Should the Raptors target a stretch big at 19? | Kel’el Ware, Kyle Filipowski & DaRon Holmes II

Should the Raptors target a stretch big at 19? | Kel’el Ware, Kyle Filipowski & DaRon Holmes II

on your Monday episode of Locked on Raptors stretchy bigs anyone you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day hey what’s going on and welcome to another episode of Locked on Raptors part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day it is Monday May the 27th and I’m your host Sean Woodley I’ve been covering the Toronto Raptors now for 10 seasons on various platforms you can find all my work over on the hell website at Woodley sha you can find the show on Instagram at lockon Raptors and of course you can join us in the lockon rptor Discord server the link is in the description of the podcast it is free to join and it’s a great little Community we got building around the show we’d love to see you in there talk playoffs to talk draft to talk food all that good stuff it’s all going on in there and so so much more we got video game talk we got WNBA talk it’s a wonderful place for sickos just like you who love the podcast so come hang out with fellow sickos in the Discord again free to join as always Link in the description of course you can find the show for free you get your podcast follow subscribe rate review on your audio app of choice you can tell a friend as well Word of Mouth still a good way to spread the good word about podcast and you can also go to YouTube and subscribe to the lockdown Ra’s YouTube channel when you do that hit the notification Bell button when you do that you will get a heads up every single time the the show is about to Premiere or go live via push notification a wonderful thing so you never miss a second of that sweet sweet locked on Raptors action which begins now today as we te up a show looking at stretch bigs uh this has been a draft sort of cycle a draft season where I have certainly focused my attention largely towards Wings because I think there are a lot of really interesting Wings in the range of the draft where the Raptors will be picking of course 19th and 31st overall coming up in just a few weeks time it’s very exciting dra coming up soon um but yeah you know I’ve been focusing on wings I think this team needs wings I think again sort of a goal of this summer is finding a guy to slot him between RJ Barrett and Scotty Barnes who can push RJ Barrett over to the two and keep Scotty Barnes available as a four to be the sort of Lowman shop blocking help guy that he is very good at being that is his best defensive role and I don’t really want to see him overextended into a situation where he’s asked to be like a shutdown Wing Defender or anything like that um that said you could talk me into sort of beefing up the front court for this team and giving Scotty a shot on the wing pushing RJ to the two and just kind of going full size as we’ve seen in around the NBA is just like a thing that is successful if you’re really big that is good if you’re really big and skilled oh boy you have yourself a wonderful combination and as we’ve seen in these playoffs it seems pretty clear that if you have a bunch of differently skilled bigs it’s a pretty awesome thing a pretty huge ass set to have it gives you stylistic versatility it gives you just again the size to go and sort of flumix teams with offensive rebounding or uh you know protect the rim with just an incredible amount of length and Shop blocking acument etc etc bigs are kind of one of the stories of these NBA playoffs and teams having lots of them it’s proven like that’s just like a real asset to have and so as much as I’d like the Raptors to aim for a wing where they’re drafting at 19 and 31 I’d be totally fine if they took two wings I do think there’s a case that a big man is a pretty reasonable thing to shoot for especially with that 19th pick where there’s some really interesting players I think that could still be there for the Raptors when they’re up and on the clock guys who can sort of mesh and pair and sort of offset the skills and strengths and weaknesses of yaka purle and Kelly oin who we already know are going to be part of the big man rotation going into next year and that’s a pretty good starting point to be at I think you could use some athleticism in there obviously a little extra three-point shooting never hurt anybody and I think like switching versatility on defense is a big thing I’m looking for in a third rotation big for the Raptors as well and that could come via free agency but it could also come via the draft today we’re going to dig into three different guys who I think all kind of have very different skill sets but all played as bigs in college may play as centers in the NBA but a couple of them might actually slide over the four a little bit more often which is interesting to think about we’re going to talk about Kyle Philipi and Don Holmes who man Don Holmes might be like my new favorite guy in the draft look at Jamir Watkins uh we’ll talk about them coming up but I want to start off and talk about Khalil wear um if you’re not familiar with khil wear he’s a 7 Foot Center from Indiana of course the the AL matter of one ogan anobi for those who recall uh 74 and a half wingspan and the dude is just like an athletic freak he is enormous he’s got incredible bounce and again at a 74 and a half wingspan at 7 feet tall he is the size that you’re going to need to be to be a big man in the NBA going forward as it’s only getting bigger out there it’s only getting longer it’s only getting more Victor wanyama and so having size to combat that is just