Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 2

[Rapsobsessed7]

davebiddle
Satch Sullinger just told me that Jared Sullinger will return for his sophomore season.

looks like CLE is picking Irving if they win.

[Silk Wilkes]

davebiddle
Satch Sullinger just told me that Jared Sullinger will return for his sophomore season.

looks like CLE is picking Irving if they win.

If this is actually true and he gets hurt he'll be the posterboy for stupidity.

[Comeatme_Bro]

davebiddle
Satch Sullinger just told me that Jared Sullinger will return for his sophomore season.

Well that's stupid considering he's giving up top 3 guaranteed money.

[TheRealDeal]

davebiddle
Satch Sullinger just told me that Jared Sullinger will return for his sophomore season.

Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come

[sunny]

Dwill said today (as he has said all year) that he doesnt understand why people keep talking about him as an nba draft pick because he will be back next year.




-------
even though players say stuff like this (and they even mean it), its very hard for them to turn it down when the time comes. Especially with the rule change that they only have two weeks to decide if they want to declare (without an agent), I bet that the majority of these guys will probably end up declaring.

[TheRealDeal]

^that's a little different than his Dad confirming to a member of the media that his son is staying in school. Hopefully he was misquoted or Sully changes his mind. He'll need to think long and hard about potentially passing up being selected #1 overall in his home state.

[sunny]

the player probably genuinely think they will be coming back.
Not even talking about Sullinger, the list from the past few years is massive. TONS and TONS of players have said they wanted to go back. It's just a different story when they have to take their name out.

[prototype]

He probably doesn't want to play for Cleveland. I mean who does now that LeBron is gone. But after the whole Bosh debacle where his dad said Bosh would be resigning with Toronto, I wouldn't put too much into what a parent says.

Man I'm really liking what I see from D-Will. If we didn't have so many 4's I would love for BC to draft him. He's such a fun player to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTaOwRLXPV4

[sunny]

angelo chol is going to commit to AZ on thursday.

Arizona is also expected to land 2012 prospects Brandon Ashley and Rosco Allen.

[hops_88]

If Derrick Williams is able to fine tune those perimeter skills. After Irving, hes probably the one i'd give a shot at. He looks like great a 4.. but with polished perimeter skills, he'll be an amazing 3 for this team.

Do you think he'd be able to consistently play the 3 at the NBA level? Maybe like a post/mid range Small foward, with spot up 3 abilities?

[sunny]

I love D will to death. Until he plays the 3 in college for a prolonged amount of time (or does crazy in the predraft workouts - which is possible), I dont want to draft him because there is too much uncertainty.

Due to AZ's lack of big men this year, I dont think it wiil happen anytime soon.

[fredericklove]

davebiddle
Satch Sullinger just told me that Jared Sullinger will return for his sophomore season.

That's so gay. If Sully and HB not declaring, this draft will suck like ****. And next year's draft will be crazy. And that also leaves GMs with no choice but to choose the euros if they go for big.

[sunny]

Power forwards: NBA GMs have always put a premium on size, and the past few drafts have been weak up front. Last year, five power forwards went in the lottery but only one, Derrick Favors (and maybe Greg Monroe), was considered a potential superstar. In 2009, Blake Griffin was an obvious stud at No. 1, but the next best 4 in that draft was ... Taj Gibson? Tyler Hansbrough? 2008 gave us Kevin Love, but that's about it.

So it's no small thing that this year's draft is loaded with power forwards with potential. They are so difficult to find. When a draft is loaded with them, it's usually reason to celebrate.

None of them seem like a Griffin sure thing. But there's lots of potential there. We have a whopping 15 power forwards ranked in our Top 30. Perry Jones, Jared Sullinger, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas, John Henson, Donatas Motiejunas and Thomas Robinson are ranked in the Top 15. Several others like Jan Vesely, Marcus Morris and Mason Plumlee are just outside.

