Raps 2020 Picks (Prospect Watch, Update: Vecenie Mock Released)

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

The 2020 NBA Draft could take place sometime in late August or early September, league sources told Marc Berman of the New York Post. Also, agents are being told that there could be a small scale combine in August with a live interview process.



SI https://www.si.com/nba/2020/05/06/2020-nba-draft-big-board-top-80-rankings

NBA https://www.nba.com/draft

SLAM https://www.slamonline.com/nba/slams-2020-nba-mock-draft/

ESPN https://www.espn.com/nba/draft/bestavailable

Yahoo https://sports.yahoo.com/2020-nba-mock-draft-2-182504378.html

Lineups https://www.lineups.com/articles/nba-mock-draft-guide-2020/

SB Nation https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2020/3/17/21171808/nba-mock-draft-2020-lamelo-ball-anthony-edwards-golden-state-warriors-hawks-timberwolves

The Ringer https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

Tankathon http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

USA Today https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/category/nba-draft/

NBC Sports https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2020/05/04/2020-nba-mock-draft-opi-toppin-anthony-edwards/

CBS Sports https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2020-nba-mock-draft-lamelo-ball-goes-no-1-to-warriors-james-wiseman-slips-to-hornets-at-no-8/live/

Fox Sports https://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/nba-mock-draft-2-0-whos-at-the-top-of-what-feels-like-a-down-draft-030620

Hoops Hype https://hoopshype.com/2019/08/04/2020-nba-mock-draft-anthony-edwards-james-wiseman/

The Stepien https://www.thestepien.com/2020-draft-rankings/

NBADraft.net https://www.nbadraft.net/nba-mock-drafts/

Jeff Goodman https://watchstadium.com/jeff-goodmans-2020-nba-mock-draft-2-0-05-06-2020/

Bleacher Report https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2890994-2020-nba-mock-draft-predictions-for-most-athletic-first-round-prospects

NBA Draft Room http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/2020-nba-mock-draft.html

[casual_raps_fan]

What's the obssession with Grant Riller on this thread? I hope we stay as far away as possible from him. All because he has near identical stats in college as James Harden doesn't mean he'll be any good in the NBA.

What don't you look about Riller? He looks good to me, has decent size, one of the quickest first steps in the draft, really skilled offensively. Could be a Dinwiddie-esque bench engine

I personally like Riller but I can think of a few reasons people not liking him...
- He isn't a floor general/classic point guard
- Questions about his defence
- Assuming we are bring back Fred, we have a log jam at the guard positions

[Psubs]

Raptors 2nd Round Draft Prospect F Paul Eboua (Cameroon)

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

I get Bruno vibes from him, in terms of being a prospect. Possible #58.

[Psubs]

What's the obssession with Grant Riller on this thread? I hope we stay as far away as possible from him. All because he has near identical stats in college as James Harden doesn't mean he'll be any good in the NBA.

What don't you look about Riller? He looks good to me, has decent size, one of the quickest first steps in the draft, really skilled offensively. Could be a Dinwiddie-esque bench engine

I personally like Riller but I can think of a few reasons people not liking him...
- He isn't a floor general/classic point guard
- Questions about his defence
- Assuming we are bring back Fred, we have a log jam at the guard positions

This exactly. Need a Riller type player at forward.

With Terence Davis, don't need to use #28 on a guard to show FVV that we aren't desperate to sign him.

[Psubs]

Actually, what about drafting Makur and signing Thon for like $2 million per year.

Watch on YouTube

Maybe Maukur with #58 after watching this video.

Kai Sotto 2022.

Oh, Kai Sotto is signing in the G-League!

https://www.tsn.ca/report-kai-sotto-to-skip-college-for-g-league-1.1474517

[Dalek]

What's the obssession with Grant Riller on this thread? I hope we stay as far away as possible from him. All because he has near identical stats in college as James Harden doesn't mean he'll be any good in the NBA.

What don't you look about Riller? He looks good to me, has decent size, one of the quickest first steps in the draft, really skilled offensively. Could be a Dinwiddie-esque bench engine

I personally like Riller but I can think of a few reasons people not liking him...
- He isn't a floor general/classic point guard
- Questions about his defence
- Assuming we are bring back Fred, we have a log jam at the guard positions

I think Riller is a smart guy that will figure out the plamaking part. His role was to hold up the offense much like Damian Lillard did in Weber State.

