Thank Nation! Pre-Lottery: Denver 9th, NY pick 7th (PART 4)

[OAKLEY_2]

Even in the top 6 those guys are mostly projects. It's the 1 and done era where virtually everyone, even most top prospects, are still quite raw. On a playoff team there will be no more than a few guys in the entire lottery who could actually play meaningful minutes. There's no need to trade the pick just because we'd have to wait on the player.
We already have a ton of asssets that can be moved for another immediate rotation player. Patterson, Ross, Delon, Powell, 2016 Raptors 1st or 2017 Raptors 1st, Clippers 2017 1st.
Keep the pick unless a YOUNG all-star is available for it. Otherwise draft someone for the long term. Rabb or Luwawu for me.

I am 100% with you on this. Worse case scenario is the 10th and Luwawu is still likely to be there. If we had the 8th I think I still pick him. Not so sure we get Rabb at 10 as I fully expect him to rise higher. The best thing that could happen is to have at least two players outside the top ten rise into that group and see us entertain the option of a dropping player. Not sure how Ellenson is top 10...

[mademan]

Im surprised at how underrated Juan Hernangomez is. I truly think he's a top 10 player in this draft, hope we get him with our second pick.

[0 - 100]

I hope Ellenson and Poeltl are both taken before our pick.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

I guarantee you Philly does NOT hope the Laker pick gets deferred!

I guarantee you that Brown and Dunn are drafted OUT of the top 5.

I guarantee you that we do NOT move up to draft 2nd or 3rd.

Just curious, what does your top 5 look like?

[MEDIC]

Still don't get the Rabb love on this board. I don't see anything that says potential future allstar. Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong about a prospect though.

[cammac]

Im surprised at how underrated Juan Hernangomez is. I truly think he's a top 10 player in this draft, hope we get him with our second pick.

I don't think he is a top 10 pick but see him a solid player who will look good as a solid 2nd string SF and can play a small ball PF.

[CoachJReturns]

I hope Ellenson and Poeltl are both taken before our pick.

I like the way you think sir. I think of the two Masai would be more likely to take Poetl, since his first 3 picks in Toronto have all had some sort of defensive potential. Ellenson is one of the worst defenders in this draft. Nice ball skills, but not a Masai guy, if previous picks are any indication.

[CoachJReturns]

Still don't get the Rabb love on this board. I don't see anything that says potential future allstar. Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong about a prospect though.

It's a combination of a few things. His age, his development since coming out of high school(jumper has made progress and his defense keeps looking better and better), rebounding and shot blocking instincts, athleticism(not a Griffin/Kemp high flyer but still a mobile guy with some hops at least), ball IQ and general maturity.
Rabb is one of the safest picks among freshman, while still being very young so the odds of him being a starter or better are actually not bad. Interestingly enough, from the previous list of guys drafted 9th, it would appear that once a lotto player is a perennial starter there is a pretty good chance of them being an all-star or close to it. This makes sense since there are a fair number of borderline stars around the league. Guys who play in one all-star game, or who get snubbed once or twice.

I don't think anyone expects Rabb to become some dominant force. If he did that it would be a nice surprise, but he's more likely to become a solid two way player. The intrigue revolves around how much can a guy with a good head on his shoulders improve in 3-5 years time? Can he be PJ Brown, or Jermaine O'Neal? But don't get me wrong. Masai better have an upgrade until then using all the assets he's accumulated. Rabb, or whoever we pick in the top 10 should be a guy we expect big things from after the Lowry era is over. I think most Rabb supporters would agree on that. He's very thin and even his first year in D League could be tough for him.
Patience everyone. Patience.

[super_balls]

Still don't get the Rabb love on this board. I don't see anything that says potential future allstar. Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong about a prospect though.

It's a combination of a few things. His age, his development since coming out of high school(jumper has made progress and his defense keeps looking better and better), rebounding and shot blocking instincts, athleticism(not a Griffin/Kemp high flyer but still a mobile guy with some hops at least), ball IQ and general maturity.
Rabb is one of the safest picks among freshman, while still being very young so the odds of him being a starter or better are actually not bad. Interestingly enough, from the previous list of guys drafted 9th, it would appear that once a lotto player is a perennial starter there is a pretty good chance of them being an all-star or close to it. This makes sense since there are a fair number of borderline stars around the league. Guys who play in one all-star game, or who get snubbed once or twice.

I don't think anyone expects Rabb to become some dominant force. If he did that it would be a nice surprise, but he's more likely to become a solid two way player. The intrigue revolves around how much can a guy with a good head on his shoulders improve in 3-5 years time? Can he be PJ Brown, or Jermaine O'Neal? But don't get me wrong. Masai better have an upgrade until then using all the assets he's accumulated. Rabb, or whoever we pick in the top 10 should be a guy we expect big things from after the Lowry era is over. I think most Rabb supporters would agree on that. He's very thin and even his first year in D League could be tough for him.
Patience everyone. Patience.

