Official Raptors 2012 NBA Draft Thread, Part 12

[K1NG]

Thanks for the recap.

[RaptorReloaded]

Thanks Rhet much appreciated.

[Rhettmatic]

DX's in-depth mock for Yahoo:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/y-sports-d ... --nba.html

8. Toronto Raptors
Jeremy Lamb: SG, 19, 6-5, 185, Connecticut, Soph.
While the Raptors anxiously await the arrival of their 2011 lottery pick, Jonas Valanciunas, next season, they have a chance to plug another hole. Finding a successor to starting point guard Jose Calderon, who is entering the final year of his contract, is a priority, especially considering that Valanciunas will need to have offense created for him, at least initially. The Raptors' wing rotation also looks unsettled, with DeMar DeRozan still unable to find a consistent jump shot, and very little starting material around him. One solution might be to pick Jeremy Lamb, one of the most talented scorers in the draft, and move DeRozan to small forward.

[God Squad]

How long have I been on this thing here preaching about Tony Wroten?!

That guy is going to be a player in this league. Possibly better than a lot of players taken in the lottery. John Wall lite but with a better jumper. If Colangelo can move Ed for him, that move would be bigger than most here can understand.

Also, on the Lamb discussion. Mark my words - Lamb will very likely be a better player than MKG. The ONLY knock on Lamb is he settles for too many jumpers. Fine, we know that. But he's skinny so it's not hard to see why he's not apt to driving the ball into the paint. Should he gain some more weight and strength, that shouldn't be problem. We know he has no issue creating for himself or shooting it so that is the only major thing. And his "motor"... his "laid back" attitude. That doesn't phase me at all. They said the same thing about Rudy Gay and a bunch of other players. If Casey can motivate Bargs, there's nothing he can't do and no one he can't get through to. He's already dealt with the worst possible.
I want!! But not sure at 8. But yes. Love to take a chance on him
About the pick. My hope is that the instant trade rumours emerge about us trading the pick for a player that is NOT Harden, Monroe, Cousins, Favours etc, Colangelo is fired and Stefanski takes over. We are a rebuilding team that has NO stars. No cornerstone. No franchise player. You have ABSOLUTELY NO business trading a lottery pick in a deep draft for vets. You do that AFTERWARDS. Let's not put the cart before the horse. We've come too far now to screw this up. If BC wants vets, let him sign them. No need to move picks. Barring an unexpected event on draft night, Lamb or Lillard should be there at least. And if you MUST trade this pick, its for young talent ONLY. not for overpaid mediocre vets that put us back on the treadmill.

Draft Day:
First Round: Lamb at #8, trade Ed for one of Miller/Wroten/Fournier (draft and stash)
Second Round: Plan A - Package the picks for a later first. Plan B - William Buford, Will Barton

[Waylon Mercy]

DX: Did you allow yourself to get your hopes up?
BC: I think you always do. Your heart starts racing a little bit as you're going through the order, and they're opening envelopes. I was just happy to hear we didn't move back. Last year in this situation we came in with the third greatest odds, ended up moving back two spots. Still got the guy we wanted but it's not always going to work out that way. Staying at 8 is a success in some ways. We're obviously content with 8, we've talked about it hard, talked about the options that are there. It's a pretty big group of players, a nice range of players we're going to be looking at. Obvoiusly you've gotta now conclude the work we've put in the process.

DX: Any thoughts on the class in general, after Davis?
BC: Well, there's a couple of 2s, there's a couple 3s and a couple 4s everyone's talking about. I think it's a diverse group, a deep group, there's no one that stands out like perhaps the No. 1 pick, but I think team needs are going to start playing in a little bit. I think we're in a position where, as we're building, we're trying to get the best possible talent, the best possible assets, even if that means duplication. We're deep at 4 but if a 4's the best player on the board, we may take a 4. We're all over the board in the way we're looking at the draft. Our decision will come down to best talent available. Then you start looking at trade possibilities. We're one of the few teams with cap space right now as a result of the Barbosa deal, we have about 12 million in cap flexibility pre-July 1. We can absorb contract in a trade. That may mean we're committing future cap dollars. But maybe it puts us in a position draft-wise to look at another player. It may even involve including the 8th pick in a deal, which certainly has good value. I'm not shopping the pick, but we'll look at all options that we have as a means to improve our basketball team.

DX: How much trade discussion has there already been?
BC: It pretty much starts now. We've talked about various scenarios but now that the order is pretty much set, we have an idea of where certain players are, or a better idea where certain players are going, the order now determines the possibility to talk about specific assets being exchanged. So you know, now there'll be a little more clarity. Teams will talk about packaging, multiple picks to move up. Houston's got two picks if I'm not mistaken, they may try to move up to get a higher pick. There are various options out there that can be contemplated. That's what the phone lines are for.

