KB2011 MOCK: 5th Pick Raptors Select Jonas Valanciunas

[Marty McFly]

imana go with kemba.

[SonOfMars]

This is moving faster than I thought...we'll be at 17 in no time

[Jmonty580]

O-ver-ra-ted.
In the NBA, he's gonna have to get that thing off against grown men. He isn't a freak athlete, dead-eye shooter or quality distributor. I don't see him succeeding as a lead guard and definitely not as a shooting guard. He is a volume shooter at the point guard position. His game is suited for a bench player; a energizer and sparkplug. Is he better than Calderon? Is he better than Bayless? His bread and butter in the NBA will be his speed and toughness. He's easy to root for but let's be for real. DJ Augustin compares favorably to Kemba but DJ can shoot and is a capable floor general. And with that said, HE's having trouble as a starting point guard in the league. Can Kemba guard NBA guys? Rose, Westbrook, Rondo, Chauncey, Holiday, D-Will, etc? Does he project to be a better guard than say, Toney Douglas? I'd say no and I predict he will slide. And as for the question of whether or not I really watched UConn....damn nearly every time he was on TV. Not just this magical season either, so while I do appreciate his progress and competitiveness, I am a realist and don't believe he's an NBA starting guard on any team.

To each his own man, your entitled to your opinion. I thinking your waaaaaaay underrating Walker though.

Keep these things in mind, he'll be one of the fast guards in the NBA if not the fastest. I remember last year Uconn against Kentucky. Wall had the ball off of a steal and was heading into the open court for an easy dunk. Walker catches him from behind and knocks the ball out of his hands, off of his knee and ball goes back to Uconn. Thats how fast that kid is. You mention his quickness and toughness as if they arent going to get him very far in the NBA but that will get a player MILLIONS in this league. What guards that you mentioned can possibly keep Walker out of the lane? And remember this isn’t college, Walker isn’t the only guy on the court you have to pay attention to, you double him and just try to stop him and someone else on that team is going to make you pay.Walker will be guarded 1 on 1 and when he gets past his man there will be a center there to try and block his shot. He is so quick he’ll probably beat the help defender in the lane and if not, dish it off to your big man for the uncontested dunk. That’s how he’ll make a living.
And on his jump shot, did you REALLY watch him? His mid range jumpshot was GOLDEN!! All they raved about all season long is how he somehow came back to college basketball with this ridiculously improved jumpshot. He gets into the lane as fast as anyone and he stops on the dime and rises up for the shot before anyone trying to guard him has a chance to even jump. Kinda hard to jump when your still moving backwards to try and keep him from a layup. Now what you may have seen that is confusing you is when teams said ok our new defense is going to be just D up on Walker. Then there were times when he’d still get off his shot but he was off balance or would drive into the lane trying to create for teammates and have no where to go. Over time he adjusted to this though and found ways around those situations, and yes sometimes that included playing off the ball for stretches.
Now on defense his height will give him problems, but he can keep a guy in front of him and he plays the passing lanes very well. If there is one thing Uconn guys do its play defense, Walker doesn’t slack in this department. But yea if guys want to pull up and shoot 3s over Walker all he can do is put a hand in their faces, much like Nate used to do for us.
I have no doubt this kid is going to be a stud in the NBA. His quickness and ability to create space for himself, I honestly don’t think there is a guard in the NBA that has that type of ability combination. Iverson comes to mind honestly. Only difference is I don’t think Walker sees himself as a scorer, he plays team ball and does whatever is needed to win the game. He’s a winner. I’d bet anything that translates to the NBA.

[eviL]

This is a toughie, but I'll say Jonas because not only would he be useful in Toronto's rotation, but they love international players.

[Kn1cks]

I'd take Kemba Walker, who imo is the bpa here and PG is a position of need for Toronto.

Kemba is a ball-dominant, little guard that can't shoot and doesn't have very good court vision. He is very, very overrated.

I disagree, I actually love Kemba Walker. I think he's going to be no worse then a Darren Collison/Raymond Felton level PG. I'd take him 3rd over Brandon Knight if I was Utah to be honest.

[knicksfan974]

They need a game changer.

Exactly! And picking Valanciunas surely means back to Lottery in 2012 for the Raps. So I voted Kemba Walker.

[Tommy Udo 6]

They need a game changer.

Exactly! And picking Valanciunas surely means back to Lottery in 2012 for the Raps. So I voted Kemba Walker.

tough call for Raptors

Taking Jonas is a real gamble. He just doesnt strike me as NBA ready - and Toronto needs to improve now.

Kemba is the safest pick on the Board for them.

[Silk Wilkes]

Jonas is winning. Don't believe the mocks. It's Burks or Kemba.

[bboyskinnylegs]

I like Biyombo best for us, because I think he has the potential to really become a legit defensive anchor (and interior D happens to be our most glaring weakness), but I'd also be fine with Jonas too (who is a good two-way C prospect with similar length, who we probably would need to be a little more patient with). Pair up either of those two with Ed/Amir at PF and we have a very mobile, active frontcourt that will gobble up rebounds, score efficiently near the basket, and most importantly focus on D and bother teams with their length. I think these are two young bigs with a lot of upside (especially defensively).

DeMar has already shown us that he can handle a bigger scoring load (averaged 19.9ppg/4.1rpg/1.8apg after the all-star break) and Bayless showed some promising signs for us as well (led the team in PER after the all-star break, and when Calderon was injured he averaged a solid 18.1ppg/3.6rpg/6.7apg in 14 starts, with a 57.8 TS%...hopefully we'd let him continue to start). So if we can sign/trade for a SF that can score/defend/make 3's, we'd have a good young base of young talent to work with.

[Indeed]

They need a game changer.

Exactly! And picking Valanciunas surely means back to Lottery in 2012 for the Raps. So I voted Kemba Walker.

tough call for Raptors

Taking Jonas is a real gamble. He just doesnt strike me as NBA ready - and Toronto needs to improve now.

Kemba is the safest pick on the Board for them.

Besides, Jonas has a contract in place. What if he ends up like Rubio?
Kemba Walker should be the best choice, and I think teams would trade up for Walker as well.

[Day_Man]

Kemba

[moocow007]

Closing this poll at 8 so get your votes in before the 6th pick goes up.

[Los Manos]

I think BC would take Val but it will be a tossup between him and Biyombo, with BC taking the pedigree and body of work of Val over the inexperience and upside of Biyombo.

[KingstonRaptors]

I think Jonas will get manhandled in the NBA, he'll need to add lots of muscle. He does have nice hands around the basket. But, he's definitely a prospect that's a couple of years away from playing in the league. So, I'd draft Walker. He's the most NBA ready player.

[S.W.A.N]

Val

we need a C and he can be a very good one, and its not the end of the world if he stays in europe another year (lockout or not) cause we need to have another high pick in 2012....

kemba is a possible but I think its Val

[NYKProspect]

idk but there has been a lot of african big men with potential that got drafted in the lottery that never did anything in the NBA, like every draft has a couple. so i am not so sure about biyombo. I think the raptors should pick kemba walker because they need a player that will help them now and not down the road

[moocow007]

And that concludes this poll.