The Raptors and the 2014 Draft

[Mediumcore]

You're not allowed to use his NBA stats in this hypothetical scenario. The question (re-worded) was, how does Anthony Davis as a 1-year college player, compare to the likes of Wiggins, Randle and Parker?

Ah, gotcha.

I think I would still put Davis at the top either first or second pick. Potential wise, he had just as much coming into the league as everyone says Wiggins has now. Man just thinking about that question just puts me in awe of how talented these guys are.

[Burnit482]

lol

I lost the over/under on this one.


I'd be ecstatic for Wiggins too. But there are a lot of good players, in my opinion. We'll see how it all plays out. Guys don't always live up to hype, guys come from nowhere, guys totally flop. Upcoming freshmen who are hyped eventually become 2nd round picks (Quincy Miller), undrafted (C.J. Leslie), or 3 years later former lottery pick prospects are in the 2nd round of mock drafts (LeBryan Nash)..... all those guys were talked about as 2012 lottery picks at the start of 2011-12 season by the way.


Guys I'll be watching this year:

PG:
Smart (OKC)
Exum (Intl)
Harrison (Kentucky)
Micic (Intl)

SG:
Seldon (Kansas)
PJ Hairston (UNC)

SF:
Wiggins (CANADA!!!!!)
Parker (Duke)
Saric (Intl)
TJ Warren (UNC)

PF:
Gordon (Arizona)
Randle (Kentucky)
McDermott (Creigton)

And while the Raps don't need a C, I'm really intrigued by Joel Embiid at Kansas.



I'm sure more names will emerge as season progresses.... and some of the above might fall off the radar too. Without a doubt most under radar right now, in my opinion, is Wayne Seldon due to all the Wiggins hype above and below the 49th parallel.

The bold guys I'm really high on some are high picks but are somewhat "unknown" because of big 3 coming out who of course i want. Another guy I'm really watching for is James Young from Kentucky. Just my opinions.

Is it just me but I'm not high on Smart at all. I did not like what i've seen and think he has biggest top 10 bust potential… but i also see some westbrook who i admit is a star but i do not like. Maybe thats why...

[OldSkoolCool]

Glen Robinson III may be a guy to watch, if he can continue showing an improved 3 point shot he can be a force in the league, however not a franchise player, think a non-crazy better shooting Ron Artest errr MWP

[The Great One]

Raptors will be drafting in the 10-15 range next year unless something drastic happens.

There's a couple of players that are projected to go in that range that i'm a big fan of and i think would be a great fit for the Raps.

Rodney Hood - Duke
Wayne Selden - Kansas
James McAdoo - UNC
Harrison twins - UK
Noah Vonleh - Indiana
Doug McDermott - Creighton
Mario Hezonja - Croatia

[isaacthompson]

39 points for Smart!

[magoon]

Raptors will be drafting in the 10-15 range next year unless something drastic happens.

There's a couple of players that are projected to go in that range that i'm a big fan of and i think would be a great fit for the Raps.

Rodney Hood - Duke
Wayne Selden - Kansas
James McAdoo - UNC
Harrison twins - UK
Noah Vonleh - Indiana
Doug McDermott - Creighton
Mario Hezonja - Croatia

The important point here is "unless something drastic happens." Drafting most of these players is most likely getting a solid NBA-level starter but not a star. These guys don't move the needle for the Raps, and the Raps want to move the needle.

Honestly: I think Masai's gameplan is Wiggins. We can all talk about everybody else, but if he's smart, he is focused on getting Wiggins by any means necessary, up to and including trading Jonas, and certainly including tanking like mad to get a high pick (because if trading, say, Randle + future picks gets him Wiggins, he'll do it). Wiggins would almost certainly instantly multiply the Raptor fanbase by a factor of 10, because Canadians fucking love cheering for other Canadians like it is nobody's business, we just do, and Wiggins makes the Raptors relevant to Canadians who don't follow basketball. And on top of that Wiggins is going to be a gamechanger anyway so you would want to have him even IF he wasn't Canadian, but he is Canadian and that matters.

[Axel]

39 points for Smart!

A very good night against the #11 Memphis team. Here's the SI coverage on his performance. Jan 18th is marked in my calendar (Smart vs Wiggins for Big 12 Supremacy)

http://college-basketball.si.com/201...his/?eref=sihp

[mcHAPPY]

I'm sticking to my guns on this one:

The best thing that can happen to the Raptors in this draft is to pick #3.