With so many NBA teams struggling to fill that position, it's one reason to celebrate an otherwise weak draft.

Production: The other good news about this year's draft is that a number of the prospects on the list are actually producing right now. Jared Sullinger is in the running for Player of the Year. So is Arizona's Derrick Williams, UConn's Kemba Walker and BYU's Jimmer Fredette. A few others, like Kentucky's Terrence Jones and Texas' Jordan Hamilton, are putting up big numbers. And Duke's Kyrie Irving was producing big time before being sidelined by a foot injury.

In other words, in past drafts GMs were drafting solely on potential. This year there are some legitimate prospects who have track records to back up the potential tag.

THE BAD

Centers: The only thing rarer than a good power forward in the draft is a true center. This year isn't any different. Just one player, Enes Kanter, projects as a lottery center this year, and many GMs feel he's more of a forward than a center.

The next-best center on our Big Board is Florida's Patric Young -- who's averaging 3.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Yeah, it's ugly. So if you're dying to draft the next Dwight Howard, this ain't your year.

Shooting guards: The shooting guard position is even worse, though GMs don't care quite as much about it. Colorado's Alec Burks tops our list this year at No. 26. Nolan Smith, Travis Leslie, Klay Thompson and Doron Lamb are all potential first-round prospects as well, but Burks looks like the only real 2-guard with a real shot at cracking the lottery.

Point guards: We've actually had a flood of great point guards in the past few drafts, especially in the amazing 2009 draft, when 11 of them went in the first round. This year, Duke's Irving leads the pack, though a foot injury has kept him out much of the season.

Walker, Fredette, Josh Selby and Brandon Knight are in the next tier -- but the knock on all four is that they are really 2-guards trapped in the bodies of point guards.

Again, if you are a team in desperate need of a point guard, this may not be the draft for you.

THE SLEEPER

It's been a while since we really had a great international player at the top of the draft. In 2010, France's Kevin Seraphin was the only international player to go in the first round. Ricky Rubio was all the rage two years ago, but he's still not playing in the NBA and his game seems to have regressed a bit. Jonas Jerebko, Rodrigue Beaubois and Omri Casspi have shown some promise but likely aren't stars. Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum and Danilo Gallinari all look like keepers from the class of 2008 -- but again, not sure there's a star there. Second-round pick Marc Gasol looks like the best pick out of the draft of 2007.

So I understand your skepticism a bit if you're not sold on this year's international class. I've been burned enough to join you. But scouts seem genuinely enthused about this year's crop. Four players -- Kanter, Valanciunuas, Motiejunas and Vesely -- all look like potential lottery picks, with Kanter and Valanciunas possible top-5 picks.

But it's deeper than that. Scouts are generally high on Brazilian big man Lucas Nogueira,Bojan Bogdanovic and Nikola Mirotic as possible first-round selections.

[Indeed]

Power forwards: NBA GMs have always put a premium on size, and the past few drafts have been weak up front. Last year, five power forwards went in the lottery but only one, Derrick Favors (and maybe Greg Monroe), was considered a potential superstar. In 2009, Blake Griffin was an obvious stud at No. 1, but the next best 4 in that draft was ... Taj Gibson? Tyler Hansbrough? 2008 gave us Kevin Love, but that's about it.

So it's no small thing that this year's draft is loaded with power forwards with potential. They are so difficult to find. When a draft is loaded with them, it's usually reason to celebrate.

None of them seem like a Griffin sure thing. But there's lots of potential there. We have a whopping 15 power forwards ranked in our Top 30. Perry Jones, Jared Sullinger, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas, John Henson, Donatas Motiejunas and Thomas Robinson are ranked in the Top 15. Several others like Jan Vesely, Marcus Morris and Mason Plumlee are just outside.

With so many NBA teams struggling to fill that position, it's one reason to celebrate an otherwise weak draft.

