This is WAY BETTER than we thought…

This is WAY BETTER than we thought…

This is way better than we thought. As we all watched, I was live. The reaction, the Toronto Raptors end up falling to the ninth pick in this year’s NBA draft. Didn’t jump up and take Cooper flag. But as the dust is settled, a ton of reports, a ton of news, and a ton of analysis has come out regarding this current draft order, what fans can expect in terms of player that’s players that are going to be available at that ninth overall selection. And frankly, it is way better than I think anyone really thought as we had that initial reaction to this team falling a couple spots in the draft lottery and of course not making that jump that everyone was hoping for. So, we’re going to break down what these latest updates are, the kind of landscape the Raptors are looking at heading into this year’s NBA draft and frankly why this positioning is way better than any of us thought once uh the the numbers started going down and down and down for him. you know, hopes of getting number one and obviously falling to number nine. So, so much to break down out here in this video. Before we dive into that, folks, you guys have been crushing it, hitting that subscribe button. We hit that 37,500 mark. So, uh, we’re continue to grow. We want to keep building this community, hit that 38,000 subscriber milestone. So, appreciate every single one of you that have hit that subscribe button, but make sure if you want to stay up to date with all the latest Toronto Raptors news, you guys hit that subscribe button. But let’s dive into it because of course the big topic, the big guy that uh everyone brought up was of course Cooper Flag who is now going to the Dallas Mavericks. Still believe it’s rigged. I think that’s a sentiment that uh a lot of people came to in terms of uh once the Mavericks got that selection. We’re not going to dive into that too much here. Whatever. Good for Marcel. Good for the Dallas Mavericks. That uh that is what it is. But the player that’s on the minds of a lot of Toronto Raptors fans and why a lot of people were frankly disappointed in getting that number nine overall selection was Common Malawatch who is a player that we felt a lot was a lot more likely to land in the Toronto Raptors lap if we were at that number seven position. And falling down those two spots add some more variability in terms of the players that are available. And the most intriguing guy is of course K Malawatch who has been a part of the Giants of Africa program so has a relationship with Messiah Jerry there. And you know he’s 72. He’s a rim protector. He’s mobile. He’s a lob threat. He’s been developing that three-point shot as we pulled up videos as of late. He is a piece that a lot of Raptors fans were just like, “Hey, we get nine now. We can’t even get Malawatch. What’s going on here?” Well, the first thing because there’s a lot of developments I want to discuss in regards to the Toronto Raptor draft position. At this point, Malawatch is still not out of reach for the Toronto Raptors. Just looking at the different mock drafts, there are a lot of stuff that we want to go into. So, basically, one mock draft from CBS Sports has a Malwatch going n to the Toronto Raptors. And basically, their analysis was with Yaka Purle hitting free agency next year, the Raptors could use a long-term answer at center. And many people around the leagues view Malawatch because of his time in the NBA Africa with NBA Academy in Africa and Messiah Jur’s efforts to promote basketball within the region. It’s a connection that makes a ton of sense to the Raptors sliding back to number nine. Malawatch isn’t a monster shock blocker, but he understands how big he is and excellent at using his size to cut off angles and contest in the interior. Offensively, there are more questions largely about his hands and overall feel for the game, but he got to uh basketball a bit late and was still working on how to see the floor around him. He also doesn’t seem to come down with contested rebounds. Starky uh w as was starkly seen in Duke’s final four game against Houston when he played 20 minutes and had zero rebounds. Still someone who was uh who will take the bet on a player who’s 7’2 with long arms with movement and skills. So I love this because you see the framing of that. It’s all kind of negative out there at Cabo Battle. And I’ve heard a few things about after his big game out there at the Duke Final 4, him falling in the draft, the visa issues, him falling in the draft. And frankly, those are things I’m not too worried about for a raw very athletic high upside center. I’m not really stressed about that. If I’m a Sai Jerry, if I’m the Toronto Raptor, I want that sort of high upside play out there at that number 09 overall selection. So, you know, the fact that some of the mocks are kind of painting him in a more negative light due to short-term things. That is something that is is, you know, positive there. So, that’s a good thing to look at. So, they have him mocked going number nine, the Toronto Raptors. Uh, another mock has him going 14th to the San Antonio Spurs. So, you see the wide range in terms of where he could get selected. Some people are bringing up the visa issue as a serious thing and why that could really affect him being with the Toronto Raptor because if he leaves the United States, then he might not be able to get back in. Those are all things to factor in and play, but the NBA usually has a workaround for that stuff. So, I’m not super concerned about those things here now at this point. But basically, you know, they haven’t fallen to 14th and Derek Queen, which we’ll talk about after. But, uh, the one name and talking to people who are more in tune with NBA draft selections, people from the States and stuff in the in the network that just cover NCAA day in day out. This is the sort of threat that the Toronto Raptors have. It’s the New Orleans Pelicans there at number seven who probably are going to be intrigued by bringing in another center. You know, they just brought they did draft Missy, you know, I believe it was last year, the season prior. So, it’s uh