JV comparable big man production in the modern NBA

[white men can't jump]

I think Ujiri addresses the future of the PG spot through one of the next 2 drafts. We're pretty locked in for the next two years, so it is only in 2016-17 at the earliest that we'll need to have someone drafted to fill in as backup, and we have 3 first rounders in the two drafts between now and then. With PG being our oldest position, I would be shocked if Ujiri didn't find a PG with one of those 3 picks.

I agree, since I still believe the plan was to try and draft a PG this year (Ennis) along with Bruno. It's obviously a spot Ujiri wants addressed, and that even shows in his 3rd string choices the last couple of years, taking young unproven guys like Buycks, Stone, and now Cherry, probably thinking if one breaks out it may no longer need to be an issue. I realize the chances of that are very low, but still, compared to the alternative of just getting a journeyman or vet on his last legs, I can see why Ujiri makes the choice.

[GLF]

I am with mcHappy with pretty much everything he's said. If Terrence can turn into a Wes Matthews I would be very happy. I do agree that he should be able to be better because of his athleticism. If he continues to work on getting stronger and his ball handling he should be able to be more than a catch and shoot guy on offense, and that's all Wes Matthews is right now. I'm also really banking on Bruno to be our small forward of the future and I think management is as well, that's why they took the risk to draft someone like him. If he can turn into a Nicolas Batum esque player I would be ecstatic. And yea there are very few players Terrence won't be able to guard because they are stronger than him. Carmelo, Lebron and right now Joe Johnson are probably the only ones. Deng, Kawai, Paul George, Jeff Green, Durant etc are guys he will struggle with more just because they are really good players and not because they are overpowering him with strength. He'll be just fine as a small forward I think. Pretty much our future is looking really bright for the first time in a long time. And it's nice that we are also a winning team on top of that. We don't have to go through years of losing to obtain that bright future. Good to be a Raptors fan right now.

[white men can't jump]

Really? I like Matthews, and I think for the short term, his game is stylistically what we want from Ross. But at the end of the day, I think Ross could be better than Matthews. Ross is way more athletic and should be more dynamic than Matthews on both ends of the floor.

I honestly hope that Ross becomes a Raptors-era T-Mac. A guy who shoots, defends and is a rotating top option off the dribble, but still not the alpha guy (so lower usage% but takes over in spurts). I don't think he'll ever be a high usage scoring option (or as good as T-Mac was once he left Toronto), but a T-Mac esque 15 PPG, 6 RPG, 4 APG, 1 SPG, and 1.9 BPG (his final season in Toronto) isn't that far off. A couple more rebounds and more involvement in the offence (needed to get the assist totals up - although McGrady was a much better passer) should occur naturally over the next 2 seasons, so the main focus for him will be defence. McGrady was a much better shot blocker but Ross has the hops and hopefully will be a better help defender moving forward.

*Note: McGrady's final season stat line was his 3rd season in the NBA. So while Ross can get there in a year or two, he's not on the McGrady development curve.

I actually see that kind of projection more for Bruno (obviously as one of the best cases, probably after the extremely unlikely case of him being an all-star), apart from the assists. But with Bruno's size and stroke, if he stays athletic enough he should be able to fill up the stat sheet like that.

For Ross, I again forget who brought it up first, but I still see Eddie Jones as a very good comparison.

[white men can't jump]

I am with mcHappy with pretty much everything he's said. If Terrence can turn into a Wes Matthews I would be very happy. I do agree that he should be able to be better because of his athleticism. If he continues to work on getting stronger and his ball handling he should be able to be more than a catch and shoot guy on offense, and that's all Wes Matthews is right now. I'm also really banking on Bruno to be our small forward of the future and I think management is as well, that's why they took the risk to draft someone like him. If he can turn into a Nicolas Batum esque player I would be ecstatic. And yea there are very few players Terrence won't be able to guard because they are stronger than him. Carmelo, Lebron and right now Joe Johnson are probably the only ones. Deng, Kawai, Paul George, Jeff Green, Durant etc are guys he will struggle with more just because they are really good players and not because they are overpowering him with strength. He'll be just fine as a small forward I think. Pretty much our future is looking really bright for the first time in a long time. And it's nice that we are also a winning team on top of that. We don't have to go through years of losing to obtain that bright future. Good to be a Raptors fan right now.

