Keeping DeRozen means passing on Barnes?

[NoPropsneeded]

its not drool worthy when you got three new guys not knowing wtf to do half the time. Too many rookies is never good and starting them from day 1 is even worse unless their name is Jonas Valanciunas

[Nilanka]

Calderon
Barnes
MKG
Bargs
Val

I do see a nice blend of offence and defence there.

That's a drool-worthy starting lineup. But I wonder if Colangelo/Casey have the stomachs to deal with 3 rookies playing heavy minutes.

[SitnonDfence]

It's easy to convince players to shoot. It's not easy to get them to go balls out 24/7.

Amen.

[Hello]

Any chance we could trade DD or Ed for another top 5 pick and draft both?
Im assuming it would not happen but its a possibility

Any teams (im thinking maybe Washington) That would rather have a 2 year old player like DD who is more ready to play now, then get another rookie?

Calderon
Barnes
MKG
Bargs
Val

I do see a nice blend of offence and defence there.

[ceez]

Yeah, you can't really teach motor, good point.

[Nilanka]

If it's a choice between Barnes and MKG, I would go with MKG and hope that with enough practice time, he can develop his offensive game.

It's easy to convince players to shoot. It's not easy to get them to go balls out 24/7.

[charlz]

The article also suggests that if Beal is Colangelo's choice, that opens up the possibility of packaging DeRozan (perhaps with Davis), to fill another area of need.

ahem point guard

Colangelo drafts the top player available on his draft board and worries about the rest later. They're not going to pass on anybody because there is already a player playing that position.

yes but if both Barnes and Kidd-Gill are available it is hard to choose. Barnes is the long scoring juggernaut with passive tenancies - Kidd-Gill is the defensive hard nosed gamer. ... which mix carries more championship pedigree?

OR do you draft Barnes and move DeRozen?

[ceez]

MKG strikes me as a guy Casey would petition for hard.

[SuperRaptor]

I think you go for Barnes if he is still on the board. This guy was projected to go 1st about 6 months ago, and has all star potential you don't pass up on that.

MKG looks like a great pick too, but the way he is described reminds me too much of a ... role player. We have JJ to play defense at the 3 for us.

Keep derozan unless we are packaging him with Davis for an upgrade at the 2.

[mcHAPPY]

This is the money shot from the article, in my opinion:

At this point it would be foolish to advocate for any of the three options. Each brings with him a certain logic as Toronto’s pick, and by the time the draft rolls around they may not even have the chance to select from all three. However, as the Raptors’ season winds down and the fans’ eyes start drifting towards next year it’s encouraging to know that the club is well-positioned to make moves to significantly improve on the modest steps forward the club has made this year.

Those 3 options from the article are Barnes, Beal, and MKG.

Toronto could be a radically different team in 3-4 months.

I definitely see major moves done prior to or during draft night.

[Apollo]

If they take a wing I have no problem with DeRozan being moved to upgrade some other position, like the PG spot.

[Nilanka]

The article also suggests that if Beal is Colangelo's choice, that opens up the possibility of packaging DeRozan (perhaps with Davis), to fill another area of need.

[Apollo]

Key point:

Colangelo drafts the top player available on his draft board and worries about the rest later. They're not going to pass on anybody because there is already a player playing that position.

[charlz]

Here’s the thing: if Toronto intends to hang on to DeRozan, then Kidd-Gilchrist is a much more sensible match on the perimeter. That’s mostly because if DeRozan isn’t scoring then he isn’t doing much of anything at the NBA level.

OUCH - but it is hard to argue otherwise

Kidd-Gilchrist fills in all of the gaps on any team he plays for; he rebounds, he defends all three backcourt positions, he’s got great passing acumen, he attacks the basket on offense and he oozes leadership in a way that no current Raptor does. He exemplifies the kind of basketball that Casey wants the Raptors to play and if he could shoot he’d be a no-brainer number two pick.

A compelling case for Kidd-Gilchrist - seemingly cut in the mold of Duane Casey

The problem is that he isn’t much of a shooter and with DeRozan’s range maxing out at about 16-feet that would make it hard for Toronto to open up the midrange for Bargnani and Valanciunas to operate in. In fact, to compensate the team would have Bargnani setting up from the perimeter too often, and the team’s offense really should be operating around him, not him being shuffled around to compensate for the weaknesses of others.

A great article which takes in to account a lot of the things being weighed by Raptors (alleged) brain trust ...interestingly no mention of JLamb