2011 Draft Rumors & Discussion

[RaptorsFan4Life]

Because he doesn't fit a team need. They have Barbosa and Bayless already on roster and both do a lot of similar things on the basketball court. Then there's the fact that he's a tweeter and probably will never be a prototypical PG. Let me ask you something, how often do these mock drafts get it right outside the top 3?

Barbosa most likely wont be back next season and Knight easily is better then Bayless. He's bigger, strong, smarter (arguably), has a [far] better jumpshot and he has potential to become a good passer. If he's on the board with we draft we have to get him. We don't really need a SF or a PF and the best C in this draft is injury prone (and most likely will be taken in the top 5).

Edit: WTF? on the "Expert" mock draft the PGs placements are so odd.

Pistons #7 Alec Burks 6-6 191 Freshman (18 will be 19 next season) PG/SG
76ers #10 Cory Joseph 6-3 180 PG
Pacers #16 Brandon Knight 6-3 185 PG/SG
Knicks #18 Josh Selby 6-2 183 PG/SG
Hornets #19 Kemba Walker 6-0 179 PG

IMO Knight will be #1 taken (if Irving doesn't come out) and Walkers will be #2 and Joseph will be #3.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2011mock_draft

[MangoKid]

Barbosa most likely wont be back next season and Knight easily is better then Bayless. He's bigger, strong, smarter (arguably), has a [far] better jumpshot and he has potential to become a good passer. If he's on the board with we draft we have to get him. We don't really need a SF or a PF and the best C in this draft is injury prone (and most likely will be taken in the top 5).

Edit: WTF? on the "Expert" mock draft the PGs placements are so odd.

Pistons #7 Alec Burks 6-6 191 Freshman (18 will be 19 next season) PG/SG
76ers #10 Cory Joseph 6-3 180 PG
Pacers #16 Brandon Knight 6-3 185 PG/SG
Knicks #18 Josh Selby 6-2 183 PG/SG
Hornets #19 Kemba Walker 6-0 179 PG

IMO Knight will be #1 taken (if Irving doesn't come out) and Walkers will be #2 and Joseph will be #3.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2011mock_draft

I can't see Barbosa opting out. With a new CBA looming, he'd be lucky to get 7 mil on the open market. However, with that being said, the only way I see Barbosa opting out is if he opts out to sign a long term deal with the Raps (much like what Jefferson did with San Antonio).

To say that Knight is bigger and stronger than Bayless is foolish. Knight is 6'3" and 185 lbs. Bayless is 6'3" and 200. They're essentially the same type of player. They're fast combo guards.

[Apollo]

Based on what other guys have been getting I think Barbosa's skills and age place him closer to the MLE. I agree, there is absdolutely no way he opts out, especially with a new CBA looming. These last couple seasons might be it for his great pay days.

[albertan_10]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate what you bring to the discussion.

hahaha

[Matt52]

The latest Mock Draft from DraftExpress.com is very interesting.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2011/

There are SF's all over the place.

I still very much like Terrence Jones but he will most likely be gone very early. Chris Singleton has been putting up great numbers as well - over 2 blks and 2 stls a game.

His game log from ESPN.com:
http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=40974

His last game was good with 20/10/3stls/2blks. Unfortunatey his team lost by 5 and he went 4/12 from the FT line.

I would be all over him in the 10-14 range.

[joey_hesketh]

I think if we have a 10-14 pick we need to take homegrown phenom Tristan Thompson. He's putting up almost (15,8,2,2 for CS, vs. 12,8,1.5,2) as good numbers as Singleton, for an arguably better team, and isn't even the main guy. Shoots a higher percentage, and not to mention he's shown to be more capable of attacking off the dribble. Annnd is 2 years younger than Singleton.
Don't get me wrong. Singleton has slowly grown on me since (was it you?) someone in this post mentioned him. But commmmmon... Toronto kid playing for the Raps? And a GOOD Toronto player at that. I dig that. No?
(check out www.nbadraft.net Its CRAZY how different they are in mocks. hahaha)

[Employee]

I think if we have a 10-14 pick we need to take homegrown phenom Tristan Thompson. He's putting up almost (15,8,2,2 for CS, vs. 12,8,1.5,2) as good numbers as Singleton, for an arguably better team, and isn't even the main guy. Shoots a higher percentage, and not to mention he's shown to be more capable of attacking off the dribble. Annnd is 2 years younger than Singleton.
Don't get me wrong. Singleton has slowly grown on me since (was it you?) someone in this post mentioned him. But commmmmon... Toronto kid playing for the Raps? And a GOOD Toronto player at that. I dig that. No?
(check out www.nbadraft.net Its CRAZY how different they are in mocks. hahaha)

I was thinking the same thing last week. I do like draftexpress a lot better. For the hardcore fans I think they get into way more detail If you follow draftexpress on twitter, these dudes are in gyms in eastern europe breaking kids down. Dedication.
Also, new mock draft has Barnes falling to number 8 (where we are right now)! Big risk.

