@DeMar_DeRozan – Toronto here I come. Air Canadas back.After a lot of crazy hype in the hours leading up to the draft (that saw some pretty big names get dealt) the draft itself came and went without a whole lot of action. In fact, after the first 10 picks, nothing really happened. The most exciting part of the night came when Suns GM Steve Kerr DIDNT shoot down the Amare to GS rumour that ESPN’s Ric Bucher had been reporting all night. Aparently, both teams have to wait until July 8th to make it official…we’ll keep a close eye on this one!
Here are some thoughts on what went down last night in NYC.
Demar DeRozan
I Cant’ stress enough how much I love this pick. Starting back in early March, long before anyone on the internet had DeRozan coming to Toronto, your truly, started the “let’s draft this kid” fan club. At first it didnt look like he would drop to #9, but for whatever reason, teams were not sold on him. I not only love his skill set and swagger- but I totally loved how minutes after getting drafted he tweeted: Get Ready Toronto, Air Canadas Back.-
He is exactly what this team needs and I expect him to start in the fall. In fact, since the end of the season the Raps have done a nice job addressing some of their biggest issues: adding a slashing 2 guard, interior D, rebounding, and toughness with DeRozan, Evans, and Delfino. And going into the fall, the Raps have a pretty nice little lineup in place being able to start: Bargs, Bosh, Marion, DeRozan, and Calderon with Delfino as the sixth man and Evans as the first big off the bench. All they really need now is some more veteran leadership in the dressing room and some more depth at the PG position.
This is an area where the Raps really missed out in the draft, especially with how many good PGs dropped into the 20s, 30s, and even 40s. I’d expect them to pursue these areas come the summer in filling out the 8th spot on the roster, and even if they get little to no production from 9-13 spots (of Humph, Banks, Roko, O’Bryant, and Douby) the team is looking alot better today than one year ago – when your’s truly thought they could win 50 games!
What about everybody else…
The Big Winners and Losers of the Draft:
Winners:
- Minnesota: Anytime you can come out of a draft with a two legit starting guards (ie/ Rubio and Ellington) in addition to two more legit starting guards (ie/ Flynn and Calethes) and still have the ability to trade another legit starting guard (ie/ Lawson) for a future #1 pick- you know you have had a good night. No matter what comes next for this team (and you have to believe that at least one more deal is coming), a starting lineup next season of Rubio, Ellington, KLove, and AlJeff, looks pretty exciting. For the first time in a long time, things are looking up in Minny.
- NYK: Yes, Knicks fans boo’d when Curry went to GS, but Knicks fans should be sending GS’s front office flowers. Not only were they spared the long time regret of drafting Curry (who is totally overrated) but they also were able to land Hill, one of the BEST talents in the draft. In D’Antoni’s system, this guy will thrive AND it will allow them to package D. Lee in a “sign and trade.” Add to that the fact that they went out and bought the Lakers’ pick at 29 and added T. Douglas (another nice pick) and even were able to land Darko. Not a bad nights work for Donnie Walsh and Co. The real benefits from this will be both the rewards from trading Lee and the cap space in 2010.
- Philly: The fact that Jrue Holiday fell to Philly at 17 is just unfair. Some draft boards had Holiday going as high as #4 to Sacto as late as yesterday morning and for him to slip 13 spaces is crazy! This team is already stacked and now has a legit point guard of the future. Ouch.
Losers:
- Memphis: To have two first round picks and only come out of it with Thabeet and Carroll is really disappointing. Now, Memphis did do one thing right last night, they drafted Sam Young. Taking Young in the second round was a nice pick, but the choice to not pick Rubio will come back to haunt this club for atleast a decade. Sam Bowie anyone? I mean really, how can this team survive with continual bonehead mvoes like this one? Dont forget, that in the last 3 seasons this team has also:trade P. Gasol for nothing, traded Battier for Rudy Gay, trade Love for Mayo, and draft Conley Jr with the 3rd pick overall? I mean, did they really leave Vancouver for this?
