Breakdown of BC's draft picks in Toronto

[DaveKim]

Neither Lawson or Holiday weren't being talked about as top ten guys.

Jrue was top 10 material and was projected top 10. IM sure he had one of the greatest slides of the night. Not sure why? he's turned out to be a very capable pg.

[Draft]

Aldridge was never a real consideration for the 2006 draft for the Raptors. Can you imagine BC, or any GM, using the #1 overall pick to draft a player who will only be a guaranteed backup player as long as your current young, franchise player is on your roster? Please, hindsight is one thing, but the Raptors were never ever ever going to draft Aldridge with Bosh as the focal point!

The 2006 draft for the Raptors essentially was between Bargnani and the 3 wings - Roy, Foye and Gay. For the first few years lots of fans were wishing the Raps had drafted Roy, but where are they now? Foye is a decent rotation player, but borderline starter. Gay is a great player at both ends of the court, but he's also making about 50% more per season than Bargnani... is he worth the $16.4M he'll be making next season? I was and continue to be satisfied with the Bargnani pick... as a fan of his, I only wish we had gotten him with the #2-5 pick, so that so many fans wouldn't automatically heap the "#1 overall" expectations on his shoulders!

Aldridge would have played centre and probably has played some centre even for the blazers. He would not have been drafted with the intention of playing behind Bosh as you conclude. Bargnani's natural position is PF but he was drafted to play centre beside Bosh. Don't think this was a concern at the time - BC was just really enamoured by Bargnani's potential and versatility. Possibly, not even BC saw him as a #1 pick. Fact is, he tried to trade down to the 4 spot to get him but found no suitable takers. Like the fact that he was willing to take the player he wanted regardless of ranking though. Believe Bargnani will improved to the point where this is mostly forgotten but the damage has already been done. Would love to have Gay at $16.4 mil., don't know who would agree with me though. We would have the big shot player that we need!

[Puffer]

Can't really fault BC for missing guys who went 8 picks later and then turned out to be good. That would make every GM who passed on the guy that turned into an all star after coming out of the second round a complete dufus.

There will always be players who don't blossom until after they get into the NBA. For whatever reason. And you can't necessarily credit the GM's who happen to have these guys fall into their laps.

List of guys and years that made a league full of GM's look stupid (at least the ones drafting later in the first round).

Jerome Kersey (Portland, 1984), 46th pick
Mark Price (Dallas, 1986), the first pick of the second, All-NBA first team in '93,his career mark of 90.3 percent from the free-throw line was a league record.
Jeff Hornacek -- (Phoenix, 1986) the 46th pick of the draft, won the All-Star 3-point Shootout in 1998 and 2000.
Dennis Rodman (Detroit, 1986) twice Defensive Player of the Year,seven times was an All-Defensive First Team
Kevin Duckworth (San Antonio, 1986)
Antonio Davis (Indiana, 1990), All-Star
Cedric Ceballos (Phoenix, 1990, 48th pick, was an All-Star in '95
Nick Van Exel (Lakers, 1993)
Eric Snow (Milwaukee, 1995)
Rashard Lewis -- (Seattle, 1998), 32nd pick, a two-time All-Star
Manu Ginobili (San Antonio, 1999), 57th
Michael Redd (Milwaukee, 2000), 43rd pick, increased his scoring average six years in a row to 26.7 a game in '07.
Gilbert Arenas -- (Golden State, 2001) a three-time All-Star.
Carlos Boozer (Cleveland, 2002), 35th pick, the two-time All-Star won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
Trevor Ariza (New York, 2004)

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Bargnani was a bad pick when Aldridge was still available. Even Bosh publicly stated that he would choose Aldridge - this is unusual for a player to do. He might still be here if it were not for this mistake and the fortunes (on court) would have been night and day! Even with Bargnani's future improved play, it was still the wrong choice. At the time I was thinking, it's BC, I must be wrong. Didn't take too long after to see that it was he who clearly made the incorrect choice! Don't like players with knee problems unless it's a heavily scrutinized (informed) decision - Roy!

I was upset with the DD choice because Lawson imo was clearly such a talent. Disappointed he missed Jennings even though I knew nothing about him - this should not excuse BC. Other players further down that he missed also.
On the bright side DD's work ethic should lead to much future improvement and I have high hopes for him.

Liked the Ed pick at the time so I have no say now. Loved Jordan Crawford and wanted them to find a way to get him at 27.

Liked Fredette, Knight and JV in that order. His order was JV then Knight. Thought he did very well, but new decision makers were in the mix by then.

Moving forward, I see them drafting better than they ever have - still worry about them missing players though!

There are two players in this draft that I will be disappointed if they don't get.

Nice work putting things in perspective - things are not as bad as we think: Even though they might have missed a few good players readers recognized, they look to have outperformed many teams in lottery selecting!

Aldridge was never a real consideration for the 2006 draft for the Raptors. Can you imagine BC, or any GM, using the #1 overall pick to draft a player who will only be a guaranteed backup player as long as your current young, franchise player is on your roster? Please, hindsight is one thing, but the Raptors were never ever ever going to draft Aldridge with Bosh as the focal point!

