Its_asdf's Raptors Dynasty - Discontinued

[Its_asdf]

First time I actually someone so serious with this kind of thing . . .
Well your seriousness in doing this lead to a masterpiece . . .
Hope that this will be nominated sometime in the future . . .

Thank you for the kind words, but honestly there have been a ton of other amazing dynasties with much greater detail than even I have. Most of them have moved on to 2k9, so if you get a chance to stop by there you can see a lot more high quality stuff.

Ratchuk led me to a Championship with the Lakers. Although he was British in my game. Greek sounds better due to his name.

I was actually planning on going after a SF/SG as my number one priority, but the more I think about adding a solid back up point guard the more enticing it sounds. Plus he's a Euro, he'd fit right in with the Raps lol.

Fredrik Ratchuk Could be a nice Pg,but for a PG he has a really low passing rating .

Yeah he definitely struck me as a tweener that couldn't run the offence that well, which is pretty troubling for a player his size. Then again his perimeter skills are just so damn good, and with Calderon running the point already he can play a similar role to what T.J. Ford did a few seasons back.

Ratchuk would perhaps stand out as the best choice if not for his passing ability. What's his development potential like?

His potential was rated average/low (don't really remember).

Ratchuk seems to make a nice back-up at the point for Calderon! Of course, if luck should strike, take Askins!

I doubt that'll happen... Askins is pretty much the consensus number 1 (kind of mirroring what Blake Griffin is in this year's draft). A player of his calibre in comparison with the other draftees will not be passed up on twice I can guarantee you that.

No question, if he slips to third I'd say he's the one to pick.

I also realised that I overlooked Potential in your scouting reports. That certainly makes Ratchuk a bit more iffy, if his potential was better you might be able to get away with a bit of focused training to improve his ballhandling skills but you really do want more out of a point guard right out of the gate.

That and dbf editing But yeah, Ratchuk seems pretty NBA ready in terms of everything else but passing, and in NBA Live I've never really had too much trouble having my guards distribute the ball even when their passing rating was fairly low. He pretty much intrigues me because of my own play style when it comes to playing the games themself.

[Andrew]

True, you can get kind of get around it moving the ball in the half court and feeding the post. It'd be worse if his dribbling was way down as well since he'd be losing the ball a lot whenever you try to shake someone with a crossover. With a lower passing rating he'd do alright, but he'd probably throw his fair share of long passes on the break out of bounds or straight into the opponent's hands.

[hova-]

I like it. Youre getting into it. I'd rather bring back Marion and draft Ratchuk. You need decent defenders and especially Marion can lockdown different positions. Terrell will help you on offense but maybe you can find some better offensive fits on other positions.

[Dee.]

I Agree with hova- u should bring back Marion and draft Ratchuk.

[Lamrock]

Its a shame you don't have real draftees but a nice start nonetheless. I'm a Raptors fan, so I'll be interested to see how this goes. Keep it up.

[kibaxx7]

Thinking the same as Hova too. Marion & Ratchuk... it's 3am but your writing is still ace

[Its_asdf]

Almost done guys, I know you're getting sick of these, but I need to wrap it up with a couple of second rounders


Bane Peeler



Projected: Late 1st Round/Early Second Round
Position: C/PF
Height: 6'10
Weight: 222 lbs
Age: 23
School: Wake Forest


Optimistic Comparison: Chris Wilcox
Pessimistic Comparison: Sean Williams
Size: Strength:

Speed: Leaping Ability:

Rebounding: Passing:

Dribbling: Intangibles:

Jumper: Scoring:

Defense: Potential:


