Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 5

mikero · Post #941 » by **mikero** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:54 am

raptorsnation_5 wrote:Two questions:
1. How athletic is/can Brandon Knight be? (NBA player comparison would be nice)
2. I dont see Sacramento taking Irving with their pick. To me Evans/Irving do not complement each other well. So who do you guys think they will take? I think they take Kanter/Williams/Sullinger.

1. He's athletic, not exceptional like a guy like Wall though.
2. I think there's a good chance Cleveland trades for Kyrie then. They have the pieces (2 high picks, capspace) to move up.

Mr.Raptorsingh · Post #942 » by **Mr.Raptorsingh** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:55 am

This draft is going to get extremely thin after the first 10 picks or so, especially if Barnes and Sullinger aren't in it.

If you say that the top 10 prospects are:

Williams
Irving
Valanciunas
Knight
Walker
Perry Jones
Enes Kanter
Alec Burks
John Henson
Jan Vesely

...I wouldn't want to be the teams picking thereafter. I suppose Leonard, Motiejunas, T. Jones, Fredette, and Mirotic would fall in place after the first 10 picks.

DatHomieYouHaTe · Post #943 » by **DatHomieYouHaTe** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:00 am

there's a lot of solid pro worthy players in this draft. Not as weak as people think.

Kevin Willis · Post #944 » by **Kevin Willis** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:09 am

spade57 wrote:Funny. Earlier in the season no one would think T Jones at 5-7 was a reach. Funny how his stock fell.

Give it a few weeks, it will go up again. Although there is an obvious difference in talent between him and DWill.

andyo · Post #945 » by **andyo** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:16 am

My top 3 would be Irving, Barnes, and Knight. I haven't seen enough of Kanter or Val to make any conclusions of either one. I'm not a huge fan of Derrick Williams though, I don't think he can play at the 3 and also don't think he is a can't miss prospect at the 4.

^I think he has top 5 value in the draft though.

Rapsfan07 · Post #946 » by **Rapsfan07** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:21 am

Qdogg17 wrote:Draft day trade:

To Sacramento-
Andrea Bargnani
1st round pick(currently 5th)
To Toronto-
Omri Casspi
Francisco Garcia
1st round pick(currently 4th)

Kings add the perfect compliment to Cousins, get rid of Garcia's contract and still gets to draft a decent SF in this draft.(Barnes/Perry or Terrence Jones)

Raps gets their starting SF and try to get closer to Irving.

Draft:
Best available PG(hopefully Kyrie Irving) Walker, Knight.

Free Agency:

Try to get DeAndre Jordan to commit verbally to signing a contract a 8 mil a year for 3-4 years.
Work out a sign and trade with the Clippers, sending them Kleiza and 3.4 mil TPE in return.

Clippers get much needed depth at SF.
Raps get their starting center.

Exercise team option on Joey Dorsey

Trade:
To Atlanta-
Leandro Barbosa
To Toronto-
Zsa Zsa Pachulia

Hawks get their 6th man replacement for Crawford.

Raps get a much needed tough veteran big man.

Roster:
C- Jordan/Pachulia/Alabi
PF- Davis/A.Johnson/Dorsey
SF- Casspi/J.Johnson/Garcia
SG- Derozan/Bayless/Garcia
PG- Irving/Calderon/Bayless

Like this a lot and it's definitely doable. What if we don't get Irving though?

ItsDanger · Post #947 » by **ItsDanger** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:24 am

If Zeller declares, Id grab an early 2nd somehow and draft him if hes around the 35-40 range. He's better than Dorsey or Ajinca. He'd be a solid bench player.

JN · Post #948 » by JN » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:29 am

I am afraid that Zeller will get thrown around like a rag doll at the NBA level - he is unintentionally soft.

kush- · Post #949 » by **kush-** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:13 am

hoping we can get harrison barnes with our pick, and then making a trade for a later pick for one of kemba walker/brandon knight.

i still remember how hyped brandon knight was coming out of high school

OakleyDokely · Post #950 » by **OakleyDokely** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:00 am

Freshman Year
Billups (6'3): 35.5 Mins, 17.9 Pts, 5.5 Asts (4.6 T/O), 6.3 Rebs, 41.3 FG%, 35.4 3PT%
Knight (6'3): 35.8 Mins, 17.3 Pts, 4.2 Asts (3.2 T/O), 3.9 Rebs, 43.1 FG%, 38.2 3PT%

Knights shares a lot of similarities with a young Billups. Both were similar in size, although Knight has to fill out like Billups has. Both are natural, on the floor leaders, who are hard workers. Like Billups, Knight already has a NBA jump shot. Knight also has underdeveloped PG skills like Billips, but given his age, I like the chances of these skills improving.

