Raptors NBA Draft Thread: Damian Lillard (POR)

[Garmfay]

Thanks Helix, you explain stuff alot better haha. I still hold out hope for Bayless.

[cdel00]

Another great post DH,

I'm way more optimistic and see Damian Lillard with a higher cieling than that though. I think he could eclipse a 20 PER.

Aside from offense though I believe in his potential on D in Casey's system and even more so in his intangibles. That drive and kick game he has mastered with an incredible dribble drive both ways.

In any regard I really like his potential and his accomplishments.

[cdel00]

I see things a bit differently.

First thing I look at is physical talent.
Does the player have the physical talent needed to be successfull?

Next I look at brains.
Does the player know how to execute the coaches' systems?

Next I look at toughness.
Does the player fold after taking a hit, does the player know how to defend himself from getting hurt?

Next I look at leadership.
Does the player mesh well, make his team mates better? What did his previous team say about him?

Next I look at consistency.
Would I trust the player to make the right play every time?

Next I look at ability to handle success (humility)
Will that player keep pushing after he gets his contract? Will he focus even after he posterizes someone, how does he respond after the timeout after a huge play?

Next I look at abilty to handle disappointment (character)
Does the player keep playing hard and the right way when things aint going well? Does that player find other ways to be effective even when his shot is bricking?

Finally I look at intangibles
Things like cahnging gears, footwork, angles, guile, screen usage, foresight, NASTINESS, etc.

See these things are the really important things that the superstars have. This is the common set of attributes that define excellence. All of the above need to be considered and evaluated they meen much more than which conference a player was in.

Anyways for what its worth its for these reasons I chose to back Lillard many moons ago and will expect his success moving forward.

[JamesNaismith]

With Lamb off the board I still think PJ3 will be the pick.


But maybe with the need for a PG we take Lillard although I just think his weak competition and age will be a MAJOR deterent from drafting him. A lot of people hate the comparison to Bayless but really they aren't all that different (although I would agree that Lillard has a personality more condusive with being a leader and a little more fluid)......BUT how much of that is a result of playing against such WEAK competition??? Bayless put up almost the same numbers as a FRESHMAN at a much better school like Arizona....is it fair to think he will be better by averaging a 2 more points playing for a no-name school like Weber and that him looking even better wasn't a result of poor competition??! Million dollar question.

ie/ look @ DeMar every summer in the Drew (not that DL's conference was that bad but hopefully you get the idea)

Then the question is how does he fit into the scheme of things?!? He's a scoring guard to the max. Are we hoping he's a new age Iverson (with a good attitude) or our version of Brandon Jennings? I've never been a big fan of a scoring PG unless they're exceptional at it. Then how will he fit with Jonas and DeMar? DD needs someone to set up his offence....and Val needs looks down on the block. Just overall I don't see it being a great fit but I'm sure he will win fans as he could be a top scoring option with Bargnani and surpass DD since I doubt he looks for him as often. I have mixed feelings about him as a pick.

[Rapsfan07]

Well if we must pick, I'm hoping it's Lamb. If not, I hope we trade it for Tyreke. If not, I wouldn't mind taking a look at Lillard or PJ3. Both have considerable upside.

Lillard can run the pick and roll well which is great for Val. But in terms of setting up and offense (which is needed) he's not that great. Now, I like when my PG is a scoring threat...it keeps the D on their toes...So I don't mind a PG can score but he's gotta be able to help out the team as well. And in this area, he's not much different than Bayless and Bayless was posting near all-star numbers when he was given the start.

[BillyGM]

What we do with Jose and Bayless? We don't want our 8th pick coming of the bench

[DG88]

What we do with Jose and Bayless? We don't want our 8th pick coming of the bench

Consider that Jose is an expiring contract next year. Bayless has a qualifying offer this year and would be an UFA next year if we exercise the qualifying offer. BC has too be considering about what to do with our PG situation.

[trick]

With Nash, Dragic, Lowry, Lin available, I don't see the Raps taking Lillard. He would have to wow the team during the workout and make them say "Yes, he's definitely going to be better than the young PGs available this summer". A shame too because I love his attitude and approach.

[BillyGM]

What we do with Jose and Bayless? We don't want our 8th pick coming of the bench

Consider that Jose is an expiring contract next year. Bayless has a qualifying offer this year and would be an UFA next year if we exercise the qualifying offer. BC has too be considering about what to do with our PG situation.

Chisholm that's you?

[DG88]

What we do with Jose and Bayless? We don't want our 8th pick coming of the bench

Consider that Jose is an expiring contract next year. Bayless has a qualifying offer this year and would be an UFA next year if we exercise the qualifying offer. BC has too be considering about what to do with our PG situation.

