Official 2022 Draft Thread

[Indeed]

Keep dreaming man. lol it’s so funny all these people begging to trade Siakam just to clear space for Barnes. Soon as Barnes is in year 4 and doesn’t live up to your expectations I guess we gonna trade him too and make room for whatever shiny new prospect is on the bench.


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Trading Siakam for McCollum isn't a knock on Siakam it's praise for McCollum who is able to also play backup PG (which he does when Lillard is out). This positionally balances both teams. Powell starts at SG and frees up more PT for Simons.

Something like Siakam and Flynn for McCollum, filler and 2022 1st pick (top 4 protected). Maybe this trade is done during the draft if the Blazers don't move up into the top 4.

PG Lillard - Flynn
SG Powell - Simons
SF Covington - Powell
PF Siakam - Little
C Nurkic - Nance Jr

PG FVV - McCollum - Banton - DJ
SG McCollum - Trent - 1st pick (Por)
SF OG - Trent - Champ
PF Barnes - Yuta - 1st pick (Tor)
C Precious - Birch

Either you guys refuse to see the kind of players Masai likes or you don’t. lol I’ll give you a shiny dollar if Masai trades pascal for McCollum.


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I think someone like Haywood being a cheaper option as well may work better for us
This won't cost us Siakam, I suppose, and we add shooting with a 6'8

[Madhouse]

Siakam is also a perfect here with Barnes and OG.
And you got to wonder if Portland thinks Siakam worth more than McCollum.

We don't know if he's a perfect fit yet. But even if he is, Barnes is so much younger and recalibrating around him being a genuine star you can contend around in 3-4 years is probable enough that moving Siakam still wouldn't shock me.

I can't imagine Portland wouldn't love to trade McCollum for Siakam. Lillard-Powell-Little-Siakam-Nurkic with Nance, Covington and Simons off the bench actually might be a good defensive team and more balanced on O (which they must want since they brought in Billups who talked a ton about it even though Portland scored fine by letting the guards and Nurk do it all) and Siakam is 3 years younger. The pick might be too rich a price, but I think Siakam would be a great get for them. He could play the 3,4 and 5 there in different lineups and give Lillard a shot to win some playoff series, which seems unlikely at the moment, even if they rally for the play-in.

Keep dreaming man. lol it’s so funny all these people begging to trade Siakam just to clear space for Barnes. Soon as Barnes is in year 4 and doesn’t live up to your expectations I guess we gonna trade him too and make room for whatever shiny new prospect is on the bench.


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what are your longterm expectations for Barnes?

[youngRAPZ]

We don't know if he's a perfect fit yet. But even if he is, Barnes is so much younger and recalibrating around him being a genuine star you can contend around in 3-4 years is probable enough that moving Siakam still wouldn't shock me.

I can't imagine Portland wouldn't love to trade McCollum for Siakam. Lillard-Powell-Little-Siakam-Nurkic with Nance, Covington and Simons off the bench actually might be a good defensive team and more balanced on O (which they must want since they brought in Billups who talked a ton about it even though Portland scored fine by letting the guards and Nurk do it all) and Siakam is 3 years younger. The pick might be too rich a price, but I think Siakam would be a great get for them. He could play the 3,4 and 5 there in different lineups and give Lillard a shot to win some playoff series, which seems unlikely at the moment, even if they rally for the play-in.

Keep dreaming man. lol it’s so funny all these people begging to trade Siakam just to clear space for Barnes. Soon as Barnes is in year 4 and doesn’t live up to your expectations I guess we gonna trade him too and make room for whatever shiny new prospect is on the bench.


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what are your longterm expectations for Barnes?

I think he has the tools to become top 10-15 player in the league. But my honest “expectations” is for him to be at least an all star level player. If he exceeds that and gets to his maximum potential then I’ll be ecstatic but anyone here who thinks he is gonna be a top 10 player guaranteed is setting themselves up for disappointment. And with that disappointment will come the haters. It’s happened every single time with every single player drafted by the raptors.

DD - once heir Canada then all of a sudden everyone hated him

Tross - once deemed to have more potential than Derozan and a sure all star because of his shooting and athleticism.

norm - also had a bunch of people claiming he would be better than Derozan

Siakam - everyone hyped him up and now because he’s not a number 1 option which we all should’ve known now he has to go

Og - same thing people hyping him up as the next KL lol let’s be honest he’s more Ron artest and I don’t ever see him getting to KL but no reason to hate and say he needs to be traded

So it’s pretty easy for me to see that once Barnes doesn’t become KL half the board will turn on him too.

