Hoops Addict » NBA Draft http://www.hoopsaddict.com Get Your Basketball Fix... Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:04:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2011 NBA Mock Draft http://www.hoopsaddict.com/2011-nba-mock-draft/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/2011-nba-mock-draft/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:32:17 +0000 Ryan McNeill http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=13972 1. Cleveland – Kyrie Irving PG
18 years old; 6’2″; 185 lbs.
Duke, Freshman

2. Minnesota – Derrick Williams PF
19 years old; 6’8″; 235 lbs.
Arizona, Sophomore

3. Utah – Enes Kanter C
18 years old; 6’9″; 250 lbs.
Kentucky, Freshman

4. Cleveland – Tristan Thompson PF – Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
19 years old; 6′ 8″; 235lbs.
Texas, Freshman

5. Toronto – Brandon Knight SG - Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
18 years old; 6′ 3″; 170lbs.
Kentucky, Freshman

6. Washington – Jan Vesely SF
20 years old; 6’11″; 240 lbs.
KK Partizan Belgrade, International

7. Sacramento – Bismack Biyombo PF/C
 18 years old; 6′ 9″; 240lbs.
Baloncesto Fuenlabrada

8. Detroit – Kawhi Leonard SF – Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
19 years old; 6′ 7″; 225lbs.
San Diego State, Sophomore

9. Charlotte – Kemba Walker PG – Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
20 years old; 6’0″; 180 lbs.
Connecticut, Junior

10. Milwaukee – Jonas Valanciunas PF
18 years old; 6’11″; 240 lbs.
Lietuvos Rytas, International

11. Golden State – Klay Thompson SG/SF
 21 years old; 6′ 6″; 187lbs.
Washington State

12. Utah – Alec Burks SG
19 years old; 6′ 6″; 200lbs.
Colorado, Sophomore

13. Phoenix – Marcus Morris PF – Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
21 years old; 6’9″; 225 lbs.
Kansas, Junior

14. Houston – Markieff Morris PF
21 years old; 6′ 10″; 235lbs.
Kansas, Junior

15. Indiana – Jimmer Fredette PG
22 years old; 6′ 2″ 195lbs.
BYU, Senior

16. Philadelphia – Tobias Harris SF - Audio from after his pre-draft workout in Toronto
18 years old; 6′ 8″; 210lbs.
Tennessee, Freshman

17. New York – Jordan Hamilton SF
20 years old; 6′ 7″; 210lbs.
Texas, Sophomore

18. Washington – Chris Singleton SF
21 years old; 6’8″; 210 lbs.
Florida State, Junior

19. Charlotte – Donatas Motiejunas PF/C
20 years old; 7’0″; 215 lbs.
Benetton Treviso, International

20. Minnesota – Marshon Brooks SG
22 years old; 6’5″; 195 lbs.
Providence, Senior

21. Portland – Josh Selby SG
 20 years old; 6′ 1″; 180lbs.
Kansas

22. Denver – Kenneth Faried PF
 21 years old; 6’8″; 225 lbs.
Morehead State, Senior

23. Houston – Tyler Honeycutt SF
20 years old; 6;9″; 180 lbs.
UCLA, Sophomore

24. Oklahoma City – Reggie Jackson PG
 20 years old; 6’3″, 208 lbs.
Boston College, Junior

25. Boston – Jeremy Tyler C
19 years old; 6’11″; 260 lbs.
Tokyo Apache, International

26. Dallas – Nikola Mirotic PF
20 years old; 6′ 10″; 210lbs.
Real Madrid

27. New Jersey – JaJuan Johnson PF
21 years old; 6’10″; 215 lbs.
Purdue, Senior

28. Chicago – Justin Harper PF
 21 years old; 6′ 10″; 225lbs.
Richmond, Senior

29. San Antonio – Charles Jenkins PG/SG
22 years old; 6’3″; 220 lbs.
Hofstra, Senior

30. Chicago – Nolan Smith PG/SG
22 years old; 6’3″; 185 lbs.
Duke, Senior

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/2011-nba-mock-draft/feed/ 29 In The Scrum With Kawhi Leonard http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-kawhi-leonard/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-kawhi-leonard/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:35:54 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15970 San Diego State alum Kawhi Leonard spoke to the media in Toronto after working out for the Raptors on Wednesday. Leonard, who could be an option for the team at No. 5, talked about some of his NBA player comps and offered his thoughts on the draft experience.

Download audio file (kawhi1.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-kawhi-leonard/feed/ 1 In The Scrum With Tristan Thompson http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tristan-thompson/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tristan-thompson/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:34:34 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15984 Brampton, ON native and former Longhorn Tristan Thompson was the star attraction for local Toronto media during his workout with the Raptors on Wednesday that also featured Kawhi Leonard, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and life-long friend Cory Joseph. Speaking to the media afterwards, Thompson talked about Joseph and the bright future of Canadian basketball.

Download audio file (Thompson.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tristan-thompson/feed/ 1 In The Scrum With Jim Kelly http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:33:50 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15987 Toronto Raptors Director of Scouting Jim Kelly spoke to local media once again after the latest set of workouts, which saw the team host Kawhi Leonard, Tristan Thompson, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Cory Joseph and Demontez Stitt. Calling it “the most competitive workout thus far”, Kelly described what impressed him about the draft candidates.

Download audio file (Jim-Kelly.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly/feed/ 0 In The Scrum With Cory Joseph http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-cory-joseph/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-cory-joseph/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:57:20 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15967 Texas PG and Brampton, ON native Cory Joseph returned to the Greater Toronto Area on Wednesday for a pre-draft workout with the Raptors. Speaking to media afterwards, Joseph talked about being a traditional point guard and his life-long friendship with fellow draftee and Texas alum Tristan Thompson.