If we can land a PG with an overall impact of a Billups type from this draft, it would be great situation.

CunningLinguist · Post #951 » by **CunningLinguist** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:39 am

Salted Meat wrote:
10DeRozan10 wrote:I agree, but Knight is 19, and would be 20/21 in his first year in the NBA if next year is in fact a lockout.

Good post, just a small error I thought that I'd mention.

According to DX, Knight doesn't turn 19 until December. I was going by that. Also, according to DX, Walker turns 21 in May.. which is a 2 1/2 year difference... if DX is accurate, that's a pretty significant age difference.

Yeah, I brought up this uncertainly regarding Knight's actual birthdate before. Both D/X and NBAdraft.net have him born Dec/92, but I've seen Dec/91 elsewhere.

God Squad · Post #952 » by **God Squad** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:38 pm

Kevin Willis wrote:
spade57 wrote:Funny. Earlier in the season no one would think T Jones at 5-7 was a reach. Funny how his stock fell.

Give it a few weeks, it will go up again. Although there is an obvious difference in talent between him and DWill.

Agreed.

God Squad · Post #953 » by **God Squad** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:39 pm

ItsDanger wrote:If Zeller declares, Id grab an early 2nd somehow and draft him if hes around the 35-40 range. He's better than Dorsey or Ajinca. He'd be a solid bench player.

I'd grab him with a second rounder.

God Squad · Post #954 » by **God Squad** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:40 pm

kush- wrote:hoping we can get harrison barnes with our pick, and then making a trade for a later pick for one of kemba walker/brandon knight.

i still remember how hyped brandon knight was coming out of high school

If someone left the draft with two high prospects I'd go out for some beers. I'd love to see Barnes/ Knight

Kaizen · Post #955 » by **Kaizen** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:46 pm

Kris Joseph has announced that he will be returning to Syracuse for his senior year.

MEDIC · Post #956 » by **MEDIC** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:51 pm

I don't get all the love for Knight. I'm watching the Kentucky/ UNC game right now.

What I see is a guy with a high looking dribble & seems turnover prone when he tries to penetrate. The way he moves/ dribbles & even the way he shoots reminds me of Alvin Williams (who was also a bit of a combo). Kind of mechanical looking.

Definitely doesn't look like a pure point guard to me.

OakleyDokely · Post #957 » by **OakleyDokely** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:14 pm

I don't think anyone would descibe Knight as a 'pure' PG.

I think what attracts a lot of people to him is his size, his potential to defend at the NBA level, his ability to hit the outside shot and his overall on floor leadership / work ethic.

We have to remember that he's still very young and raw. But it's pretty impressive that at such a young age, he's been able to lead his team to a final 4 and be one of the best players on the court.

His PG skills are still very raw, but he's got lots of time to improve that area of his game.

God Squad · Post #958 » by **God Squad** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:24 pm

OakleyDokely wrote:I don't think anyone would descibe Knight as a 'pure' PG.

I think what attracts a lot of people to him is his size, his potential to defend at the NBA level, his ability to hit the outside shot and his overall on floor leadership / work ethic.

We have to remember that he's still very young and raw. But it's pretty impressive that at such a young age, he's been able to lead his team to a final 4 and be one of the best players on the court.

His PG skills are still very raw, but he's got lots of time to improve that area of his game.

I love his game. I really think he's gonna improve and open some eyes. For a kid at 19/18? To do what he's done its pretty great. He's the leader of that Kentucky squad. He's their "clutch" player. With 3.5 seconds on the clock. Trust me its going in his hands. He's also shown the ability to create and hit the shot. So whats always encouraging. I really want him on the raps.

A future with Brandon, DeMar and Ed looks very promising.

Post #959 » by **Next Coming** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:26 pm

Haven't really watched a lot of College Ball this year but I really like DeAndre Liggins, Josh Harrellson, Jon Diebler as later options.

All three guys can stick around in the NBA because they do particular things really well.

Post #960 » by **Next Coming** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:28 pm

It's between Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes and Enes Kanter with our 1st pick. Hopefully the ping pong balls go in our favor a little bit.