I’m happy with where all 4 core players are currently and see all 4 improving, but SB is far from being the best player on the team atm and I think like everyone else he should be allowed to develop at his own pace and not be forced into a number 1 role like Siakam was and thus being overwhelmed and stagnating. He’ll get his shot when ready.


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[Ell Curry]

Keep dreaming man. lol it’s so funny all these people begging to trade Siakam just to clear space for Barnes. Soon as Barnes is in year 4 and doesn’t live up to your expectations I guess we gonna trade him too and make room for whatever shiny new prospect is on the bench.


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Trading Siakam for McCollum isn't a knock on Siakam it's praise for McCollum who is able to also play backup PG (which he does when Lillard is out). This positionally balances both teams. Powell starts at SG and frees up more PT for Simons.

Something like Siakam and Flynn for McCollum, filler and 2022 1st pick (top 4 protected). Maybe this trade is done during the draft if the Blazers don't move up into the top 4.

PG Lillard - Flynn
SG Powell - Simons
SF Covington - Powell
PF Siakam - Little
C Nurkic - Nance Jr

PG FVV - McCollum - Banton - DJ
SG McCollum - Trent - 1st pick (Por)
SF OG - Trent - Champ
PF Barnes - Yuta - 1st pick (Tor)
C Precious - Birch

Either you guys refuse to see the kind of players Masai likes or you don’t. lol I’ll give you a shiny dollar if Masai trades pascal for McCollum.


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I agree that we'd look for a 3 way deal instead of wanting McCollum if we trade Siakam. Not Masai's type. IF we had a quality center and were just missing a scorer like McCollum it would be different.

But ultimately Masai cares about value and if he thinks McCollum's is at its lowest point and Portland is desperate to make a move to keep Dame and would give up their first rounder, then it gets interesting.

Similarly, the Pelicans might be desperate for Van Vleet or the Pacers willing to send their pick and Turner or Sabonis for Siakam and ours and if that's the case, it come down to how Masai sees the top draft picks, and we don't know **** about that, apart from him not being so in love with it that we looked to tank hard this year by trading FVV or Siakam already to improve our own pick.

[youngRAPZ]

Trading Siakam for McCollum isn't a knock on Siakam it's praise for McCollum who is able to also play backup PG (which he does when Lillard is out). This positionally balances both teams. Powell starts at SG and frees up more PT for Simons.

Something like Siakam and Flynn for McCollum, filler and 2022 1st pick (top 4 protected). Maybe this trade is done during the draft if the Blazers don't move up into the top 4.

PG Lillard - Flynn
SG Powell - Simons
SF Covington - Powell
PF Siakam - Little
C Nurkic - Nance Jr

PG FVV - McCollum - Banton - DJ
SG McCollum - Trent - 1st pick (Por)
SF OG - Trent - Champ
PF Barnes - Yuta - 1st pick (Tor)
C Precious - Birch

Either you guys refuse to see the kind of players Masai likes or you don’t. lol I’ll give you a shiny dollar if Masai trades pascal for McCollum.


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I agree that we'd look for a 3 way deal instead of wanting McCollum if we trade Siakam. Not Masai's type. IF we had a quality center and were just missing a scorer like McCollum it would be different.

But ultimately Masai cares about value and if he thinks McCollum's is at its lowest point and Portland is desperate to make a move to keep Dame and would give up their first rounder, then it gets interesting.

Similarly, the Pelicans might be desperate for Van Vleet or the Pacers willing to send their pick and Turner or Sabonis for Siakam and ours and if that's the case, it come down to how Masai sees the top draft picks, and we don't know **** about that, apart from him not being so in love with it that we looked to tank hard this year by trading FVV or Siakam already to improve our own pick.

Masai ain’t trading either VV or PS for picks guaranteed.


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[Ell Curry]

Masai ain’t trading either VV or PS for picks guaranteed.
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It only takes one GM desperate to save his job to offer so much that Masai takes it. If the Pelicans/Griffin panic under Zion and getting fired pressure and decide they'll trade 3 unprotected firsts, I have to think we'd see that deal happen tomorrow. And if that seems crazy from their perspective, we saw Chicago part with 2 firsts and Wendell Carter for Vucevic, who was 30 and I think is a tougher player to go deep in the playoffs with than Van Vleet as your number 3.

