Grade the Draft

[Ackshun]

What in the troll reply is this? Nurse literally said that in the post draft press conference. Admit what L? It was a bad trade. Going from 20 to 33 for an old role player is ass no matter the "immediate help" he provided. Speaking of L's aren't you the same guy that said we don't need/want a center and that we're going all forwards? Shhhhh bozo.

The reality is, nobody here knows if it was a bad trade or not. If Branham ends up a top 5 player in the future, and our guy is out of the league, then we may have a better answer.

I didn't like trading back because I think the pick would have increased in value closer to the draft. And maybe, we scoop up another established younger player to fit our trajectory. But that's just me guessing. No way of knowing. Either way, FO wanted a vet presence and Thad is a pretty good player to learn from so I'm not losing sleep.

People are making it more complex than it is (like saying we have to wait it out and see which prospects become good players, etc.).

At the end of the day, the 20th pick, for a second rounder at 33 and a 34 year old role player is a bad trade. Especially if the role player isn’t some final piece to a championship team. All we had to do was keep the pick and choose at 20. Anyways it’s no big deal now, it happened and let’s move on.

Yeah true. Why wait for certainty to emerge when we can just argue about what may or may not occur.

Anyhow, like I said I didnt like the trade. I would have kept it as trade bait as part of a bigger package. But if Masai and Bobby value vet presence over the pick, then that is their perogative.

[BlackThought]

Koloko gives us something that the current roster is lacking. That said the classic rim protecting/rebounding/screen setting big should be used sparingly in today's league. For Koloko to be considered successful all he has to do is become a rotation big that plays around 15 min a night and gets DNP every few games due to matchups. The ceiling for a player of his profile just isn't that high any more so it's hard to get excited for the pick.

And don't think about him becoming our Robert Williams. Time Lord is 6 foot 8 not 7 ft. I know Koloko has decent lateral movement for a 7 footer but chances are he'll still be a weak point in switches.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Koloko gives us something that the current roster is lacking. That said the classic rim protecting/rebounding/screen setting big should be used sparingly in today's league. For Koloko to be considered successful all he has to do is become a rotation big that plays around 15 min a night and gets DNP every few games due to matchups. The ceiling for a player of his profile just isn't that high any more so it's hard to get excited for the pick.

And don't think about him becoming our Robert Williams. Time Lord is 6 foot 8 not 7 ft. I know Koloko has decent lateral movement for a 7 footer but chances are he'll still be a weak point in switches.

I think that there's still value for these types of players, as you can see that Rudy Gobert has a massive on court impact at the high end. The ceiling for this type of player is that. A good version is like Jarrett Allen. A medium version is Jakob Poeltl. And a mediocre version is Mason Plumlee.

[Madhouse]

Koloko gives us something that the current roster is lacking. That said the classic rim protecting/rebounding/screen setting big should be used sparingly in today's league. For Koloko to be considered successful all he has to do is become a rotation big that plays around 15 min a night and gets DNP every few games due to matchups. The ceiling for a player of his profile just isn't that high any more so it's hard to get excited for the pick.

And don't think about him becoming our Robert Williams. Time Lord is 6 foot 8 not 7 ft. I know Koloko has decent lateral movement for a 7 footer but chances are he'll still be a weak point in switches.

Agreed about timelord, I'll settle for Gobert.

[ATLTimekeeper]

People here care too much about Timelord. He's a 25 minute player, too. Guys like Brook Lopez have a similar impact on defense and can't move at all. Eating space under the rim is still working just fine.

[OakleyDokely]

People here care too much about Timelord. He's a 25 minute player, too. Guys like Brook Lopez have a similar impact on defense and can't move at all. Eating space under the rim is still working just fine.

I think the key is that you're versatile and you have the personnel to make in-game adjustments.

The great thing about the'19 team was that they could play so many different ways. When they needed to be play big against PHI, they could. When they needed to play small against GS, they could. A guy like Gasol was a huge factor against PHI/MIL, wasn't need nearly as much against GS.

