all seriousness I can't tell you how much I don't want Maker.
I'm not too worried about it since Masia has been pretty up front that we don't need any more projects. He's try to build the Raptors into champs not build the 905 into the Dleague champs.
Only thing maker would be good for would be to give Bruno someone to beat up on in practice.

This team has a very small window to contend. If a championship or making the finals were the goal Masai would be trading every pick because none will put this team over the top. The team needs a superstar, not another role player. We already have a very deep bench. Guys who can contribute right away won't make the difference against Lebron.