like a really valuable thing I don’t think you can have too many seven-footers going forward especially seven-footers who are skilled right I’m not talking about these big like sort of lunks out there who are enormous and can’t move and just are big for the sake of being big but guys who project to have stylistic versatility to how they can play defense guys who can potentially shoot threes which we’re really going to focus on today like that’s just such a valuable thing to have in today’s NBA because as guys scale up and the league gets bigger if you’re big and have skill that’s going to keep you on the floor in the modern NBA and khil we I think really does fit that profile if things all break right he is a bit of a boomer bu bust type of prospect I think but let’s get into the tail of the tape on him right now he’s a 20th on the ringer draft board he’s being mocked kind of in that range all over the place Sports Illustrated actually in their most recent mock from a couple days ago has the Raptors taking him at number 19 15.9 points a game last year for Indiana in his second College season he transferred from Oregon to Indiana Oregon was not a great spot for him he didn’t play very well and he kind of got branded with like a low motor tag and stuff like that we’ll get into a why maybe that’s not so fair anymore as a tag for him but 15.9 a game 9.9 boards one and a half uh assists as well half a steel and 1.9 blocks shut 61% on his twos 42 and A half% on Pretty Low three-point volume like 1.8 attempts a game but 42 and a half percent not something you can sneeze at shot is 63% at the line which is a bit of a you know thing maybe the shooting is not super real whatever um you know there there’s a reason to not think his shooting is uh as good as 42 and a half% as well the free throws are one thing the form is like okay it’s not beautiful or anything like that not a shot doctor but when you read up on people um who do kind of you know trafficking this stuff there’s a little bit of concern about um the sort of where the release point is in his hand and stuff like that I’ll actually direct you towards who someone who I’m hoping to get on the show later this week uh Maxwell bonach from No Ceilings a great place for draft coverage has a great piece out today I’m going to link it in the description of the podcast you should go check out about khil wear and you know sort of how he’s been maybe misunderstood as a prospect and some of the things that are really exciting intriguing about his game some of the basic fundamental stuff he does that should make him at least like a passable NBA big if nothing else um and some of the things that could maybe a little bit be a bit more Boomer bust but really great piece on khil WE great context for his sort of story as a prospect at the point where he’s at now um and I I do think he’s like a serious upside play at this part of the draft I think you know if you’re looking at him and the sort of the the sort of vision for him if you’re drafting him at 19 the hope is that he becomes the three-point shooting sort of spacing big that he’s flashed a little bit of ability to do in college on top of just being a really damn good rim protector a rle threat a play finisher a vertical finisher a guy who can finish lobs I mean we’ve seen the effect that Derek Lively has had for the Mavericks I do think there’s a little bit of Derek Lively to khil wear’s game if you know maybe not like the insane sort of you know through the roof energy at all times that Lively seems to have um you know I think like the finishing the athleticism all that stuff is very much there for wear and I think as like a pair with Scotty Barnes long term pretty interesting potential fit as someone who can sort of learn under the toage of yaka purle for the next few seasons and not be thrust into action in high leverage minutes right away I think it’s pretty nice I think preparing him next to Kelly oin as a rim protector who can compensate for the defensive issues Kelly oin has at the point of attack that’s also pretty interesting I think the fully realized version of khil wear is maybe the best fitting player for the Raptors in this entire draft what they need both now and in the future of course it’s all about will he actually hit on those things and there is some volatility to the way he plays you know there’s also some stuff with him that’s like kind of big red flag stuff you know the low motor thing I think um Maxwell bomach did a really good job in his piece kind of explaining way like the Oregon stuff that certainly applied didn’t really feel like it was much of a thing as much of a thing with Indiana this year and so you know take that for what it’s worth and there was also an element of there’s this sort of perception of about where that he kind of disappears in the second half of games as Maxwell pointed out in his piece over at No Ceilings you know that’s maybe more tied to Indiana not having awesome guard play and them kind of not finding him in the second half of games obviously you know you want to have you know aggression and calling for the ball and all that stuff but like that’s not really where’s play style he’s not someone who’s goingon to go face up and score and sort of you know Commander the offense and go make things happen like he’s a guy who other people are going to have to set up and if you have bad guard play then that’s a tricky fit I do think the potential fit with a guy like uh Emanuel quickley for example is very intriguing I think the potential fit of Scotty Barnes next to him long term at the four and five is absolutely intoxicating to