The Raptors and the 2014 Draft

[Burnit482]

No. Embiid, for all he's shown, is still a project, and we've been developing a project in Jonas who looks like he has a very good chance at being a top 3-5 C in this league, and a two-way guy who will be better than most such guys (Noah, Chandler, Hibbert) offensively. Where Embiid may be more fluid, Jonas looks like he'll be more physical, and I'll take the latter these days given how rare it is in elite bigs. Feel like the way Jonas plays will piss off opponents more and throw them off their game, whereas Embiid will really have to maximize his offensive potential because I don't see that physical edge in him.

The Raps really need an elite perimeter player, and Wiggins looks like that guy. I still see him as having the best chance to be the best player in this draft in 3-5 years, and it has nothing to do with him being Canadian. He is a great two-way player already. He looks like he'll fill out strength-wise more naturally than George, who he's been compared to, and he's also more skilled at the same age than George was. He's an athletic freak who's up there with guys like Vince and LeBron in that respect.

If I had the #1 pick, it's Wiggins every time right now. I haven't seen anything to make me change my stance.

*Not to mention with Wiggins size/length and athleticism, you might be looking at a guy who can defend 4 positions on any given night, and even some Cs who may be short or slight...

I said considering without having JV because I'm talking if you are the gm of any team choosing the best player longterm. I agree with most that you need wings you don't need bigs to win championships (as much..) but say for example that raptors had JV and Embid 5 years down the line... that could be a dominant front court that could change the landscape of NBA. For example taking that and using it against Miami's weakness...

When choosing best player i still think its Wiggins... but if i was gutty i just have a scary (good) feeling about Embid.

[white men can't jump]

I said considering without having JV because I'm talking if you are the gm of any team choosing the best player longterm. I agree with most that you need wings you don't need bigs to win championships (as much..) but say for example that raptors had JV and Embid 5 years down the line... that could be a dominant front court that could change the landscape of NBA. For example taking that and using it against Miami's weakness...

When choosing best player i still think its Wiggins... but if i was gutty i just have a scary (good) feeling about Embid.

But you always do have to consider your current roster. I'm not confident Embiid is a more impactful player than Jonas in the end, though he has a shot to be. People say draft BPA....but there is always some measure of need involved. -> Especially when drafting likely projects, since they'll need some kind of legit opportunity to grow. Hard to do that if you're stacking a position.

*I mean, if Miami somehow miraculously had the #1 pick, do they pick Wiggins even if he is BPA? Do they draft him and pray they can hold him for a king's ransom when other teams know they basically have no choice but to trade him? Or do they take Embiid or Exum, who can fill a hole they have and easily upgrade a position long-term? To me the latter makes way more sense. There's no such thing as making this choice in a vacuum in my mind.

And either way my post is still ignoring that in overall logic, I just preferred to outline actual considerations I'd have given I only really care what Toronto does.-> 2nd last paragraph/sentence....Wiggins every time, and I haven't seen anything to make me change my stance.

-Parker and Randle are safest picks. They are NBA ready now, but also have the least growth potential. Think what you see now is what you get at the next level, and there's no telling they adjust to the NBA and produce at their current levels.

-Wiggins is the highest ceiling prospect, followed closely by Exum and Embiid. Exum is still just too much of a mystery for me (and I'm sure for many GMs). And I prefer to draft a frontcourt player, be it a SF or C, if the option is there.

[Burnit482]

But you always do have to consider your current roster. I'm not confident Embiid is a more impactful player than Jonas in the end, though he has a shot to be. People say draft BPA....but there is always some measure of need involved. -> Especially when drafting likely projects, since they'll need some kind of legit opportunity to grow. Hard to do that if you're stacking a position.

*I mean, if Miami somehow miraculously had the #1 pick, do they pick Wiggins even if he is BPA? Do they draft him and pray they can hold him for a king's ransom when other teams know they basically have no choice but to trade him? Or do they take Embiid or Exum, who can fill a hole they have and easily upgrade a position long-term? To me the latter makes way more sense. There's no such thing as making this choice in a vacuum in my mind.

And either way my post is still ignoring that in overall logic, I just preferred to outline actual considerations I'd have given I only really care what Toronto does.-> 2nd last paragraph/sentence....Wiggins every time, and I haven't seen anything to make me change my stance.

-Parker and Randle are safest picks. They are NBA ready now, but also have the least growth potential. Think what you see now is what you get at the next level, and there's no telling they adjust to the NBA and produce at their current levels.

-Wiggins is the highest ceiling prospect, followed closely by Exum and Embiid. Exum is still just too much of a mystery for me (and I'm sure for many GMs). And I prefer to draft a frontcourt player, be it a SF or C, if the option is there.