[MangoKid]

I was thinking the same thing last week. I do like draftexpress a lot better. For the hardcore fans I think they get into way more detail If you follow draftexpress on twitter, these dudes are in gyms in eastern europe breaking kids down. Dedication.
Also, new mock draft has Barnes falling to number 8 (where we are right now)! Big risk.

At the rate Barnes is falling, he might look into staying at Carolina for another season.

I wouldn't mind dropping down in the draft and trying to acquire multiple picks to select Thompson and Joseph. That would be a dream situation.

[joey_hesketh]

I wouldn't mind dropping down in the draft and trying to acquire multiple picks to select Thompson and Joseph. That would be a dream situation.

I hear ya man. Or keeping our high pick, and doing whatever is necesary to acquire their rights.
You hear about hometown kids like DRose in Chicago and I'd NEVER think there'd even be a chance for us to have that in Toronto, but we have can have with TWO solid, young prospects.
Instant 'Best Story of the Year' if they pan out (which they are so far at Texas).

[SaskatchewanSun]

What should BC do with the Miami Heat first round draft pick? The way I see it, I dont know how great of a player we can get with the (27th 28th??) overall pick. I know BC wants as many prospects as he can get, so why not bundle that late draft pick with Peja and improve the draft pick? Even if we can get the 20th overall pick or so, it would be an improvement.

The other options would be to trade the pick for a player, or just keep the pick as is. But, like I said before I dont know if we would be lucky enough to get a really good player that late in the draft.

[Balls of Steel]

In a thin draft, I would like to think that BC is also searching for "diamonds in the rough" players that are already in current NBA rosters. Yes, any GM may find gems at 27th or 28th but I believe that BC is not thinking of rebuilding longer than 3 years. Yes, he will try to trade up but who's to say he's not looking at players like Anthony Randolph for example?

[Matt52]

Players always drop.

This draft is not thin on wings.

If no salary is added before the trade deadline, the Raptors will be in a position much like the Thunder have been over the last few years - take on a contract for a draft pick or a significantly higher draft pick.

I can argue so many scenarios for the Raptors. There are so many options due to the flexibility. The east is so weak they could easily make a trade or two and make the playoffs. However, is this best in the long term? PRobably not. I can't wait for the trade deadline to pass so I can stop playing with the trade machine for a couple of months.

[ceez]

id like to see them make a small move. bring in some better depth at sg or center. but that's about it. i'd prefer to see how the draft shakes out before making any substantial moves.

unless of course we go out and somehow get a premier (but young) type player.

[ceez]

one guy id love to see on the team is morrow. fantastic shooter. good size for a sg. could easily start or come off the bench and be effective.

[ceez]

reggie for morrow straight up? get a great young player and nets get a little more flexability in the offseason. eh?

[ceez]

i may have derailed the thread a little

[MangoKid]

reggie for morrow straight up? get a great young player and nets get a little more flexability in the offseason. eh?

Why does Jersey do that deal? Morrow has a very reasonable contract. The Nets would be dumb to give him up for Evans

[MangoKid]

Easy. You either trade out of the first round for a future 1st or you select a European player and stash him there.

[Buddahfan]

At this point I still think that the Raptors need to improve at the wings at PG.

SF is definitely an area on both offense and defense that they need to look outside their current roster to improve

SG it depends on whether DeRozan can improve his jump shot especially adding a three point shot as well as improving his defense. I am not too optimistic about him improving his defense that much but it is still possible.

PG - Jose is good shooter and distributor but his defense still remains too weak for my liking. One of the big problems he has is that he is relatively short and does not have the long arms or jumping ability to make up for it.

Relating to the draft I think that the Raptors need to look for SF and PG and hopefully come up with a dominate player at at least one of those positions.

The problem with a late first round pick vs say an early second round pick is that the difference in potential is not that great but a first round pick has a guaranteed contract. So trading down to an early second round pick say between 31 and 35 overall would probably be preferable to a late first round pick; i.e. Miami's

What the Raptors need is

1. More depth
2. An impact player at both the SF and PG positions.

More depth they could find by drafting properly anywhere between 15 and 35. Finding an impact player in the draft will most likely require a high lottery pick.

Davis has the potential to be a solid NBA player but I just don't see him as an major impact player.

[ceez]

im not sure i'd say height is an issue with jose