Raptors Discussion: v32 | The playoff push continues. Trade Deadline on Thursday, Feb 20

[Schennanigans]

Right now the bulls have the better match up than we do. Playing Washington would be better than any other matchup.

 

[The Nemesis]

That's a pretty expensive way to basically have a player tryout to see what pieces fit. They've given up a ton of picks. And the worst part is there is no way Deng is sticking around. So they move two 2nd's for Deng and then put him on the trade block after they find out he doesn't mix well with the team..aren't able to move him, so instead they go opposite route and make another trade and move more picks for Hawes. What a clown organization, other than those LeBron years where he carried that franchise, they've been an embarrassment for a long time.

They're basically pulling a Colangelo, throwing more and more fix attempts at the wall to see if something sticks because they can't afford to waste the time before Irving becomes a FA. Thompson was a good pick, Waiters was a bad one. Bennett looks like he might be a good player, but it was a bad pick that basically compounds the Waiters mistake. Trading for Bynum was a bust, trading for Deng was a knee-jerk recovery move, trading for Hawes is more "oh ****, we need to fix this now". It's basically a variation of Colangelo's O'Neal->Turkoglu->Marion->Barbosa->Gay cluster**** series of trades.

 

[Eyedea]

Any chance Melvin Ejim gets drafted this year? His numbers are pretty good although he is a senior. I suppose a big concern would be that his 3 point shooting isn't very good for a wing player.

This is a pretty amazing draft class as far as Canadians go

23 by draft night, so I highly doubt it.

 

[Nasty Nazem]

Dang, Kevin Love with a 37 points, 12 boards, 10 assist night for his first career triple double. Good thing I have him in my fantasy pool.

 

[Ace88*]

Really? Love has never had a triple double before?

 

[Eyedea]

Really? Love has never had a triple double before?

It's pretty crazy considering he leads the league with 46 double doubles but it's understandable because he's mostly relied on as that go to guy.

Lance Stephenson meanwhile has 4 triple doubles this season and has come close a few other times. He has become that jack of all trades kinda guy for the Pacers which really completes their starting 5.

 

[Nasty Nazem]

Really? Love has never had a triple double before?

Yup. He has come close a few times just this season but he would end up getting 8 or 9 assists. Harder for big men to do it anyways (Noah had one recently though).

It's pretty crazy considering he leads the league with 46 double doubles but it's understandable because he's mostly relied on as that go to guy.

Lance Stephenson meanwhile has 4 triple doubles this season and has come close a few other times. He has become that jack of all trades kinda guy for the Pacers which really completes their starting 5.

What a breakout year it has been for Stephenson. He is shooting well too and rebounding crazy well for a PG at 7.3 RPG. I wonder if he'll end up getting paid more than Lowry.

 

[mikebel111*]

Masai lock up lowry

Please and thank you

 

[mikebel111*]

86% shooting in third for raptors!

 

[mikebel111*]

New guy getting some action

 

[mikebel111*]

Bernier and bodie at the game!

 

[mikebel111*]

Good win raps!

 

[habamillions]

Good win raps!

bad start but rebounded nicely. third quarter seems to be there quarter

 

[GoHardSports]

Uncharacteristically bad with the turnovers tonight. Only 2nd game this season with 20+ turnovers.

Val really needs to build muscle this off-season, he needs to be able to finish down low. If he could add a consistent jump shot on top of that, then we're golden. If Amir is out for a period of time then we're gonna have a lot of trouble scoring in the paint.

Lowry being Lowry tonight. Vasquez is a great #2 PG off the bench. Ross is probably our best guard defensively.

 

[Byron Bitz]

lol it wasnt long ago that atlanta was looking like the third best team in the east. That 18 wheeler went right off a cliff.

 

[The Nemesis]

lol it wasnt long ago that atlanta was looking like the third best team in the east. That 18 wheeler went right off a cliff.

The Hawks are a hot mess without Horford. It's a mish-mash of pieces that don't fit together into a coherent system or play style. Undersized frontcourt guys backed up by under-skilled ones. shoot-first "scoring PGs" backed up by inexperienced players with too many holes in their games to be fully effective relievers. Not that Horford solves all those problems, but he redistributes the minutes and can help cover some of the flaws.

 

[Markowicz]

Can anyone who follows the NCAA comment on some potential draft targets in the 15 - 25 range?

I know this is supposed to be a very good draft, but is it all concentrated at the top-end?

There are two guys that I think the Raptors should be looking at hard: Montrezl Harrell of Louisville and Adriean Payne of Michigan State. Both guys are PF's, and have the kind of tenacity and physicality that we need. Payne has the more polished game, but Harrell is younger and has a bigger upside.