Download audio file (Cory-Joseph1.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-cory-joseph/feed/ 0 In The Scrum With Marcus Morris http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-marcus-morris/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-marcus-morris/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:12:26 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15964 Kansas PF Marcus Morris was in Toronto on Wednesday for a pre-draft workout that also included Kawhi Leonard, Tristan Thompson and Tobias Harris . Speaking to the media after his workout, Morris discussed his game and talked about his twin brother, Markieff.

Download audio file (Marcus-Morris1.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-marcus-morris/feed/ 1 In The Scrum With Tobias Harris http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tobias-harris/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tobias-harris/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:03:41 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15960 Former Tennessee PF Tobias Harris was in Toronto on Wednesday as part of a loaded workout that also included Kawhi Leonhard, Tristan Thompson and Marcus Morris. The projected mid-to-late first rounder talked about his all-around game, as well as being one of the draft’s high risers.

Download audio file (Tobias-Harris1.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-tobias-harris/feed/ 1 In The Scrum With Jim Kelly – Part 1 http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-1/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-1/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:58:05 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15865 After getting an up-close look at NCAA tournament hero Kemba Walker during a draft workout in Toronto on Tuesday, Raptors Senior Director of Scouting Jim Kelly spoke to the media about the UConn alum. Kelly raved about Walker’s passing skills and added some general thoughts on the scouting process.

Download audio file (Jim_Kelly.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-1/feed/ 0 In The Scrum With Jim Kelly – Part 2 http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-2/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-2/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:57:22 +0000 Ben Fisher http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=15868 Toronto Raptors Senior Director of Scouting Jim Kelly was busy on Tuesday. After the team hosted an early workout featuring Kemba Walker, Kentucky’s Brandon Knight took to the practice court for his own workout. In speaking to the media afterward, Kelly compared the two young point guards.

Download audio file (Jim_Kelly2.mp3)

]]> http://www.hoopsaddict.com/in-the-scrum-with-jim-kelly-part-2/feed/ 0 Ed Davis Slides To Toronto http://www.hoopsaddict.com/ed-davis-slides-to-toronto/ http://www.hoopsaddict.com/ed-davis-slides-to-toronto/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:12:33 +0000 Ryan McNeill http://www.hoopsaddict.com/?p=11723 The NBA Draft unfolded as expected until Utah selected Gordan Hayward with the ninth pick and then things got a little crazy. The pick immediately after this saw Indiana select Paul George while Cole Aldrich also went higher than expected when he was drafted eleventh overall.

This resulted in a player Toronto didn’t think would be available, Ed Davis, sliding down to them at the 13th spot.

The fact Davis fell this far was such a surprise that Toronto didn’t even bring him in for a workout this month as they were sure he would be gone by the 10th pick.

“We were surprised because we didn’t have him on our list of five players we were targeting because we really didn’t think he would available at thirteen,” Jay Triano admitted to the media shortly after the selection was made. “We thought he would be long gone. To have him keep sliding we kept crossing our fingers that he would slide one more. He fell right into our lap which was great.”

Triano felt there were a couple of reasons for the free fall in Davis’ in the draft tonight but he wasn’t worried about any of those potential issues.

“I think maybe his injured hand held him back a bit, but I think more than that everybody thought he would go higher than that so he didn’t work out for certain teams below a certain number,” Jay Triano told the media Thursday evening. “When he doesn’t work out for certain teams they don’t get a feel and he slides. But you guys have seen part of the workouts. What do they really show you? It’s the scouts who watch games all year and evaluate these guys.”

Even though Bryan Colangelo was surprised to see Davis still available he was ready for something like this happening and jumped at the opportunity to draft the talented big man.

“Ed (Davis) was rated a lot higher not only in our minds but in all of the research we had done but there was a scenario we talked about anybody above a certain line, if they dropped to us, we’re taking them,” Colangelo told the media. “Ed was that name. We had a few more names up on our board in the group that we liked but if you stay true to the process and you weed out the names you would clearly take if they came to you then you go ahead and take them.”

Luckily for Toronto, it appears a team ahead of them got cold feet which resulted in a couple of teams passing on Davis.

“There was a lot of interest at a particular pick everyone assumed would be where he landed but perhaps a little bit of a shift up near the top of the draft led that team to make a different decision,” said Colangelo.

Regardless of the reason, Davis managed to slide to Toronto and they were able to select a player that should be able to anchor their defense the next few seasons.

Davis is the third fastest player at the University of North Carolina to swat 100 shots and he accomplished the feet after 51 games while it took Rasheed Wallace 47 games and Sam Perkins 50 games to accomplish the same feat.

Pretty impressive company, if you ask me.

Davis, however, is far from a one trick pony. Last season his season ended prematurely with a broken lunate bone in his left wrist on February 10, 2010, but at that point in time he was leading the ACC in field goal percentage (.578) and blocked shots, was second in rebounding and 15th in scoring. Clearly he’s a guy you can throw on the court that will get “garbage points” without needing plays run for him while also providing the defensive presence the team was searching for. He’ll be able to grab some rebounds, change a ton of shots and he has the athleticism to allow the team to continue to get out and run on the break.

With Chris Bosh likely heading out of town as a free agent and the team looking to move Andrea Bargnani to power forward, that resume makes Davis an ideal pick for Toronto.

“We did a lot of background checks,” Triano explained. “We called Roy Williams one or two picks before and he had nothing but rave reviews. Our scouts were talking to other people. Teams get penciled into certain need or a certain player and sometimes guys slide. When we have a need for rebounding or defense and when he’s efficient with how he shoots the ball it’s a perfect fit for us.”

Even thought thirteen has long been know as an unlucky number, it appears Toronto had a lot of luck on their side tonight.

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