First Impressions of Earth - Post Draft Thoughts...at 3 AM

No, not too much excitement last night in Raptorland last night - except at the ACC, where the crowds swarmed the Pizza Pizza being served as if Bargnani had baked it himself. Not taking Denham Brown when he was available might be questioned, but I think he'd always have the spotlight on him, and his game might get distracted. While good for the fans to have him, it might not be good for the team. And I think it also shows the chances of ever landing Jamal Magloire to come here (not that we need him anymore). Hometown boys won't ever make good on this team.

I hate the pick . . . he has bust written all over him. Right up until the last moment, I was hoping Colangelo would smarten up and pick someone we KNOW can play rather than taking a flyer on a skinny, outside-shooter who doesn't speak English or no how physical American basketball is.

A THREE-POINT SHOOTER WITH NNNNNNOOOOOO D!!!! I honestly still can't believe it. I also don't like the new Strokes album, stick to Room on Fire, or perhaps more appropriate for this draft . . . Is this IT???

While I still have faith in Colangelo, let's face it, he got psyched out by Paxon and the Bulls.

Everyone knew that Paxon wanted Tyrus Thomas for the last month. However, he was able to put enough doubt in Colangelo's mind to make Colangelo keep the number 1 and therefore allow Paxon to make his deal with Portland.
It was an old-school bluff and Colangelo went for it.

Love the Strokes analogy - and I feel the same way about that third album. As for not making a bigger push, it seems clear BC wasn't so sold on Williams or Rondo to even pay Brian Grant's relatively small salary - keeping in mind that Colangelo is the guy who signed him to that contract, and considering that Phoenix might not be very willing to help out their former top guy in his new job. I would have preferred Bobby Jones at 35, but defer to the boss' superior experience in such matters. It may be the rumoured James-for-Daniels deal was also a factor, since it would leave very few minutes at the 2 behind Daniels and Mo. As for the last pick, I wonder if the failure to pick a young 1 is not only about not feeling there is anyone worth even taking a flyer on, but also possibly due to some good vibes about Ukic.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good draft. More would have been nice, but don't people always feel that way?

Colangelo also played his hand too early. By bringing in the Bennetton boss last month, everyone knew that the Raptors had to take Bargnini. That being the case, why would they trade up to get Morrison/Roy/Aldridge when they knew that their player would fall to them.

Maybe I am being a bit too critical, but seeing the other GM's wheeling and dealing last night, and knowing that our GM had already played his cards left me feeling a bit left out of the action.

For all that wheeling and dealing, did any team make a quantum leap forward? I personally think Thomas will not be as good as advertised, but regardless, right now he is behind Chandler, Deng and Nocioni on the Bulls depth chart, and will have to force his way into their rotation (which he may very well do). Portland added some pieces, but they still look pretty bad in the short term. The Nets added some depth, but there are reasons why Williams and Boone were still on the board late in the first round. BC didn't make a move because he didn't like what was available to him. For that, I am thankful we finally have a GM who looks only at what he believes will help the team and not make a deal just for the sake of satisfying outsiders who think he should. Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you don't make. Before criticizing him, let's see how the landscape looks by the end of July. I suspect by then, both Bargnini and Tucker are going to look like exactly the pieces this team needs in moving forward.

Not a big fan of their seconf round selection should of took denham brown

What invites are giving to the undrafted, Theres some good names left to try out.

Also who are we targeting in Free Agents whats are capspace and how should we use it., definitely a pg

Also i think we should of went after pick 22 andgot marcus williams, be a great steal

It was a boring night, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a successful night. Not one of us knows for sure if Bargnani will play out as a good pick, but you all need to face it: Colangelo did his due diligence on this kid. He didn't trade down because the offers weren't there. We got the guy we were going to get. I guess you all wish that we could have pulled down Khryapa with the pick too? Who cares?

I personally love what I see happening: the roster is filling out with big, mobile men who can shoot and put the ball on the floor. PJ Tucker is a fantastic pick, there is talk that he ball handles well enough to play some 2 as well as 3 and 4. Having his intense passion (John Givony claimed PJ had the biggest heart in the college game) coming off our bench and raising the intensity of our practises is a damn fine thing. No disrespect to Denham, I'm so thankful to see him drafted, PJ Tucker will be a fan favourite.