DX: Looking at the various draft boards and all that, is that pegged fairly accurately right now?
BC: Well, you know, for the most part, there's all these mock drafts that are fairly consistent, but you've always got this random one called Draft Express that throws everything into turmoil. But we don't pay much attention to it. We obviously have our own rankings and we look at players a certain way, you know, it's kind of interesting to hear other people's outside observations and again, a lot of that, those mock draft rankings are based on intelligence that people like yourself obtain from talking to people in various personnel positions, so some of it is legit, some of it's smokescreens, it's a big chess game as you know. But for the most part, the mock drafts at the end, when you average them out, we look at about six-10, it's generally fairly accurate to how the draft plays out.

DX: Are you a big smokescreen guy?
BC: I haven't been much of a smokescreen guy but you've gotta protect your franchise's interests, so you can't be forthright with everything. You need to hold things back. Sometimes telling the truth is the best way to deceive somebody because everybody assumes that everyone is lying. What we try to do is go about our business with a certain level of integrity. It's pretty obvious what our team needs are. I'm sure most people evaluate it wthe way we do for the most part. Look, we are certainly looking at improving our roster and I think tehre are several players we might take a look at. I haven't really seen anything -- [congratulates Dell Demps, calls him "Babe"] -- but again, you try to handle your business a certain way. I've always been a big believer in, if you don't have anything honest to say, don't say it. Don't deceive people just to deceive people. You've gotta protect your franchise and if you don't want to share something, don't share it. If you do want to share it, let people interpret it the way they feel it necessary.

DX: Can we anticipate Jonas in Toronto next year?
BC: That's certainly the hope. He's got a buyout provision in his contract, terms that need to be worked out in regard to payment, that requires a three-party agreement between the club, Jonas and us. That needs to be resolved. And a letter of clearance is issued by FIBA, once that happens, he's free to sign a contract. So there are some steps involved in the process. It is fairly complicated. We're initiating that process now. Some of it had to do simply with the notion that he was about to embark on a tour of duty with the Lithuanian national team. Wanting to potentially avoid any kind of exposure for him, it would be nice if he could have his contract taken care of, or adequate insurance there to cover him if the contract isn't covered. So I know the agent and the player are seeking out those things now. I'm in touch with the club to see if there's a timeline that might work in his favour and their favour to conclude the process. That's something that's in process now. The goal is to have him in a uniform this year. It's doable, it's a matter of getting it done. You asked about summer league, that depends on what happens to the Lithuanian NT. They're going to Venezuela to qualify for the Olympics. If they qualify, he'll work with the NT to try to compete in the Olympics. If not, the anticipation would be he'd join us for Summer League but we'd have to raise those same issues, what are the insurance parameters to protect him and us in that regard? We need to make sure all those details are buttoned up. It's not a simple yes, no. The goal would be to have him in Summer League.

Completely awesome thank you kind sir

[Marlo Stanfield]

DX: Did you allow yourself to get your hopes up?
BC: I think you always do. Your heart starts racing a little bit as you're going through the order, and they're opening envelopes. I was just happy to hear we didn't move back. Last year in this situation we came in with the third greatest odds, ended up moving back two spots. Still got the guy we wanted but it's not always going to work out that way. Staying at 8 is a success in some ways. We're obviously content with 8, we've talked about it hard, talked about the options that are there. It's a pretty big group of players, a nice range of players we're going to be looking at. Obvoiusly you've gotta now conclude the work we've put in the process.

DX: Any thoughts on the class in general, after Davis?
BC: Well, there's a couple of 2s, there's a couple 3s and a couple 4s everyone's talking about. I think it's a diverse group, a deep group, there's no one that stands out like perhaps the No. 1 pick, but I think team needs are going to start playing in a little bit. I think we're in a position where, as we're building, we're trying to get the best possible talent, the best possible assets, even if that means duplication. We're deep at 4 but if a 4's the best player on the board, we may take a 4. We're all over the board in the way we're looking at the draft. Our decision will come down to best talent available. Then you start looking at trade possibilities. We're one of the few teams with cap space right now as a result of the Barbosa deal, we have about 12 million in cap flexibility pre-July 1. We can absorb contract in a trade. That may mean we're committing future cap dollars. But maybe it puts us in a position draft-wise to look at another player. It may even involve including the 8th pick in a deal, which certainly has good value. I'm not shopping the pick, but we'll look at all options that we have as a means to improve our basketball team.

DX: How much trade discussion has there already been?
BC: It pretty much starts now. We've talked about various scenarios but now that the order is pretty much set, we have an idea of where certain players are, or a better idea where certain players are going, the order now determines the possibility to talk about specific assets being exchanged. So you know, now there'll be a little more clarity. Teams will talk about packaging, multiple picks to move up. Houston's got two picks if I'm not mistaken, they may try to move up to get a higher pick. There are various options out there that can be contemplated. That's what the phone lines are for.

DX: Looking at the various draft boards and all that, is that pegged fairly accurately right now?
BC: Well, you know, for the most part, there's all these mock drafts that are fairly consistent, but you've always got this random one called Draft Express that throws everything into turmoil. But we don't pay much attention to it. We obviously have our own rankings and we look at players a certain way, you know, it's kind of interesting to hear other people's outside observations and again, a lot of that, those mock draft rankings are based on intelligence that people like yourself obtain from talking to people in various personnel positions, so some of it is legit, some of it's smokescreens, it's a big chess game as you know. But for the most part, the mock drafts at the end, when you average them out, we look at about six-10, it's generally fairly accurate to how the draft plays out.

