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The Raptors and the 2014 Draft
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Bracken (Utah)
Strictly FUNDAMENTALLY, who's better, Wiggins or Jabari?
Chad Ford
(1:35 PM)
Jabari. Fundamentally, he's the best player in the draft. He could play all five positions on the floor. Scouts have been very bullish on him lately after seeing him in some scrimmages for Duke. Not sure his senior season, thanks to an injury, gave us a complete look at his potential.
Andrew (Nashville)
How good can Dante Exum be?
Chad Ford
(1:36 PM)
Crazy talented. A number of GMs think he might be the best player in the draft. Yes, better than Wiggins and Julius Randle. Would love to see him play some college ball, however, to be sure.
J.R. (Bayside)
Is Kentucky's freshmen class one of the best of all-time (on paper)?
Chad Ford
(1:38 PM)
Yes. I have seven Kentucky players ranked in our Top 30. Julius Randle could be the No. 1 pick. Andrew Harrison and James Young also are looking like potential Top 10 picks. Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Aaron Harrison and Dakari Johnson all look like potential first rounders. Cauley-Stein and Poythress, by the way, also appear to have lottery type talent. Another, Marcus Lee, could end up cracking it by the end of the season. I think a minimum of three, maybe four, are selected in the lottery.
Mike R (Boston)
Could Kansas really have three top 10 players drafted this year?
Chad Ford
(1:40 PM)
For sure. Wiggins has the inside track on the No. 1 pick. Joel Embiid is the best center prospect in the draft and should go somewhere between 2 and 7. Wayne Selden could end up being the leading scorer for this Jayhawks team -- a classic power wing. They're going to be good.
Dan (CA)
Marcus Smart probably would have gone #2 last year. You think he can still go that high or will these incoming freshmen push him out of the top 5?
Chad Ford
(1:43 PM)
I do. He's not as sexy as players like Wiggins, Randle or Exum, but he has a toughness and leadership aura around him that every coach would want to have. If he improves his jump shot and handle, he's a Top 3 pick. Even if he doesn't, I don't see him slipping out of the Top 10.
James F. (Texas)
Do scouts really feel like James Young of UK is really good enough to be a Top 5 pick? Or is that just Coach Cal being the great salesman he is known to be?
Chad Ford
(1:49 PM)
Not sure Top 5 pick is right. And yes, Cal has been selling him hard. But he really does have all the tools to be an excellent NBA wing. Just a bit of a late bloomer. If he's the second best player on the Wildcats this year (pretty sure Randle will be the alpha dog there), he's going to be a Top 10 pick.
Kyle (Mass)
any sleeper prospects no one is talking about?
Chad Ford
(1:54 PM)
Florida's Chris Walker might be the very best athlete in the draft, but he's ineligible to play during Fall Semester and he's making a position change. That's hurt his stock a bit. Wisconsin's Sam Dekker has many in the analytics crowd fired up. Keep an eye on a young point guard from Kosovo -- Kenan Sipahi and a young big man from Denmark -- Rasmus Larsen. Both are getting a lot of buzz right now from international scouts.
Ben (Florida)
Do you think people should settle down with hyping this year's class so much? With rumbles of Wiggins being a disappointment in practice, Parker's middling athleticism and Exum's inability to shoot it seems like there's plenty of concerns all around with the Top 5.
Chad Ford
(1:57 PM)
It's about potential Ben. Anthony Davis was too skinny and didn't dominate the game at the beginning of his freshman year. Andre Drummond was passive at UConn and lacked basketball IQ. People killed a young Derrick Rose at Memphis early in the season when he got off to a slow start. Have to look a little deeper at players and try to project what they could become. All three of those guys -- Wiggins, Parker and Exum -- have a terrific work ethic and either have elite athletic tools or extraordinary basketball skills. They're all going to be really good I think.Zvonimir (Croatia)
Is there any player in the draft who possesses such a unique skill set that it is impossible to compare him to a current NBA player?
Chad Ford
(1:59 PM)
Since this is coming from Croatia -- I'm assuming you're talking about Dario Saric -- a Point 4. We've had point forwards who play the three position -- but Saric is really a power forward with a terrific handle and court vision. The closest comp I can come up with is Boris Diaw and I think Saric is better than him at the same age.