- GS: Eventhough Chris Mullin is gone….the CRAZY still remains. Now, if it is true that Amare will be in the Bay area before the end of the summer, then, its hard to be too upset with the Warriors. But in the meantime, lets recap this weeks events in the Bay Area: …you traded Crawford so that Jackson can play the 2….you promised Ellis he can play the 1….and then you draft Stephen Curry….a guy who is neither a real 2 or a real 1? Why wouldnt you draft, lets say, Hill? And then start a lineup next season of Biedrins, Hill, Jackson, Magette, and Ellis? Only God knows.
- Ricky Rubio: Attention Ricky Rubio…be careful what you wish for! Remember when you said NO to Memphis and OKC…Welcome to Minnesota! Where Jessie “the Body” Ventura was the Govenor! Its a lot colder than Spain! Now, dont get me wrong, Rubio will be a nice addition to the team, but he can’t be feeling to good about the fact that Minnesota used 3 of its next 4 picks to draft MORE point guards?
Biggest Surprise of the Draft:
- Tyler Hansborough to Indy at 13. What a great pick! Indy fans are going to love this guy and playing under a coach like Jim O’Brien he is going to excel. The person who is going to benefit most from this pick is Danny Granger who is already a borderline all-star. He just inhereited a guy who will break his back to get a loose ball and never stop hustling. This was a bit of a surprise at 13, but 5 years from now, it will be a steal.
Biggest Sleeper Pick:
- Dejuan Blair to the Spurs at #37! Wow. Talk about a draft night sllliiiiiidddddeee. Its hard to suggest that a guy that most teams in the lottery were talking pretty seriously about last week, could now be a surprise on draft night, but, with Blair falling to 37, he is now in a whole different category. He may not be an all-star, but alot of teams will regret letting him slide. Especially with all the strange picks in the 20′s for unknown Euros?
Some Other Quick Hits On The Draft:
- Whatever happened to BC buying another pick in the draft?
- Realizer and I both went 5 for 14 in the predicitng the lottery.
- Khandor, you owe me $50- Harden went #3.
- Did anybody elso notice that the same San Antonio Spurs who would have been legit contenders versus the Lakers if Manu had been healthy not only traded for Richard Jefferson yesterday but also drafted: DeJuan Blair AND Nando DeColo in the second round.
- What was Portland thinking last night?
- Charlotte had a nice draft getting Henderson in the first round and Derrick Brown in the second: two of the most NBA ready players in the draft!
- Thanks to all who participated in a great on-line chat. Our chat room was hopping!
As always, standing in the key, I’m the Dr. I’ve got my feet planted and I’m planning on taking a charge!
phdsteve
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47 Raps
I think with the Raptors potentially not haveing a first round pick next year (if they make playoffs). IMO BC will buy a pick next year when they will need a pick, but also get a pick in what is said to be a deeper draft.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to join the draft because my browser wouldn’t allow me, so I missed all the festivities.
I’m really disappointed that BC wasn’t able to buy a pick in the late teens when all the PGs went off the board. Maybe there weren’t many for sale, but you’d think he’d be able to come up with enough ‘future considerations’ to match Denver’s and pick up Lawson. NO, with the best PG in the NBA, values the backup role so much they spent a #1 pick on it, but it’s still a gaping hole in this roster that’s unlikely to be improved upon significantly in free agency. I was really expecting something good to happen in that regard tonight.
I agree I really thought BC was going to buy the pick from the Wolves as soon as they picked Lawson. Lawson would have been perfect off the bench providing that much needed spark plug that could ignite the Raptors reserves
Knicks bought the Lakers 29th pick for 3 million !!!
Im SOOO fucking excited. I can’t believe we got this guy at number 9! who cares if he can’t shoot the 3 ball. the LAST thing we need is another raptor that jacks ups 3s. This team will be exicting to watch especially if we sign marion.
hopefully he can do what VC did in terms of fan fare across America, and more natioanal broadcasts of Raptors games…
Yes he might be a bust like Gerald green—I really dont think he will because–green went from High School( a shitty one) into the NBA. DeRozen went to school in Compton, would have gone straight to the NBA and didn’t. Hes way more accomplished than Green too, green was just a slam dunk champion while DeRozen has won awards in his short career:
2009 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team
2009 Pac-10 Tournament Most Valuable Player—-thats no joke
I know just one comparison to G Green is not enough to say he won’t be a bust—but I think he has a pretty good track record, something we wouldn’t know unless we saw him in college.