Chisholm that's you?

Haha I wish, but the FO has to project how the roster might look 2 years from now. Certain players will become FA and we'll have to choose whether to keep them, trade them or let them walk. In our case by the end of next season we'll have to make a decision on the PG position and SF position. This years draft could help figure out what we do next year at those positions. Getting Lillard and let's say Darius Miller would shore up those position on cheap contracts that we can control.

[cdel00]

I have read a library worth of info about d lill. And I haven't heard a single flaw in his game. It's unreal no body has a bad thing to say about him.

Not a single flaw in his game or attitude.

The only red flag is conference.

[SwiftyV]

I have read a library worth of info about d lill. And I haven't heard a single flaw in his game. It's unreal no body has a bad thing to say about him.

Not a single flaw in his game or attitude.

The only red flag is conference.

Yep, that's the only knock. I'm really hoping we take him.

[C_Money]

I'm thinking he could move into the top 5 if he kills it during the workouts. Nobody knows what he can do against elite competition so these workouts could be huge for him.

[shortmikeshortt]

I have read a library worth of info about d lill. And I haven't heard a single flaw in his game. It's unreal no body has a bad thing to say about him.

Not a single flaw in his game or attitude.

The only red flag is conference.

Such a great way to sum it up. This kid is awesome, will be so upsetting to see him go elsewhere because I truly believe he will be a special PG for us.

[Dr Positivity]

I have read a library worth of info about d lill. And I haven't heard a single flaw in his game. It's unreal no body has a bad thing to say about him.

Not a single flaw in his game or attitude.

The only red flag is conference.

Not a single flaw is a stretch. There's a long list of 6'2-6'3 SGs who've been drafted by teams saying "Future PG, he just has to learn!" and they ended up either a starting 2 guard or 3rd guard off the bench, but a SG. DX has 18 players in their top 100 listed as PGs and Lillard ranks 14th in Ast/FGA. To give an idea of the difference

Marshall - 1.56
Machado - 1.04
Teague - .54
Taylor - .43
Wroten - .29
Waiters - .26
Lillard - .26

Lillard averaged 4.6 assists per 40 minutes, but with 17.9 FGA and like 22+ if you include his free throw line trips. Would he be still talked about as a PG if he averaged 15 possessions instead of 22, which would bring him to about 3.2 assists per 40, or 2.7 assists his real MP this year (34.5)

I've only seen about half a game of Lillard's, here is the video clip I put together of his scores in it

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

He looks like Big Sky's version of Kobe in the game to me, just in terms of style of play. And in terms of his style of scoring I saw a guy that got thrown off be pressure if he got into the paint, as if he didn't have the physical talent to finish under pressure or contact, and I didn't see him dribble through traffic to get up to score at the rim. It's one game, but I really got the feeling he's a guy who's going to score in the NBA, but on almost solely 16-24 jumpshots, and that's basically be his game. Maybe that'll still make him Jason Terry, but there's a risk it's Mayo too. There's a reason Jason Terry is one of the most overused wrong comparisons for players, because there's combo guards in every draft and Terry is the prototype for that role, but most combo guards end up having mediocre careers. I'd like Lillard but I feel like Lamb will have the same role as him in the NBA (shoot/drive scorer) but fits the SG position a lot more in size/athleticism. If a team takes Lillard over him it's probably because they see him as a future 1 with a size/shooting/playmaking combo more than a pure 2 guard. If drafting them solely as SGs it's pretty easily Lamb ahead of Lillard to me. If a pure 2 Lillard is undersized at 6'2-6'3 and not athletic enough to make it for it, but good at shooting. There's been lots of 2 guards like that over the years and most don't live value wise to being taken 8th overall. I'm taking Lamb to be my long term starting SG any day over Lillard. Furthemore we're a team who desperately needs upside and star power. A 6'3 shoot first, 16-24 ft operating SG is not the type of game changer/franchise changing talent that we're looking for IMO.

Am I going to bitch if we draft Lillard? No, I like the guy and would still prob take him lotto. But it would seem like a meek pick to me to take a guy that even if he pans out he'll be a Terry, Mo Williams type who's best role on a good team is probably 3rd guard off the bench. My biggest problem with finding a future 3rd guard is that there's a lot of guards out there who like to play like that, a lot of future draft prospects, future FAs. It isn't the type of player you have no chance of getting unless you draft them top 10, if you know what I mean. All of this changes if he's actually a PG and has Curry like vision, but I'd hope we'd do our homework because there have been many, many teams who have gotten burned taking a combo guard with that expectation based on evidence as flimsy as Lillard averaging 4.6 assists per 40 this year, without looking at his USG rate and Ast/FGA and Ast/TOV to see that he might've just been an uber USG SG who had to gets assists some time

[TheToothFairy]

I have read a library worth of info about d lill. And I haven't heard a single flaw in his game. It's unreal no body has a bad thing to say about him.