I'm actually not convinced management is locked into a hoped progression for Bruno. I think they hope he'll be a SF, but drafted him knowing he could possibly end up a stretch 4 as well with his size. Either way if he develops well, he'll fit into long-term plans.

[DanH]

Good questions.

I'm sure Bobby Webster has it all charted out.


But seriously, I really don't know. Even with the greatest talents you've seen without depth around them, the team is not going to win. Raps could go all out and sign a max player but at what cost? I am really looking forward to the next 2 years. The right moves could set them up for 5-8 as a legit contender.

Depth is why I'm so intent on using our cap space next summer - if we wait until 2016 or later, to have useable cap space we lose more and more of our guys' rights. Even if we bring back Amir at PF, say at 8M per year, depending on whether there is any smoothing done we should have between 9M and 14M in cap room to add a player.

If we bring back Amir, but don't use that other cap room long term, then the cap holds for DD, JJ, Vasquez all become restrictive in 2016, as do JV and Ross with their pay increases, plus several million in rookie scale deals (which is good, but nonetheless more salary). Add in the possibility that any smoothing might actually suppress the cap in 2016 and suddenly you are stuck with either just keeping the depth or making a play for a big name - but not both. Using that 9-14M in 2015 means we can add that player, and still keep everyone together in 2016. Best of both worlds.

[Heatdreamer]

As expressed earlier that by 2016-17 -5 players will be on entry level contracts. Maybe a deandre Daniels on a 2nd round multi year contract. The last two contracts will probably be a MLE and the other be a transitory non guaranteed contract third Point guard A total of $15 million for 8 players.

The remainder will be made up of the playing Core: (13) JV, (12) KL, (8) TRoss ,(16) DD (extended), (7) PP. that leaves opening in two positions . Starting Power Forward (15) Milsap type and a defensive stopper (4) at the wing a spending total of $75 -80 million.

TRoss, DD, JV And Milsap on escalating contracts.

[GLF]

I'm actually not convinced management is locked into a hoped progression for Bruno. I think they hope he'll be a SF, but drafted him knowing he could possibly end up a stretch 4 as well with his size. Either way if he develops well, he'll fit into long-term plans.

I dont see Bruno as a stretch 4 but that's just me I guess

[white men can't jump]

I dont see Bruno as a stretch 4 but that's just me I guess

I see it as a possibility. He obviously could be a small ball 4 without question with his size. And he's so young it's hard to tell just what kind of athlete he will be. What if he ends up a fairly average athlete as a SF but a great one at PF? His physical tools may end up fitting better at the 4. I mean, he's already about the same height and longer than Amir Johnson, and he may still be growing.

Either way the most likely scenario is probably a tweener who can play both depending on situations.

[GLF]

I see it as a possibility. He obviously could be a small ball 4 without question with his size. And he's so young it's hard to tell just what kind of athlete he will be. What if he ends up a fairly average athlete as a SF but a great one at PF? His physical tools may end up fitting better at the 4. I mean, he's already about the same height and longer than Amir Johnson, and he may still be growing.

Either way the most likely scenario is probably a tweener who can play both depending on situations.

That's true. I guess I would just rather him be a SF and play small ball PF in certain situations, but you make a very good point.

[yabadabayolo]

I see it as a possibility. He obviously could be a small ball 4 without question with his size. And he's so young it's hard to tell just what kind of athlete he will be. What if he ends up a fairly average athlete as a SF but a great one at PF? His physical tools may end up fitting better at the 4. I mean, he's already about the same height and longer than Amir Johnson, and he may still be growing.

Either way the most likely scenario is probably a tweener who can play both depending on situations.