The 2006 draft for the Raptors essentially was between Bargnani and the 3 wings - Roy, Foye and Gay. For the first few years lots of fans were wishing the Raps had drafted Roy, but where are they now? Foye is a decent rotation player, but borderline starter. Gay is a great player at both ends of the court, but he's also making about 50% more per season than Bargnani... is he worth the $16.4M he'll be making next season? I was and continue to be satisfied with the Bargnani pick... as a fan of his, I only wish we had gotten him with the #2-5 pick, so that so many fans wouldn't automatically heap the "#1 overall" expectations on his shoulders!

[Draft]

We have a pick coming up this year in the 1-10 range, likely 8ish. How much confidence do folks have in Colangelo come draft night?

2006: #1 Andrea Bargnani.
2009: #9 Demar Derozan.
2010: #13 Ed Davis.
2011: #5 Jonas Valanciunas.
So - do you have draft angst towards BC? As a talent evaluator, he seems to outperform his peers in many cases.

Bargnani was a bad pick when Aldridge was still available. Even Bosh publicly stated that he would choose Aldridge - this is unusual for a player to do. He might still be here if it were not for this mistake and the fortunes (on court) would have been night and day! Even with Bargnani's future improved play, it was still the wrong choice. At the time I was thinking, it's BC, I must be wrong. Didn't take too long after to see that it was he who clearly made the incorrect choice! Don't like players with knee problems unless it's a heavily scrutinized (informed) decision - Roy!

I was upset with the DD choice because Lawson imo was clearly such a talent. Disappointed he missed Jennings even though I knew nothing about him - this should not excuse BC. Other players further down that he missed also.
On the bright side DD's work ethic should lead to much future improvement and I have high hopes for him.

Liked the Ed pick at the time so I have no say now. Loved Jordan Crawford and wanted them to find a way to get him at 27.

Liked Fredette, Knight and JV in that order. His order was JV then Knight. Thought he did very well, but new decision makers were in the mix by then.

Moving forward, I see them drafting better than they ever have - still worry about them missing players though!

There are two players in this draft that I will be disappointed if they don't get.

Nice work putting things in perspective - things are not as bad as we think: Even though they might have missed a few good players readers recognized, they look to have outperformed many teams in lottery selecting!

[ceez]

i voted for the Lambster but would be content with Lillard as well

[ceez]

Goddammit who voted Henson

[Apollo]

Neither Lawson or Holiday weren't being talked about as top ten guys.

[slaw]

Hard to criticize the Bargnani pick. He was a tantalizing prospect at the time. The Derozan pick is more iffy. Guys like Lawson and Holiday went later and might have been more productive but the glaring wing need at the time (and still a glaring need) cried out for help. The Davis pick was fine. That draft was horrible. The JV pick was a good one even if it doesn't work out.

My issue with Colangelo is his approach to team building (i.e. running as fast as possible to stay in the same place) and the poor strategic choices he made in 2006, which he compounded with reactionary moves in later years to fix the problems he created. I would have no issue with Colangelo as the head of player personnel or some such advising a GM. I just want someone else making final decisions.

[Papa Burgundy]

We have a pick coming up this year in the 1-10 range, likely 8ish. How much confidence do folks have in Colangelo come draft night?

People love to throw mud at BC and his draft choices it seems ... I personally think some of it is rooted in Raptors draft pains from the Babcock era - and some folks mix in the sentiment. BC didn't lose out on Iggy or Granger ... he drafted well.

Our roster next year will be made up of many key pieces that were BC's draft picks.
-Jonas, Bargnani, Demar, Ed and our pick this year (hopefully a rotation piece)

And as much as there are always talented players passed up, in all cases there were players in the range we chose that would have been much worse picks. Let's see, by looking at the next 5 players in our pick's 'range':

2006: #1 Andrea Bargnani.
Then, in order: Lamarcus Aldridge, Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas, Shelden Williams, & Brandon Roy.

Aldridge was a nice pick, but not out of Bargnani's league as a potential all-star PF - or a retired Roy ...

2009: #9 Demar Derozan.
Then, in order: Brandon Jennings, Terrence Williams, Gerald Henderson, Tyler Hansbrough, & Earl Clark.

Jennings would be cool, but wouldn't necessarily give up Demar for him at this point ...

2010: #13 Ed Davis.
Then, in order: Patrick Patterson, Larry Sanders, Luke Babbitt, Kevin Seraphin, & Eric Bledsoe.

Sanders can block shots, but is way behind offensively. Bledsoe has shown signs, but still unrefined ...

2011: #5 Jonas Valanciunas.
Then, in order: Jan Vesely, Bismack Biyombo, Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, Jimmer Fredette.

Home run! Too early for big judgements on any of these folks - but what we've seen of Jonas since this draft appears to be a player much more developed than this group of rookies, still struggling to pick-up the NBA game ...

So - do you have draft angst towards BC? As a talent evaluator, he seems to outperform his peers in many cases.