Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 3

McFurious1 · Post #1301 » by **McFurious1** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:49 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iruI_sTo6y0[/youtube]

Jonas Valanciunas highlights vs Caja Laboral Euroleague 2011.03.03

The kid needs to gain some mass. He's going to get pushed around in the NBA I have no idea why draftexpress has him ranked so high. He's going to need a lot of development at the next stage. I think I would pass if we have a top 5 pick and take either Jones, Walker, Barnes (not in that order).

Both nbadraft and draftexpress have their mocks out of wack.

Kid Canada · Post #1302 » by **Kid Canada** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:55 pm

dagger wrote:
ATLTimekeeper wrote:I think guys like Henson and Vesely will likely be fighting injuries their whole career, which is why I wouldn't touch them with a top 5 pick. They shouldn't even be in the discussion, IMO. Not talented enough to warrant the risk of being too slender of frame.

You can't bring up Camby or Chandler or AK47 without mentioning that these guys have been cap cloggers at points in their career because they couldn't stay healthy.

What's too slender about Vesely? He's 6'11, 240 and plays SF. By that criteria, Harrison Barnes will snap like a twig the very first NBA game he plays. I'm not aware of Vesely having a serious injury in his two years of Euroleague play. And guys only become cap cloggers when they are good enough to get max contracts to begin with.

no 6'11 240 lbs euro is quick enough to play the 3 in the nba.

God Squad · Post #1303 » by **God Squad** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:02 pm

Double Helix wrote:Looking at the NBA standings, the games remaining for all the teams in the bottom 5, the lottery odds of us staying at 5 or dropping to 6 and past draft history... I'm mentally preparing for us picking 5 or 6 so that anything better than that is a pleasant surprise and anything worse than that is the awful news that it deserves to be.

That said, using previous draft history, multiple mocks, and what I've seen of the players I think the following players are all but guaranteed to be gone by the time pick 5 rolls around:

K. Irving
D. Williams
P. Jones

I just don't see how a kid like Perry Jones doesn't wow people in private workouts. I think he'll end up looking like a Josh Smith type of kid that's so freakish in so many different ways that you just want him on your team and you'll figure out how to get him minutes later. I personally don't like Sullinger at all; he scares me. I mentioned before that I get a Sean May vibe from him. If he ends up being the next Kevin Love than I eat my words and even if he ends up being a Sean May type he'd still be okay (May was solid until he got hurt) but I'm certainly not excited about the idea of us drafting the guy and I'm really hoping the hype continues and some GM before us (Washington perhaps?) loves him and he's gone before we pick. Assuming Sullinger is the 4th pick, the BPAs at 5 become:

H. Barnes, Jonas Valancianus/E.Kanter (whichever is seen as the better C prospect -- I like JV better), Jan Veseley, Terrance Jones and Kemba Walker.

Not terribly exciting imagining it playing out like that but it's probably better to set the expectations lower and hope for the best.

I'd go with either HBarnes, TJones, JV. Barnes would still be my first choice.

TheDunc · Post #1304 » by **TheDunc** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:20 pm

My top 5 for the raptors has changed a bit

1.Irving
2.Barnes
3.P.Jones
4.Walker
5.Williams

I dont mind sullinger but i just dont see him fitting in with us unless we make a trade. Barnes is still my favourite pick after Irving though, hes young and would be a great fit for the raptors.

Prestige · Post #1305 » by **Prestige** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:07 pm

I like them in this order:

Irving
P Jones
Williams
T Jones
Barnes
Valanciunas
Sullinger

I like Kemba but I'd prefer to pass on him this season and snag a PG in the more loaded 2012 draft if we miss out on Kyrie.

Reef · Post #1306 » by **Reef** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:09 pm

Kid Canada wrote:no 6'11 240 lbs euro is quick enough to play the 3 in the nba.

Silk Wilkes · Post #1307 » by **Silk Wilkes** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:29 pm

Valanciunas reminds me of Rasho in his highlight video, lol. No way this guy can play the 3. Centre is valid, but I'll take Henson over him 10/10 times and live with the high risk, high bust potential in order to gain the high reward, defensive anchor potential.

Snidely FC · Post #1308 » by **Snidely FC** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:37 pm

Henson looked good in the earlier Duke game but in this one he looked unsettled, rushed, made a lot of mistakes and seemed to be stumbling around a little bit - courtesy of being roughed up by the Plumlee Clan. Made me think he needed more time in collegeland.

Post #1309 » by **5DOM** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:50 pm

Youngblood wrote:Valanciunas reminds me of Rasho in his highlight video, lol. No way this guy can play the 3. Centre is valid, but I'll take Henson over him 10/10 times and live with the high risk, high bust potential in order to gain the high reward, defensive anchor potential.

I think one could argue Valanciunas is another high risk high reward player.
He's almost 2 years younger than Henson and he's got even better size/length than Henson. Also if you think Valanciunas is weak/skinny, look at Henson from 2 years ago.

And of course, Valanciunas is already producing against legit big men who are much stronger than most college kids Henson's going up against.

Silk Wilkes · Post #1310 » by **Silk Wilkes** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:52 pm

5DOM wrote:
Youngblood wrote:Valanciunas reminds me of Rasho in his highlight video, lol. No way this guy can play the 3. Centre is valid, but I'll take Henson over him 10/10 times and live with the high risk, high bust potential in order to gain the high reward, defensive anchor potential.

I think one could argue Valanciunas is another high risk high reward player.
He's almost 2 years younger than Henson and he's got even better size than Henson. If you think Valanciunas is weak/skinny, look at Henson from 2 years ago.