Strengths: Many people have boldly made comparisons of Amare Stoudemire to Bane Peeler due to their raw and explosive power games inside the paint. For the most part, this is an accurate statement; Peeler has a somewhat lanky frame that will fill out in the near future and shows nimble feet that allow him to quickly elevate over any defender for some vicious slam dunks. Peeler has also a feared reputation of being an intimidator in the paint as he shows great timing on his weak-side shotblocking, punching out weak layups or unathletic moves to the basket far into the stands. Overall, Peeler's athletic gifts can make any scout's mouth water. His athleticism alone allowed him to be widely considered the second best big man next to Priest Askins. This should have made him a lottery pick, however...
Weaknesses: Peeler's stock has continually spiraled downward despite his physical gifts, mostly due to off-court issues. Peeler is most well known for feuding with his Wake Forest head coach due to his lack of playing time after he was late to many practices; a war of words through the media which lasted through most of last season. Peeler also was forced to sit out his first season after being caught for academic misconduct, robbing him of one year of basketball experience despite being the same age as most seniors in this draft class. The fact that he is 23 years old also makes people question whether or not his high ceiling can ever be reached, since Peeler has yet to polish up any facet of his game other than throwing the ball at the rim or power dunking a couple feet away from the basket. Even considering that Peeler has vowed to change his work ethic and be on his best behaviour (which he has been for this season), his past antics have really hurt his draft stock.
Jim Kelly's (Raptors' Sr. Director of Player Personnel) Take: "One hell of an athlete. If he can keep it together off the court, then on the court he can definitely become a pretty solid big man. We've had the chance to talk to Bane after we worked out with him and he never struck me as the bad boy type; he truly seemed regretful towards a lot of the mistakes that he's made and is playing with a chip on his shoulder now. Not much to really like in terms of his offensive game... There are obvious flashes of post play and a jumper but there are a lot of rough areas to his game. I think we could use a player that's aggressive in the paint like he is, although his past off-court issues and the fact that he's pegged to be a late first rounder probably means we're going to pass on him. There's no doubt in my mind that he is a genuine first round talent, and someone is bound to take a gamble on this kid."



Roshown Royal



Projected: Early 2nd Round
Position: SG/PG
Height: 6'3
Weight: 205 lbs
Age: 19
School: Wake Forest


Optimistic Comparison: Flip Murray
Pessimistic Comparison: DaJuan Wagner
Size: Strength:

Speed: Leaping Ability:

Rebounding: Passing:

Dribbling: Intangibles:

Jumper: Scoring:

Defense: Potential:


Strengths: A good scorer who looks like he can become a very good energy player off the bench. Not overwhelming in many areas of his game, but shows good scoring instincts. Roshown Royal owns a very nice pull up jump shot from range or can take it all the way to the basket with his slashing ability. His shooting range has slowly creeped out to the college three point line and has shown steady strides of improvement as the season has progressed. Roshown can be a pretty good defender when he puts his mind to it, pestering opposing ball handlers and shows good anticipation in the passing lanes.
Weaknesses: Royal is the embodiment of your typical tweener. He is too small to play the shooting guard but has almost no experience running the point. The couple of times he has been placed at that position the Wake Forest offense would automatically grow stagnant despite his developing point guard skills. Royal was also playing hurt early on in the season after he was hampered by a knee injury. The injury was nothing too serious, but it seemed to add a lot of inconsistency to Royal's play and whether or not it will be a problem in the future remains to be seen. Also, the more confidence Royal had in his jumper as the season progressed, the more intent he became on settling for ill-advised jumpshots, which did not help the team at all considering his shot still needs a lot more work in order for it to be effective.
Jim Kelly's (Raptors' Sr. Director of Player Personnel) Take: "Royal is going to be really hard to implement into a traditional offensive system because of his lack of point guard skills. He's only 19 years old though, so he would be perfect for a rebuilding team who needs a combo guard to compliment a bigger point guard. It's hard to tell how well he can adjust to the NBA because tweener guards can either become really successful in a more unconventional system such as Monta Ellis and Allen Iverson, or they can be booted out of the NBA after being unable to adjust to either position."



Zach Mayfield



Projected: Early 2nd Round
Position: SF/SG/PF(?)
Height: 6'5
Weight: 230 lbs
Age: 23
School: Indiana


Optimistic Comparison: Bonzi Wells
Pessimistic Comparison: P.J. Tucker
Size: Strength:

Speed: Leaping Ability:

Rebounding: Passing:

Dribbling: Intangibles:

Jumper: Scoring:

Defense: Potential:


