Official Raptors 2012 NBA Draft Thread, Part 9

[Garmfay]

I don't really get the Rudy Gay comparison for Barnes. Talent and athleticism have never been Gay's problems unlike Barnes'.

Are you kidding me, Gay more talented then Barnes coming out of college.. I understand Gay being more athletic, and longer, but he was nowhere near talented and more complete then Barnes coming out of College. Barnes right now is like Pierce/Granger coming out of College, except he is even better shooter then both of them.

Agreed. Barnes not talented?? The only concern I have with him is lack of handles but most of his scoring abilities should translate into the NBA.

[Rhettmatic]

Interesting read on Grantland about Barnes, and whether his attempt to build his own brand got in the way of actually playing basketball:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/773 ... -tar-heels

His scouting report on Barnes, meanwhile, is not very kind:

Here's the other problem, particularly for whatever NBA team drafts Barnes. It's possible that the reason why he didn't improve is that there just isn't much ceiling left. Barnes has no first step, he doesn't have a particularly great feel for the game, especially in the half court, and he doesn't play much defense. I guess he's technically a good rebounder for his size, but he's rarely showed sustained effort on the boards. He'll probably settle somewhere between Arron Afflalo and Jared Dudley, but definitely not much more than that. Carolina's other all-purpose super-recruit, Marvin Williams, had some of the same problems. He would show flashes in pretty much every part of his game, but could never find the one thing he could do to consistently affect the play on the court. Barnes is a much, much better shooter than Marvin was, but he's not the same level of athlete. It's just difficult to see where Barnes would really fit in an NBA roster — he'll shoot well from beyond the arc, but do you really want to spend a top-five pick on a jump shooter who couldn't get to the rim in college?

[FluLikeSymptoms]

From that Grantland piece.

[nelabai]

good move by Myck to stay out of the draft this year. He could be a top 10 pick next year if he shows some improvement in his game, cause next years draft seems pretty weak (outside Shabazz).

[Rapsfan07]

My Draft Board:
Davis
Beal
Drummond/Barnes (if you want to gamble)
Lamb (if you want to play it safe)

Depending on how the lottery plays out, we're pretty much guaranteed a good shot at the bottom 3. Assuming two teams buy into Robinson and MKG which I think will happen. If all of those guys are off the board when it's our turn, THEN you trade the pick. No trading picks for players on big deals. We need to continue to build slowly.

Sleeper picks: Harkless, Miller, Taylor, D. Lamb, Ross and Wroten

We need an extra pick in this draft. Another first rounder in this draft could end up cutting at least one year off of this rebuild. I like Miller more than Harkless...Miller's more complete with a higher ceiling but Harkless looks like he could be an Ariza-type guy which is a good pick. Ross is another wing prospect who I think has really high potential I'd deal for if he was available. He reminds me of J-Rich. For the PG spot, I'd take a flier on Wroten and Taylor. I like them both a lot.

[nelabai]

Well if we got Demar, who could only drive and we are teaching him too shoot, maybe we get Barnes who's a great shooter and teach him how to get to the basket.

OR

We draft MGK, so Demar, JJ and MGK could learn how to shoot all together lol..

[ty123]

Well if we got Demar, who could only drive and we are teaching him too shoot, maybe we get Barnes who's a great shooter and teach him how to get to the basket.

OR

We draft MGK, so Demar, JJ and MGK could learn how to shoot all together lol..

We should of taught Kapono how to get to the basket.

[CoachJReturns]

Well if we got Demar, who could only drive and we are teaching him too shoot, maybe we get Barnes who's a great shooter and teach him how to get to the basket.

OR

We draft MGK, so Demar, JJ and MGK could learn how to shoot all together lol..

