I hope the best for him. He seems like a really nice young kid. He has the physical tools to be a beast. It will be interesting to see if he can put it all together. This might be a kid who takes 4 years to catch up, but when he does, he could be a hell of a player on both side of the ball.
When the Raptors drafted Bender with the 5th overall pick in 1999, it was the smartest move the franchise has ever made. Trading him for Antonio Davis has cursed them with years of mediocrity.
Little known fact that I mention once or twice a year and then cry about. The Pacers went on the the Finals against LA in 2000. Bender didn't play at all, and they took LA to 6. Put Antonio Davis on that team and the Pacers have their first title, or at the very least, another screw job to point at when the refs were the ones handing out the titles in the NBA.
My only issue is that the Raptors probably could have got him with their 2nd pick. Why jump off the board to get him at 20 when he'll be there at your later pick? That's what confuses me.
I honestly don't buy that he'd have been there at 37. I've looked at some tape and it's clear that he is going to be plenty raw and as the youngest player in the draft, his declaring just does not add up. This leads me to strongly suspect that some team had promised to take him. Now I know these reports are often quite dubious but he had been linked to Utah, Phoenix and San Antonio, all of whom picked between 20 and 37, and picking and stashing a young upside prospect seems to be the exact type of thing OKC would do.
And in the end, he had to have been the next guy on Masai's board and the ability to trade down is never a given. Masai got his guy. Now if you pressed me into saying he was more likely to be a bust or solid starter, I'd be inclined to say the former, but again it's the 20th pick. You get rotation guys at these picks and they kind of do grow on trees.
So with him gone we're down to three point guards .... which makes sense as our fourth guard last year saw almost no floor time. I guess that's why he left? With Williams coming in he would have been the fourth this year and probably do nothing more than ride the pine. I guess the move makes sense for him after all.
I'll start a thread with our current roster by position so we can track all the changes and signings .... also see who from this summer's league might make the team.
looking at our summer league roster it's hard to imagine anyone on that list outside of the guys we already have under contract making the team. Buycks might stick around because De Colo is gone. DeAndre Daniels might be an option since we still need a big wing that can defend (eventhough Daniels doesn't really fit that description). I'm hoping that we sign someone like a Marvin Williams or PJ Tucker for that role.
looking at our summer league roster it's hard to imagine anyone on that list outside of the guys we already have under contract making the team. Buycks might stick around because De Colo is gone. DeAndre Daniels might be an option since we still need a big wing that can defend (eventhough Daniels doesn't really fit that description). I'm hoping that we sign someone like a Marvin Williams or PJ Tucker for that role.
I don't really like Blatche. He can score but is lazy at doing everything else. He doesn't defend or rebound all that much. I would rather just use Tyler Hansborough, at least psycho T gives you effort every night.
Yeah but I remember him hurting us a lot. And checking the stats of the last few games he was 8-14 mins per game with 3-7 rebounds and up to 9 points. Whereas in the same stretch Hansbrough rarely saw the floor. In game six he didn't even play.
Can't say anything bad about Tyler's work ethic and toughness though ... except that it was damn good and sorely needed on a team that's known to not be very physical at all.
Quick update on our 2nd Round Draft pick DeAndre Daniels;
Daniels signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2014–15 NBL season. He pretty much immediately had surgery on his elbow and missed 3 weeks. He made his debut for the Wildcats in the team's season opening loss to the New Zealand Breakers, recording 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist. Daniels was named Player of the Week for Round 8 after scoring a then season-high 22 points against the Cairns Taipans.
In Feb, Daniels tied a season-high 24 points in the 87-89 double overtime loss to the New Zealand Breakers. A week later in the regular season finale, Daniels had one of his best games of the season with another 24-point game, including six triples, plus 11 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists.
His team made the playoffs as the lowest seed, but were unfortunately swept 2-0 in the best-of-three game series.
In 30 games for the Wildcats, Daniels averaged 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He shot 40% FG and 34.1% from 3PT land. His FT % was worryingly low at 66%.
Daniels has been in Toronto for the last five weeks, training at the Air Canada Centre and taking part in the team’s free agent mini-camp.
Not much news on Bruno Caboclo unfortuantely, however it was nice to read Daniels speaking about Caboclo;
“He’s gotten stronger,” Daniels said. “And definitely, the biggest thing I've noticed is he can speak more and better English. He’s just nonstop talking. It’s good.”
In 30 games for the Wildcats, Daniels averaged 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He shot 40% FG and 34.1% from 3PT land. His FT % was worryingly low at 66%.
His right elbow, so on his shooting arm. He was a pretty decent shooter before this season, so perhaps he was just working out the kinks following surgery.
What do you think of these signed shoes? Is that a legit looking autograph? I want to buy some Steve Nash memorabilia and that's an awesome item! What do you think, need some advice asap, thanks...
With Biyombo having a breakout year we are going to be faced with a tough decision in the offseason. With a glaring need at the power forward position I don't think it's wise to keep both Biyombo and JV on the team since Biyombo will likely demand starting center type salary next year.
While...
These are my predictions and my thoughts on each prediction, feel free to post yours.
1. DeRozan will be re-signed. This will happen fairly quickly, perhaps within the first 2 days of free agency period.
I don't mind the signing. I think in today's NBA DeRozan is a max player. He's not a...
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