How do you like B.C. and the Ross pick now?

[NoPropsneeded]

Ross has a james harden role. Thats how i see it anyway

[Puffer]

...I'm not a huge PJIII fan but taking a flyer on him would have been a risk worth taking in my view. Especially when the option chosen was drafting a guy who has no chance to sniff the floor.

I'm thinking Ross will be getting minutes, if for no other reason than to club into DeMar's brain that he must play the game the way Casey describes it to him or Ross will see floor time. If Demar can't figure it out, Ross will benefit.

[tkfu]

What about PJ3? He's been playing pretty well for the Thunder and is even considered the one of the best steals of the draft. Now that I'm watching him play in pre-season, I would have loved it if we drafted him.

Yeah, fair enough. He has looked decent. But with PJ3's medical questions, and our need to fill a position with a player we could count on, Ross still makes a lot of sense. Also, PJ3 wasn't great on D or on the glass in college. But if his knee turns out to not be a problem, and he plays up to his potential I might have to retroactively agree.

[slaw]

I didin't think we were to the point of drafting based on need yet

That's true but, in Acy's case, they picked a guy who has no place to play. He can't even get into preseason games cause there is such a logjam at the PF spot.

I'm not a huge PJIII fan but taking a flyer on him would have been a risk worth taking in my view. Especially when the option chosen was drafting a guy who has no chance to sniff the floor.

[Fuchan]

I didin't think we were to the point of drafting based on need yet

[slaw]

I'm still cry every night (in the fetal position) over passing up on PJ3

Dude, the Raps needed a 4th PF. Those seats on the end of the bench won't keep themselves warm. Besides, we've got Allan Anderson and Linas Kleiza to back-up Fields. Who needs small forwards? It's not like it's the biggest positional need on this roster or anything.

[Fuchan]

Why couldn't the raptors have called memphis and picked a player through the draft, then package that player with DD and Jose for Gay. That would have been swell, and it worked out great in my dream.

[Nilanka]

I'm still cry every night (in the fetal position) over passing up on PJ3

[Blacklash2k4]

I'm waiting to judge Ross until at least 20 games into the regular season, but I will say that I'm exceptionally glad we got him instead of some of the other possibilities around #8.

- Barnes is looking like a one-dimensional scorer with no D, which would ruin what Casey's trying to build.
- I'm just not convinced by Rivers. Reminds me of Randy Foye, but with a less reliable jump shot.
- Drummond's looking awesome so far, but our bigs rotation woulda been all kinds of fucked up if we had drafted him.
- Lamb is looking like a one dimensional scorer with no D, too. 'Nuff said.
- Harkless is out until December after offseason surgery, and he was really raw anyway.
- Fournier has just been awful.

I loved Jae Crowder heading into the draft, but he would have been a crazy reach at #8. I had really hoped he'd fall to us in the 2nd round.

What about PJ3? He's been playing pretty well for the Thunder and is even considered the one of the best steals of the draft. Now that I'm watching him play in pre-season, I would have loved it if we drafted him.

[pesterm1]

like others have said . WAY to early to tell on Ross but im still VERY happy with the pick. Im still waiting for the regular season for drummond. I think drummonds his worst enemy will be a NBA scouting report.

[RAPresenting]

Not sure how anyone could formulate an accurate opinion on Ross yet as he's played 4 games and less then 20 minutes per. All I have picked up is that he's deceptively quick and has great lift on his jump shot. Other then that I'm not sure we've seen enough to form any type of opinion on him vs other draft picks. Drummond is intriguing and his upside is much higher then Ross but he comes with more risk. I'm happy BC didn't take Rivers as i'm much happier with Lowry and not sure where Rivers would play and his game doesn't suit the team/players.

[tkfu]

I'm waiting to judge Ross until at least 20 games into the regular season, but I will say that I'm exceptionally glad we got him instead of some of the other possibilities around #8.

- Barnes is looking like a one-dimensional scorer with no D, which would ruin what Casey's trying to build.
- I'm just not convinced by Rivers. Reminds me of Randy Foye, but with a less reliable jump shot.
- Drummond's looking awesome so far, but our bigs rotation woulda been all kinds of fucked up if we had drafted him.
- Lamb is looking like a one dimensional scorer with no D, too. 'Nuff said.
- Harkless is out until December after offseason surgery, and he was really raw anyway.
- Fournier has just been awful.

I loved Jae Crowder heading into the draft, but he would have been a crazy reach at #8. I had really hoped he'd fall to us in the 2nd round.

[Puffer]

The guys with all the brains, access to all the data and who actually eyeballed the available draft choices during their college play and at various combines and in workouts before the draft picked Ross for the Raptors with the eighth pick. I'm going to give it until the all-star game before I get into the second guessing game.

Sure, basing an argument on "authority" is a logical flaw but in this case I have none of the "facts" other than my flawed fan perception of, how many minutes has Ross played? 45? 60?

I will go with authority on this one.

[ReubenJRD]

Ross has to be a big reason why Derozan is fairly successful. Makes him work his ass off, really the only guy I see coming from the draft pushing Derozan.

Although, I started a thread, which is still fairly on, about the outlook on Ross. He's been quite disappointing offensively, for his shot is basically all he has right now. But defensively, has exceeded my expectations.

I made a point about Ross, where if he doesn't progress offensively and only has the shot, he can be a great shoot-and-stop type player similar to a Thabo Sefolosha, Dahntay Jones, Keith Bogans, Deshawn Stevenson. These guys are a premium for elite teams, and he has the athleticism to be better shoot-and-stop type players than them. I like Ross, but, at the end of the day, I really wanted Austin Rivers.

Austin had a freak accident injury, doesn't mean it could've happened in Toronto, in the ACC vs. Detroit/Real Madrid/Washington etc, etc.

As much as I am a HUGE Derozan homer, it's up to the individual to work hard, not someone else. They can push you and help you get better, but Rivers is a guy who has the potential to be a really, really good player, probably better potential than Derozan if I may say. NBA ready type game. Although, has a higher risk, higher reward compared to Ross' decreased reward, very low risk.

[stretch]

The biggest plus so far with Ross as the pick has been to motivate DeRozan to raise his game a level in preseason play. Here's to Demar having a career year.