Who are the best scorers Masai has drafted as the top executive of the Raptors?

[TheAlchemist23]

Pascal Siakam, but admittedly he's said he didn't envision becoming the scorer he became. Maybe Norm Powell, but he wasn't a great shooter until the Raps fixed him.

I wonder if Masai & Co. know how to adequately scout offensive talent in this day and age.

[bluerap23]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

[raptorforlife88]

Pascal Siakam, but admittedly he's said he didn't envision becoming the scorer he became. Maybe Norm Powell, but he wasn't a great shooter until the Raps fixed him.

I wonder if Masai & Co. know how to adequately scout offensive talent in this day and age.

If you go from the year Masai became GM to now and looked at value added through drafts relative to where the picks were, he would probably finish first and if not at absolute worst top five.

There was a guy that used to check that a few years back and the Raptors consistently lapped the field because Pascal/OG were significantly better than expected value at their picks, Delon was higher than than expected, same with Jakob although less so as a 9th pick. Norm was obviously a home run pick as a second rounder and he's a genuinely excellent scorer, one of the more efficient in the game. That doesn't include UDFA like FVV who obviously also became both a decent scorer and overall very good player. Then you have Scottie who was also basically a 20ppg scorer last year. The added value overall relative to picks is huge and it's obvious when comparing other teams picks a the same spots. Getting one All-NBA and another All-D player with picks in the 20s in back to back drafts just does not happen.

Overall that's three guys who scored 20 a game, along with other valuable scorers and picks.

As a comparison Orlando under Jeff Weltman who have also been lauded as good drafters have picked 2 (I'm giving Wagner scoring 19.7 last year) since 2017. So similar record, but to be noted is that they've had 6 top 10 picks and the Raptors have had 2.

OKC another team team with a highly lauded GM has drafted three under their GM, but the last was James Harden 15 years ago. They should have more now with Chet/Jalen Williams, but over the past 15 years have had a lesser record drafting scorers in the same time span.

I imagine I can do this with the vast majority of front offices comparing records and Masai would come out well.

Basically there's no reason to think they don't know how to scout offense given their long term track record. Actually Scottie's ability to score and their decision to take him over Suggs should be all the evidence you need. They looked at him and saw the potential for it even though the consensus was clearly against that pick.

[ItsDanger]

Siakam, then Barnes. But both are ideally 2nd options from what we've seen to date. Going back 14 years to Denver, he doesn't prioritize shot creation talent at the draft. Don't believe this has been explained by himself. Caveat is that over this time, he really hasn't had that many quality picks to use.

[Snappycoocoo]

Don't forget Freddy

[Got Nuffin]

Siakam, then Barnes. But both are ideally 2nd options from what we've seen to date. Going back 14 years to Denver, he doesn't prioritize shot creation talent at the draft. Don't believe this has been explained by himself. Caveat is that over this time, he really hasn't had that many quality picks to use.

Yeah, the only high pick he has been gifted with in his time has been Scottie Barnes, and he obviously knocked it out of the park with the pick.

The 'scorers' he could have drafted in place of Siakam, Anunoby etc. are mostly not even in the league anymore.

Criticise the Poeltl trade all you want, but you know Masai deserves our trust at draft time.

[Mattatron]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

[Got Nuffin]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

The BPA? Everyone thought he was a poor man's Draymond Green and people were laughing at us for drafting him and not some of the players drafted below, especially SUGGS.

You don't remember the vitriol in here right after the draft? Oh we passed on our franchise point guard for a career 10ppg defensive specialist lol. Then there was the entire community of podcasters and media what not laughing at us for not drafting do it all half-court game winner Suggs.

Yeaaaaaaaah, how did that all go?

Credit where credit is due man. Barnes has blown past expectations from day dot, and not a whole lot of people saw it in him aside from our front office and one or two others who were drowned out.

The only draft picks he has blown from memory were Bruno Caboclo who, like Chomche, was worth the punt that late just in case he puts it together and Koloko, and that's not anyones fault.

Some awful trades made by the man, but to say that Barnes was an obvious BPA is completely revisionist history.

[artsncrafts]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

The BPA? Everyone thought he was a poor man's Draymond Green and people were laughing at us for drafting him and not some of the players drafted below, especially SUGGS.

You don't remember the vitriol in here right after the draft? Oh we passed on our franchise point guard for a career 10ppg defensive specialist lol. Then there was the entire community of podcasters and media what not laughing at us for not drafting do it all half-court game winner Suggs.

Yeaaaaaaaah, how did that all go?

Credit where credit is due man. Barnes has blown past expectations from day dot, and not a whole lot of people saw it in him aside from our front office and one or two others who were drowned out.