think about if the threo shooting is actually real and so yeah I I think it’s probably worth it at 19 to take the risk on khil wear if he’s there uh I don’t think I’d be upset if he were the pick at 19 there are a lot of guys that applies for I’m not saying saying they must pick him at 19 if he’s there there’s lots of different potential options there and I’m not going to be too upset if it’s one of like a group of 10 guys who I think we’ll probably talk about by the time the draft comes around but we is certainly on the list and if they’re going to go for a big I I think he’s right near the top of the list for me of guys that I’d be all right with them taking a swing on he probably doesn’t last till 31 is the thing um you know he’s being mocked anywhere around like you know the mid teens to the mid 20s and just the potential of a guy who’s 7 feet tall and can protect the rim and shoot threes like that’s such a rare skill set we’ve seen how like coveted a guy like miles Turner’s been throughout the years as a potential trade piece we’ve seen you know just repeat over and over again right bigs who can shoot threes you know it’s sort of believed to be this sort of common everyone does it skill set now in the modern NBA but it’s just not true there’s not that many guys who do it and khil we might be that type of guy and even if he doesn’t shoot threes I think his finishing as like a rle man and stuff like that is still very much going to make him an NBA player if he you know kind of hits on some of the the the sort of the motor and all that type of stuff those question marks that I think are maybe not super founded anyway at this point um but you know the stuff that takes him from pretty nice like rotation big man for a while to oh God like this is a guy that every team is lusting after because he can shoot threes and protect the rim and you know hang out on switches and be okay guarding in space although I don’t think that’s really a strength of his right now he’s kind of got pretty high hips he doesn’t move super well laterally and so it will be most of like a drop big situation I think for him and in all likelihood at least out of the gate but you know the upside of a guy who can do that while shooting threes that’s GNA make some team go yeah we got to take this guy in the first round and so if they’re gonna take him I think it has to be at 19 if he is the pick I won’t be so mad and one little extra note that I think makes him a pretty interesting guy to me uh he dunks real loud I love dudes who dunk the Raptors lost a lot of dunk uh sort of credibility when ogan and Obi and precious ATU were traded and I think a guy like khil we could go a long way to making the Raptors into a team that does dunks good again which uh certainly is a sort of checkbox for me what I’m talking about guys I want to see play for the Toronto Raptors so KH wear super interesting um you know dig into like that the sort of the downside is he can only play one defensive scheme I guess and you know the offense never quite comes around the three-point shooting’s not there but I do think just athletically speaking he’s going to be in the NBA for a while and um I don’t think I’m as concerned about the motor stuff the red flag that does pop to me just before we move on uh he’s not a good screen Setter at all which like bigs who can’t set screens kind of give me the wheelies it’s like one of my biggest basketball turnoff but uh you know who better to learn from then yaka purle for the next few years just hammering dudes with screens and saying hey do it like this khil you’re all good um that’s kind of fun to think about so yeah KH wear first guy we talked about today and I you know certainly think if he’s the pick at 19 I will not be upset even though you know it’s not a sure thing by any means that he becomes the new Miles Turner but he could become the new Miles Turner which would be pretty rat we’ll come back on the other side get into another guy who plays center in college I don’t think he’s going to be a center in the NBA and that could cause a bit of a fit concern with the Raptors we’ll talk about Kyle filipowski of Duke coming up in just one sec Today’s Show is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your Rider die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride the first time every 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surprise when he didn’t and there was even some thought when he didn’t come out last year that oh could he be like in contention for the number one pick next year obviously he’s not going to be the number one pick this season and I think there are some pretty obvious reasons for it but he’s a good player and at 20 years old he’s going to be 21 in November still on the young end still has some stuff to continue to add to his game but this past season filipowski in year two at Duke really I think found a footing and you know kind of made good on his decision to go back even though he’s not going to be number one guy you know I think the thinking was he might be like a late first-rounder last season he’s gonna think I think probably firmly go in the middle of the first round um hopefully you know not before 19 if Raptors really want him but you know that I think he’s going to be in that range of the draft for sure he’s going in the first round 16 points a game eight boards three assists a steal and a block or sorry a block and a half on 56% from two 35% from three a big jump he was sub30 as a freshman really jumped up from a three to 35 shot 67% uh at the line this past season 72% across his two College Seasons from the line so not incredible