Strengths: Zach Mayfield was naturally a power foward in college, so he brings a certain edge and grit to the small foward position despite being a few inches undersized undersized. Mayfield shows a lot of unorthodox offensive weapons because of his natural power forward position, preferring to play inside the post rather than operating from the perimeter. That is not say that Mayfield can't shoot though; he shows a nice spot up jump shot from mid range and can even knock in the occassional three pointer. Rebounding is another one of Mayfield's strong suits as well, as he is very adept at throwing his 230 lb frame around the paint and isn't afraid of mixing it up with bigger players to crash the boards. His strength is probably his biggest asset as it allows for him to finish at the rim with contact very well and on defense he can make it very difficult for small forwards to find their footing in the paint.
Weaknesses: Mayfield's ballhandling and speed are underwhelming at best. He tends to struggles to stay in front of players that are quicker than him and can be a liability if he plays against extremely athletic 3s and 2s. Mayfield can also be fairly turnover prone and loses the ball frequently from having the ball stripped right out of his hands. This also leads to Mayfield's inability to shoot off the dribble or to take anything more than 3-5 dribbles without losing the ball. Most of these seem like correctable mistakes, but since Zach Mayfield is 23 years of age one has to wonder if he'll be anything outside of a modest role player off the bench.
Jim Kelly's (Raptors' Sr. Director of Player Personnel) Take: "Has clear cut strengths and clear cut weaknesses. One thing that we really like about him is his willingness to crash the boards and defend, as these are our two biggest weaknesses at the moment. He rarely plays outside of his limitations and seems to be the consummate role player, but there are a lot of players in this draft who have just as much skill as Mayfield and have a way higher ceiling as well."

UP NEXT: The 2009 NBA Draft!

[Its_asdf]

True, you can get kind of get around it moving the ball in the half court and feeding the post. It'd be worse if his dribbling was way down as well since he'd be losing the ball a lot whenever you try to shake someone with a crossover. With a lower passing rating he'd do alright, but he'd probably throw his fair share of long passes on the break out of bounds or straight into the opponent's hands.

Yeah that is something to take into account, but most of the time I've tended to notice that many of NBA Live 2005's fast breaks are squandered by lightning quick AI who sprint back at twice your speed anyway.

I like it. Youre getting into it. I'd rather bring back Marion and draft Ratchuk. You need decent defenders and especially Marion can lockdown different positions. Terrell will help you on offense but maybe you can find some better offensive fits on other positions.

I Agree with hova- u should bring back Marion and draft Ratchuk.

Yeah, resigning Marion is definitely my top priority, no matter who I draft. However, if I do get Ratchuk his height will definitely get him burned by bigger point guards, so I'm essentially picking my poison when it comes to which position I want to shore up defensively. Terrell has a very interesting skill set, and he's pretty much the consensus number 2 of the draft with Ratchuk being number 3. If all goes according to plan, Ratchuk will probably be a Raptor.

Its a shame you don't have real draftees but a nice start nonetheless. I'm a Raptors fan, so I'll be interested to see how this goes. Keep it up.

Thanks for stopping by Lamrock, I honestly would have started an NBA 2k9 association with the Raptors had it not been for my computer exploding on me and my inability to run the game without lagging horrendously anymore.

Thinking the same as Hova too. Marion & Ratchuk... it's 3am but your writing is still ace

Thanks for the compliment... But I honestly didn't think I did too good of a job with it.

[kibaxx7]

Thanks for the compliment... But I honestly didn't think I did too good of a job with it.

Well, it's better than mine.

[hova-]

I aint falling in love with any of your 2nd round prospects .. but I guess thats why they are projected late. Mayfield brings toughness and rebounding .. but at a 6-5 frame?? Looks like the nex Ike Diogu.
Peeler is a douchebag and has not developed any skill ... pure raw aggressiveness combined with decent athelticism .. I dont think you need that.

So despite the fact that he is a tweener Id go with Royal. He could score off the bench and has loads of potential. Still you could try to throw him in as a PG against slower defenders.

The writing is A+

Keep it up

[Andrew]

If you take Ratchuk, I reckon Bane Peeler would be a decent choice in the second round if he's still available.

