Who should have the Raptors Drafted? Josh Smith or Andre Igoudala instead of Araujo

Instead of taking Araujo, should the raptors have drafted Andre or Josh? I say Andre but my buddy says Josh. I thought it was a no brainer, but I'll see what you guys think.

 

ALRIGHT.. me and my friend over here had this argument

i say that josh smith should have been drafted over igoudala instead of araujo
he says that igoudala should have been because hes better

ok first of all.. igoudala is not better.. iverson makes him better.. if josh smith played with iverson, and igoudala played for atlanta.. then what

anyways hes not better

also he says igoudala scores more
the raptors are already 5th scoring team in the season .. we dont need more point scorers we need defenders
josh smith is a much better defender than igoudala, he can shot block and rebound
hence toronto could have gotten him for better defence
now you might say well igoudala scores more
but you got araujo and he doesnt defend or score and the raptors still score alot!
you could get smith who might not score like igoudala (cause iverson sets him up) but youll get a better defender and still have a lot of offence

conclusion: josh smith over igoudala

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting pierce990:</div><div class="quote_post">ALRIGHT.. me and my friend over here had this argument

i say that josh smith should have been drafted over igoudala instead of araujo
he says that igoudala should have been because hes better

ok first of all.. igoudala is not better.. iverson makes him better.. if josh smith played with iverson, and igoudala played for atlanta.. then what

anyways hes not better

also he says igoudala scores more
the raptors are already 5th scoring team in the season .. we dont need more point scorers we need defenders
josh smith is a much better defender than igoudala, he can shot block and rebound
hence toronto could have gotten him for better defence
now you might say well igoudala scores more
but you got araujo and he doesnt defend or score and the raptors still score alot!
you could get smith who might not score like igoudala (cause iverson sets him up) but youll get a better defender and still have a lot of offence

conclusion: josh smith over igoudala</div>

Josh Smith is not a better defender than Igoudala, he blocks more shots but that doesn't neccesarily make him a great defender. Igoudala is much better than Josh Smith at one on one shutting his man down.

 

Smith Stats

PPG 11.3
RPG 6.6
APG 2.4
SPG .80
BPG 2.60
FG% .425
FT% .719
3P% .309
MPG 32.0

Andre Stats

PPG 12.3
RPG 5.9
APG 3.1
SPG 1.65
BPG .26
FG% .500
FT% .754
3P% .354
MPG 37.6

As you can see, the stats are pretty similar, but still go in Andre's favor.

Iverson does not make players better, he makes it harder for others to get better. He can do his thing, but takes away from guards playing with him. If Andre had his own team in Atlanta, he could score much more, and be more effective.

Raptors are 5th in scoring, but with the type of team our new GM is building, it would most likely be like the Suns, so he would want a player like Andre, who can run, create his own shot, and play defence. The problem with Josh is that he tends to fade away from games, even though the team is very weak. The Raptors don't need another player like that. He hasn't proven himself as a shooter, while Andre has shown that he has been improving, which can really help the Raptors hit the open shot when they really need it. Josh Smith doesn't really give the Raptors as much defence as Andre, but I do admit we need a shot blocker like him. Still, Andre can help Peterson on defence and take some pressure off, taking turns on all-star players, never giving them a break.

We need other people's opinions on this.

 

Josh Smith because i think he's more talented and has a bright future. (Not saying that Andre doesn't)

 

see the stats are similar as you showed
but josh smith can shot block better
and also josh smith cant shoot jump shots and he still has almost the same ppg as igoudala.. so what does that mean
he gets his points on the inside which is what we want
an insider scorer.. he gets dunks and runs the floor which is what we want
and iverson doesnt take away too much because heh as good assist numbers
igoudala can shoot 3's and long range but smith gets layups and dunks which is better

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting pierce990:</div><div class="quote_post">see the stats are similar as you showed
but josh smith can shot block better
and also josh smith cant shoot jump shots and he still has almost the same ppg as igoudala.. so what does that mean
he gets his points on the inside which is what we want
an insider scorer.. he gets dunks and runs the floor which is what we want
and iverson doesnt take away too much because heh as good assist numbers
igoudala can shoot 3's and long range but smith gets layups and dunks which is better</div>

You are forgetting that Andre plays on the same team as Iverson.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting pierce990:</div><div class="quote_post">see the stats are similar as you showed
but josh smith can shot block better
and also josh smith cant shoot jump shots and he still has almost the same ppg as igoudala.. so what does that mean
he gets his points on the inside which is what we want
an insider scorer.. he gets dunks and runs the floor which is what we want
and iverson doesnt take away too much because heh as good assist numbers
igoudala can shoot 3's and long range but smith gets layups and dunks which is better</div>

Actually Andre can do both.

