With another losing season wraping up, the discussion now will centre around our lottery chances and draft prospects. To keep the forum orgnized and to seperate the Raptors-related news from speculations and discussions, please post all your lottery/draft-related thoughts in here. <font face="Comic Sans MS"># W-L Team (%) 1. 13-69 Atlanta (.153) 2. 18-64 Charlotte (.217) 3. 18-64 N.O. (.240) 4. 26-56 Utah (.316) 5. 27-55 Portland (.320) 6. 30-52 Bucks (.367) 7. 33-49 NY (.402) 7. 33-49 <font color="Red">Raptors</font> (.402) 9. 34-48 Warriors (.415) 9. 34-48 Lakers (.415) 11. 36-46 Magic (.439) 12. 37-45 Clippers (.451) 13. 42-40 Cavaliers (.512) 14. 44-38 Wolves (.537) --PLAYOFFS-- 15. 42-40 Nets (.512) 16. 43-39 <font color="Red">Philly</font> (.524) 17. 44-38 Pacers (.537) 18. 45-37 Celts (.549) 18. 45-37 Grizzlies (.549)</font> As far as draft news (i.e- players declaring/returning) post them here and/or in the Draft section.
Yea we can definately put this up top, I was thinking of making this a few weeks ago, but I was like it's not time yet. Now is as good a time as any though...
My mock draft, for what it's worth 1. Atlanta Hawks-Andrew Bogut, 7'0", 250 C, Utah 2. Charlotte Bobcats-Chris Paul, 5'11", 175 PG, Wake Forest 3. New Orleans Hornets-Martynas Andriuskevicius, 7'3", 240 C, Lithuania 4. Utah Jazz-Deron Williams, 6'3", 210 PG, Illinois 5. Portland Trailblazers-Gerald Green, 6'8", 200 G/F, High School 6. Milwaukee Bucks-Chris Taft, 6'10", 260 F/C, Pittsburgh 7. New York Knicks-Johan Petro, 7'0", 260 C, France 8. Golden State-Tiago Splitter, 6'11", 240 F/C, Brazil 9. Toronto Raptors-Danny Granger, 6'8", 225 SF, New Mexico 10. LA Lakers-Charlie Villanueva, 6'11" 240 PF, UCONN 11. LA Clippers-Fran Vazquez, 6'10", 230 F/C, Spain 12. Orlando-Antoine Wright, 6'7", 200 G/F, Texas A&M 13. New Jersey-Channing Frye, 6'11", 250 C, Arizona 14. Minnesota-Kennedy Winston, 6'6", 220 SG, Alabama 15. Charlotte (from Cle via Pho)-Nemanja Aleksandrov, 6'10", 215 SF, Serbia 16. Toronto (from Phi via NJ)-Hakim Warrick, 6'8", 220 F, Syracuse 17. Denver (from GS)-Ersan Ilyasova, 6'9", 210 SF, Turkey 18. Boston-Jarret Jack, 6'3", 200 PG, Georgia Tech 19. Indiana-Ike Diogu, 6'8", 250 PF, Arizona State 20. Memphis-Martell Webster, 6'7", 235 G/F, High School 21. Phoenix (from Chi)-Joey Graham, 6'7", 230 SF, Oklahoma State 22. Denver-Rudy Fernandez, 6'5", 185 SG, Spain 23. Houston-Wayne Simien, 6'9", 255 PF, Kansas 24. Sacramento-Rashad McCants, 6'4", 205 SG, North Carolina 25. Detroit-Nate Robinson, 5'9", 170 PG, Washington 26. Seattle-Ronny Turiaf, 6'10", 250 F/C, Gonzaga 27. Utah (from Dallas)-Fransisco Garcia, 6'7", 190 SG, Louisville 28. Miami-Vladimir Veremeenko, 6'10", 230 PF, Belarus 29. San Antonio-Ryan Gomes, 6'8", 245 F, Providence 30. New York Knicks (from Pho)-Salim Stoudamire, 6'1", 180 PG/SG, Arizona discuss... :jumping:
Wow, that's a pretty bold mock draft right there. -Now way Nate Robinson is going this high, no way, and to Detroit?? Who already have Billups, Hunter and Arroyo? - I don't see the logic behind Zeke drafting Salim. They got Crawford, Marbury, Ariza, Penny and Houston next season and now they're talking Damon Soutdamire, salim's cousine, so they're pretty stacked at the 1/2 spot. And he's a guy that has to have the ball to play well, and he clearly won't get that with the Knicks, so I don't get the logic here, but again, it's Isiah! - Now way Mccants is dropping to 24. It just ain't happening!!! - I think the Raps will take Jack at the 16 instead of Warrick if this scenario presents itself. - Graham and Semien are a bit lower from where they should be. - Where's Felton? - Where's Marvin? - I don't see the Nuggets drafting Ilyasova with the 19th. They might very well trade down and get Salim. - I think May should/will declare and go top 8. In good news, the Knicks won against Charllote tonight, which gave them a better record than us.