not like the best indicator in the world but I’m not super concerned he’s got some nice touch um and I think he’ll be a fine free throw shooter and the three-point shots coming along I think it all kind of in concert is pretty encouraging um I think for him with K Kyle filipowski the one thing to note here 611 with like a kind of negative wingspan which is weird and probably makes it so he’s not really a center in the NBA I don’t think he’s GNA have the sort of the size the rim protection shops to hang as like a full-time Center part-time for sure he’s got the size to just like hang as a quote unquote small all five but I do think where he fits into the modern NBA is just like a kind of oversized modern playmaking four that in this case for the Raptors longterm you know theoretically pushes Scotty Barnes to the three maybe he’s just like a long-term bench player you don’t worry about where he pushes Scotty Barnes and their wing answer comes from elsewhere but I do think like a playmaking four is what Kyle filipowski sort of figures to be um he can kind of do a little bit of everything on offense right he can handle the ball there’s a bit of a step back three to his game this season he can run pick and roll and he can also operate as the rle man who can operate at the short roll makes some pretty interesting looking passes out of those situations can go and finish can go and dunk things like that um you know I think you can run him out of like dribble handoffs like the Raptors do with their bigs and I think he probably has a lot more juice as a guy on keeper plays than say yaka purle does we’ve seen Yak have a little bit of success there but for the most part the best keeper guy on the Raptors is Scotty Barnes I think filipowski sort of skews closer to Barnes than purle as a guy who can you know keep a defense on its toes with the threat of keeping those dribble handoffs and driving in for a bucket and so yeah I think there’s just like a lot of interesting versatility to his game and if he’s going to shoot threes like he did this past season at Duke that makes him a super viable and kind of malleable player you can play him with a bunch of different types of dudes I think you could see some pretty interesting stylistic chemistry with emanu quickly for example I think you know I mention he’s not going to be a long-term five but I think you could see him as like a spotlighting five next to uh or like a Moonlighting five whatever the word I’m looking for something with light either way Philipi is like a five next to Scotty Barnes and sort of smaller looks I think that could totally work especially if there’s enough Wing Talent on the team to kind of elongate those lineups and uh sort of prevent dribble penetration from the two and three spots again RJ Barrett being on the team makes that difficult but if you can get a more defensive oriented three in there I think those lineup become kind of interesting as a way to work filipowski in um I think he could play with yaka purle no problem I think that’d be a pretty fun pairing um I think there’s a real argument that there’s like a little bit too much stylistic overlap with Kelly o Lin some of the people who you know do this thing for a living and make comps have thrown oin name out there as a comparison for filipowski filipowski feels a little bit sort of more brutish and mean and Powerful I would say than oin does who’s got just like this real finesse game not to say there’s not finesse to filipowski game either but I do think he’s got a little bit more sort of like all right I’m going to like back this dude down and score and you can’t stop me type of motif to his game than say Kelly oen does um but yeah I do think like the overlap of those two guys like I’m not sure you’re rolling out filipowski oen front courts all that much and hoping for good things because again I don’t think filipowski is like the rim protector who’s going to cover up for the issues of oen at the four and vice versa and so it’s a it’s a bit of interesting fit there that said should you be making draft picks of 20-year-olds with the sort of consideration of fit with your bench bigs in mind probably not just take the best guy and if they think Philipi is the best guy you can go and do that just fine and you know two years from now linck won’t be on the team anymore and so filipowski just kind of steps into that role maybe maybe that’s the sucession plan right maybe you don’t draft filipowski with the expectation he’s going to go and be a starter down the line maybe he’s your long-term way to ensure you still have that playmaking four Off the Bench that Kelly Ock figures to be I think that’s a perfectly fine way and strategy to approach this pick with even though it may be kind of you know hints at sort of a lower upside and all of that um I do think of the three guys we’re talking about today between we filipowski and Don Holmes who we’ll get to in a second I think filipowski has the lowest ceiling of the mall but he might have the highest floor honestly like he’s just gonna be a good player um who connects lineups ties things together keeps second units flowing at the very least I think long term um how much he can kind of be a staple of an offense like a second or third option to kind of tie things together and create stuff is I think an open question but um he’s got a pretty nice handle for a guy of his size um and the playmaking chops are pretty real I think he’s got some postup juice things like that um I’m pretty into it defensively you know I I I think he’s got like good footwork and smarts I think that’s going to overcome the lack of