Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 5

[sunny]

I honestly have no idea what will happen.
Will drafted players this year sign contracts with the old CBA?
or will they wait till the new cba?

and how will these contracts change?

[Dr Positivity]

with the lockout coming, its possible that none of the top guys decide to enter anyways.
Well, Barnes, Williams, Sullinger, is enough talent to make a draft class considerably worse IMO.

I don't see the lockout having an impact. Guaranteed money is guaranteed money, even if it the cheques start coming 6 months later. I mean even if they start getting paid in January, that's still 9 months before they would if they come out next year, and it's guaranteed

The 'no playing time' thing is a red herring. What 20 year old kid would say no to 6 months extra time off, followed by millions? No thanks, I'd rather have not have 6 months of free time to play video games and chase chicks...

The only thing I could think of is the agent FUing the players by making them stay, if it somehow got them more money. I don't think it would though

[TheRealDeal]

if the cba raises the age requirement to 2 years in college, does the 2012 draft become the worst one of all time?

I still don't see it getting approved. If you can fight and die for your country at 18 then why should someone be able to tell you that you can't play professional basketball. The NCAA is already a mess with scandals and this would make things even worse. A lot of the top H.S. guys would go to Europe and get paid for two years before they were forced to get exploited by the NCAA until the age of 21. The 2012 class should protest by forming their own "Fab Five" in the Euro League. ESPN would have to cover it if there's a lockout.

[sunny]

with the lockout coming, its possible that none of the top guys decide to enter anyways.
Well, Barnes, Williams, Sullinger, is enough talent to make a draft class considerably worse IMO.

I don't see the lockout having an impact. Guaranteed money is guaranteed money, even if it the cheques start coming 6 months later. I mean even if they start getting paid in January, that's still 9 months before they would if they come out next year, and it's guaranteed

The 'no playing time' thing is a red herring. What 20 year old kid would say no to 6 months extra time off, followed by millions? No thanks, I'd rather have not have 6 months of free time to play video games and chase chicks...

The only thing I could think of is the agent FUing the players by making them stay, if it somehow got them more money. I don't think it would though

what if the lockout forfeits the season?

[sunny]

if the cba raises the age requirement to 2 years in college, does the 2012 draft become the worst one of all time?

I still don't see it getting approved. If you can fight and die for your country at 18 then why should someone be able to tell you that you can't play professional basketball. The NCAA is already a mess with scandals and this would make things even worse. A lot of the top H.S. guys would go to Europe and get paid for two years before they were forced to get exploited by the NCAA until the age of 21. The 2012 class should protest by forming their own "Fab Five" in the Euro League. ESPN would have to cover it if there's a lockout.

isnt it that way in the nfl already?

[TheRealDeal]

with the lockout coming, its possible that none of the top guys decide to enter anyways.
Well, Barnes, Williams, Sullinger, is enough talent to make a draft class considerably worse IMO.

I don't see the lockout having an impact. Guaranteed money is guaranteed money, even if it the cheques start coming 6 months later. I mean even if they start getting paid in January, that's still 9 months before they would if they come out next year, and it's guaranteed

The 'no playing time' thing is a red herring. What 20 year old kid would say no to 6 months extra time off, followed by millions? No thanks, I'd rather have not have 6 months of free time to play video games and chase chicks...

The only thing I could think of is the agent FUing the players by making them stay, if it somehow got them more money. I don't think it would though

The worst thing is that coaches/GMs aren't allowed to communicate with players during a lockout. We'll be drafting a guy but won't be able to develop him once the current CBA expires. This makes it even more important that we draft a good character guy with a strong work ethic.

[Dr Positivity]

I think worst case scenario is 99. I don't think they're fighting over anything as big as max contracts this time and even then was solved halfway. I think max contracts hurt player salaries more than a hard cap would - and I don't expect them to push for a hard cap. NOBODY wants the season forfeited. Not the owners, not the players. I don't see it.

In fact I'm expecting no lockout at all and a simple fix of 4 year guaranteed deals and 3 year MLEs which should just about fix most of the problems with owner revenue right now. They might add more revenue sharing but that's between the owners only and shouldn't lead to any lockout.

The NFL lockout might go the whole season because the owners are dumb enough to ask for 18 games seasons + the players to GIVE BACK MONEY for what they made in the last CBA + NFL owners have a bunch of other **** and can survive without it. NBA lockout scare should be rather tame in comparison.

[God Squad]

That's pretty much how I feel in this Knight vs Walker debate.

At least we see eye 2 eye about Knight.

[TheRealDeal]

if the cba raises the age requirement to 2 years in college, does the 2012 draft become the worst one of all time?

I still don't see it getting approved. If you can fight and die for your country at 18 then why should someone be able to tell you that you can't play professional basketball. The NCAA is already a mess with scandals and this would make things even worse. A lot of the top H.S. guys would go to Europe and get paid for two years before they were forced to get exploited by the NCAA until the age of 21. The 2012 class should protest by forming their own "Fab Five" in the Euro League. ESPN would have to cover it if there's a lockout.

isnt it that way in the nfl already?

the NFL is different. You NEED 3 full years of college to get big & strong enough or you're likely to get seriously injured in practices/games. Most NCAAFB players would choose to stay (at least) until the end of their Junior seasons to put in the work so they don't get chewed up and spit out at the next level. College football is different than H.S. football so they're pretty much learning a new game. The NFL is a different game than NCAA FB so you can't skip in ranks. A few players (Maurice Clarette, Marcus Dupree, Mike Williams) have tried and ended up ruining their careers.

[sunny]

it has nothing to do with if hs players will succeed in the nba or not, its if they have the right to do it or not.

If the nfl does it, the nba should be allowed to do it as well.

[God Squad]

God, I hope not, I have him ranked as the 3rd best PG in this draft after Irving and Knight.