DX: Are you a big smokescreen guy?
BC: I haven't been much of a smokescreen guy but you've gotta protect your franchise's interests, so you can't be forthright with everything. You need to hold things back. Sometimes telling the truth is the best way to deceive somebody because everybody assumes that everyone is lying. What we try to do is go about our business with a certain level of integrity. It's pretty obvious what our team needs are. I'm sure most people evaluate it wthe way we do for the most part. Look, we are certainly looking at improving our roster and I think tehre are several players we might take a look at. I haven't really seen anything -- [congratulates Dell Demps, calls him "Babe"] -- but again, you try to handle your business a certain way. I've always been a big believer in, if you don't have anything honest to say, don't say it. Don't deceive people just to deceive people. You've gotta protect your franchise and if you don't want to share something, don't share it. If you do want to share it, let people interpret it the way they feel it necessary.

DX: Can we anticipate Jonas in Toronto next year?
BC: That's certainly the hope. He's got a buyout provision in his contract, terms that need to be worked out in regard to payment, that requires a three-party agreement between the club, Jonas and us. That needs to be resolved. And a letter of clearance is issued by FIBA, once that happens, he's free to sign a contract. So there are some steps involved in the process. It is fairly complicated. We're initiating that process now. Some of it had to do simply with the notion that he was about to embark on a tour of duty with the Lithuanian national team. Wanting to potentially avoid any kind of exposure for him, it would be nice if he could have his contract taken care of, or adequate insurance there to cover him if the contract isn't covered. So I know the agent and the player are seeking out those things now. I'm in touch with the club to see if there's a timeline that might work in his favour and their favour to conclude the process. That's something that's in process now. The goal is to have him in a uniform this year. It's doable, it's a matter of getting it done. You asked about summer league, that depends on what happens to the Lithuanian NT. They're going to Venezuela to qualify for the Olympics. If they qualify, he'll work with the NT to try to compete in the Olympics. If not, the anticipation would be he'd join us for Summer League but we'd have to raise those same issues, what are the insurance parameters to protect him and us in that regard? We need to make sure all those details are buttoned up. It's not a simple yes, no. The goal would be to have him in Summer League.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=przfm4exayU&feature=g-all-u[/youtube]

[niQ]

Thanks Rhett! I think I just asked about this interview in another thread. .LOL

[Snooch]

if the raps pick and pick lamb, then in no way should demar be played at small forward, he needs to be moved.

Demar is too weak, has no handle and can't even defend a sg, he would be abused at sf and he brings absolutely nothing that would pair well with Lamb

[Kenyon009]

Or you can bring Lamb off the bench and use him as a main scoring option and see how he performs. Afterwards when you know how much value he can give you and if he's prepared to be a starter you can trade DeRozan (who might improve over the off-season) for a proven Small Forward that can start. I still think the Raptors look at Barnes he just fits way too good on this team. Especially if DeRozan and Barnes turn into a good scorers which I think they will. All you need is for Bargnani to be okay at defense and rebounding then you are pretty much set for a second round exit every time. You need a team that matches up well with the Heat.

[SirHuey]

I will be mad if we trade the pick

[nelabai]

Can't wait for the draft combine, this pic can be misleading but no way T-Rob is 6-10, he doesn't even look 6-9

[Dr Positivity]

POLL OF THE DAY:

Rank these players 1-8, by how much you'd want us to take them at 8: Lillard, Marshall, Lamb, Waiters, Ross, Harkless, PJIII, Sullinger

My choice
1. Lamb
2. Sullinger
3. PJIII
4. Marshall
5. Waiters
6. Lillard
7. Ross
8. Harkless

[hellrazor04]

1. Lamb
2. PJIII
3. Marshall
4. Lillard
5. Ross
6. Harkless
7. Sullinger
8. Waiters

Oh and I think Teague has been very underatted and could rise alot after workouts.

[Rapsfan4life]

1. Lillard
2. Ross
3. Lamb
4. Marshall
5. Sullinger
6. PJIII
7. Harkless
8. Waiters

[fredericklove]

My choice
1. Lamb
2. Sullinger
3. Lillard
4. Marshall
5. Waiters
6. PJIII
7. Ross
8. Harkless

[Inflymous]

Lamb
Waiters
Lillard
Sullinger
PJIII
Marshell
Harkless
Ross

[lander]

Can't wait for the draft combine, this pic can be misleading but no way T-Rob is 6-10, he doesn't even look 6-9

I was thinking this as well. Maybe they're not actually standing next to each other like the picture suggests , but wow he's not 6'8 if that's an accurate picture. He's significantly shorter than Barnes. He will seriously drop if he's 6'8 in shoes yikes!

[Dr Positivity]

Barnes is apparently a legit 6'9+

[Undefeated]

1. Lamb
2. Sullinger
3. Ross
4. Waiters
5. Lillard
6. Marshall
7. PJ3
8. Harkless

[amjonar]

when might the raptors pre-draft work outs be? they were announced a year ago today for 2011 draft