2023 Draft Discussion Part 4

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Terquavion Smith playing himself into the mid 2nd round and beyond. The type of player teams in the 90's would have gone gaga for and that smart modern FO's would avoid like the plague.

[Pooper]

My pick for the Raptors is

Bufkin, Hawkins, Coulibaly, Wallace

If we trade down - Sasser, Sensabugh, Bailey, Cissoko(his value has been tanking since his measurements)

[REJECTEDBYCLARK]

Amari with 8 assists and 0 turnovers is impressive. He’s making himself some good money this week at the combine

Don't forget that his mom was Drake's booty call, that's the most important part of the scouting report.

[PhilBlackson]

I'm still Bilal or go home right now lol

[Jadoogar]

Anthony Black is interesting, but I feel like he's a poor fit on our team.

I don't think he falls this far anyways.

[Indeed]

Why take it to such an extreme? I'm advocating for players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Derrick White, Franz Wagner. Well rounded players with high feel that can fit anywhere. I prioritize these players precisely because stars are so rare. NBA ball has changed and with many of the best teams the ball moves so much that you need good decision-making on the court. Swinging for star upside with every pick is the danger.

I guess now I understand, but not sure I agreed Bogdanovic "can" defend, White "can" pass, etc.
And by your definition, wouldn't Trent be that category?

I think what happen to our team is that we lacked another star player to carry the offense. I don't think Bogdanovic, White nor Wagner can solve our problem.

Personally, I like Trent and would like to keep him on a value contract because I think there's still a lot of room to grow. But he can barely dribble and pass at an NBA level, and his shooting is high variance. As is his defense . He's not bringing consistent impact. So, he doesn't fit that definition.

I'm not suggesting any of those three players fix the issues although Bogdan would be a help. Raps offense was so bad they need a very rare heliocentric talent to piece it all together. Those are the most costly pieces. As much as we praise the squad's individual talents their collective performance was dreadful. You take away the one structural advantage they played with and they have nothing to rely on.

The crap shooting numbers are influenced by bad shot creation in addition to "bad shooting". It's been narrativized as bad shooting but it's certainly not that simple. Who actually thinks KCP would be shooting as well as he is with the Raptors?

I feel the opposite, it was our defense that costed us games, which we ended up adding a C.
There is some problem with our offense, but I don't see who we swap with offensively can turn our NetRtg into positive, or not until we acquired Poeltl.

Therefore, the offense (particularly 3 point shooting) has to come from internal development. The reason none of the players you mention would help this team is that we need more than a well round role player, we basically need a star player.

[Pointgod]

Amari with 8 assists and 0 turnovers is impressive. He’s making himself some good money this week at the combine

Don't forget that his mom was Drake's booty call, that's the most important part of the scouting report.

I’ll draft him in the lottery if his mom moves to Toronto with him.

[C_Money]

I'm still Bilal or go home right now lol

How are you even watching this guy play? Every Metro 92 game on Youtube is from earlier in the year when he was warming the bench.

[Bruin]

Id love Amari in Toronto but not at 13 since I don’t think he’s gonna raise his stock all the way to there

Maybe if we can 23 from Portland as part of a deal for #3

[niQ]

What are your guys' thoughts on Zach Edey? Will he be drafted in the second round? If not, would Raptors try and scoop him up through the undrafted route?

[Spates]

I guess now I understand, but not sure I agreed Bogdanovic "can" defend, White "can" pass, etc.
And by your definition, wouldn't Trent be that category?

I think what happen to our team is that we lacked another star player to carry the offense. I don't think Bogdanovic, White nor Wagner can solve our problem.

Personally, I like Trent and would like to keep him on a value contract because I think there's still a lot of room to grow. But he can barely dribble and pass at an NBA level, and his shooting is high variance. As is his defense . He's not bringing consistent impact. So, he doesn't fit that definition.

I'm not suggesting any of those three players fix the issues although Bogdan would be a help. Raps offense was so bad they need a very rare heliocentric talent to piece it all together. Those are the most costly pieces. As much as we praise the squad's individual talents their collective performance was dreadful. You take away the one structural advantage they played with and they have nothing to rely on.

The crap shooting numbers are influenced by bad shot creation in addition to "bad shooting". It's been narrativized as bad shooting but it's certainly not that simple. Who actually thinks KCP would be shooting as well as he is with the Raptors?

I feel the opposite, it was our defense that costed us games, which we ended up adding a C.
There is some problem with our offense, but I don't see who we swap with offensively can turn our NetRtg into positive, or not until we acquired Poeltl.

Therefore, the offense (particularly 3 point shooting) has to come from internal development. The reason none of the players you mention would help this team is that we need more than a well round role player, we basically need a star player.

