Around The Mocks - May 24, 2008

Access to workouts,speaks volumes,good work boys.

Props to the HQ for securing workout access.

It seems to me that there hasn't been a draft in recent memory that had so much potential upside (and conversely so much lack of proven performance) when it comes to first round caliber players.

IMHO, this draft gives the Raptors a rare opportunity to draft a player with a high ceiling, the type that the 76ers and Hawks have been stockpiling for years.

However, the Raptors will be weighing this against team needs for a shotcreater and muscle in the front court.

I'd rather the team compromise, and go with the best player in two years at a position of need. Two years is too short for a project, but long enough for someone who's polishing skills that are already there.

Jim Labumbard! Press guy of the year.
Nice work. Be nice to have some real breakdowns of individual players. Hopefully you get a chance to talk up Raps talent people to get a feel for what they look for in a workout.
Nice writeup. By the way, is there any site that has done a breakdown of how accurate each of the individual mock draft sites have been in past years? Obviously, Chad Ford has incredible access to team GMs; be nice to know if he's managed to get useful information or is it all disinformation?

dope! that's amazing you guys will be able to catch those workouts. do you guys get the feeling that your opinions and the quality of the site/user comments are maybe a tiny weeny part of bc's "consensus" building?

in terms of the article,
batum, may be better for him to go the states. don't think he gets as "throw into the fire" if he's drafted by us and as a result will take much longer to tap into his potential.

i'd rather have CDR looking to prove he's "no scrub playing in canada" plus i like that he says his favorite player is stephen jackson.

green...i doubt he'll fall. if he does great asset that may pan out.

lopez...meh. wasn't wowed when watching him. and i like smart defensive basketball.

no to mcgee...dude comes off as a golddigger imo.

Wow, great work with the access to the workouts.

I know Dorsey is no where near the 17th pick right now, but how do you guys feel his game will translate to the NBA. Would he be a fit for the raptors if they can get an early/mid 2nd round pick. Is he the next Ben Wallace? Or just an athletic under sized center?

In order to understand our needs for transfer or drafts I divided our roster in 4 categories:
1. core players: Bosh (20/10 when completely healthy), Jose (first 2 PG's in the East at 35 mpg and growing), Bargnani (1st pick) and Kapono (best long range shooter in NBA); the weak link is Andrea, whom future development is anybody's guess.
2. tradeable assets: Rasho (first 10 pure C's in NBA, expiring), TJ (5th PG in PER during regular season, insured contract), AP (veteran SG, leadership qualities, expiring - I would hate to lose him, I wish he ended his career with us and became assistant coach)
3. non-tradeable assets: Garbo (injury, intangibles), Moon (excellent ratio production/$$worth), Delfino (RFA, Ginobili-lite)
4. filler: Graham, Baston, Hump.
Scenarios:
1. trade core player oly for another core player
2. draft a C to replace the weak link in case it doesn't pan out and/or Rasho (on the blocks); any other combination between 1,3 and 4 could make us draft higher or draft a different position based on next scenario's outcome;
3. use any of the categories 3 and 4 and combination thereof to trade for a position of need: wing/slasher and/or rebounder.
4. any other permutation depending on the market conditions and timing of the transaction.

of all the draft sites i think nbadraft.net probably is the most accurate..its difficult to accuratly predict the drft order a year before it happens...but when its all said and done after all the workouts are finished their mock drafts are usually pretty accurate...even wit chris taft..they eventually adjusted there mock draft and had him goin in the 2nd round

As far as who the raps should draft they should go wit the best player avaiable regardless of position...although i'd probably be leaning toward a wing player..we're set at the point (calderon or ford) and and our big men are decent enough...plus if they draft a center (lopez or McGee), he might end up taking away playin time from bargs

speaking of trade, i saw a news item on fanball.com saying that the nets and raptors were discussing andrea bargnani, any thoughts on who would be coming back our way?

I applaud the comment about the Raps having a poor record with developing big men. True! When are we going to employ a Jabar to groom our Bynum? I think that the coaching staff needs some additions. Did Bargnani get specialized coaching? He needs someone who can give him some progress and a sense of confidence.

All of the mocks have Brandon Rush well lower (23rd-ish). How about him? He can create his own shot and will slash to the hoop. He's a good defender, as well. Also, we know that he can win.

I think we have to take bill walker, a bit of a knucklehead, sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him. But he has the potential. Otherwise I like the lopez kid to shore up some weaknesses.

I like Ford and a future 1st for Varejo(sp?).......cavs need a actual pg........sideshow bob doesn't want to play for the cavs......their frontcourt would still be strong with smith, wallace, zydrunaus...............seems possible

Gottywhat - The Nets GM is saying that they've had no discussions with the Raps or the Nuggets (in regards to the Carmello rumours) so who knows what the deal is.

Scott - I like Dorsey a lot and would love to see the Raps try for him in the second round. He's got great potential as a Jason Maxiel type.

