Built Ford Tough

Probably looks. Knowing NBADraft.net, they probably hadn't even heard of the guy before his triple double in the Hoops Summit.

This was Tweeted a while ago, take it for what it is worth: Could seriously change the outcome of the top 5 of the draft if this is true, considering I think there is a good chance that he is (was?) the 2nd player on the Raptors board. Again, just like every other rumor that came out today in regards to the draft, take this with a grain of salt. EDIT: It is worth mentioning that Colangelo had this to say about him earlier today: http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/22/raptors-covet-brandon-knight Maybe a member of the Raptors medical team, or some other team doing their last minute homework, found something? Who knows.

Ford thinks that the Cavs really like him and may consider drafting him at 4 if Kanter is picked 2nd or 3rd. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/30601/latest-draft-buzz-the-top-five-picks Not sure if I am buying this as it seems every year a day or two before the draft there is always some mid-late lottery player that suddenly gets consideration in the top 5, but who really knows. The (unjustifiable) concerns around Valanciunas' buyout may make this a realistic possibility.

I still don't see why him potentially not playing in the NBA next season is such a big deal considering the looming lockout and the simple fact that he is without a doubt a top 5 prospect in this draft, but it sounds like it isn't set in stone that he won't play next year.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/30619/draft-buzz-knight-eyes-cavs Just further proving that what Doug Smith mentioned the other day. It is also worth noting that basically every major mock draft (ESPN, NBADraft.net, DX, HoopsHype and NBA.com) all have the Raptors drafting Brandon Knight with their 5th pick. At the beginning of the week it seemed like the Raptors had no chance at drafting him at 5, but lately it seems that he just may be there. Of course, who really knows? This all could be a bunch of BS as far as we know and a classic examples of GM's putting out smokescreens to hide who they really want.

For anybody who is interested, Casey's contract will pay him $6,000,000 over 2 years and there is a team option for a 3rd year. Basically the same contract that Colangelo received prior to the Draft Lottery.

Based on what is posted in the OP, I would say that the opposite of the title is true. The Spurs are making calls to teams with lottery picks for Parker, not the other way around. Based on the comment about them talking to multiple teams, it definitely suggests that they are the ones who trying to spark any sort of deal and aren't the ones receiving the calls.

It isn't legitimate. It has been shot down as complete BS. Just some random people on Twitter looking for their 15 minutes or something like that.

Looks like it may be fake: http://twitter.com/#!/HawksPRGuy I definitely am skeptical of the validitiy of this rumor considering how lopsided it seems and I have no idea who the hell these people who are Tweeting are.

Not sure how credible, but... If this is true, wow, the Hawks got completely bent over. EDIT: Supposedly Hinrich is also involved and Daniel Orton will be going to Atlanta. Again, not sure if this is all just BS or not, but seriously, great move from Otis Smith and that is something that I don't think has been said in about 3 or 4 years. Some more stuff: EDIT #2: Hawks PR guy shoots this down. http://twitter.com/#!/HawksPRGuy

Vesely is an awful shooter. Him shooting 46% from the free throw line and 32% from three (a shorter three at that) should be all you need to know to see that this guy is a terrible shooter. And he can't create any offense on his own, either. Him getting a grand total of 2.8% of his offense from isolation situations proves that as well.

That is pretty much exactly what Tristan Thompson brings to a team...

Kahn does make some decisions that make you shake your head, but there is no way in hell he would (or at least should) trade the 2nd overall pick for Marcin Gortat, even if the Suns include their 13th pick. Gortat is not nearly worth that much. I don't believe this for a second, unless the Suns are trading quite a bit more than Gortat, even if the 13th pick is included.