And of course, Valanciunas is already producing against legit big men who are much stronger than most college kids Henson's going up against.

I never said he's skinny. I said he looks like Rasho which is not bad, its a decent Centre but I'd still go with Henson who reminds me of Noah or Chandler.

Post #1311 » by **Double Helix** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:09 pm

Not getting into the Henson/Valanciunas thing but, wow, does Henson ever look like a stick figure in some of his photos. I know he's put on some weight but he looks Manut Bol thin in some of these. :laugh:

Can you imagine Dwight Howard vs this?

At least he's working at it though. This is a snippet from an article written last year.

Henson tries to eat six to seven meals a day and spends four days a week in the weight room with team strength and conditioning coach Jonas Sahratian.

It's working. Henson is up to about 210 pounds after arriving at Chapel Hill weighing 183. But it's a fight every step of the way.

Silk Wilkes · Post #1312 » by **Silk Wilkes** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:13 pm

Yea, there's no denying his rail thin frame. It's been a big discussion topic within this thread, but like the snippet says, he's working on it. If he can gain another 20 pounds he'll be set as long as it's good weight and he can keep it on.

dagger · Post #1313 » by **dagger** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:28 pm

A chart on the four Euros in the current first round mocks, based on Euroleague numbers.

http://www.in-the-game.org/wp-content/u ... lyou11.jpg

sunny · Post #1314 » by **sunny** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:40 pm

in regards to Derrick Williams going pro
"Spoke with a source very close to Dwill and he told me that his decision on going pro will depend largely on how well Arizona does in the tournament."

no idea what that means.

Comeatme_Bro · Post #1315 » by **Comeatme_Bro** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:50 pm

sunny wrote:in regards to Derrick Williams going pro
"Spoke with a source very close to Dwill and he told me that his decision on going pro will depend largely on how well Arizona does in the tournament."

no idea what that means.

Pretty much means he will enter the draft and make millions.

dagger · Post #1316 » by **dagger** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:00 pm

Youngblood wrote:
5DOM wrote:
Youngblood wrote:Valanciunas reminds me of Rasho in his highlight video, lol. No way this guy can play the 3. Centre is valid, but I'll take Henson over him 10/10 times and live with the high risk, high bust potential in order to gain the high reward, defensive anchor potential.

I think one could argue Valanciunas is another high risk high reward player.
He's almost 2 years younger than Henson and he's got even better size than Henson. If you think Valanciunas is weak/skinny, look at Henson from 2 years ago.

And of course, Valanciunas is already producing against legit big men who are much stronger than most college kids Henson's going up against.

I never said he's skinny. I said he looks like Rasho which is not bad, its a decent Centre but I'd still go with Henson who reminds me of Noah or Chandler.

Rasho? Rasho has a thicker body and is slower, and if there is one thing Rasho was never known as, it's as a rebounder. He was never a great rebounder going back to his early years in Minnesota.

The guy Valanciunas reminds me of, even facially a bit, is the young Big Z who had a far more impactful career at Cleveland before his foot injuries basically made him earthbound. Z is taller than V, but V has two good feet and more athleticism. But their body types early on look similar. And Z filled out quite a bit.

wanker · Post #1317 » by **wanker** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:12 pm

Silk Wilkes · Post #1318 » by **Silk Wilkes** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:24 pm

Obviously there's an age difference seeing as how Dwight was in the NBA for a year by the time he was Henson's age. He also weighed in at 240 at the combine. However, it shows that a guy can be rail thin and get bigger and stronger as his body matures. Now, am I saying Henson is going to become a physical specimen like Howard? I seriously doubt it. But as long as he can get to 225-230 similar to guys like Joakim Noah and Tyson Chandler there's no reason he can't defend a Dwight Howard like Noah and Chandler do. Noah weighed in at 223 for the combine, and according to reports Henson is up at 210. So yea, he's skinny as they come but jumping up from 185 shows potential since its apparently good weight gain helped along by a trainer. You then look at the possible measurements of 6'11-7'0" with a 7'5" wingspan and a 9 foot standing reach and you have yourselves a prospect. I'm not saying to take him if Irving or Barnes are on the board but if we drop or get another lottery pick somehow I'd strongly consider John Henson. Could you imagine the interior defense and intimidation caused by Ed Davis and John Henson starting? If one gets bullied the other will be there providing weak side shot blocking. I'm mentally dreuling just thinking about it.

KEEP FAITH ALIVE!

Mr.Raptorsingh · Post #1319 » by **Mr.Raptorsingh** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:00 am

wanker wrote:

Oh no you didn't...

Rapsfan07 · Post #1320 » by **Rapsfan07** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:24 am

I posted this earlier but I'll post again.

I was wondering how the board would about us acquiring another lottery pick. More specifically, from the Pistons and/or Suns. It'd take a bit of wheelin 'n dealin but this is one of BC's strengths. The idea is that we take on one of CV, Gordon or Rip (in that order) and get their lottery pick. It sucks from a financial standpoint but we get another shot at Irving or another top prospect!.

If that doesn't quite workout, their pick is currently projected at 7th and ours at 5. If they land where they're the likeliest to land, we could draft Barnes with our pick and package the 7th pick with someone else to Minny for Rubio OR trade our 5th pick for Rubio and draft T. Jones with the other. I'd rather the first option and I personally don't think Rubio is worth a top 5 pick anymore.

Barnes and Rubio on draft day wouldn't be a bad haul.