The defense was a system problem more so than a player problem. And from everything I heard this year, the defensive approach was chosen to mitigate what Nurse saw as offensive liabilities. He didn't think the team could score efficiently so he maximized an approach to have more possessions. I don't know how you feel about Nurse but he was of the opinion that the offense was a problem. The result was middling offensive and defensive numbers, a .500 record, and bottom of the league efg% on both sides.

Here's a video where Nurse speaks on it:

Watch on YouTube

[Grew]

Bufkin and L.Miller are such boring picks IMO. High floor, low ceiling guys. Cam Payne+ and Chris Boucher+.

[Dalek]

Id love Amari in Toronto but not at 13 since I don’t think he’s gonna raise his stock all the way to there

Maybe if we can 23 from Portland as part of a deal for #3

The guy is a hooper. Amari is actually out there scrimmaging unlike all the other combos who took the safe route. Guys like Jalen Williams had their stock end up lottery after their combine scrimmages.

8 assists / 0 turnovers is so important for him because he is not a two guard size wise, but as a PG he fits the modern NBA. I just wish he shows more of a three point jumper.

[Raptorfan2012]

Amari with 8 assists and 0 turnovers is impressive. He’s making himself some good money this week at the combine

Don't forget that his mom was Drake's booty call, that's the most important part of the scouting report.

Drake is already pulling the strings to make sure either the Raps get another pick or Amari gets undrafted if he lasts into the second round. Either way, Drake is going to bring Amari ('s mom and that booty) up north.

[WuTang_CMB]

Podz nice showing distributing it

[Dalek]

What are your guys' thoughts on Zach Edey? Will he be drafted in the second round? If not, would Raptors try and scoop him up through the undrafted route?

I think he goes undrafted. He reminds me of Taco Fall. Huge size (305 lbs) but too slow for the NBA to work.

A guy like Kalkbrenner I like way more. About 7ft, 250 lbs and no red flags anywhere. The guy is going to have a Brook Lopez type career.

[Tripod]

Personally, I like Trent and would like to keep him on a value contract because I think there's still a lot of room to grow. But he can barely dribble and pass at an NBA level, and his shooting is high variance. As is his defense . He's not bringing consistent impact. So, he doesn't fit that definition.

I'm not suggesting any of those three players fix the issues although Bogdan would be a help. Raps offense was so bad they need a very rare heliocentric talent to piece it all together. Those are the most costly pieces. As much as we praise the squad's individual talents their collective performance was dreadful. You take away the one structural advantage they played with and they have nothing to rely on.

The crap shooting numbers are influenced by bad shot creation in addition to "bad shooting". It's been narrativized as bad shooting but it's certainly not that simple. Who actually thinks KCP would be shooting as well as he is with the Raptors?

I feel the opposite, it was our defense that costed us games, which we ended up adding a C.
There is some problem with our offense, but I don't see who we swap with offensively can turn our NetRtg into positive, or not until we acquired Poeltl.

Therefore, the offense (particularly 3 point shooting) has to come from internal development. The reason none of the players you mention would help this team is that we need more than a well round role player, we basically need a star player.

The defense was a system problem more so than a player problem. And from everything I heard this year, the defensive approach was chosen to mitigate what Nurse saw as offensive liabilities. He didn't think the team could score efficiently so he maximized an approach to have more possessions. I don't know how you feel about Nurse but he was of the opinion that the offense was a problem. The result was middling offensive and defensive numbers, a .500 record, and bottom of the league efg% on both sides.

Here's a video where Nurse speaks on it:

Watch on YouTube

Then maybe Nurse should have gotten off his ass and develop some offensive schemes to help them score. Instead, he just punted at trying on offense and gave the plays all the responsibility...to a fault.

[niQ]

Bufkin and L.Miller are such boring picks IMO. High floor, low ceiling guys. Cam Payne+ and Chris Boucher+.

To me, this whole draft feels boring after the first... I dunno. 1-3, maybe 4 picks.. maybe.

Which players do you like at 13?

[Dalek]

Tristan Vukcevic is not a well-known prospect because he plays in Europe, but 21 points in 16 mins today highlights his scoring potential.

This guy is very mobile, can shoot and pass. Not a rim protector at 7 feet, but plays more like a forward like Markkanen. I had him as a lotto pick earlier in the year, but he had a bad ankle injury in Feb. and it took him out for a while. The guy has an obscene handle for a seven footer.

Read on Twitter

[Grew]

Bufkin and L.Miller are such boring picks IMO. High floor, low ceiling guys. Cam Payne+ and Chris Boucher+.

To me, this whole draft feels boring after the first... I dunno. 1-3, maybe 4 picks.. maybe.

Which players do you like at 13?

My board right now is something like

Cason/Grady
Hawkins
Coulibaly/George
Sensabaugh/Whitehead
NSJ