FanPost

Raptors First Round 2011 Picks - What To Do?


The Raptors currently hold two first round draft picks; i.e. their own which they get back from the Heat in the Bosh trade and also the Heat's first round pick which the Raptors obtained in the Bosh trade.

At this point the Raptors biggest needs are a SF and PG. While I have never been a big Bargnani fan I do believe that a big man rotation of Bargnani, (25) Davis (21) and Johnson (23) could turn out to be a pretty solid if not spectacular big man rotation for the Raptors going forward. The minutes will work themselves out.

DeRozan while he still has some aspects of his game that he needs to improve big time; like his defense and three point shooting is still only 21. Given that he is an extremely hard worker who continues to improve and has the necessary physical skills to become a top 10 shooting guard, the Raptors future at the #2 looks bright.

While the Calderon, Bayless PG rotation is not too bad it is not near the level of what the Raptors need to become a solid playoff contender.

Kleiza whose 2010-11 season turned out to be a waste showed enough for me to believe that he is not the long term solution as a starting SF and neither is Weems. So of the five positions on the court SF is where the Raptors are currently the weakest.

If we look at the DraftExpress Big Board for the upcoming 2011 draft we see that there are only two PGs; i.e Irving and Walker and one SF Terrence Jones among the top ten picks. Among the three only Irving is currently identified as a top five pick in 2011. The Raptors most likely will draft in the top five in 2011.

Clearly the most favorable scenario would be for the Raptors to wind up with the #1 pick and draft Irving maybe even it means giving up one or more of their assets.

I have seen enough of Walker and personally I don't think that he is a lottery pick. He reminds me of a slightly upgraded version of Mateen Cleaves which means that I don't think much of Walker's future as a NBA player.

Throwing Walker out of the equation that leaves Irving and T. Jones, who at this point has no college level three point shot, yet alone a NBA one as the only two viable non-Big's among the current list of top ten picks. Jones is currently ranked #8 by DraftExpress.

It will be very interesting to see how BC plays this if the Raptors don't win the lottery but wind up with a top five pick.