 

I thought this then, and I still think Swift, Biedren, or Jameer Nelson would have been the best choices.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
Iverson does not make players better, he makes it harder for others to get better. He can do his thing, but takes away from guards playing with him. If Andre had his own team in Atlanta, he could score much more, and be more effective.</div>
Actually, most Sixer fans will say its not Iverson's fault Iguodala puts up the numbers he does. Andre's limiting factor is actually himself, to be honest. He's inconsistent, where some nights he'd explode (with Iverson playing) while on others, he simply just doesn't attack the basket, and isn't agressive so he puts up bad statlines (this happened even with Iverson out, so that's not really an excuse). Of course he could score much more, but I'd doubt Iguodala would be that effective. One reason why his shooting percentage is so high is because of the double teams on Iverson that leaves Iguodala open.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
As you can see, the stats are pretty similar, but still go in Andre's favor.</div>
The stats are pretty close, the only thing Iguodala really has the advantage in his percentage (field goal, three, and free throw). You also need to account for the fact that Smith plays about five minutes less than Iguodala, which equates to a bunch of added numbers. Your arguments for Iguodala's case is simply wrong.

Overall though, I'd still take Iguodala if I were the Raptors and had to pick between him and Smith. Both are around the same age (Smith one year younger) while Smith's game is much more raw. That means he'd have a lot more developing to do while Iguodala can come right in and make more of an impact since he's better at man to man defense and has a bit more offensive capabilities. You really don't know yet though, since for all we know, Smith can come out next year with an improved jumper (which is very likely).

 

a.i

 

They shoulda tried to move up to get Shaun Livingston or Devin Harris.

 

AZN said it BEST. As a Sixers fan and watching Iguodala, Iverson does NOT take away anything from him, I repeat does NOT. In fact Iverson was the one that begging Iguodala to shot MORE and be aggressive, Iguodala is the one that just choose not to. After he get robbed in the dunk contest he was putting up 20+ poitns and when asked why he clearly said he felt he was robbed and was out to prove something. Note, Iverson was still taking about 25 shots a game and what not. So again, what Iguodala does on the court has nothing to do with AI because it's a proven fact when Iguodala wants to elevate his game he can he just chooses not to. Why? Who knows, that's just how his mindset is I guess, he came from a very structred program in Arizona a very non-selfish, team oriented game and that seems to carry on to the NBA for him. Given some time he will learn how to be aggressive on a more consistent basis. And when he does, EASILY All-Star type impact.

 

How about a project like Dorrell Wright or J.R. Smith? That would have been interesting...

 

i would have drafted jameer

nobody thought he would fall that far off the chart
but anyways, he proves to be a steal for magic

 

I think jameer nelson would have been the best fit for toronto, but igoudala would have made a pretty big impact too. igoudala is pretty much a better player right now than josh smith in every aspect of the game, except for blocking shots.

 

doesnt anyone else think this is a useless topic? no offense to the thread author, but come on...whats the point in discussing this? we're talking about 2 yrs ago...we drafted hoffa, end of story.

of course we can look back and say who we SHOULD have drafted...looking back to 84 houston prolly would have drafted jordan instead of hakeem...and portland DEFINITELY should have drafted jordan instead of sam bowie. hindsight is always 20/20

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dj_premium_plus:</div><div class="quote_post">doesnt anyone else think this is a useless topic? no offense to the thread author, but come on...whats the point in discussing this? we're talking about 2 yrs ago...we drafted hoffa, end of story.

of course we can look back and say who we SHOULD have drafted...looking back to 84 houston prolly would have drafted jordan instead of hakeem...and portland DEFINITELY should have drafted jordan instead of sam bowie. hindsight is always 20/20</div>

it was just an argument that keigh mup b'tween migh "friend" and eye.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AirJordan:</div><div class="quote_post">it was just an argument that keigh mup b'tween migh "friend" and eye.</div>

Hukt on fonix.