[Its_asdf]

1. Mem - Priest Askins 6'10 PF 247lbs Arizona St. 19 yrs
2. NY - Demian Reirden 6'8 PF 225lbs France 22 yrs
3. Tor - Chuck Terrell 6'7 SF 236lbs USC 19 yrs
4.Sac - Fredrik Ratchuk 5'10 PG 189lbs Greece 20 yrs
5. Min - Adam Otter 6'2 SG 185lbs Hawaii 22 yrs
6. Por - Antoine Heller 6'6 SG 206lbs Santa Clara 21 yrs
7. LAC - Tarmo Renberg 6'9 PF 237lbs Netherlands 23 yrs
8. Cha - Dean Friedman 6'6 SG 214lbs Rice 23 yrs
9. NJ - Donte Oliver 6'9 PF 237lbs North Carolina St. 21 yrs
10. Uta - Willie Fong 6'10 PF 260lbs China 23 yrs
11. Ind - Haji Lo 6'1 PG 205lbs Korea 22 yrs
12. Chi - Ivan Hrkac 6'10 C 231lbs Turkey 22 yrs
13. Mil - Dominic Hunter 6'8 SF 236lbs California 22 yrs
14. Hou - Vin Gill 6'0 PG 210lbs Purdue 19 yrs
15. Was - Kenan Royal 6'0 PG 212lbs Stanford 23 yrs
16. Phi - Tanner Fairchild 6'4 SG 187lbs West Illinois 23 yrs
17. Atl - Jamie Kjellberg 6'11 C 254lbs Bosnia 19 yrs
18. OKC - Simba Vaught 6'9 SG 221lbs UCLA 22 yrs
19. Mia - Felix Chang 6'8 SF 206lbs Clemson 22 yrs
20. Den - Remus McCarty 6'7 PG 197lbs LSU 21 yrs
21. NOH - Muhammed Steele 6'10 PF 220lbs North Carolina St. 23 yrs
22. GS - Jared Randall 7'1 PF 274lbs Georgia 22 yrs
23. Det - Xavier Radwan 7'1 C 292lbs Guyana 22 yrs
24. LAL - Cothran Tyson 6'1 SG 228lbs North Carolina 22 yrs
25. Pho - Kosi Rayner 6'11 PF 225lbs Oklahoma St. 22 yrs
26. Orl - Andrew Yeung 6'3 SG 228lbs Syracuse 21 yrs
27. Dal - Blaise Galand 6'8 SG 234lbs Oklahoma St. 20 yrs
28. SA - Elias Zukauskas 6'2 SG 233lbs Lithuiana 22 yrs
29. Cle - Walt Lue 6'6 SG 233lbs North Carolina St. 23 yrs
30. Bos - Marcel Abraham 6'9 PF 256lbs California 22 yrs

[Its_asdf]

Colangelo and Raptors Active On Draft Day
Raps Snag Terrell with the Third Overall Pick




Mike Ulmer - raptors.com
June 25, 2009


When Demian Reirden was selected as the number 2 pick of the draft, Bryan Colangelo automatically knew that they had their man. That man of course, would turn out to be Chuck Terrell out of USC. Terrell, originally pegged as the second overall pick, was passed up by the Knicks when they opted to go for the versatile power forward out of France.

"My sources told me that a few teams were interested in taking Terrell in the top five," said Colangelo during his post-draft press conference. "New York was 50-50 on taking either Terrell or Reirden so we pinned down Terrell as our number one priority, although we did have a few other options because weren't too sure that we were going to get him."

Terrell is widely considered to be one of the best NBA-ready offensive players in the draft, fitting in perfectly as Toronto needed an offensive threat at the small forward and shooting guard positions. "We fell in love with his game when he was playing with USC in the tournament," said Colangelo. "After getting a further look at him during his workout with us, the entire Raptor staff and I agreed that if he was available at three, we would take him without hesitation."

"He's got such an advanced mid range game for his age," continued Colangelo. "He can really help out in our half court offense and rebounding, which are two areas that hurt us a lot in some games last season."

"He has some polishing up to do on defense and a few other areas, but overall he's a terrific all around player with a high ceiling. It's hard to believe that he's still a kid (at 19 years old)," Colangelo later added.

When asked whether he felt like ever trading the pick, Colangelo replied with a grin, "There were some phone calls made to us by other teams, but we felt that we would not be getting a good return on what might be a potential franchise player."

Notes:
-With Terrell most likely playing small forward in the near future, Colangelo still feels that last year's starting small forward Shawn Marion can still be resigned. "I don't think that this selection affects our decision on Marion at all. We're still intent on negotiating a deal with Shawn and we'll hopefully come to a conclusion on July 1st, whatever it may be," he said.

