Not sure if anyone was listening to the Morning Show on the FAN today, but BC was a guest and he basically spelled out the Raptors' viewpoint, in respect to the draft. He thought the top 3 would be Griffin, Rubio, and Thabeet. Then he mentioned Harden, Evans, and Curry, as players who would probably be taken before the Raptors pick. He also seemed excited about the prospect of Jordan Hill falling, but didn't think he'd get past the Knicks. He explicitly said that he thought Blair was a reach at 9. Then he outlined who they currently think will be available and worth picking at 9. His shortlist included Gerald Henderson, Demar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, and Jonny Flynn. He also mentioned James Johnson and one other player (Terrence Williams, maybe?) as outside possibiliies. I think BC hopes that the possibility of trades in the first half of the lottery drops one of 4-8 guys in our lap. If not, I got the impression the team's debating between Henderson and Derozan. That's just my hunch though.
As of this week, DeRozan doesn't want to play in Toronto, and Colangelo likes Johnny Flynn. But things are changing daily.
Has DeRozan said he doesn't want to play for us, or just workout? I thought it was the latter, which is a common technique of agents who desperately try to boost their prospect's value in the eyes of GM's.
I'll wait til DraftExpress says a similar thing. NBADraft.net is like Hoopsworld, they just make shit up. However, I think I'm leaning towards Flynn now, because I fell BC will grab another pick to take Williams or Henderson. I'd like Henderson, just not at 9.
i've been bullish on jonny flynn all along. hopefully colangelo comes to his senses and realizes jose is not a top caliber nba point guard. conversely, flynn is ripe with potential and ill make a bold prediction and say that flynn will make a damon stoudamire type impact within the league. he's a different type of player but i still think in terms of impact i think it will be comparable.
A combination of Flynn/Holiday and someone like Henderson/Williams/Johnson with a later pick would be an excellent draft. And it really is feasible. It's been two years where Colangelo's talked about buying a mid-late 1st rounder, but its about time he actually went through with that. Do you think can Flynn can defend at the NBA level? The biggest problem with Jose is his point-of-attack defense, which makes it difficult for the other 4 players on the court. Ideally, Roko can develop into a player who can specialize in that, but in the event that he doesn't, I'd like our backup PG to be very strong defensively.
guarding opposing point guards might be the hardest cover because they are insanely quick and with the rules designed to reward offensive players and punish defenders, it just complicates the entire thing. however, flynn is better capable of guarding quicker guards than caledron. also, flynn might be diminutive in height but he's a lot stronger than caledron which makes him ultimately a better post defender than caledron as well.