The only draft picks he has blown from memory were Bruno Caboclo who, like Chomche, was worth the punt that late just in case he puts it together and Koloko, and that's not anyones fault.

Some awful trades made by the man, but to say that Barnes was an obvious BPA is completely revisionist history.

He was 5th on the big board (Suggs was 4th), so while it was obviously a great pick it also wasnt a leap in the slightest. You are both wrong.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/TOR/draft.html
Here are all the Raptors draft picks. Now, Masai has not had many lottery picks at all so its tough to judge his overall drafting. Lots of bad 2nd round picks, actually all bad picks, but its the 2nd round so its a crap shoot. He did draft Siakam and OG though so he does deserve credit. Delon Wright and Purtle are also pretty good given their draft positions. I do think everyone overrates his drafting though, he is probably top 10 in drafting out of the leagues GMs but he is no wizard.

I should note his best pick outside of OG and Siakam was Powell who is not on the list as he was technically drafted by Milwaukee.

[nikster]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

Raptors have had a total of 4 first round picks since OG was selected. Flynn was a bust but he was the 29th pick. Gradey is looking great and Ja'kobe has yet to suit up.

Scottie was not an obvious pick and a ton of people preferred Suggs. Looks like you did yourself

I was really surprised in the morning after the draft (European time), bc I wanted Suggs really.

[Fairview4Life]

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

The BPA? Everyone thought he was a poor man's Draymond Green and people were laughing at us for drafting him and not some of the players drafted below, especially SUGGS.

You don't remember the vitriol in here right after the draft? Oh we passed on our franchise point guard for a career 10ppg defensive specialist lol. Then there was the entire community of podcasters and media what not laughing at us for not drafting do it all half-court game winner Suggs.

Yeaaaaaaaah, how did that all go?

Credit where credit is due man. Barnes has blown past expectations from day dot, and not a whole lot of people saw it in him aside from our front office and one or two others who were drowned out.

The only draft picks he has blown from memory were Bruno Caboclo who, like Chomche, was worth the punt that late just in case he puts it together and Koloko, and that's not anyones fault.

Some awful trades made by the man, but to say that Barnes was an obvious BPA is completely revisionist history.

He was 5th on the big board (Suggs was 4th), so while it was obviously a great pick it also wasnt a leap in the slightest. You are both wrong.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/TOR/draft.html
Here are all the Raptors draft picks. Now, Masai has not had many lottery picks at all so its tough to judge his overall drafting. Lots of bad 2nd round picks, actually all bad picks, but its the 2nd round so its a crap shoot. He did draft Siakam and OG though so he does deserve credit. Delon Wright and Purtle are also pretty good given their draft positions. I do think everyone overrates his drafting though, he is probably top 10 in drafting out of the leagues GMs but he is no wizard.

I should note his best pick outside of OG and Siakam was Powell who is not on the list as he was technically drafted by Milwaukee.

He was 5th in a draft that was widely regarded as having a big 4.

[nikster]

The BPA? Everyone thought he was a poor man's Draymond Green and people were laughing at us for drafting him and not some of the players drafted below, especially SUGGS.

You don't remember the vitriol in here right after the draft? Oh we passed on our franchise point guard for a career 10ppg defensive specialist lol. Then there was the entire community of podcasters and media what not laughing at us for not drafting do it all half-court game winner Suggs.

Yeaaaaaaaah, how did that all go?

Credit where credit is due man. Barnes has blown past expectations from day dot, and not a whole lot of people saw it in him aside from our front office and one or two others who were drowned out.

The only draft picks he has blown from memory were Bruno Caboclo who, like Chomche, was worth the punt that late just in case he puts it together and Koloko, and that's not anyones fault.

Some awful trades made by the man, but to say that Barnes was an obvious BPA is completely revisionist history.

He was 5th on the big board (Suggs was 4th), so while it was obviously a great pick it also wasnt a leap in the slightest. You are both wrong.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/TOR/draft.html
Here are all the Raptors draft picks. Now, Masai has not had many lottery picks at all so its tough to judge his overall drafting. Lots of bad 2nd round picks, actually all bad picks, but its the 2nd round so its a crap shoot. He did draft Siakam and OG though so he does deserve credit. Delon Wright and Purtle are also pretty good given their draft positions. I do think everyone overrates his drafting though, he is probably top 10 in drafting out of the leagues GMs but he is no wizard.

I should note his best pick outside of OG and Siakam was Powell who is not on the list as he was technically drafted by Milwaukee.

He was 5th in a draft that was widely regarded as having a big 4.

Yeah It wasn't some giant leap but everyone had a clear top 4 and the whole NBA community was surprised and this board basically had a meltdown when we passed on Suggs. Always fun to pull up these posters history when they make it seem like Barnes was an easy decision.

