Austin Kent

Honestly this is a serious question, I'm not trying to insinuate that I am right or that we need to draft this guy, or anything because I don't know a whole heck of a lot about this rookie class. What I do know is that Tyrus Thomas has been heralded as a Shawn Marion type player, who I assume Colangelo, being the creator of the Western Conference Finalist Suns, is quite fond of. To me Bargnini seems like a step in a different direction than what we have established around Bosh (not a bad one, a different one), and Aldridge just seems at first glance to be like another Bosh.

If Thomas can run and bang on people and get rebounds and 15+ garbage points (a few years down the road) then he, combined with Bosh would make a great front court, and who knows maybe at one point we could start those two with Villanueva.

If Thomas is as good as I have heard he is than I think this would suit the Raptors very well, but IS he as good as I have heard he is? If not then could we consider trading down for him?

Tyrus Thomas at NBADraft.net

The only down side is that the dude is young, like my age young, he'll be twenty by the time the season tips off (which would have been ancient in my opinion three years ago), I can't see him doing what Marion is doing. It makes me wonder, why did Thomas come out so early? He doesn't seem like the type of player who could afford to do that. Marion spent a few years at UNLV AFTER playing JuCo if I recall correctly.

Downside number two, which also is a downside to the Italian dude and Aldridge. Why the heck are we so focused on taking a big guy? Last time I checked it was our back court that couldn't pull it's own weight on a college team. Mike James has no place being on a starting line up anywhere, and as much as I love Morris Peterson we will never be a contender so long as he is one of our three best players.

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Here is the recap. Not only would I move Mike James, but Matt Bonner and the rest of the garbage that takes up room on our bench (Eric Williams, Loren Woods, etc). Now that's easier said and done, but even if we could move a few of them then I would be satisfied.

IF Tyrus Thomas is as good as I have heard he is, then I think this could be a nice line up...

Bosh / Araujo
Villanueva
Thomas
Peterson
Calderon

(In my opinion, nobody else is worth keeping)

If we could get a decent point guard over the next few years through transactions (or perhaps Ukic would fit the bil) then I think we could be set. This might be tough, but with faith and Brian Colangelo then we may be able to pull it off.

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This team is headed in a new direction (ie: not terrible) and I think with Colangelo and a first overall pick, we can get to where we want to be soon. We don't need another Bosh, and we don't need to start fresh, so that could very well eliminate Bargnani and Aldridge. If we could get a great guard out of this draft then I would say go for that, but that doesn't look like it's the case, so instead we can move to the second best thing. Tyrus Thomas, a player that can supposedly run, bang, rebound and dunk. We already have a scorer inside in Bosh. Peterson can pull his weight from the outside until we get a better guard, we have two second round picks we could throw at successful college players and see what they can offer (Allan Ray, Mike Gansey, Dee Brown).

I think what I am trying to say is this:

Raptors fans, we get excited about things like getting Pape Sow playing time and extending Matt Bonner's extension. You all know as well as I do, that contenders NEVER result to playing Pape Sow, or even dream about throwing money at Matt Bonner. With this draft we can change this, for once we can be ahead of the curve. A front court of Chris Bosh, Charlie Villanueva and Shawn Marion (via Tyrus Thomas) would be the envy of most of the teams in the league and with that the rest would fall in to place. As long as we have two guards who can run, shoot and tie their shoes than we might just make the playoffs in 2008.

Summary:

-Consider Tyrus Thomas, trade down if necessary
-Acknowledge that 80 percent of our team should not be in the league
-Build around our assets, no need to waste them just because we got a 1st

mo76

i bet the raptors draft tyrus thomas with the first pick. They always do something messed up. When you look at it closer though, Collangelo said we need toughness and interior D. When I think toughness and interior D, i think tyrus thomas. The Dude has an attitude that you can see on the court. I LOVE IT!!!!!!

shookem

meh, I think because 80 per cent of our lineup is garbage that BC can draft who ever he feels the BPA is. I don't think anyone has a problem with Bargnani/ Aldridge/ Thomas / Gay taking minutes away from Pape Sow, Matt Bonner, E-Dud and Hoffa.

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mo76

This thread is "such a breath of fresh air". Thank you Lope31. I might be getting carried away but i can see TT being a shawn marrion ben wallace hybred (not as good as either but a great defender and finisher on the fast break) in a new version of the suns. Thomas sixth man, bring Ukic over for the love of god and see what he can do, and a "banger" FA aquisition. Thats the direction i think the raps should be going in. If Ukic doesnt work out, then we just need to keep looking for a PG. Its alot better than the **** that is going on now.

Theberge43

Just read his profile ... you might actually be right ... and with all the smokescreens in the draft, TT might even be BC's guy for all we know ...

I'll say this : Trade our 1st to POR for the 4th pick and Jarret Jack, and draft Tyrus Thomas.
Portland won't draft him (Randolph), Chicago (Chandler) won't draft him and the Bobcats (Okafor) won't draft him.

Edit : But man will Steven A. Smith go crazy if we draft him ! Another PF !

Austin Kent

I LOVE this trade, period.

aizn

is he quick enough to play the 3? what was the whole point in making charlie a 3 then?

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Peter Piper

"Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rapped rhymes.
Humpty Dumpty fell down, that's his hard time.
Jack B. Nimble, what, nimble, and he was quick,
but Jam Master was faster, Jack saw Jay's dick.
Now little Bo Peep cold lost her sheep
and Rip van Winkle fell the hell asleep.
And Alice stilled her hunger in Wonderland"

mo76

Portland and Chicago might draft him. I think we should take advantage of winning the lottery and just draft TT #1. I think he is the closest thing to a consensus #1 in this draft and he can contribute in bench min, cause he doesnt really need to get into an offensive flow. He could get minutes at the 3, 4, or 5. I might be totally wrong here, but could TT eventually be a center? Ben Wallace is 6'9. Anyways, i think its impossible for TT to be a bust given his demenour and athletisism. Hes the closest thing to a "prize" for winning the lottery imo.

chocolove

Randolph is probably gonna get traded so portland might take him if they do trade to get the number 1 pick..but then they would probably take bargnani or aldridge. Telfair over Jack IMO

mo76

Portland probably wouldnt trade telfair for the #1 pick straight up, let alone their 4th pick included.

Even though chris and jack are supposedly buddies, i wouldnt mess around with the 1st pick just to get jared jack.

trick

All-Star calibre player + TT would be fine by me. Role player + TT would make me cry.

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butr

TT needs to show offensive moves in workouts beyond the ability to jump out of the gym and dunk.

Sorry. He is super athletic, but where does he fit in the NBA. He really needs to add bulk to do anything inside.

IMO he is not the best projected pro. I'm not saying he'll be bad. What I am saying is, in a draft where we may have to duplicate a position to get the best asset, get the best asset. A Pau or a Nowitzki is worth more than a Swift. I don't think he is a Marion, not from what I've seen.

If he shows more game in workouts than he could in school, you have to trust BC and the staff.

What's great is that, even if BC trades down, he will probably get his own number 1.

aizn

i dont think anyone will come close to marion, let alone TT. marion has somethin about him that's juss completely intangible.

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Peter Piper

"Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rapped rhymes.
Humpty Dumpty fell down, that's his hard time.
Jack B. Nimble, what, nimble, and he was quick,
but Jam Master was faster, Jack saw Jay's dick.
Now little Bo Peep cold lost her sheep
and Rip van Winkle fell the hell asleep.
And Alice stilled her hunger in Wonderland"

Junkyard Dog13