2012 Draft Thursday, June 28th: Raptors select Terence Ross

[Mediumcore]

What are people's thoughts on Jeremy Lamb?

Reminds me of Josh Childress in appearance. I haven't seen much of him but I've heard Chad Ford has a bit of a man crush on him due to his length. Already a better shooter than DeMar which is a big plus, and I beleive he has better handles as well. Perhaps a bit passive, but I'm not sure if it was a situation of not being the "main guy" on the team with Kemba and then Drummond. I don't know if he can break guys down in an isolation situation or not at the NBA level, but potential to get his shot of other shooting guards is there due to his length.

[Mediumcore]

I am surprised Harkless is projected as low as he is. It seems to me last year I saw projections of him in the top 10 at least and he didn't, IMO, do anything this year to damage that. Maybe I am remembering wrong or dreame about this but I was sure heading into this winter that he was a target to seek.

I think he was projected to go mid to late first round and I don't think I've ever heard of him going top 10. He's not from a school with a well known program. To his credit though he's managed to create a lot of buzz for himself. Sort of like Lillard and Weber State. Not well known programs so scouts and GM's are kind of cautios about ranking players too high.

[mcHAPPY]

Comparison of the top 4 wings in draft

*All stats are per40 pace adjusted to try and get an apples to apples comparison and for 2011/12 season*

**All stats from DraftExpress.com and all video from SwishScout.com**

Harrison Barnes, SF:

Measurements: 6'8", 223lbs, 6'11" wingspan

38 games played and 29.2 minutes per game

per40 pace adjusted:
21.2 points
44.0%, 7.5 fgm/17.0 fga
46.9%, 5.9 2pt fgm/12.5 2pt fga
35.8% 1.6 3pt fgm/4.5 3pt fga
72.3% 4.6 ftm/6.4 fta
6.5 rebounds (2.4 off)
1.4 assist
1.3 steal
0.4 block
2.4 turnover

true shooting%: 0.53
effective shooting%: 0.49

Highlights (from freshman year):

Bradley Beal, SG:

Measurements: 6'4.5", 201lbs, 6'7" wingspan

37 games played and 34.2 minutes per game

per40 pace adjusted:
17.4 points
44.5%, 5.6 fga/12.5 fgm
54.1%, 3.6 2pt fgm/6.6 2pt fga,
33.9%, 2.0 3pt fgm/5.9 3pt fga
76.9%, 4.2 ftm/5.5 fta
7.9 rebounds (1.6 off)
2.6 assists
1.6 steals
1.0 block
2.5 turnovers

true shooting%: 0.58
effective shooting%: 0.53

Highlights:

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF:

Measurements: 6'7", 228lbs (?), 6'10" wingspan

40 games played and 31.1 minutes per game

per40 pace adjusted:
15.3 points
49.1%, 5.1 fgm/10.4 fga
53.5%, 4.7 2pt fgm/8.8 2pt fga
25.5%, 0.4 3pt fgm/1.6 3pt fga
74.5%, 4.6 ftm/6.2 fta
9.5 rebounds (3.3 off)
2.4 assists
1.2 steals
1.2 blocks
2.8 turnovers

true shooting%: 0.57
effective shooting%: 0.51

Highlights:

Jeremy Lamb, SG:

Measurements: 6'5", 185lbs, 7'0" wingspan

34 games played and 37.2 minutes per game

per40 pace adjusted:
19.4 points
47.8%, 7.0 fgm/14.6 fga
60.1%, 4.7 2pt fgm/7.8 2pt fga
33.6%, 2.3 3pt fgm/6.8 3pt fga
81%, 3.2 ftm/3.9 fta
5.3 rebounds (1.0 off)
1.9 assists
1.4 steals
0.7 blocks
2.2 turnovers

true shooting%: 0.59
effective shooting%: 0.56

Highlights (from freshman year):

[mcHAPPY]

To be perfectly honest, given the Raptors need for overall talent upgrade, any of these 4 players (Barnes, Beal, MKG, Lamb) would be fine by me. If I had to rank them in order of preference:

Beal
MKG
Lamb
Barnes

[Raptorsss]

I'm calling it now...if the Raptors stay in the 7-9 range this draft they are trading their pick/player for someone who already has NBA experience.

