Fan Since Day 1

Coming into this season we have two lottery picks making their NBA debut. A hardly known shooter with great athleticism in Ross, and the hype machine who's Pick and Roll is already NBA ready in Valanciunas. When talking about minutes/production/impact on winning games who do you think is going to shine more out of the two?

Porn Player

First off, how coddamn exciting is it to have two rookies that have the potential to be stars in this league.

Second, I best get to the question.

Valanciunas. His game is exactly what this team needs. Exactly. His rebounding has always been elite at whichever level he has played at. This gives me every reason to believe he can translate this to the NBA, just because the players change, the fundamentals of basketball don't, people will still miss shots, and if you box out, have length and a nose for positioning, you'll get boards.

The thing that really excites me about this kid, his FT shooting(@ 80% over the past two seasons). It shows me he has the potential to really expand his offensive repertoire. We know he understands the pick and roll game very well, but it will be his ability to hit the back to basket jumpers and bank corner shots (like Tim Duncan) that could become his real killer move. I doubt we see it this season, but hopefully he starts working towards it.

All in all, I expect lots of boards, blocks and high energy play when he is on the court. The big man rotation is far from solid, minutes are there to be won. The kid is exciting when he's on court and has the potential to really swing games in our favour, which could be extremely useful if we're in the battle for the 8th seed that many are expecting. Ultimately, his foul rate will determine how many minutes he gets this year. If he keeps out of trouble, I really would expect him to battle for ROY, I truly believe he is that good. If he struggles, much more likely, then it's how he learns to evolve his game that I will be most interested in seeing.

Expected Statline: 23mpg, 10ppg, 7rbg, 1.5blks and 3.6fpg. All Rookie 1st Team Selection.

Terrence Ross. I watched a lot of tape about this kid pre-draft. His shot is wet money. He has one of the best pure strokes this Raptor team has seen in a very long time. This combined with his size, wing rebounding and potential on the defensive end make him very exciting.

While the wing slots are hardly packed with talent, they're certainly deep with mediocre players. Beside DeMar, nobody is a lock to get minutes, but this does mean Ross will have to earn every damn minute he gets. The rotation(and by that, I mean Casey) won't give him the same wiggle room as Val when it comes to making mistakes. He misses a couple shots, he'll be clanked on the bench, he misses a defensive assignment, same outcome. Fields, Kleiza, Andersen, McGuire etc, all have a lower talent level, but all have experience and if we're chasing the Playoffs, Casey might not have the balls to stick with Ross.

I hope he does. Terrence has the potential to be a very good player, a potential star in fact.

Will we see it this year? I doubt it.

Expected Statline: 15mpg, 6ppg, 3.9rbg. All Rookie 2nd Team Selection.

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Fan Since Day 1

Great post Porn Player .

Regarding the thread I'll have to pick Ross. IMO DeMar DeRozan isn't in Casey's good books due to being a one dimensional player..so Ross will gain a lot more minutes as the season rolls along. Coming into the league with as Porn Player called it a wet shot and fairly good defense you can tell he's already a Casey guy; so the minutes will be there for him to prove himself. Hell, I dont even think Colangelo made the selection. On the other hand, Valanciunas is still a raw player, and even though his minutes were limited in the Olympics he really struggled against proven NBA players. He did show signs of being able to hold his own on some plays, but he will struggle like most big men coming into the league.

Porn Player

^ I guess I can agree somewhat. Ross has skills that will transfer straight to the NBA, where as Jonas will have to learn how to adapt his game.

I think Fields is the player that is most likely to stop Ross getting minutes, if Landry returns to what we hope, Ross won't be beating out DeMar so will find himself shelved. Nearly everything will depend on how Fields/Ross start the season, whichever is hitting shots and playing the best D will find themselves heavily in the rotation.

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Fan Since Day 1

I'm not saying this because of the injury, but I'm almost positive that Aaron Gray will see more minutes than Valanciunas will this season. Casey won't glue JV to the bench but he'll also won't give him significant minutes his rookie year...UNLESS Colangelo tells him otherwise. Like I said earlier, Jonas is as raw as they come even though his Pick and roll is NBA ready. Casey is going to put the best possible line-up out there to win every game, and JV isn't at that level just yet. The only way we see Valanciunas a lot this season is if someone goes down, Johnson really can't stay out of foul trouble or Gray can't regain last years form.

Regarding Ross won't be beating DeMar for minutes, you might be right! But I still think that if DDR doesn't show any improvements this year...especially defensively and Ross does; DeRozan will find himself in the second unit or traded. That's how Casey rolls, he doesn't care if you can score 20 PPG.

Knick Killer

I think Val will eventually be a great player in this league but I have low expectations for him this upcoming season. It takes big guys a long time to develop in the NBA(Bynum, Hibbert, Noah etc.). So with that said, I think Ross will have the better season out of the two.

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