That would be ideal. He definitely has his flaws and is a work in progress when it comes to being capable of playing the point, but he has nice defensive potential, is a good shooter and has a nice combination of athletcisim and size. I still don't think he falls to 5, though. There is talk about the Wizards moving up to 4 now, and if that happens I would imagine that the Jazz will take him at 3 and Washington takes Kanter at 4, which wouldn't be bad at all assuming Colangelo went with Valanciunas as he is 2nd on my board. According to Ford the Raptors are zeroing in on 3 players and they are Knight, Biyombo and Kawhi Leonard. I'm pretty disappointed at there being no mention of Valanciunas, but then again, it is Ford and according to him the Raptors were pretty much set on taking Vesely for the past couple of weeks. This pretty much fits with what Doug Smith said the other day and Colangelo said earlier today (after the Casey presser) that their list is pretty much narrowed down to a guard, 2 forwards and a big. I'd imagine that to be Knight (guard), Leonard (forward), Biyombo (forward) and Valanciunas (big), but the Valanciunas part may just be wishful thinking on my part.

I'll shoot myself if the Raptors draft Vesely. Seriously. I don't want any part of Bismack Biyombo (at least at 5) but I'd take him in a heartbeat over Vesely. Vesely literally does nothing well other than run and jump. He can't shoot, can't handle the ball, bad defender and is just a bust waiting to happen. I don't get the hype around this guy at all. He is less skilled than basically every other projected lottery pick and is also older than most picks by around 2-3 years as well. I would imagine, or at least hope, they would draft any player that they have been speculated as to taking (so pretty much every player from the 3-10 range) over Vesely.

From Doug Smith: http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/raptors/article/1012101--mavs-dwane-casey-to-be-raptors-head-coach Kind of surprised to see Leonard there but there was talk early in the process that the Raptors were interested in him and I know that Colangelo and Kelly made a couple of trips to SDSU during the season to, presumably, scout him. So it doesn't come as a huge shock by any means. I think that Colangelo probably sees a potential Marion in him and it is quite obvious that Colangelo is a big fan of Marion's. Also worth noting is that Kanter's name isn't involved at all. Either this means they think he won't be there at 5 (but he is more likely to be there than Knight is if you ask me) or they don't like him very much as I have speculated over the last few days. It would definitely be a bit of a blow if the Raptors came away from this season with somebody like Biyombo or Leonard if you ask me. Quite possibly the 2nd worst season in Raptors history and the light at the end of the tunnel is one of those two? Yikes.

Even if he isn't able to play in the league next season, I'd be absolutely shocked if he goes any later than 8 to the Pistons. He is simply too good of a prospect in an otherwise very weak draft for him to fall to the bottom of the lottery. I know I would be pretty upset if the Raptors passed on him (assuming Knight is gone) and drafted somebody like Biyombo smply because he may not be able to play next season. To add to this, the fact that a lockout is likely makes it even dumber to pass on a guy because he might not play in the NBA next season considering the fact that there might not even be a season next year. There is no reason why he should go any later than 6th as far as I am concerned. In a stronger draft, sure, this may be an issue but in a weak draft like this you don't pass on him simply because he might not be with your team next year.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Raptors passed on him. From what I read they didn't seem very impressed with him during the times that they met with him and saw him workout. It could all be a typical Colangelo smokescreen, but I definitely believe that, at the very least, the Raptors are higher on Knight, Valanciunas and maybe Biyombo than they are on Kanter. I could definitely see the Cavs taking Valanciunas over him as well. Kanter is probably more of a sure thing, but I do believe that Valanciunas has a higher ceiling than he does and if Valanciunas manages to put it all together he could be one of the better centers in the league, possibly a more offensively gifted Joakim Noah. I think Kanter is going to be more of an Al Jefferson type of big. Solid scorer and rebounder, but limited in most other areas. Then again, what do I really know? I've seen maybe a full game of Valanciunas and literally no live action from Kanter, so my opinion is hardly a fact on this topic.

I wonder if this is actually as a result of him having poor workouts, questions about his ability to play the 5, etc... or if it is possibly him trying to dictate his way to Washington, which he has made it clear that is where he wants to go. It wouldn't surprise me if this was just him trying to make it so that it is guaranteed he is drafted by Washington because of the things that went on at the Combine and all of that. Then again, how connected is Sam Amico anyways? I'm not sure how credible he is. Either way, it is looking like AboveLegit might get his wish because I do believe that if Utah (doesn't look likely as I think Knight is their guy) or Cleveland pass on him that he will last until 6. Toronto, from all that I've gathered, doesn't seem to be very interested in him and didn't come away partcularly impressed when they met with him at the beginning of the month.

