2023 Draft Prospect discussion

[Mark_83]

Big fan of Jordan Hawkins. Reminds me a lot of Courtney Lee, with a dash of Rip Hamilton.

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[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Plus he's just now what we're looking for. We're trying to get away from drafting the Lowry / FVV type of shorter stockier PGs. Sasser just isn't the prospect after hearing Masai say what he wants as a player going forward.

What has Masai said he wants as a player going forward? Can you send me direct quotes which will prove that he entirely refuses to now draft guards under X height?

Masai is smart enough to know that talent is talent and he doesn't have the luxury of just snatching talented 6'6+ guards with huge wingspans out of thin air. He knows this team needs shooting and for him to double down and draft an Anthony Black type just because the player is tall and can handle the ball would be an incredible error. How is Dalano working for us, even as a bench piece?

You're a little aggressive with your posts aren't you? You can feel it. We're not aggressive here, we just want to hear everyone's opinion so we can learn more and it's fun. I always learn from this board, it's humbling.

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27:32 - We need to be one of those top 3 pt shooting. He also discusses rim protection which they now have Koloko and Jacob (So he need 3 pt shooting)

https://ca.style.yahoo.com/raptors-president-masai-ujiri-reveals-inspiration-behind-vision-6-foot-9-233856111.html

Masai discusses Vision 6'9".

- “You need guys like Fred with a 6-foot-9 heart. He's a giant, he’s taller than all those guys, better in terms of leadership, that’s what you need to build your team and we believe that’s where the game is going.”

What that tells me is if you don't fit the mold you need to be exceptional at something. He sees guys like Fred and Kyle as guys having huge hearts making them metaphorically 6'9.

I can't believe I actually went and researched that but anyway. What I get is this.

- he want big long athletes more than just 6'9 guys.

Before Ujiri explained his penchant for 6-foot-9 players, Bennett prefaced with the fact that those athletes are now perceived as "Raptors players", because they fit the mould that has become synonymous with Toronto's roster as of late. The former Executive of the Year agreed.

“Yeah, it’s those players,” Ujiri explained. “It’s clear that this is what we want to do. We look for basketball players, talented players, but I believe that's where the game is going — to have these big athletes on the floor that can play the game that way.

"Precious [Achiuwa] is that way, Dalano [Banton] is that way, Christian [Koloko] is that way, and Chris Boucher is that way; all these guys continue to develop and become better and we want to look for that certain type of player. It doesn't mean we’re not going to have other types but we're going to develop like this and build this team around that. We just have to give Freddy some stilts.”

- in his words he identified two main issues with this team, rim protection and shooting. At the trade deadline he could only address rim protection which means he's looking at shooting. He discusses in above video the need to be a top 3pt shooting team.

- in the press conference he talks about how the players were being selfish.

There's more but I think from above he's not looking for short players that are not that athletic. It suggests he wants Vision 6'9 players who can shoot and share the ball. IF he can find a player that is not part of the vision but is still exceptional at what they do they would consider them. Judging by what he said he wants long big athletes over just a certain height, that's why he references Precious, Dalano, Christian, Chris and Jacob but doesn't mention Malachi.

I do believe one other thing that Masai didn't say so you can yell at me for that. These type of long teams are a pain to play in the playoffs. Philadelphia hated playing us last year. If we can get shooters and always keep either Jacob or Koloko on the floor to protect the rim, I think that's where he'll go and how he'll draft.

Of course you want players who are as long and as athletic as possible, if possible. He openly doesn't exclude the possibility of adding other "types" of players.

It would be a huge mistake for him to start taking players out of his cluster of potential draft picks or value certain ones higher than others solely based on their height and wingspans regardless of their actual basketball talent, hoping that he can develop them over the course of many years in the Raptors system to be able to do things they presently have no ability to.

If there were a 6'9 sniper of a guard who can shoot the lights out, handle the ball well and play great defense too then by all means we should draft that player over Sasser. But I don't believe there is, at least not where we are likely going to draft. There are only a handful of guys with legitimate NBA skills for each position who are 6'9 that become available every year. It's a given that you want to draft long athletic players. It's also a given that ones who are talented with legitimate basketball skills are highly coveted, rare and difficult to acquire.

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Guard height of top 4 teams in each conference:

Jrue Holiday 6'3
Grayson Allen 6'4
White/Smart 6'4
Jaylen Brown 6'6
Tyrese Maxey 6'2
De'Anthony Melton 6'2
Donovan Mitchell 6'1
Darius Garland 6'1
Jamal Murray 6'4
Caldwell-Pope 6'5
Ja Morant 6'3
Desmond Bane 6'5
Tyus Jones 6'0
De'Aaron Fox 6'3
Kevin Huerter 6'7
Chris Paul 6'0
Devin Booker 6'5

Kevin Huerter is literally the tallest guard to log decent minutes out of any of the top 8 teams in the league. Yet I'm supposed to believe that out of all these guards, many of whom are the best the NBA has to offer, none of them would be good enough for the Raptors as the tallest out of the entire group is still 2 inches short?

LOL.

Meanwhile 6'7 Dalano Banton is guzzling down his free biosteel sports drinks with courtside seats all at the cost of enjoying shootarounds in the gym.

Masai might be a size queen but it won't cloud his judgment. At least I hope it won't. At one point everyone thought "oh Masai only likes African and International players" but he took Barnes and would have been close to taking Suggs over Kuminga. It's not some absolute thing that's gonna override his ability to rationally evaluate players.

[DG88]

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