Koloko, even in his prime, might need to play 30 mins against one opponent and 5 against another. And that's okay, because the key is that you have him as an option.

[ontnut]

Raptors went with their BPA in Koloko, and knowing their track record with guys they like in this range, he obviously has a chance to outperform the draft slot.

I like the pickup of RHJ too, if he can get into a shape this could be a sneaky find of a rotation player for free.

[WaltFrazier]

People here care too much about Timelord. He's a 25 minute player, too. Guys like Brook Lopez have a similar impact on defense and can't move at all. Eating space under the rim is still working just fine.

I think the key is that you're versatile and you have the personnel to make in-game adjustments.

The great thing about the'19 team was that they could play so many different ways. When they needed to be play big against PHI, they could. When they needed to play small against GS, they could. A guy like Gasol was a huge factor against PHI/MIL, wasn't need nearly as much against GS.

Koloko, even in his prime, might need to play 30 mins against one opponent and 5 against another. And that's okay, because the key is that you have him as an option.

Gasol averaged 29 minutes vs GSW in 2019 Finals, 12 pts 7 reb

[OakleyDokely]

People here care too much about Timelord. He's a 25 minute player, too. Guys like Brook Lopez have a similar impact on defense and can't move at all. Eating space under the rim is still working just fine.

I think the key is that you're versatile and you have the personnel to make in-game adjustments.

The great thing about the'19 team was that they could play so many different ways. When they needed to be play big against PHI, they could. When they needed to play small against GS, they could. A guy like Gasol was a huge factor against PHI/MIL, wasn't need nearly as much against GS.

Koloko, even in his prime, might need to play 30 mins against one opponent and 5 against another. And that's okay, because the key is that you have him as an option.

Gasol averaged 29 minutes vs GSW in 2019 Finals, 12 pts 7 reb

He was good against GS but his role was smaller. He averaged 35 and 32 minutes against PHI/MIL.

[Los_29]

People here care too much about Timelord. He's a 25 minute player, too. Guys like Brook Lopez have a similar impact on defense and can't move at all. Eating space under the rim is still working just fine.

I think the key is that you're versatile and you have the personnel to make in-game adjustments.

The great thing about the'19 team was that they could play so many different ways. When they needed to be play big against PHI, they could. When they needed to play small against GS, they could. A guy like Gasol was a huge factor against PHI/MIL, wasn't need nearly as much against GS.

Koloko, even in his prime, might need to play 30 mins against one opponent and 5 against another. And that's okay, because the key is that you have him as an option.

Gasol averaged 29 minutes vs GSW in 2019 Finals, 12 pts 7 reb

That was the least amount of minutes he played in the playoffs aside from the Orlando series where most of the games were over early and Nurse played more of his bench. And unfortunately he wasn't effective in the Celtics series in 2020.

But I agree, It's nice to have options. If Koloko can adequately guard out on the perimeter then there will be minutes for him.

[WaltFrazier]

I think the key is that you're versatile and you have the personnel to make in-game adjustments.

The great thing about the'19 team was that they could play so many different ways. When they needed to be play big against PHI, they could. When they needed to play small against GS, they could. A guy like Gasol was a huge factor against PHI/MIL, wasn't need nearly as much against GS.

Koloko, even in his prime, might need to play 30 mins against one opponent and 5 against another. And that's okay, because the key is that you have him as an option.

Gasol averaged 29 minutes vs GSW in 2019 Finals, 12 pts 7 reb

That was the least amount of minutes he played in the playoffs aside from the Orlando series where most of the games were over early and Nurse played more of his bench. And unfortunately he wasn't effective in the Celtics series in 2020.

But I agree, It's nice to have options. If Koloko can adequately guard out on the perimeter then there will be minutes for him.

Agree about Koloko. Just pointing out 2019 Gasol may have played a bit less vs GSW but he was never situational like 30 minutes one game 5 the next. He wasn't played off the court. If we'd kept him he could have become that situational big though. Just to guard Embiid, Vuc etc

[Tor_Raps]

It's safer to just give an A/B to Masai and friends so you don't look dumb later lol.