P.J. Brown.. wow, I love that comparison. Always loved PJ.. If Rabb can become this type of player, it would be a job well done if picked.

[DreamTeam09]

I like Rabb way more then say a guy like bobby portis who everyone wanted. Rabb could start for us next year with a good summer of progressing. I mean we started Scola the majority of the year and we won 54 games. Yes scola started hitting the 3 more this year but that's basically all he did after the 1st month n a half. Rabb would be a better team defender/ rim protector right away. It also keeps Patterson as backup PF where we need him.

[mademan]

Im surprised at how underrated Juan Hernangomez is. I truly think he's a top 10 player in this draft, hope we get him with our second pick.

I don't think he is a top 10 pick but see him a solid player who will look good as a solid 2nd string SF and can play a small ball PF.

To me he looks like a better defensive Ilaysova, which is a heck of a player to get late in the 1st round

[CoachJReturns]

My sure to be wrong early mock draft rankings. Seriously, I'm very mediocre at this. 50/50 for life. lol.

1. Ingram
2. Simmons
3. Brown
4. Murray
5. Bender
6. Dunn
7. Heild
8. Rabb
9. Luwawu
10.Davis
11. Poetl
12. Korkmaz
13. Sabonis
14. Skal
15. Demetrius Jackson
16. Beasley
17. Valentine
At this point I'd be throwing darts at a board. lol.

[0 - 100]

My sure to be wrong early mock draft rankings. Seriously, I'm very mediocre at this. 50/50 for life. lol.

1. Ingram
2. Simmons
3. Bender
4. Murray
5. Bender
6. Dunn
7. Heild
8. Rabb
9. Luwawu
10.Davis
11. Poetl
12. Korkmaz
13. Sabonis
14. Skal
15. Demetrius Jackson
16. Beasley
17. Valentine
At this point I'd be throwing darts at a board. lol.

fyi you have Bender at 3 & 5

[DreamTeam09]

Bender is the ideal fit and player for us. Anyhow he drops to 8th?

[CoachJReturns]

I like Rabb way more then say a guy like bobby portis who everyone wanted. Rabb could start for us next year with a good summer of progressing. I mean we started Scola the majority of the year and we won 54 games. Yes scola started hitting the 3 more this year but that's basically all he did after the 1st month n a half. Rabb would be a better team defender/ rim protector right away. It also keeps Patterson as backup PF where we need him.

I think expecting Rabb to start, or even be a regular rotation guy as a rookie is possibly setting the bar too high. He is currently 215 pounds. That's rail thin. Sure he can probably get up to 220 or a little more before the start of the year, but he needs a lot of strength before he's ready to start. He got pushed around regularly in college with other kids. Grown men will just beat up on him.
But hypothetically if he did start for a playoff team by the end of his rookie year, we would have basically struck gold and everyone should be expecting a future all-star at that point.

[0 - 100]

I have a funny feeling PHX gets the top pick and LA drops out of the top 3.

1 PHX - Simmons
2 PHL - Ingram

3 BOS - Bender
4 PHL (via LA) - Dunn
5 Minny - Hield
6 New Orleans - Murray

7 Den (via NY) - J. Brown
8 Sac - Luwawu
9 Tor (via Den) - Rabb/Davis

This is how I think it would go down if the lottery ended up like this. Unfortunately, I don't see Poetl or Ellenson being selected before any of those players. I could however see Masai taking Poeltl and trade him to a team who wants him in the mid teens and then selecting a guy like Deyonta Davis who has massive upside imo.

[DreamTeam09]

I have a funny feeling PHX gets the top pick and LA drops out of the top 3.

1 PHX - Simmons
2 PHL - Ingram

3 BOS - Bender
4 PHL (via LA) - Dunn
5 Minny - Hield
6 New Orleans - Murray

7 Den (via NY) - J. Brown
8 Sac - Luwawu
9 Tor (via Den) - Rabb/Davis

This is how I think it would go down of the lottery ended up like this. Unfortunately I don't see Poetl or Ellenson being selected before any of those players. I could however see Masai taking Poeltl to a team who wants him in the mid teens and then selecting a guy like Deyonta Davis who has massive upside imo.

Boston would definitely take Bender at 3. Philly would take Dunn at 4 and would have a pretty good core to move fwd with. Is Saric any good defensively. Maybe we swing a trade for Saric + Heat pick(23) for 9 and 26

[JJ From Deep]

Bender is the ideal fit and player for us. Anyhow he drops to 8th?

That's the Dream, Team.

[S ID]

Bender is the ideal fit and player for us. Anyhow he drops to 8th?

He's definitely my pipe dream. A picture from when he was 17 or 18...

[CoachJReturns]

Yep. Bender is a very nice fit for this club. Maybe we get lucky and some of the other guys have incredible workouts and he slides.