I don't think BC ever intended to try and solve our PG deficiency through this draft. The fact that Marcus Williams dropped so low should be a huge indicator that despite this guy's skills, something might be missing from his character. And why take a bloody flyer on a late 2nd round PG? We took two PGs in the second round last year, let's see how they develop.

I really think that BC is creating a team in which the big men are able to shoot from the outside and the guards are able to post up. Just a group of big, versatile atheletes. People are going to whine that we don't have rebounding or interior defense, let me say this: Aldridge wasn't going to come in here and dominate the paint right away, so give Bargnani some slack. BC and co. are looking 2-3 years ahead so if all the parts don't look in place yet it's because they aren't.

Good call on The Strokes. The Ricoh show was SICK! Maybe best show I’ve ever been to. You could tell Julian was having a good time and truly appreciative of the support they received, which made it all the better. As Julian goes, so do The Strokes.

Regarding the Albums, I was different. I dug ‘Is This It’, but didn’t quite get into ‘Room on Fire’: except for a few songs which stuck out.

It was only after the new album dropped and that I had my Tix for the show that I started going through ‘Room on Fire’. And boy, am I glad I did. It is a fantastic album. As an aside form this aside, ‘Reptillia’ was my favourite song at the concert. They played it awesome and the crowd went nuts.

It will be interesting to see how Tucker develops. We can defiantly use his freakishly long arms to pull down some boards.

Too bad we chopped that 7-5 Bosnian. I mean dude’s 7-5! Cue Chris Rock’s stand up routine on 50 cent:

Well how are his handles? Dude’s 7-5!

What about his shot? Dude’s 7-5!

Can he rebound? Etcetera…

I will also be curious to hear BC’s explanation of why he didn’t make a move for the Phoenix pick. Williams and Ukic would make a nice young PG rotation.

(I took my 1st impressions CD to campus, but didn’t listen to it. I think I may just have to do it up.)

andrea must be good otherwise it's hoffa all over again. i don't subscribed to what others are saying about bargnini needing some time b4 he is expected to contribute . he's no darko ( 18 yrs. old when he joined the pistons ). colangelo
should expect more . maybe not all star contribution but more than hoffa and darko in their 1st yr. afterall , the raps are not the pistons . our team needs immediate help. i hope colangelo is not prepapring the minds of the raptors fans ' that andrea needs aome time to contribute ' . it's unacceptable for a no.1 pick !

Draft was anti-climatic. With all the action happening, it's hard to believe the Raps couldn't find a fit. As for selling their 56th pick to the Sixers, what gives with that? Are the Raps hard up for cash or is this just a way of paying for sending Sam and company over to Italy to scout Bargs?

I agree, it was anticlimactic. I'm willing to give BC the benefit of the doubt, though, and see where it goes. I'm hoping he's not done for the summer yet...

I also wonder if not taking a flyer on a PG might say something about the chances of bringing Ukic over as there doesn't seem to be much in the way of free agent PGs (assuming Speedy Claxton resigns with the Hornets, which the team has said is a top priority).

I like the "all heart" description of Tucker, but he'd better have some kind of perimeter game or he's a wasted pick. Effective Barkley-sized PFs are few and far between, and while Tucker might be a fun guy to watch and root for, he might end up being another Reggie Slater-type undersized player unless he can do something from outside.

As for the undrafted free agents, I'd love to see the Raps sign Gansey and maybe Barea, although if they bring in Barea it would be as a replacement for Andre Barrett as the #3 PG.

Colangelo got punked at the draft.

Colangelo's not done yet. And I don't consider it as "taking a flyer" since he's been interested in Bargnani for years and should have a definite grasp of his strengths and weaknesses.

Tucker may have been drafted with the intention of including him in a trade in the coming days. Another asset could be very helpful in pushing a possible trade through. Or he may be replacing Graham. The point is there's tons of moves that are still available to us and I'll reserve my final judgment until I see the team that's been put together for next season. I suspect a lot of activity is still ahead of us.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of taking Bragnani with the first pick, but if you listened to BC's post pick interview with Swirsky, BC was saying that he believes that Bragnani is the future at 5, and that the NBA is moving towards mobile 5's with some outside ability. If you think that Bragnani can take some minutes at the 5, then this is a good pick. John Hollinger at ESPN Insider projects Bragnani to produce the following: 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per 40 minutes, 44.7 percent shooting, and a 14.25 PER.