-The Raptors' second round pick was used to select 7'1 Center Mark Becker out of Duke and was subsequently traded.

-Bryan Colangelo will introduce Chuck Terrell at a press conference tomorrow at 12:30 pm.

Raps Land Crittenton and Carney in Draft Day Trades

AND

The Raptors however were far from satisfied after acquiring Chuck Terrell with the third overall pick. Multiple insider sources had reported that the Raptors were actively pursuing another draft pick. When Fredik Ratchuk was drafted by the Kings immediately after Terrell, Colangelo had supposedly spent the entire first round of the draft on the phone negotiating a deal with Sacramento in order to obtain him. The Kings reportedly asked for Calderon to be part of the deal, but Colangelo declined the offer.

Instead, Colangelo settled on Plan B. After drafting 7'1 Mark Becker with the Raptors' second round pick, Colangelo's first trade of the night involved sending Becker and a future second round pick to the Washington Wizards for young combo guard Javaris Crittenton. With Gilbert Arenas returning to the lineup next season and Mike James, Juan Dixon and Nick Young occupying the majority of the minutes as the backup guards, the Wizards and Crittenton wished to part ways and obtain another back-up big man as insurance when Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas become free agents in 2010.

Around fifteen minutes later, Colangelo ironed out another trade, this time with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves also had a glut of two guards after they had drafted undersized guard Adam Otter. To make room for the development of Otter, Timberwolves GM David Kahn traded away shooting guard Rodney Carney for the Raptors' Kris Humphries.

"These two trades obviously aren't very high profile trades," said Colangelo. "However, we felt that we needed to get a lot more athletic this off-season and both Crittenton and Carney are young and athletic players who will help add depth at the guard positions."


Rodney Carney (left) is an athletic 2 guard who showed promise near the end of last season, while Javaris Crittenton (right) has bounced around quite a bit in his 2 year career.

Notes:
-Rodney Carney finished last season strong by averaging 15.1 points per game in his final 10 games. He averaged 7.2 for the season.
-This will be Javaris Crittenton's third team in three years.
-Mark Becker was originally considered to be a late first round pick, but fell to the Raptors with the 33rd pick.

[Its_asdf]

Well, it's better than mine.

Heh, well you certainly make up for it in terms of creativity and presentation.

I aint falling in love with any of your 2nd round prospects .. but I guess thats why they are projected late. Mayfield brings toughness and rebounding .. but at a 6-5 frame?? Looks like the nex Ike Diogu.
Peeler is a douchebag and has not developed any skill ... pure raw aggressiveness combined with decent athelticism .. I dont think you need that.

So despite the fact that he is a tweener Id go with Royal. He could score off the bench and has loads of potential. Still you could try to throw him in as a PG against slower defenders.

The writing is A+

Keep it up

Yeah none of the prospects that I wanted were really available when it was my turn to pick, so I basically drafted a random and packaged him in a deal. Royal was available in the second round I think, but the trade for Crittenton would have made more sense if I traded him for a big.

If you take Ratchuk, I reckon Bane Peeler would be a decent choice in the second round if he's still available.

Peeler was taken by Portland already, unfortunately. I also thought of making him into a decent prospect given my lack of talented bigs outside of Bosh and Bargs.

[Andrew]

Nicely done! Great job on the articles too.

[hova-]

Well done. I guess these trades really help your team - Rodney Carney is a beast - whilst your draft pick will be really interesting to watch. I'd resign Marion and give Terrell some minutes off the bench ... Im like Phil Jackson when it comes to playing time of rookies. Still, when you notice Terrell can really contribute .. you could ship Marion for a decent big ... just suggestions.

Keep it up

[Fresh8]

4.Sac - Fredrik Ratchuk 6'10 PG 189lbs Greece 20 yrs

6'10" PG? Lamar Odom V2.0?

[Andrew]

I believe that's a typo, the scouting report listed Ratchuk as 5'10". That's one impressive growth spurt, otherwise.

[Its_asdf]

Nicely done! Great job on the articles too.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the compliment.

Well done. I guess these trades really help your team - Rodney Carney is a beast - whilst your draft pick will be really interesting to watch. I'd resign Marion and give Terrell some minutes off the bench ... Im like Phil Jackson when it comes to playing time of rookies. Still, when you notice Terrell can really contribute .. you could ship Marion for a decent big ... just suggestions.