Yes but I wanted the question to be you have no one on your team and you're picking a guy to build around who is it gunna be. But yeah no biggie.

Agreed about Parker and Randle most NBA ready (arguably Smart) but they don't have the ceiling. If I'm looking to win championships id much rather Wiggins Embid Exum over Randle Parker.

For us say embid was the best... trade jv and fill our need at pg or SF so i mean it works in many ways. Id be happy if raps got any of the top 6 but gotta be realistic. But id rather Embid exum smart wiggins over randle and parker.

[blackjitsu]

You can't teach size. I'd take Embiid in a vacuum. That being said, this isn't a vacuum, teams have particular needs and those other factors could easily influence selecting one of the other 4 or 5 guys. I think Smart is going to be special. Parker is a bit slow for his position, but he may be Carmelo without the selfishness and Randle is a man amongst boys AND amongst men. Wiggins is uber-athletic, and if he ever puts his foot down and takes games over he is by far the best prospect of the bunch. But, I haven't seen it yet. That's why I've been waiting for March to even guess what order these guys will go in. I think when games matter Wiggins will turn into a different player, maybe Embiid can keep up, if so, then Embiid goes first, if not, Wiggins goes first.

[Chr1s1anL]

Andrew Harrison will be the steal of the draft. Being misused at Kentucky ala Jrue Holiday.


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[The Great One]

Rodney Hood back to back 27pts game for Duke. Parker on the other hand got benched the other game and tonight only played 21mins.

[BigCamB]

Haven't seen too much from Harrison to excite me yet. mediocre athlete, mediocre efficiency and has long been questioned over his attitude. But he is huge and strong, will be interested to see what develops there, seems like all the main draft sites have completely written him off for this years draft. If he improved his play a bit and declared, could be an interesting option for the raptors later in the first round, but i'm not convinced on him.

And yeh, I would take Embiid over Wiggins at this stage.

[isaacthompson]

Hey fans of No. 1 Arizona (@APlayersProgram): Here's a cool Freshman Math video of what makes Aaron Gordon so special http://t.co/MVRoqJjA6c

— Brett Edgerton (@EditorEdge) January 8, 2014

Good video on Aaron Gordon's defensive impact, for anyone who's interested. He's gone slightly under the radar so far this year.

[Masai Ujiri]

Wiggins because in the NBA today you don't need a low post threat to win the championship!

When have you ever NEEDED that? I assume you're referring to Miami.

The guy the Bulls ran with... Horace Grant was no better or bigger than Bosh. Tbh he was worse and smaller.

[blackjitsu]

This sums up what I've seen so far. It is BS and Jalen though, so take it with a heaping spoonful of salt.

[BigCamB]

I tend to agree with them as well, it may be a bit overrated. There was this article on ESPN a few weeks back where they were comparing each freshman with a current NBA player, and for all the massive hype of this draft, the comparisons were really underwhelming and had me thinking..damn, are teams tanking for this? Those comparisons seemed way off the mark though. It'll still be a very good and deep draft regardless , and am still looking forward to it immensely!

[blackjitsu]

If they all come out I think this draft will have the most players that stay in the league for 10+ years. All these guys are solid, but I'm not seeing the player that will change the future of a team here. I'm expecting that Wiggins improves when the games begin to matter more, but is that too much to expect?

I remember watching Carmelo at Syracuse and it was obvious that he was beyond the collegiate level. That guy had Hakim Warrick as the second best player. These guys are on far deeper teams and really no one is blowing me away (mind you I want to watch Arizona more closely).

March is going to be REALLY interesting.

[BigCamB]

. I'm expecting that Wiggins improves when the games begin to matter more, but is that too much to expect?

Everyone seems to think Embiid has a lot of questions to answer, but Wiggins is very unconvincing to me, although that won't be agreed with here

Arizona play great team basketball. Gordon won't wow you with big time numbers, just does all the little things at this stage, he kinda reminds me of Shawn Marion without the weird shot style.

I'm Australian (support the raptors because I lived in Canada for a year and love the place) and honestly Exum is even a mystery to me, but it seems like he has big time upside and insane speed and quickness. can't wait to see who he goes to though!

[Puffer]

....Exum is even a mystery to me, but it seems like he has big time upside and insane speed and quickness. can't wait to see who he goes to though!

I just don't get into college ball...partly because I don't have the time. But I am really intrigued by this years class and what I can't wait for is to see how all these guys fare in the NBA next year.

[Masai Ujiri]

Wow just after 14:45 in that video, Rose says Wiggins needs to work on his game a lot to get to DeRozan's level.

Watched the whole thing, I'd actually like to see some of these guys stay tbh.