Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 7

[Jazzfan12]

Locke also thought Udoh was an elite scorer who couldn't play defense and thinks Brandon Knight is clearly the best player in the draft.

[Comeatme_Bro]

If I had to rank the bigs, I'd go with:
1) Kanter
2) Biyombo
3) Jonas V

I think the "safest" pick out of the 3 is Kanter since I see him as most likely to reach his potential while Biyombo I think has the highest upside but also the most likely to be a bust. Jonas V is just meh to me. He's a legit 7 fter but that's it.

[5DOM]

You know what, I think I like Kanter-Biyombo or Biyombo-Kanter pairing.
Let's trade everyone and get that second pick

[dagger]

Thank the Lord for sanity:

http://www.nba.com/jazz/features/draft2 ... iunas.html (a scouting report on Valanciunas)

Valanciunas is listed as the #3 prospect by NBA Draft Express. He is listed as #4 by Chad Ford. After watching the first game I didn’t see it..

He has very little lift. He plays smaller than his size despite all the talk about his great length. He didn’t make a single play that made me think NBA. His offensive game was rolling to the basket on a pick and roll and nothing else. Defensively, he makes an effort and he moves, but I didn’t think he was impactful.

QUICK SYNOPSIS
In my opinion he lacks the athleticism to be a front line NBA player. Has good hands and plays the game fundamentally correct which will allow him to be an NBA player in a team’s rotation.

PROJECTIONS
Best Case Scenario: 10 points 10 rebounds
Likely Case Scenario: Tiago Splitter
Worst Case Scenario: Kosta Koufas

There is hope for the world!

You mean the Jazz broadcaster watched the film one game and is now the definitive source.

First of all ,early on he says JV's 6'10", and that that's power forward size so he therefore lacks elite athleticism. In the NBA world, that's about 6.9 in bare feet. But Valanciunas is almost 6.11" in bare feet, or about 7" in shoes. And his wingspan is huge, so Locke is already operating on some severe misconceptions 30 seconds in, based on watching tape of one Euroleague game.

By the way, 70% of our offensive and that of a lot of NBA teams is the pick and roll.

This is part of a series Locke produced, and in none of them does he go into the player's relative age.

In short, one view. It's not that he's right or wrong, only time will tell, but some of his inputs are a bit suspicious.

Here's Valanciunas' tape from yesterday. He sat most of the second half after recording 21 pts and seven boards in the first as Rytas wiped out its LKL semi-final opponent. Note the dunk at the 1:00 mark. After 1:28, he doesn't play as the game is a blowout and Rytas plays some bench players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJkXoIO ... ure=digest

[Truthrising]

You know what, I think I like Kanter-Biyombo or Biyombo-Kanter pairing.
Let's trade everyone and get that second pick

Bargnani+Amir would be good enough for a 2nd pick perhaps.

Kanter-Biyombo-Davis and we're set.

[MEDIC]

Locke also thought Udoh was an elite scorer who couldn't play defense and thinks Brandon Knight is clearly the best player in the draft.

In other words, he holds athleticism at a premium, & fundamentals not so much...

He must have been a huge Gerald Green fan....

[dagger]

Another group workout scheduled in Houston for NBA teams. Corey Joseph in this one, too.

http://www.nbadraft.net/john-lucas-workout

[dagger]

Also, did we have this yesterday?

David Thorpe decides Kyrie Irving has star but not superstar potential. (I hope if we get him those fans who think every #1 should be Lebron or Dwight realizes once and for all that all drafts are not equal.)



For all of these reasons, I'm convinced Irving has MVP-of-a-playoff series potential, and he might even be capable of being the best player in a Finals matchup (years from today). But he falls short of the elite crowd for a simple reason. The top MVP candidates for the season who are below 6-foot-10 all have one thing in common: They are in a very elite category as athletes.

Most importantly, the team that drafts Irving should do so knowing that it has its point guard of the future wrapped up for a decade or so...

And Irving won't just be a starter, but a potential All-Star who can definitely be a top-3 piece on a championship team, with the required toughness, competitiveness and integrity of a franchise player. That should be enough to make that fan base very happy. But for the fans who hope for a superstar at the No. 1 spot, they'll just have to wait for the next lottery.