Production: The other good news about this year's draft is that a number of the prospects on the list are actually producing right now. Jared Sullinger is in the running for Player of the Year. So is Arizona's Derrick Williams, UConn's Kemba Walker and BYU's Jimmer Fredette. A few others, like Kentucky's Terrence Jones and Texas' Jordan Hamilton, are putting up big numbers. And Duke's Kyrie Irving was producing big time before being sidelined by a foot injury.

In other words, in past drafts GMs were drafting solely on potential. This year there are some legitimate prospects who have track records to back up the potential tag.

THE BAD

Centers: The only thing rarer than a good power forward in the draft is a true center. This year isn't any different. Just one player, Enes Kanter, projects as a lottery center this year, and many GMs feel he's more of a forward than a center.

The next-best center on our Big Board is Florida's Patric Young -- who's averaging 3.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Yeah, it's ugly. So if you're dying to draft the next Dwight Howard, this ain't your year.

Shooting guards: The shooting guard position is even worse, though GMs don't care quite as much about it. Colorado's Alec Burks tops our list this year at No. 26. Nolan Smith, Travis Leslie, Klay Thompson and Doron Lamb are all potential first-round prospects as well, but Burks looks like the only real 2-guard with a real shot at cracking the lottery.

Point guards: We've actually had a flood of great point guards in the past few drafts, especially in the amazing 2009 draft, when 11 of them went in the first round. This year, Duke's Irving leads the pack, though a foot injury has kept him out much of the season.

Walker, Fredette, Josh Selby and Brandon Knight are in the next tier -- but the knock on all four is that they are really 2-guards trapped in the bodies of point guards.

Again, if you are a team in desperate need of a point guard, this may not be the draft for you.

THE SLEEPER

It's been a while since we really had a great international player at the top of the draft. In 2010, France's Kevin Seraphin was the only international player to go in the first round. Ricky Rubio was all the rage two years ago, but he's still not playing in the NBA and his game seems to have regressed a bit. Jonas Jerebko, Rodrigue Beaubois and Omri Casspi have shown some promise but likely aren't stars. Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum and Danilo Gallinari all look like keepers from the class of 2008 -- but again, not sure there's a star there. Second-round pick Marc Gasol looks like the best pick out of the draft of 2007.

So I understand your skepticism a bit if you're not sold on this year's international class. I've been burned enough to join you. But scouts seem genuinely enthused about this year's crop. Four players -- Kanter, Valanciunuas, Motiejunas and Vesely -- all look like potential lottery picks, with Kanter and Valanciunas possible top-5 picks.

But it's deeper than that. Scouts are generally high on Brazilian big man Lucas Nogueira,Bojan Bogdanovic and Nikola Mirotic as possible first-round selections.

How about small forward? It seems people like to play power forward over small forward these days.

[5DOM]

Looks like I'm gonna have to start watching Valanciunas.

[sisibilio]

Valanciunas is clearly a center, and Kanter has always played as one also, though he could probably adapt to play some PF, specially along an unorthodox center like Bargnani.

[anj]

I love D will to death.

This thread's really starting to creep me out.

[Kevin Willis]

Good summary sunny. Quite a few of your PFs can be SF. If we don't get Irving, it makes sense to go in the SF or SF/PF direction.

The draft is fairly strong where we have our greatest needs (assuming PG isn't our greatest need).

Jan Vesely late first round anyone?

[Kevin Willis]

Actually - who's the guy who did the monster dunk from Louisville this week. He dunked on the Notre Dame guy and gave him the gas face - anyone know his name. Is he just a good leaper?

[bboyskinnylegs]

Good summary sunny. Quite a few of your PFs can be SF. If we don't get Irving, it makes sense to go in the SF or SF/PF direction.

The draft is fairly strong where we have our greatest needs (assuming PG isn't our greatest need).

Jan Vesely late first round anyone?

Vesely won't be a late 1st rounder, maybe a late lotto pick