[The Coach]

To be perfectly honest, given the Raptors need for overall talent upgrade, any of these 4 players (Barnes, Beal, MKG, Lamb) would be fine by me. If I had to rank them in order of preference:

Beal
MKG
Lamb
Barnes

I would take MKG before Beal... but those stats increased my interest in Lamb and make Beal look like a guy you pray drops to you.

MKG
Beal
Lamb
Barnes

[mcHAPPY]

I'm calling it now...if the Raptors stay in the 7-9 range this draft they are trading their pick/player for someone who already has NBA experience.

It is a real possibility.

I would hate to see the Raptors pass over Beal or Lamb with the idea of keeping DeRozan at the 2. He has not shown enough improvement and he is not good enough to earn that respect in my opinion. DeRozan is certainly better than both Beal or Lamb right now due to his experience. However, once they get experience, I'm not sure that will remain the case. The two draftees are already better shooters, ball handlers, and (possibly) defenders.

I'd rather see DeRozan moved to SF or traded before passing up Beal or Lamb.

[Puffer]

It is a real possibility.

I would hate to see the Raptors pass over Beal or Lamb with the idea of keeping DeRozan at the 2. He has not shown enough improvement to earn that respect in my opinion. DeRozan is certainly better than both Beal or Lamb right now due to his experience. However, once they get experience, I'm not sure that will remain the case. The two draftees are already better shooters, ball handlers, and (possibly) defenders.

I'd rather see DeRozan moved to SF or traded before passing up Beal or Lamb.

I am trying to imagine how any of these four would look after two years of NBA experience. If my imagination is anything near correct, then you don't trade them for anything less than a 27-28 year old player who would start on some team that ranks right now in the top half of the league. And you only do that if you are desperate to hit the ground running from day one next season.

All four of these guys look like definite starters, maybe as early as the latter part of next year. They will be on rookie contracts for a long time. Worst case scenario is top level bench players. Upside is top ten at their position in 3-4 years. You don't trade that away unless you are getting something decent back.

[Bouncepass]

If Terrence Jones can be a legitimate SF, then I think he needs to be in the conversation for the top wing prospects. With the right coaching, he might become a physically dominating SF.

[Miekenstien]

If Terrence Jones can be a legitimate SF, then I think he needs to be in the conversation for the top wing prospects. With the right coaching, he might become a physically dominating SF.

i like t.jones more than lamb but matts stats show lamb as a lights out shooter. thanks for the work matt.

[Chr1s1anL]

If Terrence Jones can be a legitimate SF, then I think he needs to be in the conversation for the top wing prospects. With the right coaching, he might become a physically dominating SF.

I think that he is a legitimate SF. He just played in the post cause that Kentucky team lack size and he was the only player that could create something down low. He played on the perimeter in high school and will in the league IMO

[ceez]

I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'm a big Lamb fan. Like Beal, I think his game is more designed for the pros. I'd say my "swingman board" is pretty much the same as Matt's.

I also like T-Jones. He reminds me of Danny Granger. I'm not saying I'd draft him at 8-9 but I feel like he answered a lot of the questions that were being asked last year.

[Mediumcore]

Interesting comparison of T.Jones with Granger. I'm not sure I see the similarities as I always considered Granger more of a perimeter player wheras T. Jones is a big bruising SF with a bit of perimeter and post game... sort of reminds me of a a very poor man's Carmelo Anthony. His size was his biggest asset in college and I expect it to be his bread and butter in the NBA as well. I'm a fan of T. Jones myself.

[ceez]

One of Jones' biggest weaknesses is falling in love with his perimeter game. He's a good shooter, but he's at his best when he's mixing it up around the basket, just like Granger.

Callipari really got him motivated and it paid off. I think Casey could too. Like I said though, I don't think I'd take him at 8-9, though I do think he's a better prospect than Barnes.

[Mediumcore]

Haha, thanks for tossing in that comment about Barnes. Barnes is going to have the better career of the two, imo.