[MEDIC]

Maybe we should take Ater Majok with our pick.

He is 6'10" with a 7'6" wingspan & is a great athlete......

7'6 wing span, very athletic, good pick n pop 3 pt range, face up 4 man who is a good shot blocker that is very active and alters lots of shots and has a very good defensive presence.

http://www.nbadraft.net/john-lucas-workout

Upside baby! Upside!

[Dr Positivity]

Sounds like Ford and other GMs are agreeing with my stance that the 3-9 spot in this draft is substandard but the 10-17 is very very good. Trading down is blasphemy but I really wouldn't mind a #5 for #10 and #16 deal with Charlotte and picking up say, Terrence Jones and Reggie Jackson at the same time.

I think this is a decent draft that's just been diagnosed. For me there's just as many 3-9 quality prospects as usual, it's just most of them are projected in the early teens...

[Dr Positivity]

What would be really nice is if we could just buy one of Charlotte's picks with our TPE. Fat chance with MLSE being too cheap to even have a GM pre sale, though.

Dan Gilbert though is gonna open up his wallet and get the #10 pick just for taking Boris Diaw's 9 mil. And he's going to have a potential all-star on the table like Burks, T Jones, Marcus Morris, Jackson

I wish we had a rich owner in spurned gf mode...

[fredericklove]

Also, did we have this yesterday?

David Thorpe decides Kyrie Irving has star but not superstar potential. (I hope if we get him those fans who think every #1 should be Lebron or Dwight realizes once and for all that all drafts are not equal.)




Most importantly, the team that drafts Irving should do so knowing that it has its point guard of the future wrapped up for a decade or so...

And Irving won't just be a starter, but a potential All-Star who can definitely be a top-3 piece on a championship team, with the required toughness, competitiveness and integrity of a franchise player. That should be enough to make that fan base very happy. But for the fans who hope for a superstar at the No. 1 spot, they'll just have to wait for the next lottery.

Isn't that a superstar point guard material lol

[5DOM]

Sounds like Tony Parker with more potential.

[wanker]

You mean the Jazz broadcaster watched the film one game and is now the definitive source.

I don't care if the report was written by a six-year-old who just caught their first game of basketball. I have watched Valanciunas play, and agree with report's analysis (on most fronts), which is why I advocated it here. If a professional scout (a "definitive source"?) tells me that Valanciunas is the second coming, I would recommend that he look for another line of work.

[Lionel Messi]

Also, did we have this yesterday?

David Thorpe decides Kyrie Irving has star but not superstar potential. (I hope if we get him those fans who think every #1 should be Lebron or Dwight realizes once and for all that all drafts are not equal.)




Most importantly, the team that drafts Irving should do so knowing that it has its point guard of the future wrapped up for a decade or so...

And Irving won't just be a starter, but a potential All-Star who can definitely be a top-3 piece on a championship team, with the required toughness, competitiveness and integrity of a franchise player. That should be enough to make that fan base very happy. But for the fans who hope for a superstar at the No. 1 spot, they'll just have to wait for the next lottery.

Isn't that a superstar point guard material lol

He's talking about a Tony Parker, which has been one of my favourite comparisons for Irving all year.

[fredericklove]

Maybe we should take Ater Majok with our pick.

He is 6'10" with a 7'6" wingspan & is a great athlete......

7'6 wing span, very athletic, good pick n pop 3 pt range, face up 4 man who is a good shot blocker that is very active and alters lots of shots and has a very good defensive presence.

http://www.nbadraft.net/john-lucas-workout

Upside baby! Upside!

7'6'' WINGSPAN?!?!?!?! THAT IS A HUGE UPSIDE!!!!!!

[God Squad]

Wallace is a F'n Beast.

Look at that Mean Mug.

[Silk Wilkes]

Best undersized 7 footer in history.

[God Squad]

The Tony Parker - Irving comparison is actually real good. Comparing him to Chris Paul seems like a reach. But I think he could be better than Parker. Irving already has a really nice jump shot. Just not sure if Irving can match his court savy.

[Live Free]

Would anyone be opposed to trading our pick (if it isn't top 2) + dumping Jose's contract to the Bucks for Jennings + the Bucks pick?