After a tanking season like this I'd be pissed if walked out with a third-best anything. hell, I'd be upset with a 2nd best as well.

He's undersized, he's not that efficient and he's a junior. On top of that his PG skills went by the way side although I'll concede that his team needed him to score more than to pass.

I wouldn't be happy with Walker as our pick.

Neither would I. I'd be very disappointed. I'd rather trade the pick if thats the case. But then again, I'm really high on Knight and could be biased.

[God Squad]

It would be interesting if some team, like Brian Burke did with the Sedin Twins, drafted both Morris brothers:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... _Difficult

Yeah I like that idea. But not us.

[God Squad]

if the cba raises the age requirement to 2 years in college, does the 2012 draft become the worst one of all time?

I still don't see it getting approved. If you can fight and die for your country at 18 then why should someone be able to tell you that you can't play professional basketball. The NCAA is already a mess with scandals and this would make things even worse. A lot of the top H.S. guys would go to Europe and get paid for two years before they were forced to get exploited by the NCAA until the age of 21. The 2012 class should protest by forming their own "Fab Five" in the Euro League. ESPN would have to cover it if there's a lockout.

That would be absolutely intense lol

[TheRealDeal]

it has nothing to do with if hs players will succeed in the nba or not, its if they have the right to do it or not.

If the nfl does it, the nba should be allowed to do it as well.

It has everything to do with how they will succeed at the next level. NBA teams just want to see these guys play two full seasons before they invest millions in them. The NCAA wants to make money from having longer as well. The people getting the raw end of the deal in this scenario are the players. If a team is willing to draft a guy and he's capable of playing in the league then it's not fair to the player to actually stunt his development by forcing him to play against weaker competition for 2 years. Most one-and-done players go to a year of prep school before their Freshman season, so they're pretty much already Sophomores on draft night. These guys are adults with pro skills so they deserve to get paid like one. NBA teams just need to step up their scouting department or not draft 1st year kids. It wouldn't even be fair for a guy like LeBron to destroy everyone in the NCAA for two seasons.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

I like Knight better than Walker as an NBA prospect, but you still have to ask yourself whether Knight will be able to hang with all of the PGs in the East on both ends, which is a tall order. It doesn't matter if you think he's the BPA, which guards usually are after the locks, if you don't think he's at least as good as Rose/DWill/Rondo/Wall+ then there's no point of investing such a high pick in him... and if he were that good, he'd probably be 1a to Kyrie on everybody's board already.

I'd rather swing for the fences on a bigger player with the pick, to either keep or use to create a real opportunity to get a big-time PG through trade later, whether before the season, during, or on draft night 2012. There's no rush. If we draft a big with potential like Perry Jones, even if we don't want him, the package of PJ3+ picks looks like a great package before he plays a game, and even if he doesn't do anything, like Derrick Favors didn't, he'll still hold value because he's big. If Knight is average or lower, his trade value will be squat. If the Nets don't draft Favors over Wes Johnson they don't get DWill, do they?

[A_wildstabatanything]

Knight has quickly become the most overrated prospect in this draft. If we do take him (which I cringe at the thought of) you've got to trade DeMar immediately while his perceived potential is still high.

That backcourt is not going to work moving forward. Brandon is much more suited playing alongside a 2 that can handle some of the playmaking responsibilities (e.g. Tyreke) in the half-court set where he's going to excel off the ball.

[5DOM]

I'd trade DeMar for Alec Burks if everything DraftExpress said about him is true. Anyone watched him a lot?

[TheRealDeal]

A newspaper columnist from West Virginia explained what these players will go through leading up to their decision.

There is a very strict timetable set by the NCAA and the NBA. The NBA says that in order to be eligible for the June draft, underclassmen must declare by April 24 this year. After that it becomes rushed.

The NBA allows early entrants until mid-June to withdraw from the draft, but that is a deadline aimed primarily at international players who are not in college. Last year the NCAA stepped in and dramatically shortened the period underclassmen enjoy before they forfeit their eligibility. That date this year is May 8.

Given that the NBA doesn't begin its private workouts for players until April 29, that means underclassmen have just 10 days in which to work out for teams and be evaluated. Because school is still in session and working out for teams means sometimes criss-crossing the country, that's not much of a window.

But a lot of players will try it. Last year 80 underclassmen declared for the draft and 50 stayed in. Only 36 were taken in the NBA's two-round draft.

Still, aside from the problem of getting to workouts - travel and missed class time being the major stumbling blocks - declaring early is not a risk and can actually be beneficial. In doing so, the NBA will attempt to give players honest evaluations of where they stand in the draft and what teams see as their relative strengths and weaknesses. Many players declare, work out, withdraw and head back to school with more knowledge of what they need to work on as far as the NBA is concerned.

There is one other consideration this year for players considering leaving school early for the draft. Like the NFL, the NBA's collective bargaining agreement is about to expire and there is always the chance of a lockout in that sport, too. As with the NFL, that wouldn't put the draft at risk, but there is always the chance players who are drafted could be going to an NBA that won't be playing next season.

http://wvgazette.com/Sports/201103201661?page=2&build=cache

[TheRealDeal]

I'd trade DeMar for Alec Burks if everything DraftExpress said about him is true. Anyone watched him a lot?

I've watched him quite a bit in the Big 12. He's a very intriguing prospect to me but I never really considered him because he seems redundant with DeRozan here. Burks is a very creative/gifted scorer but still can't hit the 3. He seems like the prototypical SG that rebounds and does just about everything well.

[TheRealDeal]

Speaking of Alec Burks, he's playing in the NIT Final Four tonight at MSG. Burks is going up against a great defensive team in Alabama so it should be a good matchup. Klay Thompson is in the other semi-final tonight against Wright State.