Avery Bradley @ 13th (Update On Pg. 14)

[Marz]

If Bradley is 6'3 why can't he turn into an Eric Gordon player?

[Tim W.]

I used the Westbrook comparison because before the 2008 draft Westbrook was considered by the so called experts to be primarily a defensive guard first like a lot of people are looking at Bradley especially in Toronto.

It could be that Bradley might wind up defending as well as Westbrook although I would have to see that to believe it. However, I seriously doubt that Bradley will have anywhere near the impact on offense that Westbrook does.

I would have no probably drafting Bradley at say 25 or lower but I just think that there will be a number of players still on the board at #13, if that is where the Raptors do draft, that will turn out to be better NBA players than Bradley.

I'm actually agreeing with you 100% on Bradley. I was responding to mo-sales post where he says "I don't think anyone is thinking he will turn into Westbrook who has taken Deron's mantle as the most underrated point guard in the league, but that he's in a similar mold."

If Bradley is 6'3 why can't he turn into an Eric Gordon player?

They are the same height, but the biggest difference between Gordon and Bradley is that Gordon is a much, much better scorer and attacks the hoop, getting to the line at a very high rate. Plus, Gordon has a longer wingspan.

Bradley is actually slightly shorter, with a shorter wingspan and reach, than Jarret Jack. Anyone who thought that playing Jack and Calderon together really didn't work well on the defensive end has no business wanting Bradley as the Raptors 2 guard.

[Apollo]

The Raptors aren't taking Bradley at 13. Relax, this mock draft stinks... They may not be taking anyone at 13.

[mo-sales]

haha, where's phdsteve when you need him.

I agree that Bradley certainly doesn't necessitate the raptors needs, another combo guard who can't really play the point, hooray.

I think barring trading Derozan which would be foolish, you have to play him at the point long term. Short term he would come off the bench and could play at either guard, but preferably point guard to hone his chops.

I think if you draft Bradley you have to keep Turk or Jose. I loathe both of them to differing degrees, but I love what Bradley brings to the table and think his athleticism and defensive prowess offsets what the other two take off it.

Ideally you want to take him later, but in this draft the difference between 13 and 25 is almost negligible, it becomes hypothetical projections based on groundless conjecture.

With all the uncertainly surrounding the roster, I think you have to take the best player available, ideally you would want that player to have a position, but I feel pure point guards aren't as necessary with so many point forwards in today's game. Best case scenario you take Bradley at #13 and then buy a late round pick from maybe Minny to get one of the dozen talented big man. He seems like a guy who everyone values higher than his draft position, I like those kind of guys.

Can he run the offense, probably not as effectively as Jack and mos def not as well as Jose, but if he can score and play defense I think the rest can work itself out. Unlike most people I like my point guards to be scorers first and passers second and I like my centers to shoot 3's and avoid the paint, okay maybe not that the last part.

[Buddahfan]

The Raptors aren't taking Bradley at 13. Relax, this mock draft stinks... They may not be taking anyone at 13.

We are all relaxed which is probably more than we can say about the football fans in South Africa right now. They are probably either drunk, or whatever but I doubt that too many of them are relaxed or will be until the ball has been kicked for the last time

Actually BC has talked to Stern about the Raptors pick and insisted that he won't pick #13 on Thursday the 24th but only the next day on Friday. Stern didn't agree to allow BC to make the 13th pick on Friday so maybe that is why BC might want to trade the 13th pick. eh

[Tim W.]

So no one has explained why the Clippers are drafting 2nd.

[bigmanshaq]

Bradley makes sense for raptors because he plays hard on defense, and he can contributes on offense as well.
In my mind, he's alot less like westbrook but more in the mold of Gilbert Arenas, check out the stats the Arenas had when he was at Arizona: http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/2...s/arenas.shtml

Lets keep in mind that as a rook, the amount of time he'll see on the court will be limited, hopefully we keep either Jack or Calderon to mentor him and in time Bradley can develop a passing game like Billups did in his latter years.

*Clips obtaining the 2nd overall picks ? haven't seen or heard anything on it, but I know there a bunch of teams lined up to get that 2nd pick, Raptors, T-wolves, Pacers, even Spurs are trying to trade up to the 2nd or 3rd pick.

[santimo]

I'm hoping for Bradley as well because I like his defensive abilities, especially at the point guard position where the Raptors just got killed last year. Offensively, NO, he's not gonna be the next John Stockton but I agree with bigmanshaq, I think he can develop into a point guard much like Billups did. He's already an NBA calibre defender and has a solid mid-range jump shot. He brings a lot to the table and has some serious upside as well. I can't remember who said it (Chad Ford maybe) but he said that sometimes people tend to concentrate on what a guy CAN'T do rather than on the good things that they CAN do. That's one of the reasons why Rondo slipped to the 21st pick - people said he couldn't shoot and wasn't coachable, now he's replaced the big three as te go to guy on the Celtics.

[Ambidextrious]

Bradley makes sense for raptors because he plays hard on defense, and he can contributes on offense as well.

This is a no brainer, aren't you tired of getting our point guards constantly exploited by almost every other pg in the league? This is why this team sucked last year. It's because they were ranked last in the league in defense. BC needs to address some of these problems by drafting Bradley.
WAKE UP PEOPLE, DEFENCE WINS GAMES, NOT OFFENCE.

[Buddahfan]

This is a no brainer, aren't you tired of getting our point guards constantly exploited by almost every other pg in the league? This is why this team sucked last year. It's because they were ranked last in the league in defense. BC needs to address some of these problems by drafting Bradley.
WAKE UP PEOPLE, DEFENCE WINS GAMES, NOT OFFENCE.

