<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JUNIOR MINT @ Jun 13 2008, 11:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I hope Batum will slip, because Toronto looks like the perfect fit for him personally, I cant see any other team needing him...and keeping Calderon is a great choice, I think he's proven that he can be an elite PG when giving the starting role...Yeah, it's a short backcourt but then again their trying to beat teams by out scoring their opponents, so I guess height shouldn't matter? Or will it? How's Ford to ATL, Bibby to Denver, Toronto receives Denver's first round, Speedy Claxton and a pick from ATL? I don't know, just throwing in something. btw, yes, I'm new, and thanks for the welcoming, good to be here.</div> I'm just speculating too, so he very well might end up there. I think there's up to 6 teams interested in TJ and I think Colangelo deals either right before or right after the draft. He's also been rumoured to go to New York, not sure what you'd think about that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 13 2008, 01:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JUNIOR MINT @ Jun 13 2008, 11:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I hope Batum will slip, because Toronto looks like the perfect fit for him personally, I cant see any other team needing him...and keeping Calderon is a great choice, I think he's proven that he can be an elite PG when giving the starting role...Yeah, it's a short backcourt but then again their trying to beat teams by out scoring their opponents, so I guess height shouldn't matter? Or will it? How's Ford to ATL, Bibby to Denver, Toronto receives Denver's first round, Speedy Claxton and a pick from ATL? I don't know, just throwing in something. btw, yes, I'm new, and thanks for the welcoming, good to be here.</div> I'm just speculating too, so he very well might end up there. I think there's up to 6 teams interested in TJ and I think Colangelo deals either right before or right after the draft. He's also been rumoured to go to New York, not sure what you'd think about that. </div> Yeah, I've heard of that rumor, Ford's a good PG, he did average around 8 assist a game just 2 years ago, but I'm not sure how he'll fit
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 13 2008, 12:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But just evaluating him as a prospect, even without the expected growth, do you think he's worse than a lot of the players being listed above him?</div> I'm still pretty high on Batum and I believe his flaws have been overstated as he is still young.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JUNIOR MINT @ Jun 13 2008, 11:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>and Batum reminds me of an athletic Boris Diaw sort of player</div> Yeah, that desciption works....I was calling him "Rudy Gay Lite"...lol
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NattaNerNuttaMan @ Jun 13 2008, 10:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I had a question about Batum. At the begining of the season he was rated as a top 10 (and on some mocks a top 5). Why is he projected so low now? I still like the guys talent and potential. Sure he needs to add weight but so do alot of kids his age coming into the league. Did he have a bad year to refect his drop, college players being more noticable playing in the states or maybe a combination of both. Either way I see this guy as a steal for anyone gettiing him.</div> Like cpawfan mentioned he played really well at the Hoops Summit game and looked like the cream of the crop of this year's draft class. People were saying he'd be the next Scottie Pippen and a lock for the top 5 in this year's draft. Then he went back to his pro team and was nothing more than a role player (8.5 ppg). This was pretty underwhelming because people expected him to start trying to take over games and dominate on offense, defense, etc. but he was very passive and nothing special at all. He really doesn't have the aggressiveness to be a go-to guy and he probably still doesn't even have the skill to really be able to consistently make his own shot (at least he doesn't right now). He'd probably be a good pick in the mid-first but he does have a pretty high chance of being a bust which I think is why you see more college players ranked ahead of him. I've heard people compare him to Tayshaun Prince, Rudy Gay, I've compared him to Andre Iguodala with less go-to scoring ability. That gives you a general idea of his skill though; athletic, long arms, good defense, pretty smart and likes to find the open man, passes well, etc. I've heard varying reports on his handles, some say hes got a good handle, others say hes gotta work on it. All in all though he'd probably be a good value anywhere below 15 or 16, kind of a high risk high reward pick though. I have him going to Toronto in my mock (picks 11-20 should be released today or tomorrow).
