How Will Ed Davis Stack Up Against Rookies Selected After Him?

[Apollo]

You know it happens every year. A player is selected with high praise and a couple years later fans are left wondering how did that other guy slip past them? Brook Lopez was passed over by the Bucks and Bobcats as they selected Joe Alexander and DJ Augustin respectively. Year before that the Bucks, T-Wolves and Bobcats all took a pass on Joakim Noah in favor of Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer and Brandan Wirght. Year before that virtually everybody overlooked Paul Milsap. It's a common occurrence. Guys get missed, mistakes are made and a lot of these choices don't look like mistakes right away. Now I know most are going to argue that Ed Davis is going to turn out like one of these successful guys and I would tend to agree with that but let's pretend we can look into the future and let's look at who was selected after Ed Davis. Out of that group who do you feel has the potential to leave the Raptors' fans and other communities wondering "what if"?

For me, Eric Bledsoe is a guy who could have been used and who has a lot of talent but slipped some. I feel he could give a lot of teams after thought heart burn on the level of somewhere between Jameer Nelson and Rajon Rondo. He's the one guy in particular who I feel could turn out to be better than Ed Davis.

And again for the record, I don't feel anyone in Raptorsland will have buyers' remorse over Ed Davis.

[Buddahfan]

At this point there aren't any bigs on the list of players taken after Davis that I would have picked before him. Even though BC said that the Raptors were going to take the best player regardless of talent level I think that was only because other than a few top picks the draft was pretty weak in quality big men and BC probably was not counting on Davis to be there at #13.

Now some would say that the Raptors should have taken Daniel Orton and others like myself at the time Damion James. However now I think Davis was a better choice for the Raptors because of their need for a big man and the fact that the Raptors have signed Kleiza

I am still not sure why some thought the Raptors should have drafted Orton. I believe he eventually was drafted by Orlando at the end of the first round. I don't recall him playing too well in the Orlando Summer League this past July.

[blaze89]

i am gracious the eddy slipped all the way down to us, at the draft i wasnt thinking of him as even a possibility for the raptors st our position. but at the same time like with every draft with every team there are some regrets.
with that being said if we didnt take ed i was huge fans of eric bledsoe (like apollo) and also armon johnson. i felt that both have good enough size and basketball IQ to run a nba team with time and if we didnt address our bigs the PG was the spot i was hoping we would uprgrade in the draft. those two in my opinion are going to have sucessful nba careers so if ed wasnt on the board and our radar then those are the two i would of went for.

[weemsfan]

i have to say the one person who could end up being a dejuan blair type pick is jordan crawford who will be a great shooter in years to come

[Rg1990]

I've been hearing that Ed is predicted to big one of the busts of thus draft. We'll just have to see.

[James Ballswin (Realizar)]

Solomon Alibi is that player!

[Buddahfan]

Solomon Alibi is that player!

Sorry my friend

Second round picks are never considered a bust, because almost all of them are considered to be a long shot. The type of contracts they receive vs the first round picks proves that.

Nice try, but I think you came up way short on this one.

[sleepz]

Based on how I saw them ball in college, L.Sanders (rangy, defensive minded), J.Anderson (gritty, mid range game), Pondexter (multi-stat type, needs to develop j though) and D. Jones (lit up the Big East) all have the 'potential' to be a slept on type player.

I do agree that Davis can become a huge draft slip that benefits the Raps. He was a significant role player in UNC's run 2 years ago. He blocks and alters shots and perhaps it doesn't matter but I like the fact his dad played in the league. Without being biased, I like Davis the most out of this years potential draft slips.

[JalenRose5]

I hope it doesn't happen, but Avery Bradley if he gets healthy. Kid can light it up and play disgusting defense. Reminds me of Monta Ellis but much better defense. (Rated higher than John Wall coming out of high school)He had a sub-par freshmen year. However Brandon Jennings had a horrible first year in Europe and turned into a stud. I still have hope for Demar though so the verdict is still out for that one. However I am still recovering from passing up on Iguodala, Granger, and most importantly (Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge!!!!) F*#K I hate bryan colangelo for drafting he who shall not be named!

[Hassan]

avery bradley and eric bledsoe may make us wonder "what if"

[Tim W.]

What I find amazing is that often times it's easily predicted who will be a guy you regret not taking and who should not have been picked so high. The prize this year goes to Golden State who passed over much better and more suitable players for Udoh. Of course they then did a sign and trade for a player who not only plays the same position as the player they drafted, but who might end up being worse than the player they traded away.

I think Utah and even Oklahoma City might end up regretting who they picked in this draft*. I wouldn't be surprised if, five years from now, Davis ends up being one of the 5 or 6 best players from this draft.

*If history repeats itself, one of the players I select as a future disappointment will end up being very good.

[blackjitsu]

Bradley, Jordan, Sanders even Bledsoe look pretty good but no way you can miss out on Davis. Looking at what he did in Summer league (yeah I know its summer l.) he looks like the type of player you will not regret having on your team. Him falling to the Raps was a bit of a fluke. I think it was a gamble worth taking.

[Tim W.]

Would anyone be shocked if I said that Bradley WOULDN'T end up being one of the better players in the draft?

[Jordan-Drexler]

I was reading in a blog today about how {some} Utah fans are pissed they drafted Hayward and not Davis, so who knows

[smushmush]

You know it happens every year. A player is selected with high praise and a couple years later fans are left wondering how did that other guy slip past them? Brook Lopez was passed over by the Bucks and Bobcats as they selected Joe Alexander and DJ Augustin respectively. Year before that the Bucks, T-Wolves and Bobcats all took a pass on Joakim Noah in favor of Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer and Brandan Wirght. Year before that virtually everybody overlooked Paul Milsap. It's a common occurrence. Guys get missed, mistakes are made and a lot of these choices don't look like mistakes right away. Now I know most are going to argue that Ed Davis is going to turn out like one of these successful guys and I would tend to agree with that but let's pretend we can look into the future and let's look at who was selected after Ed Davis. Out of that group who do you feel has the potential to leave the Raptors' fans and other communities wondering "what if"?

For me, Eric Bledsoe is a guy who could have been used and who has a lot of talent but slipped some. I feel he could give a lot of teams after thought heart burn on the level of somewhere between Jameer Nelson and Rajon Rondo. He's the one guy in particular who I feel could turn out to be better than Ed Davis.

And again for the record, I don't feel anyone in Raptorsland will have buyers' remorse over Ed Davis.

IMO, Luke Babbitt of Portland Trailblazers and Kevin Seraphin will be really good players..