Raptors Select Paskal Siakam 27th

[Patman]

Siakam has some Amir Johnson to him. Both were skinny coming into the league, but never shied away from contact. Both guys get after it on the defensive end and on the glass. Both guys have ugly-looking offensive games, but somehow make it work with a soft touch around the rim (hard to find). Jumper a work in progress but shows promise.

I don't see the Bismack comparison. I think it's a bit racist TBH b/c of their African roots, but anyhow. Siakam has much softer hands and can shoot FT's. Bismack is a more explosive athlete and finishes stronger. Siakam is mobile/fluid, but does not have the athleticism of a Biz/DAJ/Drummond/Whiteside.

Ehh...not really racist when you just look at the kind of energy and stamina in his play. He looks like he can be continuously on the move, which could bode well for his rebounding. But Siakam seems like he can be a better passer and scorer. Bismack will be a better rebounder than Siakam, just based off wingspan alone (like 4 inches difference).

75% the D of Bismack with better scoring and probably a bit less rebounding would be how i'd like the Raps to take his development, since that's the kind of player that could thrive on this team, and seems like the kind of potential that can be developed in him.

It's not racist because Africa is not a race.

Not sure if serious. If somebody said "Go eat cats and dogs, you Asians", that's not racist, just because Asian is not a race?

[OakleyDokely]

He has a lot of the qualities of often overlooked, undervalued players in drafts - good stats with a small school, good size/wingspan, not heavily scouted.

[Lateral Quicks]

It wouldn't be a Raptors draft under Masai without a lot of people asking "Who?" at some point. I would have gambled on someone like Skal personally, but obviously there must be good reasons why he was available at #27 after being expect to go in the top 10-12.

[OakleyDokely]

Can we stop with the Biz comparisons? This kid avg 20ppg in college

While true, the competition he faced wasn't real great. He doesn't seem to be very refined offensively.

He's going to have to rebound and defend to get minutes in the NBA early in his career and then maybe he can develop his offense.

[sule]

Siakam has some Amir Johnson to him. Both were skinny coming into the league, but never shied away from contact. Both guys get after it on the defensive end and on the glass. Both guys have ugly-looking offensive games, but somehow make it work with a soft touch around the rim (hard to find). Jumper a work in progress but shows promise.

I don't see the Bismack comparison. I think it's a bit racist TBH b/c of their African roots, but anyhow. Siakam has much softer hands and can shoot FT's. Bismack is a more explosive athlete and finishes stronger. Siakam is mobile/fluid, but does not have the athleticism of a Biz/DAJ/Drummond/Whiteside.

Ehh...not really racist when you just look at the kind of energy and stamina in his play. He looks like he can be continuously on the move, which could bode well for his rebounding. But Siakam seems like he can be a better passer and scorer. Bismack will be a better rebounder than Siakam, just based off wingspan alone (like 4 inches difference).

75% the D of Bismack with better scoring and probably a bit less rebounding would be how i'd like the Raps to take his development, since that's the kind of player that could thrive on this team, and seems like the kind of potential that can be developed in him.

It's not racist because Africa is not a race.

Its not an ethnic group or a country or anything else other than a landmass. But a comparison to Bismack would be racist if the comparison was made based even partially on both happening to be born on the same continent. But seeing a potential similarity in their games based on their player attributes isn't racist. Maybe Patman doesn't see it. And that's fine. But I've outlined why I think so. Could I have compared him to JV? Sure...probably, but would you look at JV's game in Toronto and say that that comparison to Siakam is closer than a Siakam-Bismack comparison?

[Lateral Quicks]

After having a bit of time to digest, I think I actually like this pick more than the Poetl pick at #9. I expect Poetl to be trade fodder in a year or two.

[TRex520]

Kenneth faried

Kawhi Leonard

Steve Nash

C. J. McCollum

[Patman]

Ehh...not really racist when you just look at the kind of energy and stamina in his play. He looks like he can be continuously on the move, which could bode well for his rebounding. But Siakam seems like he can be a better passer and scorer. Bismack will be a better rebounder than Siakam, just based off wingspan alone (like 4 inches difference).

75% the D of Bismack with better scoring and probably a bit less rebounding would be how i'd like the Raps to take his development, since that's the kind of player that could thrive on this team, and seems like the kind of potential that can be developed in him.

It's not racist because Africa is not a race.

Its not an ethnic group or a country or anything else other than a landmass. But a comparison to Bismack would be racist if the comparison was made based even partially on both happening to be born on the same continent. But seeing a potential similarity in their games based on their player attributes isn't racist. Maybe Patman doesn't see it. And that's fine. But I've outlined why I think so. Could I have compared him to JV? Sure...probably, but would you look at JV's game in Toronto and say that that comparison to Siakam is closer than a Siakam-Bismack comparison?

He's closer to Biz than JV, but there are many other comparables in the league. That's like me handing you a lemon and asking "is this an apple or an orange?" It's closer to an orange, but still not an orange.