Wiggins might have the most potential but Randle and Parker are players and they are already there.

If the Raptors pick at 3 and Wiggins is there, awesome. If not, they won't have the "Canada" angle making what should be a basketball decision.

[Axel]

I'm sticking to my guns on this one:

The best thing that can happen to the Raptors in this draft is to pick #3.

Wiggins might have the most potential but Randle and Parker are players and they are already there.

If the Raptors pick at 3 and Wiggins is there, awesome. If not, they won't have the "Canada" angle making what should be a basketball decision.

I get what your saying that it would be better to make the pick without the pressure of taking a Canadian, but let's be honest, this Canadian is really good and no one would really have a leg to stand on if they tried to second guess the Raps for taking Wiggins over Parker or Randle.

Best thing for the Raps is to finish with a top 5 pick, and I honestly don't care which slot we get.

[Masai Ujiri]

I'm sticking to my guns on this one:

The best thing that can happen to the Raptors in this draft is to pick #3.

Wiggins might have the most potential but Randle and Parker are players and they are already there.

If the Raptors pick at 3 and Wiggins is there, awesome. If not, they won't have the "Canada" angle making what should be a basketball decision.

This doesn't really make any sense.

If we have #3: If Wiggins actually isn't the best player, then the teams at 1 and 2 won't pick him and we'll end up with Wiggins...

If we have #1: Management most likely puts pressure on Ujiri to pick Wiggins, but that doesn't mean he has to, so we could still end up picking the real BPA. More options.

[Superjudge]

I watched the game last night, the Kansas game. Finally got to see a full game of Wiggans playing basketball, not just highlights. My initial thoughts as of Novemeber:

- Wiggans has a good head on his shoulders, he is a team guy, shares the ball, runs the offence. recognized his bigs were devouring the Iona bigs and made sure to feed he post, or make the secondary pass before looking for his offence.

- He's small. Wiggans is gpoing to be a late developer, but right now, he's a kid out there still. I truly hope he's a gym rat with amazing staff who will help him shape his body.

- Wiggans has a lightning fast first step, and a freakish nose for the ball off the rim. I like that, that won't go away. Most people claim he is all "physical", that is a crock of shit, an dif you think he is, wait till he fills out. What he is is a guy with great instincts, and that isn't something you can teach.

- Wiggans has an ugly shot, needs to clean it up a ton. Sure he is a natural shooter, but he has done that on the fly, he now needs to be groomed.

Defensively he is a spectator. Period. He looked overwhelmed off the ball a few times, which, is often a sign that he isn't focused upon playing hard defence. This is a sign of his lack of maturity and will likely change, but until he learns that no matter the opposition, there are no off nights, no off plays, his development will be lacking the steep climb he needs if he wants to be a star at the next level.

Personally, I think from what I have seen, and then from what I saw last night, Andrew Wiggans should put in 3 years at Kansas, get a degree and come out then. He has all the tools to be a star, and those extra two years could be best used learning the fundamentals of the game. I see him as a Grant Hill type guy in the NBA, and THAT type of player is a winner. I truly hope he stays in college.

wanna know who IS on my radar now, in a big way. Embiid. That kid is gonna be a solid big, a very solid, coordinated shot blocking machine in a few years. wow.

[Axel]

W - i - g - g - i - n - s.

[Superjudge]

[mcHAPPY]

This doesn't really make any sense.

If we have #3: If Wiggins actually isn't the best player, then the teams at 1 and 2 won't pick him and we'll end up with Wiggins...

If we have #1: Management most likely puts pressure on Ujiri to pick Wiggins, but that doesn't mean he has to, so we could still end up picking the real BPA. More options.

I thought it made total sense. My apologies.

Although you seemed to pick up the gist of it based on your reply and your reply was basically exactly what I said except you added the bold.

[Nilanka]

- He's small. Wiggans is gpoing to be a late developer, but right now, he's a kid out there still. I truly hope he's a gym rat with amazing staff who will help him shape his body.

Apparently, the main reason he chose Kansas is because of their state-of-the-art training facilities, which are regarded as the best in NCAA basketball (as per Michael Grange on Sportsnet 590)