Tim - Great idea about tracking the draft sites to see how accurate they are. Don't think there's a site out there that does it but it would be an interesting thing to do. From experience, I've found that Draftexpress leads the pack in terms of where players will go right up until a few days before the draft. After that, ESPN usually gets the closest, probably because of the vast amount of resources they employ in this area.

WeC - Love Walker as most know...I'll be talking a bit more about him in tomorrow's piece.

Daniel - Good breakdown. This draft should be interesting in terms of seeing BC's style in this arena. Does he look to fill gaps in the lineup, or just try for the best talent to use via trade?

Dileroscoe - Good question and one I'm not sure how to answer at this point in time. I do think however that the amazing quality of insight from commentors on the site has been big for helping us get access to the Raps. It just shows a certain level of profesionalism in the type of coverage our site provides.

Why aren't the draft sites upping Bill Walker's value? This is a guy that was considered to be a top 5 pick before his injury!!! Eye witness accounts (Chad Ford and Draftexpress) say it looks like he has lost all the excess weight and has his explosiveness back. I know the Raps won't take him, but it is going to be a mistake that will haunt us for the rest of the decade!!!!!

I don't know if Bryan Colangelo would take the risk of drafting Bill Walker, given his various knee ailments and such. I could be proven wrong, but I think BC would take Nicolas Batum or Brandon Rush before he takes Bill Walker. I, for one, would love to see Walker in a Raptors uniform. I think he's going to prove a lot of people wrong.

Are you guys gonna be all at the workouts? Do you know who'll be at the camp and whether or not they'll have another free agent camp? Maaaaaan, can't wait for the draft.

Some random trade speculation from a sports blog I frequent:

To Cleveland:
Michael Redd (Ohio native)
Dan Gadzuric

To Milwaukee:
Varajao
Szerbiak
Snow
Two first round picks (presumably '08 and '10)

It works under the CBA, but would Cleveland really want any part of this deal?

I can't see this being in Clevelands best interest.

I like lopez. A seven foot centre who's not named brezec or bargnani sounds like a plan. Come trade deadline, the ability to trade rasho (as sad as that would be) could bring something really nice back.

Speaking of trading Rasho, how about this trade?

To Memphis:
Rasho
Bargs
Graham

To Toronto:
Milicic
Lowry
Cardinal

In Darko we get Rasho 2.0. Younger, similar skill set, more blocks per game, similar price. In Lowry, we get the young backup point guard who is an above average rebounder for his position and still has a couple years left on his rookie deal. And Cardinal is filler to hold down the end of the bench. In fact, Cardinal has 28 pounds on Graham so would be even more efficient at holding down the bench.

Sure we lose Bargs, but his value is so fragile right now, we may be best to deal him. I mean, if he does not show any improvement whatsoever, then his value will be even further diminished - and BargsBust will be vindicated. At least in Milicic we get some attitude back in the lineup so we can stop being the most milquetoast team in the league (I just needed an excuse to say milquetoast today).

Anyway, that's just my trade of the day.

Thats really weird lol I was thinking about Darko playing on the Raptors today as well....great minds think alike I guess.

I have been reading many rumours about Ford....its really interesting how the rumours impact a guys market value. At first everyone was screaming about how he has no trade value.....then once he had no trade value some teams thought they could get him for cheap....but then so many teams have been discussing it that its caused his trade value to go back up. Maybe if they keep discussing it then it will get to high and start to sink.

Either way the latest rumour I have been hearing is trading TJ to the Bulls (they're trying to move kirk) for Noccioni.

As far as TJ's trade value, I'm going to hope for the best.

Ford for Nocioni is a nice simple deal. Plus Nocioni's contract was slightly frontloaded, so it decreases from year to year.

I'd like to float a theory out there regarding Green, and other oversized small forwards of his ilk. When people say a player is quick, I don't take it to mean an absolute. I take it as the player is quick for his position/his size. A quick centre would be a below average PF, and so on down the positions. If you have a 6'11 small forward, you are just asking for trouble, especially one that isn't considered an athletic freak. I can see someone of that size having ALOT of trouble just getting out of their own way while guarding some of the explosive wings in the league. Think of how Bosh looked when he tried to guard Al Thornton.

Isn't Charlie V. the same height as Bosh? As far as I can remember he torched Bosh for 30 some points, with those points coming from both inside and outside the arc. So does that make him really athletic or lucky?
In retrospect, and yes hindsight is 20-20, Charlie V. would have been perfect to guard Rashard Lewis in the playoffs. Ironic thing is that all of a sudden Charlie is looking like a better fit for us than Ford. Go figure!

i've seen batum play and he is eerily similar to Vince, don't know if thats a good or bad thing. at 6 8 he has like a 7 ft wingspan. He reminds me of Peitrus. I like this pick for the Raps, or Chase Budinger. Otherwise they need 2 drop down a few spots in the draft and draft an athletic shot blocking big man like ibaka or jawai