And Then There Was One: Thank Nation 2. Raps pick 23rd

[CoachJReturns]

The more you look at the situation, the more it seems like if we don't make a trade during the season, I could see a draft day deal.

We need to cut some salary to stay under the luxury tax. If we end up finishing 2nd in the division to Boston I just don't see ownership being willing to pay luxury for a team that can't win it's Division. I also don't see them going forward with just Pascal at PF so I expect PP to be back. Therefore, one of JV, Ross or Cojo has to go(sorry, no one is taking carroll)

I see a Ross/Cojo or JV plus both picks to move up in the draft. That's the best way to cut salary and improve the team at the same time. How far do you think two picks in the mid 20's and one of Ross/Cojo or JV could move us up in the draft?

I think it could move up quite a bit. Deep draft, I bet there will be someone with a high pick who will want to trade down for sure.

I'm not too sure how high a combination of those assets could move us, but I guess it's only the top 5 that looks untouchable. Fultz, Ball, Smith, Jackson and Tatum look like the guys nobody is moving for less than an all-star.
Our assets could get us in the lotto, but I'm thinking no higher than 8-10 range. That's good enough to grab Giles or Anunoby at the moment. If we were including JV, I would assume it means Masai and the rest of the staff have a lot of confidence in Poeltl to start in the near future. In the long term I think Jakob is our starting center, but he's a couple years away. A Jakob + Giles frontcourt could look really interesting in a few years time, however.

[CoachJReturns]

The more you look at the situation, the more it seems like if we don't make a trade during the season, I could see a draft day deal.

We need to cut some salary to stay under the luxury tax. If we end up finishing 2nd in the division to Boston I just don't see ownership being willing to pay luxury for a team that can't win it's Division. I also don't see them going forward with just Pascal at PF so I expect PP to be back. Therefore, one of JV, Ross or Cojo has to go(sorry, no one is taking carroll)

I see a Ross/Cojo or JV plus both picks to move up in the draft. That's the best way to cut salary and improve the team at the same time. How far do you think two picks in the mid 20's and one of Ross/Cojo or JV could move us up in the draft?

I think it could move up quite a bit. Deep draft, I bet there will be someone with a high pick who will want to trade down for sure.

My dream situation is the Twolves. They already have so many young guys that if they finish top 10 again, maybe we could get their pick for JV, 25, 27. Tibbs said he needs a big, there isn't any good bigs in the top 10 really. Only thing against us is I don't think Tibbs will like JV's D, well I know he won't.

more realistic would be a team that has a star and needs more pieces ready to play right now. Like the Wizards, Blazers, maybe even the Pistons or Knicks. in that 12-16 range.

I know the Patterson love is a little out of hand on this board at times, but I suggested a Pat and picks trade to Minnesota a few weeks back. He gives the T Wolves some playoff experience and another shooter to play with Rubio and Dunn. He's actually a terrific fit for them.

[LonZoBallin]

I think it could move up quite a bit. Deep draft, I bet there will be someone with a high pick who will want to trade down for sure.

My dream situation is the Twolves. They already have so many young guys that if they finish top 10 again, maybe we could get their pick for JV, 25, 27. Tibbs said he needs a big, there isn't any good bigs in the top 10 really. Only thing against us is I don't think Tibbs will like JV's D, well I know he won't.

more realistic would be a team that has a star and needs more pieces ready to play right now. Like the Wizards, Blazers, maybe even the Pistons or Knicks. in that 12-16 range.

Nat sure 12-16 range is worth it tho. Who would you target with that pick?

Harry Giles if he's there. I know it might not be likely but I just hope Coach K doesn't play him much. stock continues to fall. He's has fallen to that 10-15 range rn. I know he has had two knee surgeries, but before his first Knee surgery in HS, this guy had almost as much hype as Wiggins. People were saying Chris Webber/KG

I wouldn't mind Markkanen or even an Issac for our SF if he drops. The whole thing is we're going to have to cut salary, right? What's the best way to cut salary? Move up in the draft, right?! It's much better doing that than just trading for an expiring and letting him walk.