Okay I am sold on Suggs, get it done

[bluerap23]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

We traded all of our picks to win a chip. Between OG and Barnes we had one first round pick and it was #29. Since Barnes we've had 2 first round picks - Dick and JaKobe. Dick is going to be a good starter. JaKobe we haven't seen yet.

Your evaluation of the situation is the issue.

[raptorforlife88]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

You know people on this forum aren't five years old, have the internet, functioning memories and even beyond that are capable of looking things up on the internet right? You can't just say he was BPA when that wasn't the case.

It was referred to as a four player draft by most analysts at the time. It was a consensus four player draft and the only question was the order.

Barnes was an unexpected pick, that was what was widely written at the time and there was absolutely no expectation that Barnes would score as well as he did that first year or win ROY. The amount Barnes scored his first year was something he was expected to potentially reach in the future if he developed well.

[hyper316]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

Raptors have had a total of 4 first round picks since OG was selected. Flynn was a bust but he was the 29th pick. Gradey is looking great and Ja'kobe has yet to suit up.

Scottie was not an obvious pick and a ton of people preferred Suggs. Looks like you did yourself

I was really surprised in the morning after the draft (European time), bc I wanted Suggs really.

Lol love the digging up old post

I too was on the Suggs bandwagon, the board was mostly pro suggs

[raptorforlife88]

He was 5th on the big board (Suggs was 4th), so while it was obviously a great pick it also wasnt a leap in the slightest. You are both wrong.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/TOR/draft.html
Here are all the Raptors draft picks. Now, Masai has not had many lottery picks at all so its tough to judge his overall drafting. Lots of bad 2nd round picks, actually all bad picks, but its the 2nd round so its a crap shoot. He did draft Siakam and OG though so he does deserve credit. Delon Wright and Purtle are also pretty good given their draft positions. I do think everyone overrates his drafting though, he is probably top 10 in drafting out of the leagues GMs but he is no wizard.

I should note his best pick outside of OG and Siakam was Powell who is not on the list as he was technically drafted by Milwaukee.

I just don't think you understand the draft and expected values of picks. In the 20s the expected value is basically a role player if your lucky. Plenty of busts and probably a split between busts and role players at those picks.

Drafting Siakam and OG back to back was basically a generational drafting performance by Masai when looking at expected values.

Here's a link that does a great analysis from two years back.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/JFJwhATQCF

Masai is head and shoulders above everyone else.

[Mattatron]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

Raptors have had a total of 4 first round picks since OG was selected. Flynn was a bust but he was the 29th pick. Gradey is looking great and Ja'kobe has yet to suit up.

Scottie was not an obvious pick and a ton of people preferred Suggs. Looks like you did yourself

I was really surprised in the morning after the draft (European time), bc I wanted Suggs really.

Sure, it was between Suggs & Barnes, both were good picks.

We only had 4frp because this moron traded some away for "win now players" in Thad & Jakob. I just hate people here acting like MU is the best in the league. Meanwhile Denver, Miami, OKC etc are great too or even better to find good players, steals, role players in both rounds. While no one of masais picks since 2018 is even in the league anymore (outside of SB and dick)

[Mattatron]

Yeah - Masai has one of the best draft records in the NBA. Plenty to pick at but drafting not an issue.

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

We traded all of our picks to win a chip. Between OG and Barnes we had one first round pick and it was #29. Since Barnes we've had 2 first round picks - Dick and JaKobe. Dick is going to be a good starter. JaKobe we haven't seen yet.

Your evaluation of the situation is the issue.

Not true, we basically traded away the 2019 frp for the chip. Not "all of our picks".

We traded some draft capital for the liking of Thad and poeltl lmao... other gms are trying to get draft capital at the highest value of their players. Masai didn't do ****. Scrub picks from the siakam trade, and nothing but loaded contracts for the best wing defender in the league.

[Fairview4Life]

Masai has become one of the overrated GM's.

He didn't drafted anyone relevant since OG Anunoby (2017) outside of Barnes who was the BPA in 2021.

Drafting has become an issue since 7 years.

We traded all of our picks to win a chip. Between OG and Barnes we had one first round pick and it was #29. Since Barnes we've had 2 first round picks - Dick and JaKobe. Dick is going to be a good starter. JaKobe we haven't seen yet.

Your evaluation of the situation is the issue.

Not true, we basically traded away the 2019 frp for the chip. Not "all of our picks".

We traded some draft capital for the liking of Thad and poeltl lmao... other gms are trying to get draft capital at the highest value of their players. Masai didn't do ****. Scrub picks from the siakam trade, and nothing but loaded contracts for the best wing defender in the league.

"We didn't have any picks because blah blah blah" isn't an argument that he's bad at drafting.

[Gavin_TDThree]

Best pure scorer? Pascal or Norm. Norm could get buckets