Not a single flaw in his game or attitude.

The only red flag is conference.

Not a single flaw is a stretch. There's a long list of 6'2-6'3 SGs who've been drafted by teams saying "Future PG, he just has to learn!" and they ended up either a starting 2 guard or 3rd guard off the bench, but a SG. DX has 18 players in their top 100 listed as PGs and Lillard ranks 14th in Ast/FGA. To give an idea of the difference

Marshall - 1.56
Machado - 1.04
Teague - .54
Taylor - .43
Wroten - .29
Waiters - .26
Lillard - .26

Lillard averaged 4.6 assists per 40 minutes, but with 17.9 FGA and like 22+ if you include his free throw line trips. Would he be still talked about as a PG if he averaged 15 possessions instead of 22, which would bring him to about 3.2 assists per 40, or 2.7 assists his real MP this year (34.5)

I've only seen about half a game of Lillard's, here is the video clip I put together of his scores in it

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

He looks like Big Sky's version of Kobe in the game to me, just in terms of style of play. And in terms of his style of scoring I saw a guy that got thrown off be pressure if he got into the paint, as if he didn't have the physical talent to finish under pressure or contact, and I didn't see him dribble through traffic to get up to score at the rim. It's one game, but I really got the feeling he's a guy who's going to score in the NBA, but on almost solely 16-24 jumpshots, and that's basically be his game. Maybe that'll still make him Jason Terry, but there's a risk it's Mayo too. There's a reason Jason Terry is one of the most overused wrong comparisons for players, because there's combo guards in every draft and Terry is the prototype for that role, but most combo guards end up having mediocre careers. I'd like Lillard but I feel like Lamb will have the same role as him in the NBA (shoot/drive scorer) but fits the SG position a lot more in size/athleticism. If a team takes Lillard over him it's probably because they see him as a future 1 with a size/shooting/playmaking combo more than a pure 2 guard. If drafting them solely as SGs it's pretty easily Lamb ahead of Lillard to me. If a pure 2 Lillard is undersized at 6'2-6'3 and not athletic enough to make it for it, but good at shooting. There's been lots of 2 guards like that over the years and most don't live value wise to being taken 8th overall. I'm taking Lamb to be my long term starting SG any day over Lillard. Furthemore we're a team who desperately needs upside and star power. A 6'3 shoot first, 16-24 ft operating SG is not the type of game changer/franchise changing talent that we're looking for IMO.

Am I going to bitch if we draft Lillard? No, I like the guy and would still prob take him lotto. But it would seem like a meek pick to me to take a guy that even if he pans out he'll be a Terry, Mo Williams type who's best role on a good team is probably 3rd guard off the bench. My biggest problem with finding a future 3rd guard is that there's a lot of guards out there who like to play like that, a lot of future draft prospects, future FAs. It isn't the type of player you have no chance of getting unless you draft them top 10, if you know what I mean. All of this changes if he's actually a PG and has Curry like vision, but I'd hope we'd do our homework because there have been many, many teams who have gotten burned taking a combo guard with that expectation

Fantastic explanation

[cdel00]

Dr M.

He's not a 2g he's a pg. he was in major consideration for pg of the year of which he was robbed IMO.

Your full of it if u think he's a 2g pretending to be a pg. I have no other way of putting it. You highlight package is pure garbage and short sighted.

The kid was the focus of everything for both teams and he executed very very well.

Your argument is full of holes and you didn't list a flaw in his game. All you said was he didn't pass enough but that's pure bs. He did pass he passed early in the clock ran a play and got the ball back. Later in games he was told to put his team on his back. Which he did.

Oscar Robertson isn't for the best 2g all of a sudden is it?
Edit that should read bob cousy

Best pg in this draft notes from media. Not best combo guard not best 2g it is best PG.

But the humble part at the end of your post is correct.

At to fga ratio is not a flaw it is an indication of how Weber was set to play.

[Dr Positivity]

Well if we pick him, I hope you're right cdel. It's just that judging by the amount of combo guards in the NBA, we should know that it's not as easy as it sounds to teach a score first guy how to run an offense

[cdel00]

“One thing about Damian is it’s never been about Damian,” he said. “He has attacked everything with great humility and has been a team first guy. He is all about winning, and that’s what he has done since he stepped foot on campus is win.”coach Rahe

[cdel00]

Whoops I stand corrected Oscar Robertson isn't only for PGs lmao!

I meant the bob Cousy


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