He wasn't even good against crap competition
He was projected to go 2nd round or even undrafted. There wasn't anything calculated about it other than potential fukkery.
Bruno Caboclo's journey to the NBA (The Brazillian KD)
- Thread starter Ohene
- Start date
Nice read, Ujiri the gawd strikes again. He's got the physical tools and mentality to be a great player so health is the only concern for them really. 
He wasn't even good against crap competition
He was projected to go 2nd round or even undrafted. There wasn't anything calculated about it other than potential fukkery.
That's the overseas game though. Unless you're Ricky Rubio or Manu Ginobili, if you're 18 or 19 you are not going to see any minutes on a club team. At the same age in Europe, Serge Ibaka, Evan Fournier, Marco Belinelli and Tiago Splitter all played 15 minutes a game.
godkiller
"We are the Fury"
Yeah, but this ain't Europe. And he wasn't playing in the Euroleague. He was playing for a basketball league that's only been around since 2009. The entire league is trash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novo_Basquete_Brasil The guy he was starting behind was a 2nd round pick by the New Orleans Pelicans back in 2006.
http://english.worldhoopstats.com/stats/lega-it/2917-marquinhos-marcus-de-sousa.html
Dude is straight butt and the Raptors are trying to glam this up like they didn't just throw away a draft pick. They should've just traded the pick for Jameer then re-signed him for cheap.
Why would they trade a 20th pick for the rights to an expiring Jameer Nelson next year when the Magic were going to release him after they picked Elfrid Payton? I don't know if he's garbage yet or not, we'll see in the summer league. He's only 18 and he hasn't played a game in the league yet...if he sucks in 2 or 3 years and hasn't developed a single skill, then he's a bust.
They trade for Jameer then they have his bird rights and get to do whatever they want in this FA without worrying about the cap. I was just using him as an example either way though. Raptors knew they needed a backup PG on something reasonable and Vasquez most likely isn't signing for something reasonable at this stage of his career, etc. There were better ways to use the pick. Much better ways.
And I'm not even talking about the guy being a bust. He's fireable offense as a reach. He would've been sitting there comfortably at #45 when teams were selling picks. Hell, him going undrafted was likely as well. People want to point at Ginobli but when did Ginobli get drafted? This was a terrible move by their GM but at least the Raptors PR department gets to earn their paychecks early.
He wasn't even good against crap competition
He was projected to go 2nd round or even undrafted. There wasn't anything calculated about it other than potential fukkery.
You cant make any assessments based on a 30 second video where he takes 1 shot 1 dunk and 2 blocks....He has some tools and obviously that wing span you cant ignore but theres nothing to go on...
I agree that it was a reach (I really liked PJ Hairston and felt he would be a great fit but they didn't even schedule him for a workout), but if they didn't like anyone else on the board then why not go for it. I don't think it's a fireable offense to reach for someone at #20. If this was Araujo at #8 or Jonny Flynn at #6, that's a fireable offense. Just look at who have been the 20th pick in the last 10 years:
#20 NBA Draft Picks Career Stats
YEAR TEAMPLAYER (*active)POSGPMINPPGRPGAPGPERP40R40
2013Bulls Tony Snell* SF77 16.0 4.5 1.6 .9 8.0 11.2 4.0
2012Nuggets Evan Fournier* SG/SF114 16.9 7.4 2.1 1.4 11.1 17.4 4.9
2011Rockets Donatas Motiejunas* PF/C106 14.1 5.6 3.0 .6 11.3 15.9 8.5
2010Spurs James Anderson* SG/SF195 18.5 6.4 2.4 1.3 10.7 13.8 5.3
2009Jazz Eric Maynor* PG267 14.6 4.3 1.3 2.8 10.6 11.7 3.6
2008Bobcats Alexis Ajinca* C127 11.8 4.3 3.1 .4 13.0 14.7 10.4
200776ers Jason Smith* PF/C331 16.7 6.0 3.5 .6 12.9 14.3 8.5
2006Knicks Renaldo Balkman SF/PF221 13.9 4.0 3.5 .6 14.4 11.7 10.0
2005Nuggets Julius Hodge PG/SG23 4.2 1.2 .7 .8 10.8 11.5 6.2
2004Nuggets Jameer Nelson*
Aside from Jameer Nelson, none of those guys on that list became significant contributors. Why not take a chance at #20 if these are the type of players you typically get to take at that position?
Trade the pick then. Miami made it obvious all night that they were ready to pay out the azz for Shabazz. The domino effect from Charlotte dealing with them is going to save them 3-5 mil total against the cap. Or trade up and take advantage of a team looking to make space in free agency in this year or the next like the Bulls did. It was a lack of foresight. If you look behind all those #20 picks, I guarantee you'll see someone that worth either moving back for or a trade that kept someone afloat.
Enough bad moves in a row is just... dumb. I thought he did a great job all year long until he re-signed Casey and the draft though.
The only people I can think of that were contributors after #20 were Jared Sullinger, Kenneth Faried, Jimmy Butler, Chandler Parsons and Isaiah Thomas. We can talk all day about potential trade possibilities and the salary cap ramifications, but what's done is done. I wasn't happy with the pick initially but aside from PJ Hairston and maybe Clint Capela, I wasn't a fan of anyone else available. We'll see if this kid becomes anything down the road.