Those are easily numbers that I can live with from our backup center. I think everyone needs to stop worrying about defense and positions, ultimately the Raptors are a team with very little talent (I mean there's a reason we had a shot at the first pick), and we should just pick who we think is the most talented player. Besides, no one the Raptors could have taken would've helped their defense, so we drafted a decent offensive option, and we might as well try to run everyone out of the ACC 110 to 105!!!!

Ya Tucker definaly does not fit in with our team...We already have to SF and this pick made no sense what so ever...If w do not trade him I will be shocked.

I'm not upset with the idea of drafting potential with good upside. Lets face it, AB was a better known player to the Raptors then anybody else in the draft. My problem with the pick, as it was with Charlie V. and Hoffa, was the point at which the players were drafted. Just because you've scouted a player and think he's the best out there DOES NOT mean other teams rank him as high!!!

There is no question in my mind that BC heard umpteen trade offers and I'm glad that he hung onto Charlie who's value will continue increasing as he devellops a more all-around game (i.e. defence/rebounding). There are countless rumors and scare tactics, put out by each team, to scare teams below them that there most coveted player won't be around by their pick.There is however NO WAY that Barniani goes higher than 5 if he's passed by the Raptors!!! You look at what Portland was willing to do to make sure they got their men and tell me we couldn't have picked up Telfair, or later the 4&7 picks for #1. Even if you have to throw in both 2nd rounders or Jose Calderone to make the deal work, you still get Barniani and a either Telfair, Roy, Foye or if you're really lucky Rudy Gay.

This team needs to plan on having 4-5 good young players 2 years from now. We were lucky to come up with the 1st overall pick, but we would have had the same result if we had the 4th, except of course we'd be SAVING $$. I don't know why we're now going to have to trade some assets to get players when it seems like we should have had 1 more potential starter 1-2 years from now for nothing. I still like BC, but I can't help thinking that he's kicking himself today for holding out for too much last night.

Despite the boring draft for the Raptors, the good news is there are more trades ahead.

Sorry for leaving the G out of Bargnani, but BC left the LOT out of lottery.

The knock on Bargnani's D has more to do with his ability to cover SFs, a position he played a lot of in Europe. He will never guard NBA SFs with great success, but that's not to say that he can't become a decent interior defender. To say BC got punked in the draft is a punk statement. All the Bargnani haters base their criticisms not on tape that they've studied or substantive knowledge of this player but almost solely the fact that he's white and European. Colangelo drafted 5 all stars in his tenure in Phoenix and never had a number 1 pick. He's watched this kid play for a couple of years. You haven't.

Much in agreement with those who predict that much more is yet to be done before the season starts. The reason no moves were made beyond the two picks imo is because players like Garbajosa will be joining. In addition I think some groundwork was laid last night (BC spent about 4hrs. on the phone after the draft). I think that BC saw no percentage in drafting anymore since he can get the pieces (better obviously in his view) than what was available. I am thinking not making a play for Marcus Williams. The other x factor is that he has Gherardini who probably has a rolodex of Euro players that BC can tap into at least for stopgap purposes.

So hang in there Raptor fans. I think BC has a plan...and he's just got started. Like someone else said...he didnt go all crazy like Portland last night cause he's not the type to make a splash all at once. As a matter of fact his moves are typically non-splashy (except for wooing Nash away from the Mavs).

btw...does anyone know about the comparisions (level of competition) in the German and Italian leagues. Someone was pontificating on how much more superior Nowitzki's stats were compared to Bargnani. Taking the stats at face value I thought it would be interesting to find out whether we are talking apples and apples.

Colangelo drafted 5 all stars in Phoenix? Was he whispering draft picks into his father's ear as a wee child?

I'm Between Love and Hate with this draft. I mean I don't think in 5 years we'll say "What Ever Happened?" to the Reptilla known as Andrea Bargnani but he won't be an Automatic Stop at the all-star game either. I really think BC has things Under Control though.