[youngRAPZ]

Masai ain’t trading either VV or PS for picks guaranteed.
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It only takes one GM desperate to save his job to offer so much that Masai takes it. If the Pelicans/Griffin panic under Zion and getting fired pressure and decide they'll trade 3 unprotected firsts, I have to think we'd see that deal happen tomorrow. And if that seems crazy from their perspective, we saw Chicago part with 2 firsts and Wendell Carter for Vucevic, who was 30 and I think is a tougher player to go deep in the playoffs with than Van Vleet as your number 3.

Well how likely is that. You really think the pelicans owner would let griffin do that trade? Orlando wanted to rebuild I don’t think I’ve ever heard Masai say we’re rebuilding. I’ve heard retool


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[Ell Curry]

Masai ain’t trading either VV or PS for picks guaranteed.
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It only takes one GM desperate to save his job to offer so much that Masai takes it. If the Pelicans/Griffin panic under Zion and getting fired pressure and decide they'll trade 3 unprotected firsts, I have to think we'd see that deal happen tomorrow. And if that seems crazy from their perspective, we saw Chicago part with 2 firsts and Wendell Carter for Vucevic, who was 30 and I think is a tougher player to go deep in the playoffs with than Van Vleet as your number 3.

Well how likely is that. You really think the pelicans owner would let griffin do that trade? Orlando wanted to rebuild I don’t think I’ve ever heard Masai say we’re rebuilding. I’ve heard retool


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I think us being desperate to rebuild strengthens Masai's hand compared to Orlando's, but yeah makes a deal way way less likely.

I do think that Covid gate losses and the play-in giving teams false hope of turning their season right might lead us to see a bit more aggressiveness of the kind the Chicago GM surprised us with in the Vucevic and DeRozan deals, both of which were seen as overpays. Lonzo for the money he got was great but nobody questioned it so I'd put that one as less of a sign of aggressiveness and more a sign of their still being bad GM decisions (the very Griffin we were talking about (Satoransky, Temple and a 2nd was a truly hideous return. I'm still mad we didn't end up with him, would have been perfect here as a defender in our aggressive system and a genuine backup to Van Vleet when he sits).

[Ell Curry]

Read Vecenies new mock it kinda feels like there’s a top 13 that ends after Keegan Murray/Dustin and then it’s a free for all.

Also didn’t know Tari Eason was 45/57 from the line this year. Maybe there’s a 3p shooter in there eventually and he certainly fits our defensive system like a glove.

Blake Wesley and Mark Williams jump out as fits as a bench scorer and a shot blocking 5 who might be fast enough to work in our defensive system. 2022 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: Jabari Smith Jr. leaps to No. 1, but team with top pick might matter more than ever

Jovic is hitting 3s at a high rate which is interesting if we’re truly looking to play 4-5 forwards a good chunk of the time together.

[aligator]

I like both Blake Wesley and Mark Williams and either would fit with the Raps though if available, I would likely take Wesley.

[PhilBlackson]

Just praying AJ Griffin falls to us at this point (period).

[Indeed]

It only takes one GM desperate to save his job to offer so much that Masai takes it. If the Pelicans/Griffin panic under Zion and getting fired pressure and decide they'll trade 3 unprotected firsts, I have to think we'd see that deal happen tomorrow. And if that seems crazy from their perspective, we saw Chicago part with 2 firsts and Wendell Carter for Vucevic, who was 30 and I think is a tougher player to go deep in the playoffs with than Van Vleet as your number 3.

Well how likely is that. You really think the pelicans owner would let griffin do that trade? Orlando wanted to rebuild I don’t think I’ve ever heard Masai say we’re rebuilding. I’ve heard retool


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I think us being desperate to rebuild strengthens Masai's hand compared to Orlando's, but yeah makes a deal way way less likely.