When the raptors picked him on draft day, they had him listed as a pf. I'm guessing that might be because they knew jack shit about him and guessed because of his height but also could mean he was listed as a 4 in the draft pool by his agent.

Speculation on my part is the raptors are trying to make him huge a 3 even though he might be listed as a pf. His height doesn't really matter since Giannis is apparently like 6'11 now and he's probably playing sg this year. As long as bruno can maintain his lateral quickness he should be fine as a player who can play the 2-4 positions just like giannis

[white men can't jump]

That's true. I guess I would just rather him be a SF and play small ball PF in certain situations, but you make a very good point.

Well, really all I'm saying is he's so young with such a unique foundation of physical tools that I could see either forward spot becoming his "natural" position. His skill set is also still so raw that it isn't predetermining his position either.

*And he has the size to not necessarily be a "small ball" PF, at least defensively. Seriously, he's probably about the same size as Bosh as a rookie, and looks more likely to fill out than Bosh, or say Durant.

[Heatdreamer]

Well, really all I'm saying is he's so young with such a unique foundation of physical tools that I could see either forward spot becoming his "natural" position. His skill set is also still so raw that it isn't predetermining his position either.

Depending how his body fills out over the next three years. This will determine the future of his role

[white men can't jump]

When the raptors picked him on draft day, they had him listed as a pf. I'm guessing that might be because they knew jack shit about him and guessed because of his height but also could mean he was listed as a 4 in the draft pool by his agent.

Speculation on my part is the raptors are trying to make him huge a 3 even though he might be listed as a pf. His height doesn't really matter since Giannis is apparently like 6'11 now and he's probably playing sg this year. As long as bruno can maintain his lateral quickness he should be fine as a player who can play the 2-4 positions just like giannis

But you have to be careful with those comparisons. First off, because of the bold and physical profile in general. The taller a guy is, the less likely it is he will be able to maintain such traits as mobility. If his quickness ends up being average for a SF, it'll still be great for a PF....and then the question becomes how much does he fill out. Secondly, you can't necessarily put him in 'Po, Batum, or Durant types of players. The main reason Giannis projects as able to play 3 positions is his skill set. He's quite comfortable handling the ball and creating for others, just like Batum or Durant...Bruno's incredibly raw in those respects so there's no reason at this point to think he will become above average....in which case he'll end up having fairly mediocre perimeter skills beyond his 3 pt shooting...

[white men can't jump]

Depending how his body fills out over the next three years. This will determine the future of his role

Not just that. He's probably already bigger than Bosh was as a rookie for example . I really think skills will have a lot to do with it. And in the end I do see him spending time probably at both spots, where skills will play a huge part in his minutes distribution because of what they will mean for mismatches.

[yabadabayolo]

But you have to be careful with those comparisons. First off, because of the bold and physical profile in general. The taller a guy is, the less likely it is he will be able to maintain such traits as mobility. If his quickness ends up being average for a SF, it'll still be great for a PF....and then the question becomes how much does he fill out. Secondly, you can't necessarily put him in 'Po, Batum, or Durant types of players. The main reason Giannis projects as able to play 3 positions is his skill set. He's quite comfortable handling the ball and creating for others, just like Batum or Durant...Bruno's incredibly raw in those respects so there's no reason at this point to think he will become above average....in which case he'll end up having fairly mediocre perimeter skills beyond his 3 pt shooting...

I agree on the premise that bruno is raw in almost all aspects of the game other than perimeter shooting. But due to his rawness. The raptors can basically mould him into the type of player they want. He has absolutely no labels on him right now other than the phrase that he's the Brazilian durant. It may not be true but it sure can as hell can be a possibility. There's no way to actually judge what he'll be at this point but at the same time there's no way disregard the fact of him becoming a durant lite/Batim clone/anyone other comparison.

I don't know if it'll ever happen. But imagine having a 7'0 sf in your starting lineup. It's dreams like these that get my pants wet.