Wake up fellow poster

Bradley is no Point Guard - Amir Johnson as a starter this sesaon averaged almost as many assists per 36 minutes as Bradley did last year with Texas.

2.0 for Johnson and 2.2 for Bradley.

Not only that but Amir Johnson had a better free throw percentage this season than Bradley.

On top of that Johnson is a better defender.

I think the Raptors should start Johnson at PG

[Tim W.]

I think some of you misunderstand why the rest of us don't want Bradley. It's not as if we don't value defense. The problem is that if it's simply defense you want, there already a great defensive PG on the Raptors roster: Marcus Banks. Marcus Banks is an excellent defender, and he can score. And he's already under contract.

The problem with Bradley is not that he won't improve the Raptors defense, he obviously will, but he is not at all capable of being an NBA PG. Defense wins games, but you have to be able to score, and a team that has a PG who can't run an offense is going to struggle mightily on the offensive end.

Just because your interior defense is bad, doesn't mean you draft Thabeet 2nd overall, bypassing better players. You draft the better player who isn't going to struggle, simply because he brings one thing you need. Ignoring glaring weaknesses of a player simply because he plays defense is the best way to make massive mistake.

Bradley makes sense for raptors because he plays hard on defense, and he can contributes on offense as well.
In my mind, he's alot less like westbrook but more in the mold of Gilbert Arenas, check out the stats the Arenas had when he was at Arizona: http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/2...s/arenas.shtml

Lets keep in mind that as a rook, the amount of time he'll see on the court will be limited, hopefully we keep either Jack or Calderon to mentor him and in time Bradley can develop a passing game like Billups did in his latter years.

*Clips obtaining the 2nd overall picks ? haven't seen or heard anything on it, but I know there a bunch of teams lined up to get that 2nd pick, Raptors, T-wolves, Pacers, even Spurs are trying to trade up to the 2nd or 3rd pick.

Well, Arenas was a 2nd round pick for a reason. He was a big gamble. If the Raptors want to gamble on Bradley with a 2nd round pick, I'd be all for it. But for the 13th pick, you don't want a guy who has a 90% chance of failing.

And I wish people would stop bringing up Chauncey Billups as an example of a combo guard who made the transition to PG. Billups took five years and four teams before he was able to make the transition. And he had a very high basketball IQ. Billups struggled mightily at first, which is why he bounced around so much at first. And even then it was NINE years before Billups was able to average at least 6 apg.

So when people tell me that he might be another Billups, I assume they mean that he'll be a player who will struggle for years on several other teams before he finds success. Not exactly tantalizing.

[Buddahfan]

I think some of you misunderstand why the rest of us don't want Bradley. It's not as if we don't value defense. The problem is that if it's simply defense you want, there already a great defensive PG on the Raptors roster: Marcus Banks. Marcus Banks is an excellent defender, and he can score. And he's already under contract.

The problem with Bradley is not that he won't improve the Raptors defense, he obviously will, but he is not at all capable of being an NBA PG. Defense wins games, but you have to be able to score, and a team that has a PG who can't run an offense is going to struggle mightily on the offensive end.

Just because your interior defense is bad, doesn't mean you draft Thabeet 2nd overall, bypassing better players. You draft the better player who isn't going to struggle, simply because he brings one thing you need. Ignoring glaring weaknesses of a player simply because he plays defense is the best way to make massive mistake.



Well, Arenas was a 2nd round pick for a reason. He was a big gamble. If the Raptors want to gamble on Bradley with a 2nd round pick, I'd be all for it. But for the 13th pick, you don't want a guy who has a 90% chance of failing.

And I wish people would stop bringing up Chauncey Billups as an example of a combo guard who made the transition to PG. Billups took five years and four teams before he was able to make the transition. And he had a very high basketball IQ. Billups struggled mightily at first, which is why he bounced around so much at first. And even then it was NINE years before Billups was able to average at least 6 apg.

So when people tell me that he might be another Billups, I assume they mean that he'll be a player who will struggle for years on several other teams before he finds success. Not exactly tantalizing.

Assists per 36 min.
------------------------------------------
Billups last season at Colorado vs Bradley last season at Texas

Billups----------------------------------- 5.3
Bradley---------------------------------- 2.2
A. Johnson as a Raptors starter-------2.0

http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/pla...auncey-billups

[Apollo]

For what it's worth DraftExpress, who I trust more than ESPN, has Xavier Henry going 13th and NBAdraft.net has Cole Aldrich going 13th.

[Buddahfan]

For what it's worth DraftExpress, who I trust more than ESPN, has Xavier Henry going 13th and NBAdraft.net has Cole Aldrich going 13th.

The problem with Henry is that he is a SG like DeRozan. The Raptors would have to move one of them to SF. I am not sure if either of them have the handles on offense to play the #3 or could defend the #3.

I think Aldrich would be a better choice between the two if he is available unless the Raptors actually felt that either DeRozan or Henry could play and start at the #3 in a year or two.

However, I would still rather have Damion James but most likely he will wind up in San Antonio, Orlando, or Utah.

[mo-sales]

We don't know he can't play point guard, in Rondo's freshman year he only averaged 3.5 dimes. Bradley was the top rated player coming out of high school, how do you guys ignore that?

He struggled in Texas and now his pro stock takes a nosedive?!?! The guy is a player and while he might struggle early on to play the point, I don't think he will struggle to be a successful NBA player. His only major weakness is his play making ability, which as a point guard is fairly glaring, but its not an insurmountable obstacle to overcome. While most combo guards who try and make it as a point fail, I have faith in Bradley.

13th pick is toss up as far getting a legit NBA player, I'd much rather take a high risk, high reward guy than bank on some big being a solid rotation player.