The Raptors and the 2014 Draft

[YoungGunRaptor]

this is a great piece, if anyone hasn't written it. the more i read and watch of Payton the more impressed i am with him.

i still don't think Lowry resigning is the slam dunk everyone else does and if he walks i expect MU to trade up to get one of Ennis/Payton

Same here, on both accounts. Im honestly not 100% convinced that Lowry will be back. He could easily sign with teams such as the Lakers, Heat, (T Wolves if they try and convince Love to stay. S&T Lowry for Rubio then? Better to get something rather than letting him walk for free I guess.), Pacers, etc. All of the aforementioned teams would benefit from Lowry's bulldog demeanour and leadership.

If Lowry does make it explicitly clear that he will not return to Toronto, then Masaii should be trading up in the draft, or perhaps making more moves.

Payton or Ennis are my top choices at PG.



@Yabadabayolo, my mistake haha

[YoungGunRaptor]

I really don't think this year's free agency is gonna be that great. Monroe/Bledsoe/Duncan/Dirk/Miami3/Hayward are all staying. You've got some guys who are just BEGGING to be overpaid. Deng, Pierce and Gasol will probably get properly paid or underpaid for really good teams. Assuming Randolph and Gay opt in cuz, duh money, there's really only lance, gortat, thomas, ariza, bradley, turner, hawes... I mean, how many of those guys really deserve the money they're gonna get? Ariza is a contract year case, Lance is crazy, Gortat has never really done it before this season on a consistent level. Isiah Thomas will get paid right or under, because everyone underestimates him. Avery is gonna get matched unless someone wildly overshoots. Turner has been stats on a bad team most of his career. Hawes is a center who can hit a shot, which means hes getting paaaaid. I really don't see a lot of intriguing options for us to go for, unless it's Turner on a discount, Deng, or maybe Granger?

You make some good points. I never considered Granger before, but he could make a great backup SF with veteran experience.

Turner though, would look great as a starting SF, but he would have to start alongside Ross, because Demar and Turner's skills would clash on the offensive end. That being said, I would go for Hayward at the 3.


As for Hawes, he wouldn't make a bad backup C at all, although thats not going to happen. He's likely going to end up with a contender, cash in pockets and all.

I think that Monroe is a RFA correct? I may be wrong.

The only guy I see leaving from his current team is Monroe. If I were him, I would take my talents to a team that could utilize them fully. If Miami wants to keep their team alive, they could trade Bosh for Monroe and Sign Spencer Hawes to retain that 3 point shooting in the front court. Monroe could become an easy 2nd option to Lebron, especially while Wade rests during the regular season.

[MunsMunny]

Trade up for WIGGINS

[TSF]

You make some good points. I never considered Granger before, but he could make a great backup SF with veteran experience.

Turner though, would look great as a starting SF, but he would have to start alongside Ross, because Demar and Turner's skills would clash on the offensive end. That being said, I would go for Hayward at the 3.


As for Hawes, he wouldn't make a bad backup C at all, although thats not going to happen. He's likely going to end up with a contender, cash in pockets and all.

I think that Monroe is a RFA correct? I may be wrong.

The only guy I see leaving from his current team is Monroe. If I were him, I would take my talents to a team that could utilize them fully. If Miami wants to keep their team alive, they could trade Bosh for Monroe and Sign Spencer Hawes to retain that 3 point shooting in the front court. Monroe could become an easy 2nd option to Lebron, especially while Wade rests during the regular season.

Yeah, Monroe is RFA. Can't see him not getting matched unless its ridiculous money. I don't like the Monroe/Hawes/Bosh idea- Neither play defense as well, and for 30 minutes a game you're playing Monroe which throws off your whole identity.
Lowry-Ross-Turner-Amir-JV is a good fitting lineup, but there's no way in hell they're making DD come off the bench after he just got an all-star berth.

Hayward- You're gonna have to give him LOTS of money to lure him away.

Lowry-DD-Turner-2Pat-JV with Vasquez-Ross-ANYONENOTNAMEDJOHNSALMONS-Amir-C off the bench is a pretty good unit. But whenever I think about signing Turner, two alarms go off- A, Stats on a bad team who stunk in Indy. B, Ball-dominant, athletic, driving wing who thrives in the mid-range? Who does that remind you of (Hint- he has a 19 million dollar player option).

[TrossTheBOSS]

The band wagon I am currently on for our 1st Rounder are elfrid Payton , adrien Payne , jermain grant , kyle Anderson .

What band wagon u guys on?

[007]

I would like Payton, Ennis or Capela.

[yabadabayolo]

if a guy like gary harris falls, do you take him?

[stooley]

if a guy like gary harris falls, do you take him?

yeah. annoying that he plays the 2, but he's got too much talent to pass on.

you find a way to make it work. dabble with him as a back up PG, there's been some talk about that. when that doesn't work out, he takes over the backup 2 role, but then we really have to trade one of our 3 SGs.

[MACK11]

if a guy like gary harris falls, do you take him?

You have to we're not in a position to pass up talent because we have to many SG's

[007]

I don't want Harris, but if he's there we can't pass him up.

I'm pretty sure he's gone though.

[magoon]

I'll be shocked if Harris drops to us. I'll be moderately surprised if he drops out of top ten.

I can see Ennis dropping, mostly because teams tend to value athleticism and Ennis is only an average athlete at best. If we can't get Ennis, I'd like us to grab KJ McDaniels, who reminds me a lot of DeMar if you replaced "scoring" as DeMar's primary skill with "defense."

[TSF]

I'll be shocked if Harris drops to us. I'll be moderately surprised if he drops out of top ten.

I can see Ennis dropping, mostly because teams tend to value athleticism and Ennis is only an average athlete at best. If we can't get Ennis, I'd like us to grab KJ McDaniels, who reminds me a lot of DeMar if you replaced "scoring" as DeMar's primary skill with "defense."

So Kawhi Leonard on draft night?

[OptimalOptimist]

This is the kid Toronto needs to grab.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Kyle-Anderson-6177/

I love guys that know how to play..... he knows how to play.

Stay.Away.From.The.Raptors.

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The SG position is the only position the Raptors need to stay away from. Even if the BPA would be a SG on draft night, he wouldn't get playing time and would struggle to develop as oppose to every other position.

[magoon]

So Kawhi Leonard on draft night?

McDaniels doesn't have Leonard's amazing lateral quickness, but other than that, pretty much. (He doesn't have a good shot either, but then again that took Kawhi years to develop.)

[DanH]

Stay.Away.From.The.Raptors.

____

The SG position is the only position the Raptors need to stay away from. Even if the BPA would be a SG on draft night, he wouldn't get playing time and would struggle to develop as oppose to every other position.

Honestly, regardless of the Raps' depth at SG, the SG talent in this draft just seems underwhelming. Even the higher end talents like Young, Stauskas, Harris just don't seem like the sort of pieces I'd want on the team (with maybe the exception of Stauskas). Worst case scenario for me is that SG's start dropping in the draft and we end up forced to take one of them. Would much prefer a big, PG or SF, as there are several intriguing all-around prospects at those positions at our draft spot.