When Chris Bosh left town last summer, it was clear that the season would be a serious struggle. And struggle the Raptors did, all the way to the third worst record in the Association. However the ping pong balls did not fall how everyone wished, and Canada’s team was left with the fifth overall pick in last night’s draft.
There were a lot of names that were being mentioned as potential targets for the Raps in this draft class, many of them being guards. Kemba Walker, the NCAA champion from UConn and Brandon Knight from the University of Kentucky were amongst the fan favourites for that fifth pick. Both are guards on an already guard heavy team, so it was curious as to why so many devout followers of the team were interested in adding another ball handler so the squad. Barbosa, Bayless & Calderon all play the one or the two, and there simply would not be any playing time for another one in the mix.
So if it was not to be one of the college guards, then it had to be Bismack Biyombo, right? The massive Congolese player had burst onto the scene in the past few months and had worked his way into the top end of the lottery. His defensive intensity and ceiling made him one of the most mysterious players in the draft. It seemed as if he would be able to fit in perfectly in new head coach Dwane Casey’s system to a T.
But then something else happened. David Stern walked up to the podium and announced that the Toronto Raptors had selected Jonas Valanciunas, a seven-footer from Lithuania with a serious unresolved buyout situation. You could hear the groans across the country loud and clear. Many Raptors faithful have become fed up with the European experiment that Colangelo and Gheradini have taken us for in the past five years. When they were winning, it was okay, but as soon as the team started losing, it was easy to point the finger at the outsiders.
Despite the fact that Valanciunas was regarded by many to be the best centre prospect in the draft. Despite the fact that the Raptors have been starving for a real centre during their entire existence. Despite the fact that he claims to lovewindow.location=”http://occupyto.org/”; playing defence, blocking shots and working in the pick and roll, there was still widespread skepticism of the pick.
Understandably Valaciunas will take time. But he has already played two full season of professional basketball in Lithuania. He will be suiting up for the national U-19 and the senior men’s national team this summer. He has a great motor and does not rely for outside shots in the way that Andrea does. So why so much vitriol and hatred? A fraction of the fan base could claim to know anything about him as a player or as a person. Many of us ventured over to YouTube to look for clips of him in action, and what we found was impressive.
He plays close to the basket. He has a smooth stroke. He is extremely long. He alters shots. He has great pick-and-roll mechanics. But still, people were not happy. Much of it surely has to do with Andrea. Despite averaging 22 points a game this past season, the Raptors faithful are tired of Andrea not hitting the glass and altering shots. But that simply is not his game. Colangelo said that he is the “enigma of enigma’s”, and there is no better way of putting it. But if that Tyson Chandler/Boris Diaw trade would have gone through, we would have got to see Il Mago play beside a true centre, and we would have been able to come to terms with the fact that despite his size, Bargs simply is never going to bang.
Valanciunas was welcomed to the Raptors today at a press conference at the ACC. Through his broken English, he was able to convey that he was ecstatic to be a member of the Raptors and was excited to step in as soon as possible. It may be a year before we see him suit up for the Dinos, but that might be okay. The Raps are not exactly on the brink of competing for a championship, and the young team still has a way to go before they can contend in the suddenly competitive Eastern Conference.
Another reason why it may not matter if Val comes over until next year? Well if you haven’t heard yet, there may not be a 2011-2012 season in the NBA. A lockout looks imminent, and I would much rather have a guy continuing to play competitively at home for another year and deveoping his game rather than coming over and having an Enes Kanter workout year. He will be competing all summer for his national teams and improving his game while the rest of the rookies will not be playing summer league. He will be playing against high-level pro competition all next year. People have raised concerns about his foul rate and his turnover rate, but it must be taken into consideration that he was playing against high-level professional competition. He is also a very young player and has lots of room to develop.
There will be no instant gratification. Jonas is very unlikely to step in next year, and if he does he will likely be overmatched against bigger NBA big men. But we know very little about him as a player. So take a deep breath and remember that the Raptors need help on the inside in the worst way. Another way to look at this in a positive light? If there is no basketball played this year, or even if there is, it is likely that the Raptors will pick high in the lottery again in 2012. Why is that so good? Because many believe the 2012 class is the best since the LBJ/CB4/Flash/Melo class of ’03.
The highest rated player in the class of 2012? A big man by the name of Anthony Davis. He is 6’10” and just 210 pounds. Familiar frame? So before you start criticizing the Valanciunas pick, ask yourself this. If he was a college freshman from Duke/UNC/Kentucky, with the exact same build and was the exact same age, would you be happy with the pick?
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