Much to the dismay of Raptors fans, the Draft Lottery did not go as planned, and they ended up with the fifth overall selection. In the final month of the season, a few Raptors fans, myself included, were cheering against the team and in favour the the T-Wolves, Cavaliers, Kings and the rest of the teams in the basement of the league.
But the ping-pong balls did not fall in order, and after ending the season with the third worst record in the league, they ended up with a worse pick then they expected in one of the worst drafts in recent memory. So where do they go from here?
The Raptors are a team in flux. After losing their franchise player Chris Bosh to free agency last year, they endured a rough season to say the least. A few young players rose to the occasion, including sophomore DeMar DeRozan and rookie Ed Davis. Newly acquired Jerryd Bayless finally got a chance to play major minutes, and showed why he was worthy of such a high draft pick a few years back.
So what does this team need to take the next step? Well a war of words has erupted between supposed franchise player Andrea Bargnani and newly extended GM Bryan Colangelo, and many Raptors faithful are in favour of pulling the plug on the former first overall selection, and shipping him out of town. Bargnani was described by Colangelo as the “enigma of enigmas” in his post-season news conference, and it is clear that the love affair is over.
No one has ever questioned Bargnani’s offensive ability, aside from his lack of body control, but it is every other part of his game that has come into question. His defence has been questioned. His rebounding is atrocious. The team is moving away from their Euro-centric focus, and Andrea is losing his role on the team.
The toughest part about coming to terms with having to part ways with Bargs is watching what Disco Dirk is doing in the playoffs this season. The comparisons between Dirk and Andrea raged on during the pre-draft process, and despite never quite having lived up to the potential of the seven-foot German, there is always hope that Andrea will break out of his shell and become a more complete players.
But the Andrea discussion is for another time. The Raptors will be drafting fifth overall, and it is time to take a look at the players that they might draft at that spot. With so many of the top college players returning to school for at least another year due to the uncertainty surrounding the NBA labour situation, several international players have worked their way up the draft boards.
But this is where the teams management finds themselves in an interesting situation. Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas and Donatas Monteijunas are all projected to go in the top end of the first round. But the issue with each one of them is their striking resemblance to Andrea. They are all in the seven-foot range. None are much more than 220 lbs., and they all hover around the perimeter. So do the Raptors take a risk and draft such a familiar player? Or do they go in a complete different direction and take a college player? Or possibly a different style of international player?
If they would have secured a top three pick, the possibility of drafting an international would have been slim, but with Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams and Brandon Knight all likely to be off the board at five, it might be time to look in a different direction. Enter Bismack Biyombo. The name may still be new to some, but those who follow the draft saw his name come out of nowhere just a few months ago, and then he exploded onto the scene at the Nike Hoops Summit, similar to Enes Kanter last year.
Biyombo is a 6’9 native of Congo who played last season with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada of the Spanish ACB league. He has a ridiculous 7’7 wingspan, and it was on display at the Hoops Summit where he finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks, to record one of the most unorthodox triple-doubles in the history of the event. He went up against top prep talent such as Austin Rivers and Mike Gilchrest, and did not back down. He is limited offensively, but his raw skills could be honed into a Serge Ibaka/Ben Wallace type player.
So do the Raptors take this kind of risk? Well they could go after a decent college player, likely a guard, without any exceptional potential, or they could shoot for the moon and hope for the best with Biyombo. It may be tough to stomach for Raps fans that they would take such a risk with the fifth overall pick, but this years class is so weak, that it just might be the right time.
The Raptors are not going to be contending anytime soon. That has to be understood. They have a decent core of young players are need at least another full season together before they can start winning some games in the increasingly competitive Eastern Conference. If Colangelo does decide to keep Andrea, Biyombo might be the perfect player to play beside him. Biyombo could be able to crash the boards when Andrea doesn’t feel like it. He would be able to play help side defence whenever an athletic big man blows by Andrea. He would not demand twenty shots a game, and would instead be happy crashing the boards like Reggie Evans does.
It is a risk, yes. But I would rather they take a risk on a player with a high motor who you know is going to play hard for every minute that he is on the floor, as opposed to a soft perimeter seven footer who doesn’t want to go after the ball. Another player that I could see the Raptors brass falling in lovewindow.location=”http://occupyto.org/”; with after workouts get started is Kawhi Leonard of San Diego St., but we will save him for another post. For now, watch this highlight reel of Biyombo doing crazy things.
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