[LonZoBallin]

I think it could move up quite a bit. Deep draft, I bet there will be someone with a high pick who will want to trade down for sure.

My dream situation is the Twolves. They already have so many young guys that if they finish top 10 again, maybe we could get their pick for JV, 25, 27. Tibbs said he needs a big, there isn't any good bigs in the top 10 really. Only thing against us is I don't think Tibbs will like JV's D, well I know he won't.

more realistic would be a team that has a star and needs more pieces ready to play right now. Like the Wizards, Blazers, maybe even the Pistons or Knicks. in that 12-16 range.

I know the Patterson love is a little out of hand on this board at times, but I suggested a Pat and picks trade to Minnesota a few weeks back. He gives the T Wolves some playoff experience and another shooter to play with Rubio and Dunn. He's actually a terrific fit for them.

I'd do that but it couldn't be a draft day deal. Because of that they'd probably top 10 protect the pick.

[CoachJReturns]

If we can't trade up, it might be a good move to use one of the picks in a trade with Philly for Richaun Holmes. He's buried behind all their power forwards and will see even less minutes when Simmons returns. He can rebound, block shots and hit the corner 3. Kind of a poor man's Ibaka.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/holmeri01.html

[LonZoBallin]

If we can't trade up, it might be a good move to use one of the picks in a trade with Philly for Richaun Holmes. He's buried behind all their power forwards and will see even less minutes when Simmons returns. He can rebound, block shots and hit the corner 3. Kind of a poor man's Ibaka.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/holmeri01.html

Not too sure if he's available. The sixers have lots of 5's but 4 isn't that strong. I think they believe Noel and Okafor are 5's and will probably play simmons in the backcourt. In the end, I see them going forward with Embiid and one of Noel or Okafor at the 5 and Saric and Holmes at the 4. I do really like his game too though. BC always mentions him in interviews.

Considering we need to shed some salary if we want to re-sign PP and stay under the tax line, I trade Cojo for Noel and lowball Noel in the off-season. See if teams will be willing to pay a injury prone centre who hasn't done much big money. If he gets a huge offer sheet? let him walk and you save Cojos 7 million you needed to lose to stay under the cap. If he signs the cheap long term lowball deal you have a potential great contract. But what will probably happen is he doesn't get the offer he wants from any team and bets on himself by taking the qualifying offer. Which would be huge for us because he'd probably beast the next year and for only 5 million. Save 2 million from the cojo deal and you can cut salary else where. You can trade JV if you want and just hope Poeltl is ready by year 3 if Noel bolts the year after

[CoachJReturns]

If we can't trade up, it might be a good move to use one of the picks in a trade with Philly for Richaun Holmes. He's buried behind all their power forwards and will see even less minutes when Simmons returns. He can rebound, block shots and hit the corner 3. Kind of a poor man's Ibaka.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/holmeri01.html

Not too sure if he's available. The sixers have lots of 5's but 4 isn't that strong. I think they believe Noel and Okafor are 5's and will probably play simmons in the backcourt. In the end, I see them going forward with Embiid and one of Noel or Okafor at the 5 and Saric and Holmes at the 4. I do really like his game too though. BC always mentions him in interviews.

Considering we need to shed some salary if we want to re-sign PP and stay under the tax line, I trade Cojo for Noel and lowball Noel in the off-season. See if teams will be willing to pay a injury prone centre who hasn't done much big money. If he gets a huge offer sheet? let him walk and you save Cojos 7 million you needed to lose to stay under the cap. If he signs the cheap long term lowball deal you have a potential great contract. But what will probably happen is he doesn't get the offer he wants from any team and bets on himself by taking the qualifying offer. Which would be huge for us because he'd probably beast the next year and for only 5 million. Save 2 million from the cojo deal and you can cut salary else where. You can trade JV if you want.

They actually have a lot of power forward depth as well. Holmes is low on the depth chart of power forwards. Saric is currently the top young power forward on the team and is a bigger prospect than Holmes. Simmons is going to be playing point forward, but will be defending the 4 spot. That's two power forwards right there who he won't pass on the depth chart. They also have Ilyasova at the moment, so I'm sure he's available at a reasonable price.