How many first round picks do the Raptors have? Their first priority should be to gain a point guard, they could also use another scorer, as well as more front court help. Some guys that come to mind are Villanueva, Hakim Warrick, Simien, Felton, Paul, and McCants. The Raps definitely need to have a bettter draft this year. Last year they could have had a player like Andre Iguodala, or Josh Smith, or even J.R Smith but they chose a player who looks like a bust.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Silky Smooth:</div><div class="quote_post">How many first round picks do the Raptors have? Their first priority should be to gain a point guard, they could also use another scorer, as well as more front court help. Some guys that come to mind are Villanueva, Hakim Warrick, Simien, Felton, Paul, and McCants. The Raps definitely need to have a bettter draft this year. Last year they could have had a player like Andre Iguodala, or Josh Smith, or even J.R Smith but they chose a player who looks like a bust.</div> Bust??!! You're calling a player a bust 50 games into his rookie season??!!! Go check Brad Miller's, Jermaine O'Neal's, Joel Pryzbilla's numbers in their rookie seasons first, they ain't a bust are they? It's not like Hoffa is playing big minutes and not producing. He'd be lucky on some nights to crack the 15 minute barrier!! As of the obvious Smith's/Igoudala pick, well I don't give Babcock as much heat for this one as most people do. Yes, I think you have to draft the best player available at most cases, but there are exceptions. Walking into the draft, our roster was loaded at the 2/3 spots (Carter, Rose, Peterson, Murray, Alvin). And we had a pretty good trio at the 4 spot in Bosh, Marshall and Bonner. And with Milt, Alvin, RMJ and the potential of signing a PG via free agency (Rafer) at the 1. So the obvious spot to fill was the centre postion. And looking at the centres who were projected to go lottery, three names poped up: Araujo, Swift and Biedrins. According to many reports, Mullin was trying pretty hard to jump infront of the Raps at the 8th spot to grab Araujo, and you could argue that the other two centres are bigger 'busts' than Hoffa. It's not like he passed on LeBron or something, and you can't really tell that Igoudala would have panned out the way he did had been selected by Babcock. It would have been a completely different scenario for sure given the circumenstances. So people should shut up and give the guy at least a seoson or two to get aclimated.
So we wait on the coin toss.... Golden State and the Lakers also have to flip a coin to see who gets the better pick. It will be interesting. Go Raptors!
Alright. So assuming we do beat out the Knicks and get the 7th pick, and posistion doesn't change as a result of the lottery...who will you look to draft? I've always been looking to draft a SG/SF. A scorer who can create off the bounce for himself and teammates. Players that fit under this are Rashad McCants and Gerald Green. Green seems like the player I would want to take here. He's projected to be picked in teh lottery around the 7th pick...maybe lower. He's younger than McCants, and has the height and atheleticsm over him. However, I like both McCants and Green very much, but apparently Babcock is looking at the long term, so he's more likely to go with Green, who's 3-4 years younger. He also has the "P" word linked to him, but I'm optmistic about the kid. I wanna see how he does in the workouts first. That's just for the first pick...I'll try to get back on our other picks ASAP.