BTW - NCAA starts Friday night!
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Marc Stein's (meaningless, worthless, and) fearless predictions:
8. Andrew Wiggins will not go No. 1 overall in the 2014 NBA draft.
Regular readers have heard me say for years that I leave NBA draft forecasts to the real experts: Chad Ford, Andy Katz and now my new teammate Jeff Goodman. And nothing has changed: Big West basketball -- starring Cal State Fullerton specifically -- is the only college basketball I watch. Yet even I’m already hearing stuff here and there about the studs bound for the top of the 2014 lottery, which leads me to ask: Isn’t the top-five talent way too good for all of us to just surrender the No. 1 slot to Wiggins before Thanksgiving? Dante Exum, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart and a kid who played his high school basketball five minutes from my house -- Julius Randle -- are as responsible for this season’s tanking phenomenon as Wiggins, because the tank teams are convinced they’re getting a franchise-changer as long as they land in the upper half of the lottery. Maybe this take cements my college basketball idiocy, but I really don’t think so. For all of the obvious hype and momentum behind Wiggins’ No. 1 candidacy ... it’s early.
http://espn.go.com/blog/marc-stein/p...ns-for-2013-14
2 years ago at this time Drummond was suppose to be #1.
3 years ago at this time Harrison Barnes was suppose to be #1.
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Another thought here. What if some of the potential draft studs decide to stay in college for another year for the chance to be the top pick (or thereabouts) in 2015? At some point, because of the rookie scale contract, it might make financial sense to do so. Discuss.
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golden wrote: View PostAnother thought here. What if some of the potential draft studs decide to stay in college for another year for the chance to be the top pick (or thereabouts) in 2015? At some point, because of the rookie scale contract, it might make financial sense to do so. Discuss.
All financial sense gone.
Also Marcus smart recently admitted he wasn't sure if made right choice.
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Matt52 wrote: View PostMarc Stein's (meaningless, worthless, and) fearless predictions:
For everyone thinking Wiggins will be #1, one year ago Shabazz Muhammed was suppose to be in the running for #1.
2 years ago at this time Drummond was suppose to be #1.
3 years ago at this time Harrison Barnes was suppose to be #1.golden wrote: View PostAnother thought here. What if some of the potential draft studs decide to stay in college for another year for the chance to be the top pick (or thereabouts) in 2015? At some point, because of the rookie scale contract, it might make financial sense to do so. Discuss.Matt52 wrote: View PostAnd if they slip, like Harrison Barnes?
All financial sense gone.
Also Marcus smart recently admitted he wasn't sure if made right choice.
I was also thinking that so much of the current ISO-dominated NBA action could be at least partly attributed to these kids coming out after just a year, when all their pre-NBA focus has been on their own game. A second year of NCAA ball would provide them with a chance to showcase not only their individual skills, but also demonstrate their ability to play within a system as part of a team.
A little off topic, but just my two cents. All that aside, there is definitely a lot of talent seemingly available in this year's lottery!
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Matt52 wrote: View PostMarc Stein's (meaningless, worthless, and) fearless predictions:
For everyone thinking Wiggins will be #1, one year ago Shabazz Muhammed was suppose to be in the running for #1.
2 years ago at this time Drummond was suppose to be #1.
3 years ago at this time Harrison Barnes was suppose to be #1.
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CalgaryRapsFan wrote: View PostI really wish the rules were back to a minimum 2 years of NCAA (or equivalent) ball prior to joining the NBA.
wouldn't it be cool to see a pro league that says "eff you, these are the rules, and these are how they will remain", or better said, a league with balls.
Still, one year is an improvement upon none, so I guess we have to live with that. I can't help think though, demar Derozan, with 4 years of winning, contending Tournament play would have spit out a much different talent.
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Craig wrote: View PostOk, so winning 40 games puts Toronto in line for what again?
I remember going through the top 5 picks of the last 10 years. Something like 40% were all-stars, 40% were rotational players, and 20% were either out of the league or 3rd stringers.
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Mediumcore wrote: View PostCan anyone reccommend what the best way would be to watch as many college basketball games as possible?Twitter - @thekid_it
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