[CoachJReturns]

Question for my fellow draft watchers:

Who do you think, who may be available in our range, has the best chance of becoming a star player in the future?

[LonZoBallin]

Question for my fellow draft watchers:

Who do you think, who may be available in our range, has the best chance of becoming a star player in the future?

Bam, Terrance Ferguson, Rabb, Bridges and OG. I doubt any are there but I could see all drop out of the lottery maybe early 20's.

I feel like 27 is worst case for Clippers pick and probably 26 is worst case for Raptors pick. We might be kicking the wall a few picks above ours as guys we like get taken off the board :/

I don't think MU goes potential unfortunately. If you look at his draft history, he takes guys that are ready to play. This may become even more likely with our cap situation. It's important to get players that can actually play while on Rookie deals.

[CoachJReturns]

Question for my fellow draft watchers:

Who do you think, who may be available in our range, has the best chance of becoming a star player in the future?

Bam, Terrance Ferguson, Rabb, Bridges and OG. I doubt any are there but I could see all drop out of the lottery maybe early 20's.

I feel like 27 is worst case for Clippers pick and probably 26 is worst case for Raptors pick. We might be kicking the wall a few picks above ours as guys we like get taken off the board :/

I don't think MU goes potential unfortunately. If you look at his draft history, he takes guys that are ready to play. This may become even more likely with our cap situation. It's important to get players that can actually play while on Rookie deals.

I think we all know he has targeted a very specific type of player in the past two drafts. Guys who were very productive in college, but for whatever reason(age or league trends) were undervalued. Perhaps I should have phrased the question a little differently.

Among the players in our range, 25-27, what players who Masai is likely to consider have all-star potential if any?
I keep pushing for Jonathan Jeanne simply because his defensive upside could be close to Gobert with his combination of length and mobility. We also have 3 picks in total, including our second rounder, so a draft and stash project is a luxury we can afford to have.

DraftExpress has us taking Josh Hart who looks like a guy who could stick around in the league with a well rounded game, but he does not appear to be explosive at all for an NBA player which limits his upside.

[Kevin Willis]

Question for my fellow draft watchers:

Who do you think, who may be available in our range, has the best chance of becoming a star player in the future?

Bam, Terrance Ferguson, Rabb, Bridges and OG. I doubt any are there but I could see all drop out of the lottery maybe early 20's.

I feel like 27 is worst case for Clippers pick and probably 26 is worst case for Raptors pick. We might be kicking the wall a few picks above ours as guys we like get taken off the board :

I don't think MU goes potential unfortunately. If you look at his draft history, he takes guys that are ready to play. This may become even more likely with our cap situation. It's important to get players that can actually play while on Rookie deals.

I think we all know he has targeted a very specific type of player in the past two drafts. Guys who were very productive in college, but for whatever reason(age or league trends) were undervalued. Perhaps I should have phrased the question a little differently.

Among the players in our range, 25-27, what players who Masai is likely to consider have all-star potential if any?
I keep pushing for Jonathan Jeanne simply because his defensive upside could be close to Gobert with his combination of length and mobility. We also have 3 picks in total, including our second rounder, so a draft and stash project is a luxury we can afford to have.

DraftExpress has us taking Josh Hart who looks like a guy who could stick around in the league with a well rounded game, but he does not appear to be explosive at all for an NBA player which limits his upside.

I really don't like what Draftexpress has right now for us. Potential stars below their pick is TJ Leaf, Motley, Bacon, Cameron Oliver. Even Hogg and Lyndon can be a lights out shooter. It's a deep draft and you should base it off talent but with so many prospects close together Masai can be selective for right fit too.

[Risk101]

Question for my fellow draft watchers:

Who do you think, who may be available in our range, has the best chance of becoming a star player in the future?

Bam, Terrance Ferguson, Rabb, Bridges and OG. I doubt any are there but I could see all drop out of the lottery maybe early 20's.

I feel like 27 is worst case for Clippers pick and probably 26 is worst case for Raptors pick. We might be kicking the wall a few picks above ours as guys we like get taken off the board :/

I don't think MU goes potential unfortunately. If you look at his draft history, he takes guys that are ready to play. This may become even more likely with our cap situation. It's important to get players that can actually play while on Rookie deals.

