silly game

[ceez]

But if Big V wasn't available who would you have taken last year?

My draft board last year was:
big Val
Kanter
Kawhi
Kemba
Knight
Burks

As of today? I'd take Kawhi. I knew his D was going to be good but not this good soon. Just wow. Dude is awesome.

[stefan5301]

I think everyone was obsessed with Kemba and Knight, just because we all felt we needed a pg. I'd look at Kawhi or Shumpert. Shumpert could play for us from 1-3, and would be fantastic in Casey's system.

[The Coach]

But if Big V wasn't available who would you have taken last year?

My draft board last year was:
big Val
Kanter
Kawhi
Kemba
Knight
Burks

As of today? I'd take Kawhi. I knew his D was going to be good but not this good soon. Just wow. Dude is awesome.

You had JV at the top of your big board? Wow, he was way down on mine... I was a big fan of Kawhi and Knight at the time. Still like them both but glad Colangelo made the pick he did.

[ceez]

yeah i liked him over kanter cause of the interview thing and value of a center over other positions.

[thead]

I challenge anyone that says they had JV on their big board to prove it.

[Matt52]

I challenge anyone that says they had JV on their big board to prove it.

Look through the 2011 draft thread.

I had Kanter then JV.

The bit from me that was on the RR main page was all about the need to get a C.

[er1csh3n]

I challenge anyone that says they had JV on their big board to prove it.

http://nbadraft.net/nba_mock_drafts/47935/2011

IDK if you can see it, but this was my 2011 mock draft last year, I had Valanciunas going to the Raptors, when I watched highlights during the month following the past month I feel in love with this guy, and it pretty much made me want him as a Raptor.

[thead]

http://nbadraft.net/nba_mock_drafts/47935/2011

IDK if you can see it, but this was my 2011 mock draft last year, I had Valanciunas going to the Raptors, when I watched highlights during the month following the past month I feel in love with this guy, and it pretty much made me want him as a Raptor.

my point is I think he slipped under A LOT of peoples radars...mine included. I was at the Raptors Republic Draft Party...I remember the almost unanimous shouting of WTF!? You, Matt and Ceez are for sure in the minority

[er1csh3n]

my point is I think he slipped under A LOT of peoples radars...mine included. I was at the Raptors Republic Draft Party...I remember the almost unanimous shouting of WTF!? You, Matt and Ceez are for sure in the minority

Yeah I get you, but something about Valanciunas just made me "lust" for him, considering you rarely find a hustling, fast, fairly athletic center with certain intangibles you can't find, but if he wasn't available Brandon Knight seemed like the clear choice.

[Matt52]

my point is I think he slipped under A LOT of peoples radars...mine included. I was at the Raptors Republic Draft Party...I remember the almost unanimous shouting of WTF!? You, Matt and Ceez are for sure in the minority

Keep in mind I was very high on Kanter.

I was non-stop about him for a couple of months, then I was about JV for a couple of weeks *max*, and then back to the love in with Kanter.

In the end though, I'm glad the way things worked out.

[Mediumcore]

Wonder how Raptor nation will feel a year from now. Everyone has sort of assumed JV is going to be our Centre of the future , but he has yet to play a minute in the NBA. There is a lot about the teams future that will be revealed next season.

[Thornbury]

I challenge anyone that says they had JV on their big board to prove it.

+ 1. Yeah. Prove it.
I had Kawhi, Knight and then Kemba

[Miekenstien]

i wanted kemba then knight then kwahi.

if given another chance i would have taken kwahi. he is going to be a champion several times over in his career. i was afraid of kanter getting so much hype from just an exhibition game. i hadn't heard of jv at the time and was disappointed that both of my pgs were still up and not chosen.

i couldn't believe that tristan went fourth. and i'm with thead. chances are there are records on this forum somewhere if you were here to show you wanted jv.

i was scared shitless we were going to take vessely. he will end the worst pick in the lottery from last year.

if jv half meets expectations he will be the second best pick in the draft and if he meets them it would have been hard to choose kyrie over a legit awesome 7 footer.

[thead]

Veesley I think will turn into a solid NBA player...give him four years and you will see a solid two way player

[torch19]

I was one of those people who reacted negatively to the JV pick.

One of those "What the **** Toronto ?!!!"

I had Kemba or Knight, then Kawhi.

Then I saw JV's videos for U19 tourney ....... Mind blasted

[Papa Burgundy]

Mine was:
Knight (I wanted them to draft him over Big V at the time)
Bismack Biyombo
Enes Kanter
Kawhi Leonard

... after that, I didn't really care about anyone else - maybe Kemba by trading down.

[Mediumcore]

My picks for last year were
Irving
Kanter
Knight
D. Will

Now it would be
Irving
Klay Thompson
Leonard
Kanter

[Nilanka]

I was hoping for Kemba or Kawhi, but I'm pleased with the JV pick.

[Bendit]

Kanter, Kemba.

I believe Kawhi came for a second workout here so BC must have had interest in him. The knock against him was his shot which looks fine with the Spurs. The Spurs really know how to pick them (15 by the Pacers) dont they?. I must admit I didnt know much about JV and would confuse him with Motiejunas who is also a Lithuanian 7 fter who doesnt play defense and is a jump shooter!

[CalgaryRapsFan]

My 2011 big board looked like this:
1. Irving (PG of the future)
2. Williams (assuming he would play SF)
3. Valanciunas (after reading ESPN synopsis about him being a ferocious rebounder who wanted to dunk everything, then seeing his build and thinking he could be the team's defensive anchor C of the future alongside Bargnani)
4. Kanter (good C, scared by his year off and lack of experience, hence 2nd C behind JV)
5. Leonard (good defensive, rebounding SF, which I thought was the team's biggest positional need after a traditional C)
6. Knight (BPA after my top 5, IMO; 2nd favourite PG after Irving)

I was adamantly opposed to drafting Kemba, Biyombo or Vesely. I thought Kemba was too small and too much of a combo guard. I feared Biyombo being too raw (Thabeet 2.0). I looked at Vesely and saw a less talented Turkoglu 2.0, who would be too weak for PF and too unathletic for SF. I was definitely in the minority about both Kemba and Biyombo, but I seem to recall most RR readers being anti-Vesely.

I was one of the few who was very happy with the JV pick from the start. I was shocked that Cleveland didn't draft him at #4 - even with him staying in Europe for a season, Cleveland fans wouldn't mind because they'd still have Irving, then could add JV and another lottery pick the following season... oh well, worked out well for us Raptor fans!