Kobe Byrant went 13th in the draft from high school—won the slam dunk title as a rookie now look at him
Gerald green went 18th
i think DeMar was worth the risk
I have seen this before somewhere. I agree, though.
Ya it looks like a repost i remember reading it..
plus we got a better coach in jay triano who trusts his young guys and gives them enough minutes for them to develop and polish their skills. i love what he said in his interview that DeDe has a lot of potential and that they will not be able to see that potential by rotting him on the bench.
it’s now time to improve our bench and deal with our free-agents.
DeMar looks great on video. So smooth, so decisive, great off the dribble, a nice mid-range game–but he finishes so well at the hoop and loves to cut back door.
He has the IQ to outwait his man and knows exactly how much time he has.
He appears coachable–and Triano and company are already extolling his workout routine with Kobe. They seem committed to developing him and dishing out major minutes. I forsee a lot of fast break dunking this year–I hope Calderon can keep up.
I would love to trade Caldy to Minnesota for Rubio + filler–I think that would be perfect. Give Babcock his protege back.
Anyhoo, I think the team is much better positioned, as you do. I’d like to see that Dooling trade (it involves hump and is on the RealGM board) happen as well.
Perhaps even bring ol’ TJ back–hehehe.
same here. i would love to trade caldy for rubio or flynn. i wonder why minnesota smuggled a lot of good point guards in the draft. i here new york is also interested in gettting one of them, as the crap golden state warriors stole steph curry from them.
i’m looking forward for this season, first the summer league to see what the kids’ got. hopefully we have an improved bench, and for now, i can see that we are in the right direction, despite not having any blockbuster deals so far.
But the knicks got the biggest steal at #8 Jordan Hill (perfect PF for their Offence).
yeah, smart pick by the knicks.
I saw Hill play a couple of times. He is Anderson Varejao 2.0. Useful no doubt, but hardly much to get excited about.
He has much better mid-range game than AV and is much more athletic. He is extremely raw (needs to add post moves) but he will be great in the Knicks system. He can run the floor with the best of them and is the best pick and roll (and pop) player in the draft. Two things needed for a athletic big man in D’antoni system
DeRozan next Slam Dunk Champion?
As much as I like the hype, he might be one in the future but he won’t be the next Slam Dunk Champion…..not with Lebron participating next year
Can we PLEASE buy Portland’s 55th pick and get Patty Mills, how the hell did he slide so far? He’s another sleeper pick
Get ‘er Done BC!!
I think that the winners or losers of the draft are yet to be determined because of all the possible trades that could follow. Curry cam go to phoenix for stoudamire and rubio can go back to europe. I hope Raps are among those trading teams because I don’t really like our bench’s ability to score consistently or have that explosive 2-guard. Delfino and Parker aren’t enough IMO.
Ok, that was a bet to take, and it’s taken. We’ll see if it’s a winning one in a couple of years. Next season will start to give us some feedback, but we have to grant Demar some time.
But now BC has to assess backup PG and SF spots, the latter either with the return of the Matrix, or with some move on the market (Hedu Turkoglu?)…Any idea about how to fill those two positions?
Making the assumption that Delfino will be the starting SG…If not, as aldomilan pointed, there’s another position to fullfill…
I love DD but Jonny Flynn would have been a great story in Toronto. Here’s hoping he can make it here via trade. You gotta wonder what Minny’s next move is. I don’t see the point in drafting Rubio, Flynn and Calethes unless there’s a trade in the works and Calethers plays overseas for a while and comes back when one of the other 2 is gone.
How did so many teams overlook Derrick Brown and Nando de Colo?
they traded calethes
Biggest shocks for me:
- Rubio falling to 5, he is going to be a great player
- Flynn going top 8
- Hansbrough making it back to the lottery, what a rollercoaster ride of a prospect he has been over the last few years
- DeJuan Blair falling to the second round (goddamn the Spurs have some amazing luck, even though Blair apparently has no ACLs)
- Holiday slipped quite a bit.