McCants is Joe Forter, I definately do now want McCants, I don't think he'll be going so high in the lottery, I see him going in the double digit numbers. Gerald Green and Antoine Wright are interesting players. I can see Green going to Portland with the 5th pick though, I think they'll definately take him at the spot, so I don't know. We could also look at a PG because if anyone saw the interviews, Rafer was saying he doesn't need to change anything about how he played this season, Rafer feels he did everything right, and the shortcomings were a result of his teammates play. and also if your guys can't make shots it's gonna make you look bad. I really think he needs to go if his attitude is like that, so we could also be looking at a PG.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Bust??!! Go check Brad Miller's, Jermaine O'Neal's, Joel Pryzbilla's numbers in their rookie seasons first, they ain't a bust are they? </div> Brad Miller was an Undrafted free agent out of Purdue. Not the #8 overall pick like Hoffa. Jermaine O'neal was a highschool player pick #17th overall. Obviously you have factor time in for developement. Also he was on roster crowded with talent( PORT were in the midst of there 21 consecutive playoff appearances). Jermaine O'neal is only 26 yrs old and in his 9th nba season. Joel Pryzbilla's was drafted 9th overall. averages 6.4 pts and 7.7 RPG while not exactly bust like numbers he's certainly no NBA allstar. Pryzibilla is 25, but has been in the league since 2000. Hoffa is 24. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple Fever:</div><div class="quote_post"> And looking at the centres who were projected to go lottery, three names poped up: Araujo, Swift and Biedrins. According to many reports, Mullin was trying pretty hard to jump infront of the Raps at the 8th spot to grab Araujo, and you could argue that the other two centres are bigger 'busts' than Hoffa. </div> Again Hoffa is 24, 25 next season. I'm paraphrasing but Babcock said this guy was "NBA Ready, someone who could come in and contribute right away". Biedrins is 19 he did though manage to out-rebound and out-score Hoffa. Swift is also 19. The comparisons you used were pretty unfair because the players you chose don't really have much in common with Hoffa: be it age or draft position. The closest was Pryzbilla who was 21 when he entered the league and it took him till his 5th season to have a "break out year" while 6.4 pts and 7.7 RPG arn't exactly bad numbers waiting 5 years for that to happen isn't what teams hope to accomplish with a top 10 draft pick. I do agree with you though that its to early to call Hoffa a Bust. That being said, given the fact that he's 24, has consistent foul trouble, no back to the basket game and can't jump/block shots i think its fair to at least entertain thoughts of him being a bust.
hold up on realgm it said this! 2005 first round draft pick from Philadelphia Toronto is owed a future first-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. Top-8 protected in 2005, top-5 protected in 2006, unprotected in 2007. If Toronto has to wait until 2007 to receive the pick, they also get Philadelphia's second-round picks in 2008 and 2009. This pick was originally traded to Denver as part of the James Posey three-way deal. 12/18/2002. Denver later traded this pick to New Jersey as part of the Kenyon Martin deal. 7/15/2004. New Jersey traded this pick to Toronto as part of the Vince Carter trade. 12/17/04. 2006 first round draft pick from Denver Toronto is owed a future first-round pick from Denver. Top-5 protected in 2006, top-2 protected in 2007, unprotected in 2008. This pick was originally traded to New Jersey in the Kenyon Martin deal. 6/15/2004. New Jersey traded this pick to Toronto as part of the Vince Carter trade. 12/17/04. so we have a top 5 protected pick in 2006? and a top 2 pick in 2007? so like, no matter what happens in 2006 we get #1-5 and 2007 we get 1 0r 2? please tell me this is for real! i need to wet my pants! im dreuling over this possibility, this is just too good to be true! please someone help me!
Protected means the team offering the draft pick keeps it if it's 1-5, or 1 or 2, etc. I believe this is the opposite of what you stated (I'm not sure what you were saying). To make it clearer, the Raptors get Philadelphia's 16th overall pick this year no matter what as they are playoff bound. But if they got pick #8 you would have had to wait. No waiting, you get it now and Philly's obligation is removed after you get their pick this year.