just raw size that he has again like kind of I think someone in the Discord yesterday refer to him as T-Rex arms filipowski which like you know he’s still got a 611 wingspan it’s not uh he walking out there with um you know little Isaiah Thomas arms or anything like that but no he he’s look he’s not got that sort of 75 wingspan you’d Hope from a 611 Center in the modern NBA and that’s going to affect his ability to to block shots it’ll also affect his ability to like finish around the rim as a center as well which is again why I think playing further away from Bas the basket as like a spacing playmaking four is probably his Destiny in the NBA where that’s a little bit more mitigated and so yeah he’s not going to be like a great defender or anything like that but I do think he’s going to just be like a really good reliable player to have in who’s not going to be someone who gets targeted all that much he’s still 611 right like he’s still big he still takes up a ton of space and so yeah maybe like a guard will you know try to seek out switches and attack him in high leverage moments sure like that happens to a lot of bigs it happens to the best of The Bigs as well uh and it doesn’t always go super well ask Rudy go bear but like doesn’t mean you can’t be a good passable Defender and as the league I think skew further away from targeted mismatch hunting in the regular season at least obviously it’s been kind of the whole story in the playoffs especially in this Mavericks series but um you know I do think we’re seeing a bit of a skewing away from uh targeted mismatch hunting in the play in the regular season and more sort of you a leaning into system ball and cohesive basketball things like that I think he can get by and be like a neutral Defender maybe even a slight positive with his smarts and things like that so I don’t think it’s like a concern that he’s going to be some sort of pineline out there I think um he competes super hard he’s got a really high motor from what it looks like he’s got a bit of mfer to him which I always like um and you know I guess like that’s sort of part and parcel with being a main guy on Duke as you always kind of have like mfer uh sometimes in a bad context and bad connotation but um I think in Philip’s case like the dude just kind of seems like he’s out there to kind of Ruin everyone’s day when he’s playing and that’s something you want on your team I do think again he’s not going to be there past at 31 if the Raptors really want him I think they’ll have to jump it him a 19 because I just think he’s the type of guy who’s going to be like a nice high-end role player for a very long time that teams are always going to covet I think a lot of teams in the Raptor range that are like closer to contention could really use a guy like filipowski I’m thinking about like Philly for example throwing him in as the four long term next to Joel embi with Tyrese Maxi out there um especially if they go and find themselves a wing like I think that’s pretty interesting I I think you know embiid covers for his defensive deficiencies and having that extra bit of playmaking from a forward spot would be really interesting for a team like Philly that’s just one team that I’m throwing out there but I I do think Philip psky um is the kind of guy that’s going to be on good teams and is going to be like a useful piece for good teams for for a long time um he’s probably not my favorite option for the Raptors at 19 just because I think the overlap with Scotty Barnes is kind of a concern and again pushing Scotty to the three long term I’m not like a huge fan of and if you’re not drafting a guy to hopefully be a starter at 19 um you know I guess that’s sort of The Fringe of like are you hoping to get a starter out of this I think you’re always hoping to get a starter when you draft but you got to be realistic too um but I do think there are a couple of guys who kind of have higher upsides as potential starters with reasonable floors as well that we can get into especially the guy coming up next who I think I’d rather at 19 for the Raptors but I wouldn’t be upset if filipowski were the guy because I just think he’s a good basketball player who knows what he’s doing out there and can offer some interesting little wrinkles to the Raptors offense some creation away from Scotty Barnes in manual quickly that can be helpful but yeah I think of the three guys we talked about today or will talk about today probably the third guy I’d have at 19 uh among my favorite targets for the Raptors but uh certainly wouldn’t be upset because again think he’s just a good ball player we’ll come back on the other side talk about a guy who might just be my new favorite guy um in this draft period I love him donon Holmes II coming up in just one sec all right let’s wrap it up here with a look at donon Holmes II from Dayton 21 years old 6’9 with a 7 foot and a half inch wingspan turns 22 before the season starts so a little bit older than we or filipowski plays played three years at Dayton and was just awesome for the Flyers this past season uh averaged 20 points eight and a half boards two and a half assists 0.9 Steals and 2.1 blocks in his Junior season and I I just like there’s so much about Don Holmes’s game that I like I I can’t even decide where to start let’s start with I guess just like the offensive package um took a really big shooting jump this past season was a kind of a non-shooter like a super non-shooter in his first season in college uh kind of jumped up a little bit little bit in year two shot 38.6% on Two and a Half attempts a game this past year for Dayton so it’s still