Obviously, any prospect can improve and there's no way to know exactly how a guy will look 5 years down the road. The biggest problem I see with Barnes is that he lacks athleticism and a handle. He isn't flat footed, but for an NBA wing his athleticism is pretty mediocre. And as a ball handler he just doesn't look like he has it. I haven't seen a ton of his games, but when I have seen him he looks a little stiff. Dribbling is one of those skills perimeter players typically show pretty early on. You don't come into the league without a handle and turn into Iverson or Chris Paul. Of course, he can tighten up his handle, but I don't think he's going to ever be a great slasher.
I'm trying to think of a wing who lacked a handle and developed one and the only guy coming to mind right now is Iggy. I think he was an average ball handler when he entered the league, but I could be wrong. I still think Barnes is a solid piece, but he's not someone who will make a huge impact on this team.

[Wasp]

Interesting read on Grantland about Barnes, and whether his attempt to build his own brand got in the way of actually playing basketball:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/773 ... -tar-heels

His scouting report on Barnes, meanwhile, is not very kind:

Here's the other problem, particularly for whatever NBA team drafts Barnes. It's possible that the reason why he didn't improve is that there just isn't much ceiling left. Barnes has no first step, he doesn't have a particularly great feel for the game, especially in the half court, and he doesn't play much defense. I guess he's technically a good rebounder for his size, but he's rarely showed sustained effort on the boards. He'll probably settle somewhere between Arron Afflalo and Jared Dudley, but definitely not much more than that. Carolina's other all-purpose super-recruit, Marvin Williams, had some of the same problems. He would show flashes in pretty much every part of his game, but could never find the one thing he could do to consistently affect the play on the court. Barnes is a much, much better shooter than Marvin was, but he's not the same level of athlete. It's just difficult to see where Barnes would really fit in an NBA roster — he'll shoot well from beyond the arc, but do you really want to spend a top-five pick on a jump shooter who couldn't get to the rim in college?

Not trying to harp Rhett, but just wanted to reiterate my point from the Barnes thread re: this article:

Look, I find Grantland as entertaining as the next guy, but it's definitely not somewhere I'd look for even a remotely accurate scouting report of a prospect. The guy who wrote that article, Jay Caspian Kang, writes about the NBA and American Idol (pretty much at a 50/50 split, from looking at his recent work) so I wouldn't put too much stock into his scouting report of Barnes.

[NiL8r87]

Interesting read on Grantland about Barnes, and whether his attempt to build his own brand got in the way of actually playing basketball:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/773 ... -tar-heels

His scouting report on Barnes, meanwhile, is not very kind:

Here's the other problem, particularly for whatever NBA team drafts Barnes. It's possible that the reason why he didn't improve is that there just isn't much ceiling left. Barnes has no first step, he doesn't have a particularly great feel for the game, especially in the half court, and he doesn't play much defense. I guess he's technically a good rebounder for his size, but he's rarely showed sustained effort on the boards. He'll probably settle somewhere between Arron Afflalo and Jared Dudley, but definitely not much more than that. Carolina's other all-purpose super-recruit, Marvin Williams, had some of the same problems. He would show flashes in pretty much every part of his game, but could never find the one thing he could do to consistently affect the play on the court. Barnes is a much, much better shooter than Marvin was, but he's not the same level of athlete. It's just difficult to see where Barnes would really fit in an NBA roster — he'll shoot well from beyond the arc, but do you really want to spend a top-five pick on a jump shooter who couldn't get to the rim in college?

A very damning article I must say.

[NiL8r87]

Not trying to harp Rhett, but just wanted to reiterate my point from the Barnes thread re: this article:

It just got an RT from Givony, so my immediate reaction is that he agrees with it on some level.

[Rhettmatic]

Not trying to harp Rhett, but just wanted to reiterate my point from the Barnes thread re: this article:

Look, I find Grantland as entertaining as the next guy, but it's definitely not somewhere I'd look for even a remotely accurate scouting report of a prospect. The guy who wrote that article, Jay Caspian Kang, writes about the NBA and American Idol (pretty much at a 50/50 split, from looking at his recent work) so I wouldn't put too much stock into his scouting report of Barnes.