[load management]

Ehh...not really racist when you just look at the kind of energy and stamina in his play. He looks like he can be continuously on the move, which could bode well for his rebounding. But Siakam seems like he can be a better passer and scorer. Bismack will be a better rebounder than Siakam, just based off wingspan alone (like 4 inches difference).

75% the D of Bismack with better scoring and probably a bit less rebounding would be how i'd like the Raps to take his development, since that's the kind of player that could thrive on this team, and seems like the kind of potential that can be developed in him.

It's not racist because Africa is not a race.

Not sure if serious. If somebody said "Go eat cats and dogs, you Asians", that's not racist, just because Asian is not a race?

Different context and connotation. unless you feel that being similar to Biyombo is equivalent to eating a cat? Do you think eating cats is wrong? And do you think being African is wrong? If so then I understand your point, but I don't agree with it.

And technically Africa and Asia arent races, they are continents. You could say that someone is being prejudice towards Paskal (grouping all African people in to one category) because of the comparison but seems odd since it wasn't negative, and it was in the context of a league filled with black people from different countries and continents. Go SJWs!

[kingr]

who the heck is this guy? Even if Skal might flop.. at 27th you can take that risk.. what the heck happened in this draft. I'm not happy with either pick.

[3Si]

Kawhi Leonard

Steve Nash

C. J. McCollum

Rafael Araujo

[djsunyc]

After having a bit of time to digest, I think I actually like this pick more than the Poetl pick at #9. I expect Poetl to be trade fodder in a year or two.

watch this vid:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLJ3F5Aazv0[/youtube]

he reminds me alot of a 7'1 david lee that can play defense. and he looks like he could play pf.

[Kabookalu]

who the heck is this guy? Even if Skal might flop.. at 27th you can take that risk.. what the heck happened in this draft. I'm not happy with either pick.

Based on my expert analysis of watching one of his youtube clips, he reminds me of Quincy Acy.

The people that know Paskal Siakam, and didn't go WTF when his name was announced, really like him for what it's worth. Just reading his profile he's one of those late bloomers that started playing basketball at an older age. The upside is that the sport he played before basketball was soccer. No idea how he'll pan out, but we'll see what he can do in the D-League.

[CoachJReturns]

I'd feel a lot better about this pick if the guy's shooting ranged looked deeper than 15 feet. His form looks pretty awkward by NBA standards, so I'm not expecting him to become a deep threat any time soon. Hope I'm wrong though, as always.
Bruno better hurry up and put on some muscle. We need a stretch 4 beside JV and for the second straight draft, with 4 picks in total, Masai still hasn't addressed that.

[kingr]

who the heck is this guy? Even if Skal might flop.. at 27th you can take that risk.. what the heck happened in this draft. I'm not happy with either pick.

Based on my expert analysis of watching one of his youtube clips, he reminds me of Quincy Acy.

The people that know Paskal Siakam, and didn't go WTF when his name was announced, really like him for what it's worth. Just reading his profile he's one of those late bloomers that started playing basketball at an older age. The upside is that the sport he played before basketball was soccer. No idea how he'll pan out, but we'll see what he can do in the D-League.

Lolol expert analysis. Yup, we'll see what they do... I hope these picks prove me wrong.

[thunderforce]

Some of you guys are crazy . I bet we were never picking Davis who was probably red flagged for his intelligence or Skal who was probably red flagged for the broken back he had . Watson probably wanted Brice and Paskal was the next choice . This will go down as a great draft probably better than last year for us . Both these guys will be great picks . We should all be toasting Watson , how about that draft war room , it looks like Tony Starks work shop lol .

[Kevin Willis]

So this draft was like Bruno all over again.

This draft is nothing close to Bruno. If we drafted Skal and Davis that would be like Bruno. Explain why you think this.

[Reg00]

Small and skinny, high motor guy who rebounds at a high rate(especially on the offensive glass) who also throws in some highlight blocks. Oh, and is also from Africa. I can't put my finger on a comparison just yet...

I am fine with the pick. But I know I am looking forward to three years of reading Skal news. Does Masai always try and outsmart himself?

[Kevin Willis]

who the heck is this guy? Even if Skal might flop.. at 27th you can take that risk.. what the heck happened in this draft. I'm not happy with either pick.

Based on my expert analysis of watching one of his youtube clips, he reminds me of Quincy Acy.

The people that know Paskal Siakam, and didn't go WTF when his name was announced, really like him for what it's worth. Just reading his profile he's one of those late bloomers that started playing basketball at an older age. The upside is that the sport he played before basketball was soccer. No idea how he'll pan out, but we'll see what he can do in the D-League.

Thank you. Pascal is tall, long PF who can guard the perimeter, block shots and will eventually be a shooter. We still need some outside shooting but he's a perfect guy for our system and he doesn't have to operate in the same space as JV.

[OAKLEY_2]

Omg lol. I'll root for this guy because he's a Raptor, but I'm still not over passing on Skal and Davis. Someone hold me

But the Raptors did and a whole lot of other teams.