It was 12:51 when I realized .. Stephen A. Smith - You Talk Way Too Much. If I am a Knicks fan I say to Isiah .. Meet Me In The Bathroom and shout "We Can't Win" or "The End Has No End" and put on a Nets jersey.

That's The Way It Is with Drafts though ...

Love the Strokes ... ;)

happy w/ the pick, I mean, how can you even doubt BC when it comes to drafting? This kid is going to be great.

Sorry, you're right: 4 all stars. Michael Finley (21st pick), Steve Nash (15th), Shawn Marion (9th) and Amare Stoudemire (9th).

i liked the draft ... we got who we wanted a 7-1 baller with tons of potential i don't care if he's white, european and skinny as shit .... kids only 20 he'll add weight.... tuckers a good player and athlete and thats all u can hope for in the second round besides almost all second rounders don't even make it in the league - so your just bitchin over pocket change ..... house is an idiot if he thinks BC should have turned the 1 into bargnani and another top ten - unless hes was also willing to give up charlie v - the top of this draft wasn't worth that much more than the rest of the top ten (remember no concensus top pick)... which GM's made out better than BC... none in my mind everyone else was just playin musical chairs
P.S. FIOE is easily my favorite Strokes album , but maybe thats b/c i don't pander to the critics

I would have loved to turn the #1 pick into 2 top 10's. ANd from all accounts the groundwork was there for it to happen with protland somehow. I mean they were worried so much about the Bulls taking aldridge that they traded the 4th pick and parts (not someone of charlies stature) just to get aldridge. Portlands moves were just wierd, but they ended up with great players.

I really hope that we do a trade of somesort for an ok pg, or even resign james. Or else I really do think that we should ahve done something to get marcus williams. I would be happy with Jay williams and his question marks along with calderon. I just dont have faith in calderon to run th eshow full time with iffy backups (at best). Plus Im waiting for ukic to be a bust. I would really like it if he were legitiment, but you cant expect a pg from europe to come over and run a team like would be expected. And you may point to parker, but Im not sure he is a great point guard. He is a lightning quick scoring guard. And he has had great teams to play on, and he doenst necessarily have to be the primary ball handler (with ginobli there as well).

Im not sure if PJ is going to be ok, or bad. He has the makeup to be an ok role/bench player in the league, but I am not sure how his position will transfer over to the NBA.

I am intriguied by the possibility of Brian building this team with guards down low, and outside shooting bigs. If we could some guards to play down low (can JOey play the 2 with his iffy handles??) I can see BC continuing the evolution of basketball with a team with 2 guards who like to post up, and 3 bigs who can shoot from deep out.

And I am already pumped about the ACC forward line of Andrea, Charlie, and Chris (ps sorry about all of the spelling mistakes, i am just really excited and typing really fast lol)

You people are right, we shouldn't have picked Bargnani.. we should have taken Ed O'Bannon.

Althought I'm not a huge fan of AB, BC could have done much worse. TT, LA, AM aren't going to be the superstars y'all want them to be. I'm not convinced with this year's crop. Unfortunately the best player in this year's draft will be playing Div I hoops next year.

What could be worse, you could be a Knicks or Trailblazer fan. Whats up with dat?

I like our team UN - Bargnani, Slokar, Ukic, Sowe, Garbosa, Calderon, Peterson (oopps.. ignore the last one). Now we need Stojakovic and I'm off to find some world cup flags.

I personally don't think the Tucker pick was as bad as some might think. Ok so he's undersized we all know that but what he does bring is a level of energy off the bench that every team needs. More importantly, he's a team guy with strong defensive capabilities and a knack for grabbing rebounds especially at the offensive end. This in itself makes him an interesting acquisition.

Tucker's shooting skills leave something to be desired understandably but having a guy come off the bench that can perhaps be a strong defensive presence is at least worth giving him the benefit of the doubt. He's also a guy that you obviously don't run plays for but does have a knack for getting some garbage points and picking up fouls. He's hardnozed, aggressive and I believe with experience can become a strong defender in this league.