they do have some pieces at the center spot, but Malawatch is a guy to very much watch for at the number seventh overall selection, you know, for this current draft spot. But basically, you see it there, the Nets are also a team that have been uh, you know, overtaken. They’re ahead of the Toronto Raptors, the draft standings. Basically, the Pelicans and the Nets are the two teams that a lot of uh analysts, a lot of insiders, a lot of people that are, you know, setting up these mock drafts with NBA draft are looking at for the Toronto Raptors in terms of competition for common Malawatch. So, basically, while it’s uh and looking at the mock drafts, this is one of beyond the top two picks, this is one of the most scattered mock drafts I’ve seen in a long time, especially for, you know, one that’s regarded as a talented draft. Last year was pretty crazy as well, but you know, a lot of people are saying, “Hey, none of these guys are good, so it doesn’t really matter.” This year, it’s like, “Oh, there’s a lot of good players, but they’re bouncing all over the place.” Common Malawatch is certainly still in play for the Toronto Raptors at number nine. So, that’s the first thing. And there is a negative spin getting thrown on his game by a lot of people. So, I I’ve heard uh you know, a few Wizards fans saying that he could be an option out there at number five as well, even though they took SAR in last year’s NBA draft. I don’t know. It’s not a sure thing that he falls. Of course, it would have been much more likely the Raptors end up getting Malawatch if we were at the seventh umbrell pick, but there is still a very realistic possibility of him falling to number nine. So, that’s the first big takeaway in terms of why things are better than we initially thought last night reacting to that draft lottery. The other one is Derek Queen. So, both Malawatch and Queen, as you can see, this current box draft here in terms of the big list, both are centers. Both are guys that are kind of available at that spot. And Queen, similar to Malwatch, is kind of all over the place. You know, I’ve seen him mocked at 12. I’ve seen him mocked at five. I’ve seen him all in these different areas. And if you’re not familiar with Dairy Queen, again, he averaged 16.5 points per game, nine rebounds, 1.9 assists. uh has again shows some upside as a shooter but isn’t you know that three-point shooting specialist by any stretch of the imagination but definitely a guy that I think a lot of Raptors fans are intrigued by in terms of you know he’s more less like intangibles like hey this guy is extremely high upside as a defender and stuff but is a much more polished offensive player can get some buckets all around to different places and you know is just a more well-rounded guy at this current stage in his development so you know we’ve heard Messiah Jury say that they’re going to take the best player available and uh this is what this quote says and it’s that answer everyone gives yada yada yada but yeah another young big we need another young big we would definitely look into that but it’s not really focused on that to be honest we there are a lot of talented kids so even though Messiah Jury is saying they’re going to take the best talent available getting a young big is a little bit of a priority for this team so both in these uh mock drafts and stuff Malawatch and Derrick Queen are still hovering around right where the Toronto Raptors are selecting so that those are two positives to kind of look at the two guys that we’re talking about terms of our draft range leading into the lottery should still be available now at this point. So those are the biggest things that we can kind of you know come at peace with you know for the Toronto Raptors based off of the draft lottery standings. Now, there are a bunch of names that are getting thrown out there in terms of potential Messiah jury draft picks because there are a lot of intriguing high upside players and Noah Assangu, and I don’t know if that’s how you pronounce it, is a player that I saw a lot of uh names start to circulate regarding this Raptors team. Again, a very raw, high upside French player that just screams like the type of guy if Messiah Jerry’s regular guys on the board. And frankly, Derek Queen is a guy that I’m very intrigued by, but I could see Messiah Jury going in an SNU direction rather than a Derrick Queen direction. But that’s just from experience from what we’ve seen from Msia Jury out there in the past. But basically a player that, you know, is is encouraging in terms of high upside. You know, some people love him, some people hate him as with is the case with any of these types of draft picks. But, you know, per 36 minutes, you know, average 18 point 18.8 points per game, eight rebounds, 1.7 assists. you know, just an intriguing defender, very athletic, high upside, very long wingspan. So, you go dating back to the Bruno Kaboko days. Definitely an interesting piece, but we’re gonna cover all of these guys more in depth in their own individual videos out here on the channel. So, make sure you guys subscribe to that. But, frankly, the main sentiment I want to get out today is this is way better than we thought. We were depressed, we were sad, I think there was more shock about how rigged the NBA draft lottery was this season, and that’s just how things go here now at this point. But frankly, this is uh the Raptors are still in a very very good spot. And even though we tanked away this season, even though we prayed for Cooper Flag, this team should still be in a very, very nice place to take that leap next season. So, let me know what you guys think about all this in the comments section down below. You guys best think as far. Subscribe to the channel if you guys haven’t already. Anyways, I’m signing out. Just

The Toronto Raptors had a rough result in the NBA draft lottery yesterday, however, after digging deeper into the current position the team is in for the NBA draft it is way better than most people thought. Ben Rogers breaks down the state of the Raptors and what it means for the team moving forward.

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