Now if we're talking about free agent signings, I'll just go ahead and give them their usual D/F lol.

[Madhouse]

It's safer to just give an A/B to Masai and friends so you don't look dumb later lol.

Now if we're talking about free agent signings, I'll just go ahead and give them their usual D/F lol.

Hopefully Flynn remains the only flop and this is more a Powell like pickup.

[WaltFrazier]

Not here to argue the Thad trade, but it would be fascinating to know who we would have taken at no. 20. I don't know anything at all about the guy Spurs took but who knows who we would have taken

[OakleyDokely]

Not here to argue the Thad trade, but it would be fascinating to know who we would have taken at no. 20. I don't know anything at all about the guy Spurs took but who knows who we would have taken

These are the guys taken between 20 and the Raps pick:

Malaki Branham
Christian Braun
Walker Kessler
David Roddy
MarJon Beauchamp
Blake Wesley
Wendell Moore
Nikola Jović
Patrick Baldwin Jr.
TyTy Washington
Peyton Watson
Andrew Nembhard
Caleb Houstan


The Raps tend to like long, athletic players, who can defend and who've shown steady improvement/growth over their careers. You can probably eliminate at least 3/4s of these guys based on the above criteria. Looking at that list, Koloko might have been the pick at 20 as well.

[Morris_Shatford]

Considering where we drafted, Masai's track record on scouting, the need for a five, and my love of Ron Harper Jr.

A solid and meaty B.

[WaltFrazier]

Not here to argue the Thad trade, but it would be fascinating to know who we would have taken at no. 20. I don't know anything at all about the guy Spurs took but who knows who we would have taken

These are the guys taken between 20 and the Raps pick:

Malaki Branham
Christian Braun
Walker Kessler
David Roddy
MarJon Beauchamp
Blake Wesley
Wendell Moore
Nikola Jović
Patrick Baldwin Jr.
TyTy Washington
Peyton Watson
Andrew Nembhard
Caleb Houstan


The Raps tend to like long, athletic players, who can defend and who've shown steady improvement/growth over their careers. You can probably eliminate at least 3/4s of these guys based on the above criteria. Looking at that list, Koloko might have been the pick at 20 as well.

I got the impression we liked Nembhard better than Koloko even . But he only went 2 spots earlier

[OakleyDokely]

Not here to argue the Thad trade, but it would be fascinating to know who we would have taken at no. 20. I don't know anything at all about the guy Spurs took but who knows who we would have taken

These are the guys taken between 20 and the Raps pick:

Malaki Branham
Christian Braun
Walker Kessler
David Roddy
MarJon Beauchamp
Blake Wesley
Wendell Moore
Nikola Jović
Patrick Baldwin Jr.
TyTy Washington
Peyton Watson
Andrew Nembhard
Caleb Houstan


The Raps tend to like long, athletic players, who can defend and who've shown steady improvement/growth over their careers. You can probably eliminate at least 3/4s of these guys based on the above criteria. Looking at that list, Koloko might have been the pick at 20 as well.

I got the impression we liked Nembhard better than Koloko even . But he only went 2 spots earlier

Nembhard is good, but he's a PnR guard and we don't run much PnR. I think secretly they're kind of glad he was off the board at their pick.

[Morris_Shatford]

Not here to argue the Thad trade, but it would be fascinating to know who we would have taken at no. 20. I don't know anything at all about the guy Spurs took but who knows who we would have taken

I was thinking this on draft night as I watched the guys tick by between where the Spurs drafted and where we did;
For me I was surprised how many guys I assumed were sure fire second rounders went in that range.

For me Wendell Moore was the guy who hurt the most and to an extent Blake Wesley.
However I don't know enough about enough about Koloko's game to comment if he is a better/worse fit.

Maybe he was the guy who would have been the reach at 20 (a la Bruno) he seems like a very Masai pick.

[Snowwy]

Decent. I do think Nembhard was sniped right before us, so thats unfortunate.

Lucky for the Raptors then as Nembhard isn’t a NBA player and should be available for free in a year or two.