very small sample we’re talking like what 70 80 attempts here it’s not a ton um I guess like a 100 maybe if you kind of do the full math on it but you know shooting 38.6% pretty nice he did it in a lot of different ways mostly like catching shoots and pick and pops and stuff like that um maybe not a lot of different ways that’s kind of the way he shoots his threes is picking pops but um you know that’s not a bad thing to have a guy who can give you popping and rolling which donon Holmes can absolutely do pretty fascinating stuff he’s like a postup monster and as someone who you know listeners to this podcast know love me some Pascal SE yakum I love a dude who’s a really good post scorer and donon Holmes can absolutely go and cook dudes in the post he’s got a nice little array of finishes drop steps things like that really think that’s a fun you know sort of part of his offensive game uh and I think in general like he just kind of scores in a bunch of different ways he can score as a roller he can score as a popper he can score as a catch and shoot guy he can uh when it swings to him on the catch he can pump fake and usually get a guy out of his shoes because he’s got a really nice looking pump fake and drive and score that way um there’s even a couple instances on his tape of him kind of just like taking dudes from a standstill off the bounce and getting to the rim although I don’t think that’s really going to be a huge part of his game in the NBA definitely think he profiles more as play finisher than play Creator um and we’ll get into some of the reasons for that as well later on but um overall just like a super versatile offensive package he is I think a nice transition finisher as well and a nice thing let sort a little subtle wrinkle about his game the dude is just always shot ready the dude is is always presenting himself as a Target whether it’s as a roller always got the hand up always there presenting himself to the guard whether it’s in transition where he’s just like constantly running hand up ready to make plays and make and make catches um you know on the perimeter relocating for threes always kind of in the position with the shooting pocket ready to go ready to fire a three of it swings to him um you know there’s just like a lot of sort of smarts to his game it seems like a pretty good feel for things on the offensive end and where he can kind of get his looks from on top of just sort of the bruising post game that he has which is super fun um the interesting thing about him is I don’t think he’s going to be playing the same position he played in college in the NBA and I think a lot of the stuff with his defense in particular is kind of a little Mystery Box because he was asked so much at Dayton to be like a drop big he was their Center in most iterations that they played and on offense that made him like a screener diver popper type guy a lot of the time and on defense he was playing like a traditional drop a lot of the time and look he was very good at it two two plus blocks a game um and like pretty highlight re level stuff from him as a shop Locker around the rim as well but he’s six foot n his wingspan’s over seven feet tall he’s a pretty slender guy and I think he’s pretty quick with his feet I kind of think there’s a perimeter defender in donon Holmes and I don’t know if he got a ton of leeway to really do it in college but when I watch him and I see the sort of slipperiness he can kind of have as like a screen Navigator and stuff I don’t want to like invoke one of the best defenders in basketball but like Jaden McDaniels comes to mind a little bit um just with again how quick and Nimble he is at a pretty ridiculous size for a guy to be that quick and Nimble um I I kind of think that’s where Holmes’s future is as a Defender I don’t necessarily think it’s as a traditional drop big I don’t think he’s got the size for that really uh in the NBA you know he’s playing in the Atlantic 10 you know that’s another sort of knock on him is the quality of competition wasn’t incredible and there are a couple examples on his tape of him just clearly dwarfing and demolishing guys who have no business ever uh playing up against a future NBA player it’s pretty remarkable we’ll get into some of those in a sec but I do think defensively like a a three four sort of wingy type is the the role for him especially if the three-point shooting is real if if he’s a 38% three-point shooter at that size with that athleticism he’s a wing to me and you know the guy who he sort of invokes for me is second half of 2122 precious auua like if only he could have maintained that really nice Defender has some Rim protection chops but really where he shines is on the perimeter uh you know and sort of assumes more of a wing type role on offense I think that’s there for donon Holmes and uh I would love to see him get the shot to do that with the Raptors as someone who as we’ve talked about like helps to take some of that Wing defense burden away from Scotty Barnes but can also they can flip-flop right Scotty can go take Wing assignments donon Holmes can be your Lowel rim protector uh where he’s very good as well and has just like really great shot blocking instincts and a second jump that’s absolutely off the freaking charts um there is one clip from his college season this past year at Dayton where uh donon Holmes is guarding he gets switched onto a Guard the guard is in the right corner they’re playing forom so like not exactly NBA quality Talent on forom but bear with me here um he gets switched onto a guard and the guard sort of backpedals into the corner to try to pull up for