2011 Draft Rumors & Discussion

[pesterm1]

I love that Valanciunas grabs 6 boards in 15 minutes in Euroleague play - where the competition is much stiffer than NCAA. Extrapolate that over per-36 and the numbers are just loopy. I'm lovin this kid with each passing day. He's gonna be a monster. And if you think he's gonna be Dwight-esque, if teams try to hack him, he'll make you pay by sinking his free-throws (92%!).

+1, im hopping we get valanciunas depending on where we draft and who is taken. but id be happy if we got jonas.

[grindhouse]

after watching this game I can honestly say I think uconn runs better sets than we do on the raptors lol.

I went back and I listened to that podcast again on the raptors to put my thoughts into prospective with this up and coming draft I think I am set on irving, kenneth faried, terrence jones, kanter in that order. I only take jimmer or kemba if I am taking kenneth or kanter too because you need some type of paint control to have these defensive liability guards on the floor.

utah would be a nice start to get a second pick and so would washington.

john wall
nick young
rashard lewis
andrea barnani
javale mcgee

I think they would make that deal

[Apollo]

What I think is that this may not be the draft you trade for the #1 pick. I need to wait and see what happens at workouts.

[Apollo]

I think the NCAA is looking into his family taking benefits from a former AAU coach.

Whatever comes out of that whole mess, this isn't a bad year for him to come out anyway.

[mcHAPPY]

Whatever comes out of that whole mess, this isn't a bad year for him to come out anyway.

I am pretty sure the NCAA has suspended him for the first 5 games of next season as well, if Jones returns to Baylor. I think it is pretty obvious he is declaring. His former coach said as much in a NY Times article recently. I am sure it is posted in this thread somewhere.

[Apollo]

The Top 15 As Per Steve Kyler

It is a safe bet that if Duke's Kyrie Irving indeed declares himself eligible for the 2011 NBA Draft he and Arizona's Derrick Williams will slug it out for top pick honors in June.

Perry Jones, Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas, Kemba Walker, Brandon Knight, Enes Kanter, Terrence Jones and International big man Donatas Motiejunas should round out the Top 10 in some combination.

The Next Five, the players likely on the board for the 11th to the 15th pick, maybe have more impact value than those taken in the ten spots higher, as teams with those picks tend to be one player away from the playoffs and can't afford to wait for potential. This is also where guys with more proven ability tend to find a home, especially as you get into the teens.

Here are the next five names to watch:

John Henson - North Carolina, Sophomore - PF - 6'10" - 200 - 20

Kawhi Leonard - San Diego State, Sophomore - SF - 6'7" - 225 - 19

Alec Burks - Colorado, Sophomore - SG - 6'6" - 200 - 19

Marcus Morris - Kansas, Junior - PF - 6'9" - 225 - 21

Jimmer Fredette - BYU, Senior - PG - 6'2" - 195 - 22

Source: HoopsHype.com

[WJF]

Word is Henson is going back to UNC

[Apollo]

D-Will said a while ago that he wants to stay as well.

[jeff_hostetler]

Irving, Valanciunas, Williams, Kanter. Basically any of those four work fine. If for some reason none of those players are on the board when the Raps draft, I'd start looking into trading out or trading down.

No use for P.Jones. I question this player's heart, drive and competitiveness. Weak on defense and doesn't play up to his talent. That's exactly the kind of player the Raps have to avoid at this juncture.

I like Walker, of course, but I'm not so sure he'll be able to be much better than Bayless, who has shown some real promise when given the opportunity. Ditto Knight. Either would be a lateral pick, and the Raps can't afford such frivolousness.

Barnes looks like he's heading back to UNC.

I'd consider Burks as a bench 2-guard, and Kawhi Leonard as a bench 3, but that would be from trading down.

[ceez]

Henson sucks who gives a shit

[ceez]

I have no doubt in my mind Jordon will draft him next season

[ceez]

Man what'd I tell you guys about Lamb? Dudes gonna have a nice little career in the league being a great defender/shooter.

Almost sounds like someone the raps could use.

[ceez]

At this point my big board looks like this:

1. Irving - I don't need to tell you guys the man-crush I have on him. If we don't get the first pick and a team like cleveland (who need a pg) does I genuinely feel the raps should do everything in their power to get the top pick and take him. He's that good.
2. Barnes - i know I know he's not declaring. But, he hasn't announced it officially yet. Word is Roy Williams told him he'd be a 10-15 pick in the draft further proving Roy Williams should be euthanized. I'm not convinced he stays. Not yet.
3. Volwhatever - Potential franchise center with a nasty side. Daddy likes.
4. Knight - I'm still really high on him. Dude strikes me as one of those guys who after a year or 2 in the league will really get "it". I love his size.
5. Burks - His potential is hard to ignore.
6. P. Jones - ive really warmed up to him. Was taking to a couple Baylor fans and the common thought with him was he was criminally underused and was better suited talentwise for the pros. Their guard play was straight up awful and rarely got him the ball. His motor is suspect, but I think playing with guys like DeMar, JJ and Ed who are extremely hard workers could help. Worst case scenario we have a 6'11 SF who plays excellent defense and does everything on offense well.
7. Kanter - High risk high reward I guess. People forget that he was the top prospect for Kentucky, over knight and jones.

[Apollo]

Looks like you've captured a lot of high talent players in your list ceez.

[ceez]

Following the OKC mold, take the player with the most potential and reap the benefits a couple years down the road. Remember how slammed they were for taking Westbrook? Virtually everyone said he couldn't play PG in the league. Now look at him.