The Raptors, who pick fifth in this week’s draft, have have eyes for point guard Brandon Knight. "He's a big-time athlete, big-time motor," Raptors director of scouting Jim Kelly said after Knight's workout on June 7. "[He] can really fly up and down the court there." Most important may be what Knight brings defensively. If Casey is indeed the Raptors' next coach, his defense will only be as good as the guys on the floor. "[Knight] has all the tools to be a good defender," Kelly said. "That's one of the reasons we have great interest in him." The Raptors owe point guard Jose Calderon more than $20 million over the next two seasons and also have combo guards Leandro Barbosa (who has a player option this summer) and Jerryd Bayless on the roster. But that won't stop them from selecting Knight. "At this point, especially when we're in the top part of the Draft at No. 5, we're looking for the best possible player," Kelly said. "And there happens to be a number of very good point guards there." Read more: http://www.nba.com/2011/news/featur...nto-raptors-draft-preview/index.html?rss=true
Not so concerned with the PG position. Our problems are up front. But I agree with Jim Kelly (Gasp!) that we need the BPA. That being said, likely Knight goes third.
Next year's draft is pretty strong at the SF spot too. So it's ok if we get a point guard now, we have a chance to get Harrison Barnes, Gilchrist, McAdoo among others. While this draft has very few small forwards and some Euro bigs with big question marks. I think its pretty good idea to target Knight.
The Raps have no shot at Knight, so I don't see the point in targeting him. I just don't see how Utah passes up on him. I'm still iffy on Barnes, thank god he didn't declare this year, he's nowhere near polished enough to make a big splash in the NBA.
Most mocks actually have Utah picking Kanter now. I agree it would better for them to pick Knight given their loaded front court but maybe they think he's BPA.