Keep it up

Yeah, I put drafting Ratchuk into consideration since every one here seemed to favour it, but that was mostly because Terrell was pegged as the second overall pick. I didn't think it would be realistic to pass up on a talented player like that, especially given the Raptors needs at the moment.

I'm also a pretty big Rodney Carney fan, I love his athleticism and three point shot but I'm definitely trying to shop around for a cheap two guard that is a more able starter. So far there's no such luck and Carney looks like he'll most likely be starting next season... Which might not be a good thing in terms of convincing Bosh that this team is going to be a perennial playoff team.

I also agree with your suggestion on bringing Terrell off the bench. Originally I toyed with the notion of having him play the 2, but he seems like too much of a pure 3 (much like how Glenn Robinson was) so he's most likely going to be my go-to scorer for my second unit. I was also thinking the same thing in terms of shipping Marion for a quality young back up big considering my paper thin depth at the PF/C spots (Reggie freakin' Evans is my first big off the bench... Not a good sign). We'll have to see how the season unfolds first.

6'10" PG? Lamar Odom V2.0?

Oops, definitely need to fix that. Knowing my fetish for big point guards, I probably would've taken Ratchuk had that been the case.

[Its_asdf]

Marion Re-Signs with Raptors
Drafting of Terrell "Didn't Affect Decision" Marion Says




Mike Ulmer - raptors.com
July 1, 2009


Many believed that Raptors' starting forward Shawn Marion was simply using the Raptors as a springboard to up his value in the market and would bolt to the next team who could give him a big time pay day. When David Stern revealed that 6'7 forward Chuck Terrell would be the newest rookie to don the Raptor uniform, Raptor fans took it as an indicator that Marion would be taking his services elsewhere and that he was as good as gone. They could not be any more wrong.

July 1st was the first day that any team could open up talks to re-sign their free agents, and Marion seemingly shocked everyone by re-joining the Raptors on an estimated 3 year $32 million deal. "We're excited to bring Shawn back, he was a core piece to this team and it would be difficult filling the void that he would've left," Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo had said.


Shawn Marion will bring his versatile play back to Toronto for three more seasons.

When asked about whether or not the drafting of Chuck Terrell played affected his decision on whether to stay or go because they play the same position, Marion simply waved it off as fan speculation. "I like Chuck," Marion said. "When the Raptors drafted him I thought he would be a good piece to this team that can help us make the playoffs. I think we both have skills that let us play together at the same time on the court."

"People think that I would leave Toronto because they think I'm just in it for the money," added Marion. "I'm getting to the point in my career where I want to help a team win a championship. I think we're a lot better than we showed last season and I think I can be a part of that. Once me and Colangelo got the money side of things worked out, it was all about focusing on helping to make this better."

Although Terrell is still a rookie, many people believe that he has the potential to start for the Raptors. However, with Marion back in the Raptors' lineup that might have to wait. "You're going to have to ask Jay (Triano) about player rotations, but as of right now we are intent on making Marion the starting small forward for this team," said Colangelo.

Notes:
-In a shocking twist, Allen Iverson has decided to re-sign with the Pistons depsite being benched for most of last season.
-Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom re-signed with the Lakers after playing integral roles in the Lakers' championship run.
-Former Raptor Jamario Moon re-signed with the Heat for a deal rumoured to be worth $27.83 million over 5 years.
-Marquee free agents Mike Bibby, Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace, Ron Artest and Marvin Williams all re-signed with their respective teams.

[kibaxx7]

Nice news in resigning the Matrix. Any big name player who changed teams in free agency?

[Martti.]

That's NBA Live, only a few players change teams in the summer. And even those are non-all-star players.

Love that you resigned Marion! Should help you a lot with his versatility.

[dascoot]

good job in resigning Marion. I had another thought you could always trade marion for Jason Richardson. I for some reason feel that your rookie will pan out and with getting Richardson you are set at the 2. That trade is just a thought.

[Fresh8]

Plans on fielding a smaller lineup with Marion at PF?

[Andrew]

Good decision in re-signing Marion, though I'm guessing you were leaning that way all along. Worst case scenario, he becomes expendable and very valuable trade asset. One way or another, I'd expect re-signing him will pay off.