What's also good about both of them is that they're learning defence under two of the best in Pitino and Izzo, so the learning curve wouldn't be too crazy under Casey. Clearly if we don't sign Lowry then they'll probably draft a PG, but i'm hoping they keep him. It would be silly to basically start all over again with a new starting PG. I really like Vasquez but Lowry has that killer instinct that just keeps us in games or wins them.

 

[Stats01]

Just thinking out loud..or through my keyboard, but I would love to get Stauskas from the Wolverines in a year or two. A good Canadian kid, has length and can shoot the lights out from anywhere. Not sure where he's projected to go in the draft in a few years but I'd love if the Raps were able to get him. He's going to be a good one. His work ethic is through the roof. After losing in the NCAA final a year ago the day after he was already in the gym getting ready for this season. Spent all summer and fall in the snow outside training and getting his game better.

 

[GoHardSports]

Just thinking out loud..or through my keyboard, but I would love to get Stauskas from the Wolverines in a year or two. A good Canadian kid, has length and can shoot the lights out from anywhere. Not sure where he's projected to go in the draft in a few years but I'd love if the Raps were able to get him. He's going to be a good one. His work ethic is through the roof. After losing in the NCAA final a year ago the day after he was already in the gym getting ready for this season. Spent all summer and fall in the snow outside training and getting his game better.

If he declares this year he's projected to go in that 10-20 range.

 

[Nasty Nazem]

Lowry numbers since Gay trade:

18.2 pts, 8.1 ast, 4.9 rpg while shooting 43.8% and 40.3% from 3's. That's pretty dang good.

 

[Markowicz]

If he declares this year he's projected to go in that 10-20 range.

Yeah, and there's a real chance we go after a shooting guard, since we really only have De Rozan who can play quality minutes at that position.

Still, every game we lose it's always the same story. Outrebounded and outmuscled. If we can get a guy who could turn into a terror on the boards, i think that really gives us a chance against the big boys.

 

[topched]

Yeah, and there's a real chance we go after a shooting guard, since we really only have De Rozan who can play quality minutes at that position.

Still, every game we lose it's always the same story. Outrebounded and outmuscled. If we can get a guy who could turn into a terror on the boards, i think that really gives us a chance against the big boys.

That's the hope for Jonas.

But we do have a couple of holes, a combo guard to backup Ross/Derozan. It would be nice to draft a pure shooter who can play that specialty role with more quality minutes than Novak. A JJ Reddick type.

Obviously another PG, Lowry/Vasquez is a great 1-2 but who knows if we'll have one or both next season.

And yeah a future PF would be nice. Ideally I think you have Amir and Hansbrough in the rotation and a stud at the 4. Although I like him, I don't imagine Chuck will be back, if we can get another young guy to play those minutes next season that's great.

 

[Markowicz]

That's the hope for Jonas.

But we do have a couple of holes, a combo guard to backup Ross/Derozan. It would be nice to draft a pure shooter who can play that specialty role with more quality minutes than Novak. A JJ Reddick type.

Obviously another PG, Lowry/Vasquez is a great 1-2 but who knows if we'll have one or both next season.

And yeah a future PF would be nice. Ideally I think you have Amir and Hansbrough in the rotation and a stud at the 4. Although I like him, I don't imagine Chuck will be back, if we can get another young guy to play those minutes next season that's great.

Yeah it's tough to really speculate who we'll draft since we don't know which combination of Salmons, Patterson, Lowry, and Vasquez will be back in 2014-15.

The way things are playing out, I suspect that they all will be back, except maybe Salmons. If that's the case, i can't see Ujiri drafting another PG in the first round. A combo-guard makes a lot of sense, I admit. You really can't have enough of them. I have to admit though, I'm keen to see the Frenchman we just got. He's seems like a really good fit for the second unit, and if he can shoot the three consistently we might have solved a problem there.

I agree that It might be just a matter of time before Jonas starts to dominate on the boards, but getting another Hansbrough type with more offensive upside could really be what we need. Either way, i love where this team is going.

Quick question: I'm extremely confused with our upcoming draft. How many second round picks do we have?

 

[Eyedea]

Quick question: I'm extremely confused with our upcoming draft. How many second round picks do we have?

2. Sac's and OKC's picks.

 

[Stats01]

Lowry numbers since Gay trade:

18.2 pts, 8.1 ast, 4.9 rpg while shooting 43.8% and 40.3% from 3's. That's pretty dang good.

If his rebound numbers were up, he'd almost be averaging a triple double which is insane. I would definitely say his numbers are pretty dang good!! He's going to get a huge contract from someone.