I think we all know he has targeted a very specific type of player in the past two drafts. Guys who were very productive in college, but for whatever reason(age or league trends) were undervalued. Perhaps I should have phrased the question a little differently.

Among the players in our range, 25-27, what players who Masai is likely to consider have all-star potential if any?
I keep pushing for Jonathan Jeanne simply because his defensive upside could be close to Gobert with his combination of length and mobility. We also have 3 picks in total, including our second rounder, so a draft and stash project is a luxury we can afford to have.

DraftExpress has us taking Josh Hart who looks like a guy who could stick around in the league with a well rounded game, but he does not appear to be explosive at all for an NBA player which limits his upside.

Bebe will most likely be retained so Jeane becomes redundant with all these young bigs we already have including Bruno who is now being prepped to play the 4. And I don't think Masai is a fan of draft and stashes. He tried it with Deandre Daniels and then quickly got the 905. The guy wants to be involved in growing our talent here. I'm thinking he trades away 2 picks for either a vet or a pick down the line.

We'd be lucky to get a guy like Josh Hart but he'll probably rise by the time the draft arrives. I'm hoping Terrence Ferguson or Tyler Lydon drops around our range.

[Risk101]

I wonder if they would trade him for one of our picks. They practically gave Plumlee to the Trailblazers for just a late firstrounder which became Hollis.

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[CoachJReturns]

I wonder if they would trade him for one of our picks. They practically gave Plumlee to the Trailblazers for just a late firstrounder which became Hollis.

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I'd pass personally. He's playing terribly this year and would never see minutes for a playoff team.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/holliro01.html

[ATLTimekeeper]

I would take Hollis-Jefferson for one of our picks. Whenever I watch him play (5-6 times this year) he's guarding every position and makes one or two really crafty plays a game.

There's a few things he does really well that makes me think he'd be a good pick up for the Raptors.

-high FTr, which for a nobody at least shows that the refs respect him enough. He's one of the few non-stars that average more than 5FTAs per 36, with the caveat that he plays for an awful team.
-defensive rebounding. He's not outstanding, but much better than what we have at the wing.
-hustle - grades well in a lot of hustle stats (which is why he's in the league to begin with). 3.6 deflections per 36 is roughly around where the best in the league are. Gets one loose ball a game. Contests a lot of shots for a wing. We play for turnovers and I'm pretty sure his activity would be valued.
-Size, not big for a forward, but he's bigger than Powell and plays much bigger than Ross.

Mind you, there are lots of things that he does badly right now, but we'd have 3 years to work with him in what would hopefully be a winning environment.

[CoachJReturns]

I would take Hollis-Jefferson for one of our picks. Whenever I watch him play (5-6 times this year) he's guarding every position and makes one or two really crafty plays a game.

There's a few things he does really well that makes me think he'd be a good pick up for the Raptors.

-high FTr, which for a nobody at least shows that the refs respect him enough. He's one of the few non-stars that average more than 5FTAs per 36, with the caveat that he plays for an awful team.
-defensive rebounding. He's not outstanding, but much better than what we have at the wing.
-hustle - grades well in a lot of hustle stats (which is why he's in the league to begin with). 3.6 deflections per 36 is roughly around where the best in the league are. Gets one loose ball a game. Contests a lot of shots for a wing. We play for turnovers and I'm pretty sure his activity would be valued.
-Size, not big for a forward, but he's bigger than Powell and plays much bigger than Ross.

Mind you, there are lots of things that he does badly right now, but we'd have 3 years to work with him in what would hopefully be a winning environment.

If Masai were to consider a deal, it would be on draft night. Casey only wants guys that can shoot(apart from DeMar) so it would make sense for Masai to wait and see whos available before making a trade for a wing who is a truly atrocious shooter. He could just as easily draft a guy like Beachem who can shoot decently already.
I'm not totally opposed to trading a pick for a guy already on a rookie contract though. Holmes is a guy I'd be very interested in.