I do think that Covid gate losses and the play-in giving teams false hope of turning their season right might lead us to see a bit more aggressiveness of the kind the Chicago GM surprised us with in the Vucevic and DeRozan deals, both of which were seen as overpays. Lonzo for the money he got was great but nobody questioned it so I'd put that one as less of a sign of aggressiveness and more a sign of their still being bad GM decisions (the very Griffin we were talking about (Satoransky, Temple and a 2nd was a truly hideous return. I'm still mad we didn't end up with him, would have been perfect here as a defender in our aggressive system and a genuine backup to Van Vleet when he sits).

Chicago probably knows they are signing Ball (tampering), so they are willing to throw more to Orlando for Vucevic.

[Indeed]

Just praying AJ Griffin falls to us at this point (period).

I also have Beauchamp, who is now in the mid first round. A year older, so I am not sure he will be ahead of Griffin, but I think he has similar ceiling to Griffin. Houstan and Baldwin Jr. may also be around, as I see some guards rising on the board.

[Indeed]

Watch on YouTube

[PhilBlackson]

Just praying AJ Griffin falls to us at this point (period).

I also have Beauchamp, who is now in the mid first round. A year older, so I am not sure he will be ahead of Griffin, but I think he has similar ceiling to Griffin. Houstan and Baldwin Jr. may also be around, as I see some guards rising on the board.

I really don't mind Beauchamp as a pick. He has some stuff there, longer SG, shows he can put it on the floor, has a bit of shooting touch. Seems to do everything fairly well, I think we could/would make him into a really nice piece for us long term. Not sure how high his ceiling is but would think he would become a very solid player...

For me personally I see the physical traits of AJ that could lead to him having a bit more potential to be above "very solid" and more along the lines of potential star. I'm not sure if he has gotten back all of his explosiveness back as yet and this was a kid that recorded a 45' vertical in HS -- that's literally what Zion was at. Seems people need to keep in mind he's still working back from a major injury, do we remember how we nursed OG back?! Most guys aren't looking back to what they were at minimum 6 or so months in and most would say a year later...

But he also has the size and STRENGTH. He's 6'6 and built like a tank, he's gonna be able to push most SGs around not named Edwards or Mitchell, so he's going to be able to create separation on his shot especially when you couple it with the quick feet he has laterally, especially on his stepbacks and also absorb contact around the basket. His game already resembles something like Jimmy Butler but he has the upside of incorporating some of Mitchell's bounce (again Griffin has a 40+' vertical as recorded by Duke). As a former top 5-7 recruit, the hype for Duke coming into this season was teaming Paolo & AJ (not Keels or Moore) but the slow recovery from injury cooled that excitement off...keep him healthy (we all know Alex is one of the best in the game), capitalize on his stock being hurt from being hurt lol and to me this kid has THE potential steal written all over him imo but I just really, really don't see him falling out of the lottery which is why I wanted to stay in it. Just hopeful by some miracle he does or that for once we would actually ever trade up and ensure we do get him, plus I'm sure it would make his old man happy

[aligator]

Kadary Richmond putting on a one man show for Seton Hall today.

[Ell Curry]

Just praying AJ Griffin falls to us at this point (period).

I'll be excited if we take him because obviously we know a ton about him compared to damn near any draft pick after the Tampa year.

[aligator]

Not smart to have a son of a coach on your roster. No way the Raps would draft him.

[PhilBlackson]

Not smart to have a son of a coach on your roster. No way the Raps would draft him.

Based on what?! Austin Rivers?? lol

1. Griffin Sr isn't the head coach like Doc, he won't be able to call the shots and play favorites -- this isn't the AAU. Nor has anyone seen Nurse base his rotations what others' think

2. AJ seems like a much more humble & mature player/person than Rivers was coming in as a rookie

We're in need of a backup SG, we just paid GT Jr and if we're lucky enough for him to fall to where we draft, he's not going to come in assuming he deserves the starting role -- go listen to any interviews of the kid. He's humble and his dad taught him nothing is given, it's earned. If anything his dad has likely instilled a lot of our franchise's values into AJ these past few years as he's been maturing as a player and Griff Sr has learnt here. The kid is still getting his legs back, it's a perfect situation to learn behind Gary and for the coaches to obviously work with him extensively as he develops.

What's not a smart move is passing on a kid who may have an all-star like potential on something as baseless as having a family member that's an employee here as well. Not all places suffer from nepotism lol and not every kid grows up feeling entitled.

[Kevin Willis]

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Reminds me of a better version of this guy around the same age. His post game is more advanced.

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