I think Riller gets a bit underrated in a couple ways, but one things that fits for sure is that he is a competitor. He is also a heady defender:

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Grant says. “One thing people don’t talk about, but he’s won our Purple Heart Award for taking charges. This year, so far, he’s taken 11 charges in conference play. That says a lot about how much he wants to win.”

Riller’s basketball IQ and work ethic also don’t show up on stat sheets, but they’ve combined to give him a chance, like Chealey and Brantley before him, to make an NBA roster.

“He’s always had the natural ability to score,” Ferrell says. “But his ability to read the game, his playmaking, his ability to pick his spots. … He’s gone to another level with his playmaking. He’s an underrated passer. People at the next level will be very surprised at his passing ability. He’ll shoot the crap out of the ball when he goes to NBA workouts. From an offensive standpoint, there are no holes in his game.”

NBA scouts have been regular visitors to Charleston practices and games the last three years, so Riller has caught their attention. “I mean, they really like him,” Grant says.

https://www.nba.com/article/2020/02/11/charleston-grant-riller-draft-feature

[Ell Curry]

Whoa Cockburn is 7 ft 290!

Would rather take him at #58 than Azubuike at #28. Azubuike has played 4 years and hasn't shot over 45% from the FT line in any of them. Cockburn would be a project but might be Eddy Curry 2.0.

Naw, Cockburn is currently mainly being a lob target. Azubuike has a much better footwork and timing on things, where he probably puts 3 years of effort to refine his offensive skills. Cockburn seems he can only go left on postup, and maybe need to polish much more his offensive game.

From basic stats they maybe similar, but from their role, it seems to be different. Will also need to understand their competition better to see their gap, but I think Azubuike is much more ready being 3 years older as an early second round pick.

A quick Google search told me that Cockburn is older even though he's a freshman and Azubuike is a senior. Azubuike was born on September 17, 1999 and Cockburn was born on September 1, 1999. There is no comparison here, Azubuike would be the obvious choice. He also doesn't shrink against good competition. For someone who's supposed to be a lob threat Cockburn sure does have bad shooting games against ranked opponents, while Azubuike usually raises his level of play.

Cockburn is not a rim runner lob threat type. He's a very 90s style center. Very strong and with a good hook and decent touch. But his inexperience, rapid development and being probably the main factor in bringing a team from 108th on defense up to 35th as a freshman are the case for him not being an Okafor style obsolete type but more of a Robin Lopez on defense and Wendell Carter Jr on offense kind of thing, which is a kind of Poeltl level player of a good backup or passable starter if things go well.

Azubuike has a lovely amount of post moves and good footwork but he can't hit FTs at all. I saw him much more last year but was not impressed defensively, though he blocked 2 shots a game this year.

[LoveMyRaps]

What's the obssession with Grant Riller on this thread? I hope we stay as far away as possible from him. All because he has near identical stats in college as James Harden doesn't mean he'll be any good in the NBA.

What don't you look about Riller? He looks good to me, has decent size, one of the quickest first steps in the draft, really skilled offensively. Could be a Dinwiddie-esque bench engine

Yeah, he looks good. But I personally feel like his stats are inflated (i.e. makes the most of playing in a weak conference).



His numbers against some of the better conferences don't look that great.
And those two games against the AAC were both against UCF, which were one of the bottom feeders in their conference this year (the Tacko effect I guess).
Maybe he can turn out to be a solid player off the bench, but I don't think he'll be anywhere good as Dinwiddie.

Albeit, it is a small sample size. But still I'd rather take my chances on a player that's proven himself against tougher competition OR a player that can be a long term (low-risk, high-reward) experiment (e.g. Mane).

[pigspigs76]

Cockburn is not a rim runner lob threat type. He's a very 90s style center. Very strong and with a good hook and decent touch. But his inexperience, rapid development and being probably the main factor in bringing a team from 108th on defense up to 35th as a freshman are the case for him not being an Okafor style obsolete type but more of a Robin Lopez on defense and Wendell Carter Jr on offense kind of thing, which is a kind of Poeltl level player of a good backup or passable starter if things go well.

Interesting, I can't think of many NBA players or even athletes like him ... He's kinda stiff and raw .. ya obviously that's a concern but it's the type of challenge I would assume a top end organization like the Raptors are comfortable with

I don't think he's a rim runner .. but all the skills to use that tool are there and I feel like I had seen it used heavily by Illinois but I have only watched a handful of games. Illinois shot a ton of good look 3s because of his precense inside .. yet had an awful shooting % but I had seen quality chances created by teams trying to deal with him

I think he could be somewhere between Serge and Marc.. he really could learn fast under there guidance. Situational centres seem pretty normal in today's NBA and he certainly will create opportunities for mismatches day 1

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

Watch on YouTube

Sean Anderson, Ricky Widmer, and Dave Oster welcome $10 patron John Woodson onto the podcast to discuss John's latest 2020 NBA Mock Draft.

