And Then There Was One: Thank Nation 2. Raps pick 23rd

[CoachJReturns]

If the Raps end up keeping both picks I would imagine that one of the first roundere would be an international draft and stash.

Either that or Bruno gets released.

Would most likely be Anzejs Pasecniks who is currently projected just before our pick. He'd be a good option as a unique prospect who can shoot and block shots at a high rate.

I like him too, PorzinGod's lesser twin.

At the 23rd pick he'd be a solid value choice. We still have the other 1st rounder to grab Colllins, or whatever high PER player Masai wants from the NCAA, though I can't see him passing up the guy with the highest PER in the draft. Watson will determine the pick. lol.

[Psubs]

It makes a difference because if the examples you can find of outliers are totally unique players, and Barkley definitely was, then you're putting an absurdly high expectation on a prospect. I tried to think of more average examples and there aren't many. Heck, I think of Patterson as being a modern sized/style power forward and he's still 6'8 or 6'9.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled if Bridges were still available at one of our picks. He's one of the best pure athletes in this draft and seems to have a motor. My point is simply that we see more guys like him who fail than succeed. The D League is truly full of tweeners who just aren't that useful.

A pretty good comparison, though not perfect, to Bridges would be Joey Graham. Terrific athlete(best testing at the combine overall) and great size for a wing. Unfortunately, he didn't have the guard skills needed and he was pretty much a wasted pick.
I'm not saying Bridges becomes Graham, but the odds of him becoming a star power forward at 6'6 are about the same as the odds of him being Joey Graham 2.0.
I'd happily be wrong, but a guy his size is more likely to be successful if he can play primarily at SG and SF rather than PF.

Other than that, I'll say we should agree to disagree because we're going in circles.

The thing with Bridges, what sets him apart from Joey Graham is that he's shooting 3's at 41.4% as a freshman.. I believe he could a be solid shooter at the next level. Graham at UCF as a freshman was a measly 21.2%. Not to mention Joey's highest per game stats in college are only 6 rebs and 0.2 blocks per game while, bridges is at 8.5 rebs and almost 2 blocks per game.

Both valid points. As I said, it's not a perfect comparison. Personally, I'm really hoping Bridges falls to us and develops his wing skills though. He'd have a strength advantage over shooting guards and some small forwards. Against power forwards, it might beat him up a little. Paul George experienced that last year playing the 4 spot for Indiana.
Bridges with better handles is a little more like Vince, which would make any long time Raptor fan very excited.

Bridges is like a more athletic version of Jared Dudley.

[Psubs]

Would most likely be Anzejs Pasecniks who is currently projected just before our pick. He'd be a good option as a unique prospect who can shoot and block shots at a high rate.

I like him too, PorzinGod's lesser twin.

At the 23rd pick he'd be a solid value choice. We still have the other 1st rounder to grab Colllins, or whatever high PER player Masai wants from the NCAA, though I can't see him passing up the guy with the highest PER in the draft. Watson will determine the pick. lol.

Ya, must appease Watson! Masai picks the stash and Watson picks the one that helps ASAP!

[CoachJReturns]

The thing with Bridges, what sets him apart from Joey Graham is that he's shooting 3's at 41.4% as a freshman.. I believe he could a be solid shooter at the next level. Graham at UCF as a freshman was a measly 21.2%. Not to mention Joey's highest per game stats in college are only 6 rebs and 0.2 blocks per game while, bridges is at 8.5 rebs and almost 2 blocks per game.

Both valid points. As I said, it's not a perfect comparison. Personally, I'm really hoping Bridges falls to us and develops his wing skills though. He'd have a strength advantage over shooting guards and some small forwards. Against power forwards, it might beat him up a little. Paul George experienced that last year playing the 4 spot for Indiana.
Bridges with better handles is a little more like Vince, which would make any long time Raptor fan very excited.

Bridges is like a more athletic version of Jared Dudley.

But Dudley wasn't this good a shooter until his senior year and blocked 0.2 shots a game.
I think Bridges has as much boom or bust potential as anyone in this draft. He's like the definition of a face up 4 but lacks the size to be one. Definitely worth a pick at our position though if he ever fell that far. He keeps reminding me of Vince and VC just had to be a decent ball handler to be a top scorer. He was never a great dribbler by any means.

[DG88]

DX has updated their mock. I know quite a few would be extremely happy if these two are picked by us

Pick 23: OG Anunoby
Pick 26: Anzejs Pasecniks

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

[Risk101]

^^^^^^ beat me to the punch by a minute.