- I thought hill might go a bit higher…NY is a great place for him though, it makes good sense with Curry gone
Overall, a compelling draft and I feel like we got our man. I trust Colangelo to do his homework for the draft, he has picked some real gems in the past.
i gotta say, i’m pretty fucking disgusted with what the raps did…er, rather, what they didn’t do. yeah, i know, this draft is ‘weak’ (overall), not overly deep, not laden with super talent, yada yada yada…but when legit NBA-calibre guys, even if they’re role players, and even if they don’t have ‘tremendous upside potential’ started to drop, i’m surprised that the raps weren’t able (didn’t try?) to acquire a 2nd rounder – you look at how many guys dropped farther than projected (young, green, brown, summers, thornton, BLAIR!?!….even budinger dropped like a lead balloon.), and you have to wonder if a push was made to buy/trade for a 2nd rounder & steal one of ‘em.
of course, other teams, realizing that they were getting a gift with these guys dropping to them late, probably weren’t in much of a mood to part with the pick, but still.
so, once again, BC goes into a draft with, apparently, multiple options, and multiple needs to fill…and leaves with questions as to whether anything positive at all was accomplished. yes, DeMDeR (can that be what we call him?) has upside, and he may very well be the missing link (though i’m skeptical), but still.
there were some funny picks which seem obviously to be part of future deals, so maybe they’ll be getting in on something of that nature (hmm…all this talk about amare to GS…now that we know the pick (7) is curry that would likely be included, does moving bosh (in lieu of amare) for that package make any more sense now? not that it’ll happen, of course…)
Budinger is the white version of Jamario Moon, he got drafted too high.
How the hell did the Raps not get a 2nd round pick when Young, Blair, Buddinger, Summers, Brown, Thornton, Mills, Calathes, Green were ALL there and any one of them could help out team??? All those 2nd round trades and not one with the Raps. I JUST DON’T GET IT!!!
Everyone got scared off Blair because one guy said he couldn’t see any ACL left. How can you not have an ACL, everyone’s overeacting like they did for Darryl Arthur
pistons had our second round pick in the delfino trade. and i dont think we need another second rounder. second rounder means another player, another project. we’ve got enough guys already, we just have to sort them, keep the ones that fit and dump those that don’t.
Well I guess we’ll see what else BC has up his sleave with trades/FAs.
I’m super happy to have DeRozan. I think he’ll be great, but I would have liked to have added one of those 2nd rd SG/SFs.
I don’t blame Colangelo. I think he didn’t pick a 2nd rounder because of economic issues. It would cost 3mill to buy a pick + they probably wouldn’t want any more youth and instead look at veteran leadership off the bench through FAs.
Well they have 3mil from the JO trade. MLSE has the cash.
Everyone seems to be forgetting that buying a 2nd pick actually costs money (and by that I mean salary considerations against your total payroll). I mean let’s say they signed Marion for roughly 7 mil per (which is about what I think most fans would agree is the target number for bringing him back and not overpaying). If you buy a 2nd pick AND sign Marion, then all you’ve got left is a portion of the MLE to fill out the roster.
Essentially BC had to choose last night between paying a rookie who MIGHT contribute something next year or using that same amount of money on one player (or, more likely, one and a half or two) in a summer when the FA market is collapsing and bargains are there to be had. Is taking a flyer on a 2nd round pick worth giving up on signing AP to a cheap contract and using the rest toward bringing in a vet like Rasho? In a season where the Raps need to show they’re competitive? No. Just no.
That being said, this is why we all hate MLSE: paying a touch over the tax to stash a quality 2nd round pick like a Young, Brown or Blair would have been a great move and would have really shown Bosh that they’re committed to winning while at the same time continuing to add insurance against his potential departure. Let’s not forget who’s tying BC’s hands here.
2nd rd pics are not guaranteed money. Money to buy a pick does not count against the cap. MLSE has money, including the 3 mil from the JO trade. If the kid doesn’t make the team, so be it.