Specifically with the Raps we don't need many more scorers as we have enough guys that can put the ball in the basket. We need defenders that can come into the game and do the dirty work without complaining that they aren't receiving the touches. From my perspective he's that kind of player. Albeit the likely loss of James will create a void at the 2 spot from a scoring standpoint but with the emergence of Mo Pete last year becoming a more consistent scorer on a regular basis and hopefully with Joey G working hard at his game over the summer, this should be minimal.

I also wanted to comment on the Marcus Williams debate and I, like many others that were watching, was hoping that as he fell further and further down that someway somehow BC would pull off a deal to select him. However, after giving it more thought I did come to the conclusion like some of the others before me that there must be something about him that caught the attention of the other GM's around the league ultimately scaring them off a bit. Now I still am a firm believer that MW will be a decent point guard in the league especially under the tutelage of J Kidd but what really stood out as a red flag was that Rondo was chosen before him. I'm not a Rondo hater by any stretch of the imagination but I do believe that MW has a far greater upside given his ability to make shots. Rondo is an excellent defender but his lack of a jumper could create some problems for his team on the offensive end.

Anyhow overall I was happy with the draft and the pics and I'm excited to see what else BC has up his sleeves over the next few months.

Go Raps!

Okay Colangelo is gonna make a trade. Its a given considering we got rasho, garbarosa and bargnani? at centre, bosh and sow at pf and cv smooth, joey and pj at sm. Thats EIGHT, EIGHT players for three positions. Okay thats significant for a title teams, and we are in rebuilding MODE. Right now all we got is mo pete and possibly tucker.graham (tucker is not experienced, and graham cant really dribble well) for the 2. Mo pete is a great player, but for a playoff calibure team, hes a sixth man, bar none. At the one we have calderon, and maybe ukic with the possibility of a free agent signing (claxin, juan jose) etc. Casual fans can detect how lopsided this roster is put together. My thoughts are he is going to trade charlie (which i dont want happening) to a team next year for a high first round pick or a quality 2. I think the 1 is going to be filled via draft or free agency. Look i love the pieces we have, but even for a 'out of the box' type of a team, this is too unusual. Thoughts?

Not an awe inspiring draft for the Raps, but this draft really didn't have awe inspiring players either. It could be worse; we could be Knicks fans. At least now people in New York know how we felt when David Stern once announced "With the eighth overall pick, the Toronto Raptors select Rafael Araujo..."

I don't know how good Bargnani will be, but I'm confident that he'll be a far better pro than Darko or Tskitishvili. He's played at an elite level in Europe and shown that he can more than hold his own. I would have liked to have seen the Raps trade down and grab Brandon Roy or Randy Foye, but if no one was willing to give the Raps anything substantial for the #1 pick, then they were better off keeping it.

I like Tucker with the second round pick. He's not that tall but he's tough as nails and a better rebounder than his more celebrated teammate Aldridge. I'm not sure where he plays, but I think he'll have a role as a rebounder and sneaky scorer off the bench, and he should hold his own defensively.

I agree with some of the other posters in that BC is certainly not done with this off season. He needs to find a PG, and hopefully he's got enough cap flexibility to find one. Actually, they could use help at both guard positions. Even at shooting guard, there really isn't anyone after Mo, unless Graham takes a quantum leap this year. That's why I wouldn't mind seeing the Mike James/Marquis Daniels rumour happen.

I just hope Villanueva doesn't get traded...

great analysis

1) Not sure how many of you knew this, but Tucker had better stats than Aldridge. The reason he didn't go very high in the draft was becuase of his height.

2) Was Colangelo really going to get something considerably better through trade on draft night? I doubt it. Building through the draft can be quite a crap shoot.

3) Trading Charlie has got to be one of the more ridiculous things I've heard. The talent level in this kid is boundless and he's NBA tested! I've heard people wanting him traded for everyone from old folk (Magloire) to scrawny untested, limited talented PG's (Ridnour). I will bet my left nut on the fact that the core of Mo, Charlie and Bosh will be left untouched this year.

It really took some stones on Colangelo's part to draft a white European player as number one. I really hope that it'll pan out. I agree that we should keep CV3, Bosh and Mo Pete (I like Joey G also) and make moves to solidify our point guard position.

"OneandDone Says: I will bet my left nut on the fact that the core of Mo, Charlie and Bosh will be left untouched this year."

sorry man.