The last DX mocks have us taking the OG. He's dropping.
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

[Risk101]

Wow that Justin Patton kid switched spots with OG. Dude is at 12 now. Kudos to the guy who brought him up. Gonna pay more attention to him now. Jarrett Allen on the other hand hasn't cracked top 60 yet smh.

[Wraps_fan]

DX has updated their mock. I know quite a few would be extremely happy if these two are picked by us

Pick 23: OG Anunoby
Pick 26: Anzejs Pasecniks

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

What's funny is this would be my preferred combo if I could take any 2 players.

Well, that's if both of our picks don't fall down more to the late teens early 20s.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Odd considering they threw OG out of this draft after the news, so maybe they heard something. I still think he will go higher, between 10-20.

[super_balls]

DX has updated their mock. I know quite a few would be extremely happy if these two are picked by us

Pick 23: OG Anunoby
Pick 26: Anzejs Pasecniks

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

Wow, I love it. Maybe they have been reading realgm. lol

[Clutch0z24]

Watch on YouTube

Ivan Rabb Had a Solid game

[CoachJReturns]

DX has updated their mock. I know quite a few would be extremely happy if these two are picked by us

Pick 23: OG Anunoby
Pick 26: Anzejs Pasecniks

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

Have they even reported exactly what kind of knee injury it was that OG had surgery for? I'm all for value, but the guy's game is very dependent on his athleticism.

[CoachJReturns]

John Collins is rising. I figured that would happen. Hope he's still available in our range as he's the highest PER guy in the draft and Masai/Watson seems to gravitate to those types of players. At least this one has some athleticism/potential.

[super_balls]

Sumner out with Torn ACL, feel bad for the kid. Looked promising.

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/College-Basketball/2017/01/30/No-24-Xavier-tops-St-Johns-but-loses-Edmund-Sumner/1631485778955/

[RaptorsLife]

Wed 1 @PHX 9:00 Tickets
Thu 2 GS 10:30 Tickets
Sun 5 @BOS 2:00 Tickets
Mon 6 @TOR 7:30 Tickets
Wed 8 @NY 8:00 Tickets
Sat 11 @CHA 5:00 Tickets
Mon 13 @UTAH 9:00 Tickets
Wed 15 ATL 10:30 Tickets
Thu 23 @GS 10:30 Tickets
Fri 24 SA 10:30 Tickets
Sun 26 CHA 9:30 Tickets

Right now clippers are 4.5 games out of 18th position. February is monster hard.

Raptors are struggling so by the deadline both picks could be at 19-22. Whether we trade them for a good player or keep them. We're In a good spot. Win win situation

[BoyzNTheHood]

DX has updated their mock. I know quite a few would be extremely happy if these two are picked by us

Pick 23: OG Anunoby
Pick 26: Anzejs Pasecniks

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

Ideal.

You get a beefy wing defender, plus a stash guy. But instead of Jordan Bell at 53, I'd go with Alpha Kaba.

[Clutch0z24]

Watch on YouTube

This guys gonna be decent...He has alot of DD game to him but with a 3pt shot instead of athleticism

[CoachJReturns]

Watch on YouTube

Ivan Rabb Had a Solid game

He was my pick last year before he dropped out of the draft. From what I've seen his biggest weakness is going to be his perimeter defense. If he can make some progress there and he continues to look more comfortable with his outside shot, he'll be much better than his draft position indicates. I think Masai would be thrilled with getting Rabb.

[CoachJReturns]

Watch on YouTube

This guys gonna be decent...He has alot of DD game to him but with a 3pt shot instead of athleticism

So a completely different player then. His shot looks good though.

[BoyzNTheHood]

http://www.espn.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400915640

Holy cow. He led USC to beat UCLA. Ball had 10 assists but 7 turnovers. Melton had 13 points, 9 rebs, 5 asts (0 to's), 4 steals!

Next up he faces Washington on Wednesday 11pm EST with another top prospect in Fultz. He'd be great with our late 1st pick.

Trade FVV. Melton can spend a year in the 905 working on his shooting like Powell.

Watch on YouTube

He's from L.A. and went to USC like Derozan. Maybe Avery Bradley 2.0. His shooting form isn't bad so can improve.

Interesting.. however, how is he any different from Edmund Sumner? - who is also a hyper athletic, long, high defensive potential guard.

Hes not really ranked much of anywhere ...if we really wanted him could prolly get him in the 2nd round...Much better prospects at 24,25thish

He should be ranked in the first round. A lock down defender with elite rebounding and above average vision isn't even a 2nd round pick? His only knock is really his ball-handling which can improve over time as we've seen with DeMar.

Per40 he matches up very well with Rajon Rondo when he was a freshman at UK. Rondo was a better passer, but Melton has a better jump shot (something that plagued Rondo in his career).

Watch on YouTube