[ATLTimekeeper]

If Masai were to consider a deal, it would be on draft night. Casey only wants guys that can shoot(apart from DeMar) so it would make sense for Masai to wait and see whos available before making a trade for a wing who is a truly atrocious shooter. He could just as easily draft a guy like Beachem who can shoot decently already.
I'm not totally opposed to trading a pick for a guy already on a rookie contract though. Holmes is a guy I'd be very interested in.

They drafted both Delon Wright and Norman Powell, who both were pretty bad shooters in college. Cory Joseph isn't much of a shooter. Siakam, Poeltl - can't shoot. JV, Bebe - can't shoot. What makes you think the Raptors are really all that invested in shooting? It'd just be an extra set of legs to throw in on some match-ups and then wait and see if his shot develops.

Beachem isn't even close to the prospect that RHJ was, but supposing he was there's a risk that someone else would take him in a draft. You don't just get to take the guy you want.

[CoachJReturns]

If Masai were to consider a deal, it would be on draft night. Casey only wants guys that can shoot(apart from DeMar) so it would make sense for Masai to wait and see whos available before making a trade for a wing who is a truly atrocious shooter. He could just as easily draft a guy like Beachem who can shoot decently already.
I'm not totally opposed to trading a pick for a guy already on a rookie contract though. Holmes is a guy I'd be very interested in.

They drafted both Delon Wright and Norman Powell, who both were pretty bad shooters in college. Cory Joseph isn't much of a shooter. Siakam, Poeltl - can't shoot. JV, Bebe - can't shoot. What makes you think the Raptors are really all that invested in shooting? It'd just be an extra set of legs to throw in on some match-ups and then wait and see if his shot develops.

Beachem isn't even close to the prospect that RHJ was, but supposing he was there's a risk that someone else would take him in a draft. You don't just get to take the guy you want.

Delon improved in his final year of college as a shooter and continued to make strides last year. He shot perfectly fine in D League. Norm quickly made huge improvements to his 3 point shooting last year and further improvement this year. Cojo is even shooting the 3 well at this point. RHJ was drafted as low as he was because he was an awful shooter. The issue is that in 1 and a half seasons he has yet to improve as a shooter. Heck, he shoots terribly even from 0-3 feet if you look at his numbers. Can't shoot 50 percent right at the hoop?
How many NBA players shoot .377 in the league? If you think his defense is truly elite and worth of an all NBA team, then I certainly understand that an argument can be made to play the guy. But if the worst franchise in North American sports right now(Brooklyn has no future at the moment) quickly gives up on one of it's only young prospects, what makes you think a playoff team has any use for him? He's a scrub.

[Raptorfan2012]

Honestly if Sullinger needs more time to get back into the rotation, I would do a Ross for Booker and RHJ trade. Nets need a SG bad, and Booker is one of those feisty 4s that can shoot the occastional 3.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Delon improved in his final year of college as a shooter and continued to make strides last year. He shot perfectly fine in D League. Norm quickly made huge improvements to his 3 point shooting last year and further improvement this year. Cojo is even shooting the 3 well at this point. RHJ was drafted as low as he was because he was an awful shooter. The issue is that in 1 and a half seasons he has yet to improve as a shooter. Heck, he shoots terribly even from 0-3 feet if you look at his numbers. Can't shoot 50 percent right at the hoop?
How many NBA players shoot .377 in the league? If you think his defense is truly elite and worth of an all NBA team, then I certainly understand that an argument can be made to play the guy. But if the worst franchise in North American sports right now(Brooklyn has no future at the moment) quickly gives up on one of it's only young prospects, what makes you think a playoff team has any use for him? He's a scrub.

Because they might be able to get good value for him now, and they don't really need a hustle player on a team of hustle players. I don't really care what he's shot in Brooklyn's stupid pell mell system. It's really about investing in someone that can probably do some very good things on the court in a restricted role and hoping he adds to his game with an outside shot in the three years remaining on his contract. This is an era where guys develop the outside shot at all points in their careers. Last year he shot .581 at the hoop. This year it's down to .457. I'm confident he can probably improve on those numbers.