The draft’s first surprise came at No. 4 as the Raptors selected Florida State forward Scottie Barnes.
Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs had been expected be the fourth pick, but Toronto opted to go with Barnes, a game-changing defensive player who made a late charge up draft boards.
Barnes only started seven games during his lone year with the Seminoles, but he made enough of an impact to earn ACC Freshman of the Year honors. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals in 24 games.
The selection of Barnes rather than Suggs may indicate that the Raptors will make a spirited effort to keep point guard Kyle Lowry, who will become a free agent next week. Suggs had been seen as a natural replacement for Lowry.
Masai I have zero clue what your doing
Ok, that one surprised me. Suggs?
I didn’t think this was actually going to happen but here we are.
I’m pretty shocked by this but I trust Masai and company’s ability to evaluate talent.
Raptors needed a player with size who can play their highly switchable defensive schemes more than they needed another guard who can fill a leadership role and might become a reliable floor general.
Suggs is no surefire shooter or playmaker. He does a lot of things well but not great and is assumed from character that he will find a way. Raps have two guys like that in FVV and Flynn already. They can go out and find more guards more easily who will shoot better than Suggs than they can find a big body who passes well and can develop in their system.
A bit if a shocker. Wonder how many calls the Orlando GM is getting right now?
If I’m the raptors I’m picking Suggs.
Passing on Suggs sounds like quite a mistake. Maybe a Siakam trade is coming?
Yup. Siakam probably heading we the south soon.
Stupid
2021 Scottie Barnes = 2017 Ben Simmons/1992 Anthony Mason
i was thinking giddey since he looks up to him so much.
In Masai we trust
Well, when you have job security like Masai, you can take risks and ignore all the extremely confident comment section quarterbacks. (Other GMs, obviously, are regulars in this space.)
I didn’t think Suggs wanted to come to the Raptors. He had a bad workout for them. I understand why they went with Barnes. We will find out someday.
Suggs did look really happy when barnes name was called.
You really think he’d rather play for perennial losers like the Magic?
You really think he’d rather be in Canada for the summer? C’mon man
No pick has looked as happy as Barnes did to join his new team.
them canadian taxes (53%) + plus us taxes then reimbursements are brutal to figure out.
Now raptors are deep on the wings instead of having to play yuta. They’re also one of the best teams in developing players, so this was a great pick.
Scottie needs three yrs. so wake me up then. Nothing but snooze here. Dumb move. Suggs should of been the pick
More likely that Barnes has a bigger year than Suggs this season.
Remember Ujiri showed no enthusiasm for trading Lowery at midseason. Insiders suspected Ujiri was showing other GMs how to talk trade. Maybe he just wanted to keep Lowery!
Not sure ORL’s Weltman deserves all this luck.
Masai sticking it to the raps before he splits
Yeah, because picking the 5th ranked prospect instead of the 4th is really “sticking it” to the Raptors.
Looks like Suggs wanted to go to MCO with intentionally weak workout with Raptors. His standing up and cheering the Barnes selection says it all. Even Barnes pick is found money as Raps lucked into 4th pick afterall.
more money to retain in florida.
I can’t think of any huge misses that Masai has taken in the first round in his career.
Bruno, but that was a late pick so worth the gamble imo
One bad pick in his entire career isn’t a poor record by any means. Bruno was high risk/high reward at the time, and yeah worth a gamble.