I know this might be different from what everyone else is saying but I think I would want to stay away from Gerald Green if he comes our way. I don't want another T-Mac situation happening to us and I do think that Green would leave for greener pastures after upping his status with the Raptors. I DO think we should draft a point guard with out 1st pick. Raymond Felton and Deron Williams (preferrably Deron) should be there by the time we choose so I would snatch them up immediately. Jarrett Jack would be available at our 2nd pick as well so if we decide to choose a swingman with our first pick, Jack should be available with our 2nd pick. Why do we need a new point guard? Well I do not think Rafer will cut it to be our starting PG for the short or long term. He does not bring enough stability to the offense and usually our players are left standing around with nothing to do. If you saw Omar Cook run the offense he was actually thinking "pass first" and did a very good job of running the break as well as penetrating defences and finding the open man. If we can find a PG to develope along with Bosh it would give us one of the most important pieces to developing a winning team. With our 2nd pick (probably 14-17) we should select a swingman/shooting guard. I'm not high on Mccants at all. He is undersized and he doesn't even have the athleticism to compensate for his lack of height. If you look at all the undersized shooting guards in the NBA you can see that they have SOME kind of athelticism to go along with their skills. Mccants is just average. The players I would be looking at are Hakim Warrick, Charlie Villanueva and Rodolfo (Rudy) Fernandez. Hakim Warrick and Villanueva both have question marks about them. People question Hakim on his Size and Villanueva on his attitude. Both players are undervalued and talented enough to play in the NBA. Rudy Fernandez is a player that I can see going up in draft status once workouts start. He is European and he has a great feel for the game. I really don't know much about him but draftcity really makes him look pretty good. In the end I would think that we had a very good draft IF we select good talents at the SG/SF/PG positions. But we all know that we do not want to always select based on need. Let's hope that Wayne Embry, Babcock and Mithcell can actually scout people this time and make a sound decision.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">so we have a top 5 protected pick in 2006? and a top 2 pick in 2007? so like, no matter what happens in 2006 we get #1-5 and 2007 we get 1 0r 2? please tell me this is for real! i need to wet my pants! im dreuling over this possibility, this is just too good to be true! please someone help me!</div> No, we only get one pick from Philly, what they're saying is if Philly didn't make the playoffs this season, and had a Top 8 pick, then we'd have to wait till next year to get the pick, but it would only be Top 5 protected. Then if they didn't make the playoffs next year and really sucked and got a Top 5 pick, we'd have to wait till 2007, and it wouldn't be protected. So all we get is their 16th pick this season...same with Denver we only have one pick, but when we get the pick depends on how Denver does. Basically we will be getting the Denver pick.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Drunkballer:</div><div class="quote_post">Brad Miller was an Undrafted free agent out of Purdue. Not the #8 overall pick like Hoffa. Jermaine O'neal was a highschool player pick #17th overall. Obviously you have factor time in for developement. Also he was on roster crowded with talent( PORT were in the midst of there 21 consecutive playoff appearances). Jermaine O'neal is only 26 yrs old and in his 9th nba season. Joel Pryzbilla's was drafted 9th overall. averages 6.4 pts and 7.7 RPG while not exactly bust like numbers he's certainly no NBA allstar. Pryzibilla is 25, but has been in the league since 2000. Hoffa is 24. Again Hoffa is 24, 25 next season. I'm paraphrasing but Babcock said this guy was "NBA Ready, someone who could come in and contribute right away". Biedrins is 19 he did though manage to out-rebound and out-score Hoffa. Swift is also 19. The comparisons you used were pretty unfair because the players you chose don't really have much in common with Hoffa: be it age or draft position. The closest was Pryzbilla who was 21 when he entered the league and it took him till his 5th season to have a "break out year" while 6.4 pts and 7.7 RPG arn't exactly bad numbers waiting 5 years for that to happen isn't what teams hope to accomplish with a top 10 draft pick. I do agree with you though that its to early to call Hoffa a Bust. That being said, given the fact that he's 24, has consistent foul trouble, no back to the basket game and can't jump/block shots i think its fair to at least entertain thoughts of him being a bust.</div> Gotta agree, that's basically how I'v felt all year, a lot of people keep comparing Araujo to guys like Brad Miller, Ben Wallace, etc, but those guys weren't drafted, and the other guys people bring up were 4-6 years younger than Araujo when they came in the league. Also he was an 8th pick, I don't think he's ever going to live up to his pick, so he's a bust at his position, but as a player, time will tell.