[LoveMyRaps]

CJ Elleby now has 15 Zoom meetings with NBA teams scheduled (already completed 8 and one was with Raptors). By comparison, Elleby had seven workouts during this same period last season. A lot of people have him scouted as a second round pick but I see him sliding into the middle to end of the first round after teams get to know him better. I just anticipate him going at #28...time will tell.

Source?

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

CJ Elleby now has 15 Zoom meetings with NBA teams scheduled (already completed 8 and one was with Raptors). By comparison, Elleby had seven workouts during this same period last season. A lot of people have him scouted as a second round pick but I see him sliding into the middle to end of the first round after teams get to know him better. I just anticipate him going at #28...time will tell.

Source?

His father and trainer...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

[LoveMyRaps]

CJ Elleby now has 15 Zoom meetings with NBA teams scheduled (already completed 8 and one was with Raptors). By comparison, Elleby had seven workouts during this same period last season. A lot of people have him scouted as a second round pick but I see him sliding into the middle to end of the first round after teams get to know him better. I just anticipate him going at #28...time will tell.

Source?

His father and trainer...

Did they say it via twitter? another social media platform? or quoted on a news report?

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

Source?

His father and trainer...

Did they say it via twitter? another social media platform? or quoted on a news report?

What is this 20 questions? From their mouths. Now, I'm done answering questions...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

[LoveMyRaps]

His father and trainer...

Did they say it via twitter? another social media platform? or quoted on a news report?

What is this 20 questions? From their mouths. Now, I'm done answering questions...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

You haves issues. I just asked you for a link to the source and you can't even provide that. Just keep posting a highlight tape of the player over and over again. It's not hard to understand why so many posters on here have you blocked.

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

Raptors 2nd Round Draft Prospect F Freddie Gillespie- (Baylor)

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[Duffman100]

Did they say it via twitter? another social media platform? or quoted on a news report?

What is this 20 questions? From their mouths. Now, I'm done answering questions...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

You haves issues. I just asked you for a link to the source and you can't even provide that. Just keep posting a highlight tape of the player over and over again. It's not hard to understand why so many posters on here have you blocked.

Just stop. Both of you. --Duff

[Mark_83]

Did they say it via twitter? another social media platform? or quoted on a news report?

What is this 20 questions? From their mouths. Now, I'm done answering questions...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

You haves issues. I just asked you for a link to the source and you can't even provide that. Just keep posting a highlight tape of the player over and over again. It's not hard to understand why so many posters on here have you blocked.

Ya think?

[Sir-Swish-A-Lot]

What is this 20 questions? From their mouths. Now, I'm done answering questions...

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

You haves issues. I just asked you for a link to the source and you can't even provide that. Just keep posting a highlight tape of the player over and over again. It's not hard to understand why so many posters on here have you blocked.

Just stop. Both of you. --Duff

Both of us? What? I answered his question that I heard it from his father's and trainer's mouth. And that I was done answering questions. Then he went off on a personal attack after I answered his question.

Warned, backseat moderating. --Duff

[casual_raps_fan]

What don't you look about Riller? He looks good to me, has decent size, one of the quickest first steps in the draft, really skilled offensively. Could be a Dinwiddie-esque bench engine

I personally like Riller but I can think of a few reasons people not liking him...
- He isn't a floor general/classic point guard
- Questions about his defence
- Assuming we are bring back Fred, we have a log jam at the guard positions

This exactly. Need a Riller type player at forward.

With Terence Davis, don't need to use #28 on a guard to show FVV that we aren't desperate to sign him.

I love our guard rotation but it's not bullet proof. When we lost a primary ball handler (Kyle or Fred), we were really struggling looking for another guy who can fulfil that role (Norm, TD, McCaw). Nurse ended up going with McCaw but that wasn't optimal.

To add to that, Fred is a free agent this summer, Norm and Kyle are free agents the following summer. It's not unlikely that we lose one of our 3 best guards within the next couple of years.

I'm not saying we HAVE to draft a guard but the timing isn't bad either.

edit: Also if there was a player with forward size and Riller's skill set (ball handling, scoring from all levels), that guy would be a top 5 pick.