2011 Draft Rumors & Discussion

[mcHAPPY]

Not to mention that Jones has some maturity issues. Barnes was lauded by being nominated as a AP Pre-season all-american. The first for a freshman. So, in that respect, you know he has talent. I'd take Barnes before I'd take Jones. I'd stay away from Terrence Jones altogether. Let another team deal with his issues.

Barnes dealt with a lot of pressure. If any kid in college would have cracked or showed a bad attitude/lack of maturity it should have been him. The fact he played poorly - scratch that - the fact he did not play up to expectations and was called out on so many levels in the media but yet still persevered is a great indicator of his character, determination, and work ethic. To me those are intangibles that you can't teach and make a guy like Barnes more attractive than a Perry Jones.

For me the jury is still out on Terrence Jones. Calipari only coaches one way - screaming. I know a lot of players have respect for him and I am not questioning his success as a coach. What I do question is his ability to relate to 'difficult' young men and get the most out of them. What I mean by difficult is not everyone reacts the same way to the same forms of communication. How you talk to one player might not be the same way you talk to another.

[jeff_hostetler]

To those who want to draft Terrence Jones, what is it about him that makes you think he is/is going to be better than James Johnson? To a significant enough degree that he's worth spending our draft pick on, knowing we have real issues at center?

Say we draft at five, and Irving, Barnes, Kanter and Valunciunas are gone. Now it's between T.Jones, and, I suppose, P.Jones, with perhaps Kemba Walker or some other player in the mix. Why T.Jones over P.Jones, knowing we have J.Johnson already? Say we draft higher than 5, and all of those players but Irving still on the board. Why draft T.Jones, given the same?

I just can't fathom a reason why the Raptors should draft him.

[grindhouse]

To those who want to draft Terrence Jones, what is it about him that makes you think he is/is going to be better than James Johnson? To a significant enough degree that he's worth spending our draft pick on, knowing we have real issues at center?

Say we draft at five, and Irving, Barnes, Kanter and Valunciunas are gone. Now it's between T.Jones, and, I suppose, P.Jones, with perhaps Kemba Walker or some other player in the mix. Why T.Jones over P.Jones, knowing we have J.Johnson already? Say we draft higher than 5, and all of those players but Irving still on the board. Why draft T.Jones, given the same?

I just can't fathom a reason why the Raptors should draft him.

the same question could be asked of drafting barnes but out of the 2 players I see more weapons with terrence than with barnes like putting his back to the basket and the ability to guard 3 poisitions, plus terrence has a NBA body already. I like wright but there are alot of fans who wouldn't blink if he wasnt here next year terrence and johnson would be our SF going forward.

I don't see that maturity issue that people keep talking about he plays mad, that motor is what I want to see from our players to get those 50/50 ball and just plane out work other teams. Which is why I like faried, the quote from the hang time podcast was that "he goes after balls like his mothers life is on the line" and the quote from espn today podcast was "some GM's are looking at him as a lottery pick"

[jeff_hostetler]

I disagree, and it's what I was trying to highlight in one of the above posts. Barnes is a completely different kind of player than Terrence Jones, and one that would fill a hole that the Raptors need filling. The Raps are already chock full of redundant players, between Demar and Sonny, Amir and ED, Bayless and Barbosa, and to a lesser extent, Dorsey/Evans and Ajinca/Alabi. They don't need more redundancy with J.Johnson/T.Jones.

The Raps have Kleiza who can play the 3/4 in the paint like T.Jones, so his back to the basket skills are less important.

[grindhouse]

what hole is he filling?

[Maleko]

for anyone interested espn nba today podcast and hang time podcast have tons of draft talk, both can be found on itunes

Thanks man, didn't think to listen to those, in process now.

[jeff_hostetler]

he fills the following holes without being a defensive liability:

3 point threat
clutch scorer
all-star calibre wing (potential)

[Raptorsss]

Terrence Jones is a stephen Jackson personality/talent. Not worth the risk IMO (he's also much further down on Chad Ford's mock lottery standings).

I'd take a gamble on Barnes, he may just be another Marvin Williams or he can develop into something special, worth the risk.

Jones, Valanciunas, Vesely are all huge work's in progress I'd never gamble a top 5 pick on any of those players.

Right now Irving and Sullinger are the only superstar candidates. Sullinger has been compared as a better Carlos Boozer, which is pretty intriguing.

[grindhouse]

he fills the following holes without being a defensive liability:

3 point threat
clutch scorer
all-star calibre wing (potential)

Maybe I just don't see what your seeing I will look out for him come the tourney

[dballa21]

DraftExpress now ranks Barnes 4th to the Wizards :|

We have to stop winning or win the lottery to get him now.

[Ruuuuu]

New update on Harrison Barnes from DX:
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...on-Barnes-3648

It kind of puts a damper on his offense a bit, but OTOH gives major props for his defense....interesting b/c its usually the other way around for those highly-touted kids like him

They're saying the NCAA tourney will of course be a big indicator if he can be "the guy" or is more a complementary player......its big for everyone, but it seems a lot bigger for HB because his season has been so up/down

[grindhouse]

thank you for that nice find.

a few quotes from that article stand out to me...

"Barnes does not possess a great first step, nor is he a very creative ball-handler or passer at this stage. He's not particularly effective in transition or isolation situations, as he doesn't show the ability to change speeds or use advanced moves to get by his man."

"Barnes has such great confidence in his ability to make shots off the dribble that he tends to settle too quickly for his pull-up jumper, a shot that classifies as a low-percentage possession even for the best scorers."

"As you can see in the video above, he tends to dip the ball fairly dramatically before releasing it, which gives the defense time to recover and more effectively contest his shot."

which all translates to me run him off the 3 point line and collapse on him.

love these types of vids! wish they did them more

[dballa21]

Barnes would be a great compliment to Derozan. Derozan can slash and finish, Barnes can shoot. Both will be allstars in a few years

[jeff_hostetler]

Grindhouse,

For all the bonuses that T. Jones possesses, what about Chris Singleton? A much better defender with a stronger body. Has also developed some shooting range, at just under 40% from three this year.

I've actually wanted the Raps to draft him, but he's far too low for them to think about. What about trading down. If he continues to improve from beyond the arc, combined with his mad defense and rebounding ability, he'd almost be too perfect of a fit.

If Irving is off the board, and if the Raps could get something decent in return for trading down, for example, a center or perhaps an extra pick for next year, I think I'd consider it.

[Ruuuuu]

So what does everyone's Raptors top 5 draft board look like (in order)?

I'd say:

1. Irving (kind of a no-brainer if the Raps had their choice)
2. Barnes (fills a need, good kid, probably has as much all-star potential than anyone)
3. Valanciunas (dont know much about him, going on DX word alone)
4. P Jones (swing for the fences baby)
5. Kanter (when in doubt go with the centre that dominated the US under18's lol...the word is that he has knee issues though...as we've seen with B-Roy thats a major concern)

Replace Kanter with Sullinger if his knee issues are real. As you can see Im not very high on D.williams and T.jones. I say the Raps already have solid but unspectacular guys at PF/SF in Davis, AJ, JJ, Julian Wright (if they want him), and of course they got the very valuable piece Kleiza locked up long term (ugh...)