Is There Anybody On This Team Under 25 Worth Getting Excited About?

[Built Ford Tough]

Because I'm struggling to think of anybody outside of Valanciunas who isn't even on the roster yet.

 

Bayless is an undersized shooting guard destined to be an offensive spark off the bench. Not bad as there have been successful players in that role, such as Terry, Barbosa, etc... but also nothing to get excited about.

 

Davis has shown no improvement to his game since his rookie season. An average hustle big man seems to be his ceiling, not the 15/10/2 guy like many hoped.

 

DeRozan can't create his own shot, struggles to score outside of transition and is a below average defender and rebounder. His production seems to be heavily dependent on the system he plays in. He is the most intriguing of the Raptors young players but his play this season is making his weaknesses really obvious and, considering his position, those weaknesses could prove to be disasterous. He does have a great work ethic, so I'm certainly not counting him out yet but a work ethic only takes you so far if the talent is limited. I'd be lying if I said his play this season hasn't made me worried about his future, though.

 

Johnson is probably the most intriguing right now as a jack of all trades small forward, but his basketball IQ is highly questionable and could be his undoing. He has games where he looks great, but other nights, such as last night, where he runs around like a chicken with his head cut off.

 

I fully expected this to be a long season, but the lack of progression from any of the Raptors young players, aside from maybe James Johnson, is very concerning. I thought that the Raptors had a pretty solid foundation and just needed that one bonafide star. After seeing the first 22 or so games this year, I'm beginning to question that and starting to come to the opinion that this team has a lot more work to do than I originally thought.

 

PS: This isn't any kneejerk reaction to the game tonight, a game that I'm not even watching (turned it to the Leaf game after the first 5 minutes), and is more of a general opinion throughout the course of the season.

[Flash]

Anthony Davis or Andre Drummond will be worth getting excited over. Honestly though, the Raps need a dominant wing player. They could've had it in Rudy Gay but we all know what ended up happening.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Flash

[Nitro]

Agree with everything you said. That's my issue with building teams completely through the draft, not surrounding them with a lot of veterans who have experience winning, and playing these young kids major minutes. You see it right now with teams like the Wizards, Kings and Raptors. Unfortunately for the Raptors, out of those three teams, they probably have the worst young prospects of the bunch. They really need to trade some of these young pieces while they still have value for some proven veterans who know how to play winning basketball and can teach these young guns what to do day-in, day-out, from on the court gameday, to practice, to how to handle themselves off the court. They need to learn winning principles. And getting those guys will really excel the development of whatever high draft pick(s) they get in the next year or two.

 

But, yes, none of these players really excite me, and I can't envision any of them besides Johnson (and maybe Bayless) being impactful players on a winning ballclub.

[DunkinDerozan]

I think Derozan is still worth getting excited about. He just needs to have his skills more utilized. He's only 22 years old though I believe, so its not like he's reached his peak. He just needs to improve his range to be able to make those defenders play him closer, which will give him more room to slash at the basket. I still have full belief in Demar. Davis has been pretty disappointing this year. Bayless has been the Raps leading scorer in the past two, so he is showing signs of improvement. I can see Johnson being a great player to come off the bench, like he's been this season. I don't ever see him being a starter on a contending team.

[Built Ford Tough]

The thing about DeRozan is exactly what skills are being underutilized?

 

His handles and first step are too weak to iso him with.

 

He is bricking pretty much every jumper he takes, open or not.

 

He doesn't use screens all that well as he goes too wide which allows the defender to jump between the screener and DeRozan, eliminating any seperation. When he does get the seperation, he just misses the shot, turns it over or immediately passes it back out anyways.

 

He has poor decision making, often dribbling himself into a corner and panicking by picking up his dribble, which usually results in a turnover.

 

His main skills are running the floor, pulling up in transition and finishing with 1 or two dribbles when he has a fairly clear lane. He really is limited skillwise, which is what worries me. I thought he was more skilled than this but his strong play after the All-Star break last season is looking more and more like defenses being caught of guard than him being that good. I hope I'm wrong, but it is worrisome seeing him struggling so much when defenses are actually aware of him and gameplanning against him, which wasn't the case in his first two seasons.