Hey, you're not harping on any level -- people should absolutely consider the source. I do put some stock in JCK's opinions because I like reading him (in Grantland, the NYT and on Twitter) but obviously everyone should evaluate whether they think his opinion holds water.

[nelabai]

They can write anything they want, Barnes is not falling out of top6

[Dr Positivity]

Barnes' problem is that the same media members who'd trust his HS hype enough to rank him 2nd/3rd after 2 years of middling play, are the same types who vastly change their opinion on a prospect after 2 tournament games. The floor really fell out for him this weekend. Could be enough to drop from 2nd/3rd to like 15th.

[Rapsfan07]

Barnes' problem is that the same media members who'd trust his HS hype enough to rank him 2nd/3rd after 2 years of middling play, are the same types who vastly change their opinion on a prospect after 2 tournament games. The floor really fell out for him this weekend. Could be enough to drop from 2nd/3rd to like 15th.

LOL Mufusa..I personally guarantee you that Barnes won't go any later than 6. Too many teams in the top half of the lottery are looking for a SF.

[PowerPhil15]

I agree, the media has really boosted his image, to the point that he can do no wrong really. He had an awful showing in the tournament, and even some of the games during the year. He has one of the smoothest jumpers I have seen in this draft (beals is comparable though). I havent seen much more to like. DO NOT WANT

Anthony Davis
Beal
MKG
Drummound
Robinson
Lamb
Barnes
Sullinger
PJ3

[Kevin Willis]

HB will be top 5. We'll probably draft him. He won't be an All-Star but closer to an all-star than JJ's level. Little under Deng and Granger. But guaranteed, in this draft particularly, you will see someone in the teens and twenties who will have a better career than him because the seperation isn't that bad. It will be hard to pick out who - just like Klay Thompson may have a better career than Kemba Walker.

[NiL8r87]

Barnes' problem is that the same media members who'd trust his HS hype enough to rank him 2nd/3rd after 2 years of middling play, are the same types who vastly change their opinion on a prospect after 2 tournament games. The floor really fell out for him this weekend. Could be enough to drop from 2nd/3rd to like 15th.

LOL Mufusa..I personally guarantee you that Barnes won't go any later than 6. Too many teams in the top half of the lottery are looking for a SF.

Yeah but if he looks like he did in those 2 games I guarantee his workouts aren't going to go so well.

[nelabai]

Barnes' problem is that the same media members who'd trust his HS hype enough to rank him 2nd/3rd after 2 years of middling play, are the same types who vastly change their opinion on a prospect after 2 tournament games. The floor really fell out for him this weekend. Could be enough to drop from 2nd/3rd to like 15th.

lol he's not going to be 15 that's ridiculous. If Raps end up being 6th-7th, BC is not passing on him and somehow i feel he'll be gone before the 6th pick. Legitimate player, one of the best scorers in college. Could be at least a solid starter in NBA. Guy is still 19 years old, had two bad games and all of a sudden he's that bad.

[NiL8r87]

Barnes' problem is that the same media members who'd trust his HS hype enough to rank him 2nd/3rd after 2 years of middling play, are the same types who vastly change their opinion on a prospect after 2 tournament games. The floor really fell out for him this weekend. Could be enough to drop from 2nd/3rd to like 15th.

lol he's not going to be 15 that's ridiculous. If Raps end up being 6th-7th, BC is not passing on him and somehow i feel he'll be gone before the 6th pick. Legitimate player, one of the best scorers in college. Could be at least a solid starter in NBA. Guy is still 19 years old, had two bad games and all of a sudden he's that bad.

He's definitely not as bad as he looked in those 2 games, but we're talking about his shooting. He had a chance to at least try to show off some other tools in his arsenal and we really didn't get much. Do we really want to draft a pure shooter with a top 5 pick who may or may not be great at it in the NBA? I'd rather try for a little more versatility.