What’s the point of inviting the kid to try out if you’re just going to have to make the same decision to cut him later because you’re up against the cap and you’ve brought in veterans to strengthen your bench? What you just stated doesn’t change my point. We’re not talking about the act of buying the pick, we’re talking about that pick’s contract putting the team over the tax threshold since there’s no way BC wants to go into the season with rookies backing up both wing spots and no depth behind them. If anything, you’d be wasting the money buying a pick you’re only going to cut later.
So if he’s good enough to make the team then pay him. Doing nothing = doing nothing. We aren’t going to win anything major next year bringing in scrap veterans. So develop cheap young players.
Oh I don’t disagree – that’s why I wrote that I wished MLSE would be willing to go a bit over the tax to do it. I’m just saying that expecting them to is unrealistic and goes against everything we know about them.
The point is, MLSE is a corporation whose mandate it is to make money for it’s shareholders and they are making the decisions about how much money BC has to work with.
I think your cap/tax issues are confused. It doesn’t matter if you pay a rookie or a veteran, they both count going towards that tax threshold. In fact, it’s cheaper to employ rookies because there is a veteran minimum in effect. And as noted, cash paid to acquire the pick doesn’t count towards the tax. And the team needs at least 13, up to 15 players, so you’ve gotta fill those positions out anyhow.
Therefore, there are no salary cap/luxury tax implications to any non-move in the 2nd round last night.
You can also draft anybody in the 2nd round and not offer him a contract, you still retain their rights until you renounce them or trade them. (see Giorgos Printezis)
You’re exactly right, it doesn’t matter if you pay a veteran or a rookie – either way, if they’re on your roster and playing for you, then you pay them. Again, my point is that this season, given the importance being placed by the team on keeping Bosh, BC would rather pay that money to veteran, under the assumption that such a move will produce better results in the win/loss column (which I thought I stated pretty clearly).
so MLSE should pay luxury tax to develop second round long-shots. Sound like bad business and bad basketball. The Raps have more then enough middling projects already.
DeDe ….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tell me this wouldn’t be sweet, DeRozan join the dunk contest and duplicating all Carter’s dunks..
phdsteve,
re: * Khandor, you owe me $50- Harden went #3. – by phdsteve
1. When I look at this thread,
http://raptorsrepublic.com/blog/2009/06/02/mock-draft-plus-podcast-analysis/?commentstyle=regular#comments
It seems as though you did not take me up on my original proposition:
2. When I look at this 2nd thread,
http://raptorsrepublic.com/blog/2009/06/25/2009-nba-lottery-consensus-mock-draft/
I see only that the specific proposition there was asked of James [Ballswin] Realizar, and not you [at all].
If you feel differently about these two observations, for whatever reason, please free to follow-up with me directly via email [or through my blog]. If I happen to lose a wager, you will find that I always pay off the winner with whatever was agreed to in advance. [If in doubt of this, please feel free to contact "Don" at with-malice.com, who bested me in a situation of that sort last year.] Likewise, when I win a wager, I expect the loser to do the same. *smile*
Hopefully James Harden will have a long and productive NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
phd,
Sorry for the typos …
if in doubt, please feel free to contact “Don” at with-malice.com
Although it’s certainly disappointing to think of what could have resulted from yesterday’s NBA Draft, from a Raptors’ perspective, there is still a fair amount of promise in a line-up which looks like this for the coming season:
1 Calderon
2 Parker?
3 Marion?
4 Bosh
5 Bargnani
——————————–
6 Ukic
7 Delfino?
8 DeRozan
9 Evans
10 O’Bryant
——————————–
11 Banks
12 Humphries
——————————–
13 Douby?
14 Graham?
15 Mensah-Bonsu?
16 Voskuhl?
with a number of different options still in play, moving forward into the Free Agency period.
I don’t see Rasho in there – is that because you don’t see him signing or because you’d rather not have him?
Neither of those two really. Just listed the players who Bryan Colangelo has identified, to this point, as already being connected with the team’s “extended” roster. Rasho, technically, as an UFA of the Pacers, isn’t in that category just yet.