Sounds like he will be announced as the new coach either today or tomorrow. Most likely tomorrow since the Raptors brass is in New York right now for some draft workouts. I saw it on the ticker on Sportsnet today, and there was this in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110620-mavericks-lose-their-top-assistant-toronto-raptors-to-hire-dwane-casey.ece?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

How about we do this. If you want to post your mock draft with descriptions and all of that in the Mock Draft forum go right ahead. It will hopefully generate discussion and help the forum out. Just do me a favor and just pm the mock draft that you wish to enter into the contest so that I know for sure that I am using the correct won. That sound good?

Noah isn't exactly the poster boy for staying healthy either, though. In his 4 years in the league he has missed around 62 games as well, and it should be worth noting that in the two seasons when he has played 30 minutes or more a game he has missed 52 games. He is a small center and, I know it is a small sample size, but it looks like he may have some troubles logging heavy minutes at the 5. The fact that he doesn't exactly have a large frame doesn't really work in his favour either as it isn't very likely he will be able to add much more size and because of that he will always be undersized at the 5. The same concerns can be applied to Deng as well, since he has a history of missing time too. He has been fairly healthy the last two seasons, but he has also played in 63 games or less 3 times in his 7 year career. Bynum obviously has more injury concerns, but these two aren't exactly ironmen either. Another thing worth noting is that Noah and Deng are both signed to big money long term deals. Noah is entering the first year of his $60.5M/5 year deal while Deng has around $40M over 3 years left on his contract. That is a lot of money for a team that is likely going to try and enter more of a rebuilding phase to commit to, especially considering the fact that neither one of these two are really players that you build a team around. For all of the concerns around him, Bynum has the potential to be a player that you can build a team around while both Noah and Deng are the kinds of players that you look to surround a star with. It isn't a terrible deal by any means, but I could definitely see why a team like Orlando would look to take the high risk, high reward scenario in Bynum than go the safe route with Noah/Deng taking all things into consideration.

He will be there regardless, so I imagine they figured they might as well just invite somebody else. He would be sitting with Marcus Morris anyways, so this is just there way to have 15 players in the Green Room instead of the usual 14.

According to Ford, the Raptors are seriously interested in Bismack Biyombo and are considering him at 5 or trading down in order to get him. http://twitter.com/#!/chadfordinsider/status/82087519998586880 Then again, Ford seems to have absolutely no idea what the Raptors are going to do as he has had them taking everybody from Knight, Kanter, Walker, Vesely, Valanciunas and even Leonard at one point in time. Might as well throw in Biyombo's name and that way he will have covered pretty much every player the Raptors might draft. Biyombo is also going to be working out for the Raptors on Monday. This will be his 2nd workout with the team. Valanciunas measured out really well at Eurocamp. If Knight and Kanter (he scares me, but I wouldnt pass him up) are both off the board at 5, I Valanciunas is my next choice. He definitely has some risks around him, but I also think that he could develop into a very good two way center, especially after seeing him measure out so well and the fact that he is only 19 so he could possibly grow even more. He was one of the best rebounders in Europe this past year, shoots free throws at a 90% clip and is one of the younger players in the draft. I don't think it is absurd to think that if all goes well he could develop into a similar player to Joakim Noah, and that would be an excellent pick at 5 in a weak draft. Another positive with Valanciunas is that he is unlikely to come over next season (if there is one) and the Raptors will likely be in a similar position next season, but having a great pick in a much better draft. If they walk away with Valanciunas next season and one of Barnes/Miller/Gilchrist next season, I would definitely be excited for a future lineup of: C: Valanciunas PF: Davis SF: Barnes/Miller/Gilchrist SG: DeRozan PG: Bayless Obviously this isn't a lineup that would contend, but it is a very nice start. Of course, we have to place Bargnani in there somewhere as he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/news/story?id=6675909 Kind of surprised to see that Bioymbo wasn't invited to the Green Room considering his name has been mentioned as high as 5. I would've thought he would be invited over somebody like Thompson (Klay) or even Singleton. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him slip to the 20 range considering how raw he is.