 

Despite that, I'm not completely writing him off yet. He was a project coming out of USC and many people said it would be 3-4 years before he really got it, so there is hope, especially with his work ethic. He is not doing anything to really make me confident in his future, though.

 

 

 

As for Bayless, his scoring ability was never a question. It has always been known that he can score the ball, but his potential relied on him being able to play the ponit which so far, he has not shown the ability to do. These last few games he has been playing primarily at the 2 and he has shown some good things, but he is never going to be a core piece or anything like that if he is playing the 2. His worth is directly related to his ability to play the point and he hasn't shown much of an improvement, if any at all, in this regard since last season. Right now we are looking at a future Leandro Barbosa and is that really something to get excited about? A good player for sure, but not anything noteworthy and certainly not a building block for the future.

 

Anthony Davis or Andre Drummond will be worth getting excited over.

 

Except the chances of getting Anthony Davis are slim. The Raptors aren't going to be the worst team in the league and are going to have to rely upon sheer luck in the lottery to even have a shot at him.

 

As for Drummond, he scares me. I don't deny his potential and physical tools, but he really lacks fundamentals, has a poor motor and I question his desire. He looks completely disinterested 90% of the time out there. If he wasn't so highly regarded in high school, people wouldn't even be taking about him and that is a bit troublesome. Even if his skills are raw, he should still be much more productive simply because of his physical gifts.

 

Despite that, he has the kind of potential that woudl be hard to pass up. Of course, potential is a dangerous word.

[Akkerman]

I think Perry Jones could be just what the Raps need.

 

Big, lengthy tall wing player who can play some 4. Could give them help offensivley, and on the glass where we know they need some serious help.

[Warren2ThaG]

Tony Wroten from Washington

[DunkinDerozan]

The thing about DeRozan is exactly what skills are being underutilized?

 

His handles and first step are too weak to iso him with.

 

He is bricking pretty much every jumper he takes, open or not.

 

He doesn't use screens all that well as he goes too wide which allows the defender to jump between the screener and DeRozan, eliminating any seperation. When he does get the seperation, he just misses the shot, turns it over or immediately passes it back out anyways.

 

He has poor decision making, often dribbling himself into a corner and panicking by picking up his dribble, which usually results in a turnover.

 

His main skills are running the floor, pulling up in transition and finishing with 1 or two dribbles when he has a fairly clear lane. He really is limited skillwise, which is what worries me. I thought he was more skilled than this but his strong play after the All-Star break last season is looking more and more like defenses being caught of guard than him being that good. I hope I'm wrong, but it is worrisome seeing him struggling so much when defenses are actually aware of him and gameplanning against him, which wasn't the case in his first two seasons.

 

Despite that, I'm not completely writing him off yet. He was a project coming out of USC and many people said it would be 3-4 years before he really got it, so there is hope, especially with his work ethic. He is not doing anything to really make me confident in his future, though.

 

 

 

As for Bayless, his scoring ability was never a question. It has always been known that he can score the ball, but his potential relied on him being able to play the ponit which so far, he has not shown the ability to do. These last few games he has been playing primarily at the 2 and he has shown some good things, but he is never going to be a core piece or anything like that if he is playing the 2. His worth is directly related to his ability to play the point and he hasn't shown much of an improvement, if any at all, in this regard since last season. Right now we are looking at a future Leandro Barbosa and is that really something to get excited about? A good player for sure, but not anything noteworthy and certainly not a building block for the future.

 

 

 

Except the chances of getting Anthony Davis are slim. The Raptors aren't going to be the worst team in the league and are going to have to rely upon sheer luck in the lottery to even have a shot at him.

 

As for Drummond, he scares me. I don't deny his potential and physical tools, but he really lacks fundamentals, has a poor motor and I question his desire. He looks completely disinterested 90% of the time out there. If he wasn't so highly regarded in high school, people wouldn't even be taking about him and that is a bit troublesome. Even if his skills are raw, he should still be much more productive simply because of his physical gifts.

 

Despite that, he has the kind of potential that woudl be hard to pass up. Of course, potential is a dangerous word.

 

Problem with Derozan could just be he's not the type of player that has the skill-set to be relied on to be a teams #1 scorer. When hes the top player on our team, we're basically screwed because he doesn't have the capability to carry a team. Although he wasn't doing much before bargs got hurt too. I don't know, I just hope he can snap out of it.