three he pump fakes donon Holmes bites at it he jumps crazy high in the air and lands and then as he lands the dude tries to actually put up the three and the second jump from Holmes it’s like a split millisecond it’s unbelievable it’s like it shouldn’t happen and like it should like Achilles shouldn’t be made this way but they are apparently for donon Holmes and he gets up and he absolutely ruins this guy’s Dave sends the shot into the first row and it’s thrilling stuff it’s just like there’s some serious defensive potential I think that hasn’t been tapped into with Holmes with him playing largely as a big and so uh you know it’s may be a risk to say hey this guy excelled at this one thing at defense it’s about you know this is something that you know that the scouting staff would really have to be sort of sure and pounded the table for like this guy can play on the wing but um I do think it’s there you know despite it not being the way he played defense in college just watching the tape like there’s a Wing Defender here in Don Holmes and if he’s a wing Defender man oh man that is a valuable valuable player because of all the different ways he can score as a play finisher like I said I don’t think he’s much of like a Creator you know there’s a little bit of you know stuff where he can kind of pass it of post-ups and things like that um but I mostly view those possessions where he makes those nice like crosscourt skip passes and things like that to kind of pass out of those double teams to me that more just like validates the decision to funnel those possessions to him in the post like he can do that and not get overwhelmed by doubles and kind of derail the offense I don’t think that portends necessarily him being like an on ball Creator I think it the handle’s a little bit loose I don’t think there’s like the the sort of passing chops of seeing all the different reads that are there in all the different facets of playing offense like rarely ever ran pick and roll or anything like that almost never right so I I think for the most part you’re looking at Holmes as like um you know again playf finishing connective type player who can make you know the nice passes here and there to kind of keep the offense flowing can pass out of the places where you’re going to sort of go to him in the post and not get totally bogged down but not someone who’s going to profile as like a higher upside creation guy which like none of the guys we’ve talked about today really are filipowski maybe the closest thing to that but um I think you’re talking about pure role players here and Don Holmes just like the physical profile the athleticism the package he has as an offensive score the you know again the post game love that post game man um the dunks also dunks he’s got the high motor all of that stuff the great second leap feels like a really really nice role player to me if you can tap into him as like a four or a three on the on the defensive end and even on offense right and that’s where he’s going to have to settle in and the three-point shooting is going to have to be real the concern is that the three-pointer three-point shooter is just not real right um and if that’s not real then he becomes like a pretty sort of tough guy to Place small ball tweener Center is kind of where he’s at if he can’t actually shoot threes but I think the form looks good to my sort of untrained eye and all of that um and I think it’s probably worth it to at least bet on him I at 19 I think I would be pretty thrilled if he were the pick at 19 just for the possibilities just for the ways he could elongate and connect the Raptors lineups to cover up for some of the weaknesses that exist on the team and again you’re betting on a couple things there right you’re betting on him having on Bal shops as a perimeter Defender which I think he does and you’re betting on the three-point shop being real which who the hell knows but um I think some of the indicators are very nice he shot uh what was it 71% at the line um that’s not terrible it’s you know kind of where you want it to be as like an indicator at the very low end at least over 70% is a nice place to be if you’re trying to infer three-point shooting upside and touch from free throw percentage but um yeah overall really really like uh don Holmes I really like his potential fit with Scotty and EM manual quickly and so for me move over Jamir Watkins baby Don Holmes my new quote unquote favorite guy Capital left capital G for the Raptors at number 19 um we’ll examine him a little bit more going forward I’m sure but yeah I’m pretty in on donon Holmes man he’s fun as hell and uh just the athleticism the length the shop blocking it’s all a pretty fun little package that he brings to the table do it man I’m all in all right we’ll we’ll leave it there thank you so much for tuning in today’s show we’ll be back again tomorrow I’m hoping like I said Maxwell bombach from No Ceilings hoping to get him on the show at some point this week could be as early tomorrow we’re still working on scheduling stuff but uh looking forward to talking with him there uh if we can get something on the books and uh we’ll have other draft stuff too we’ll have other offseason look ahead Jamar Hines Katy hind will be along our pal big Viva Jacob is currently traveling for the Cricket World Cup so you won’t hear from him for a few weeks but we’ll get him back on and we’ll do our over unders review Once he’s back from his travels down to the States covering the World Cup as as well so lots to come as we continue there’s less than a month at the draft now man it’s very exciting stuff uh we’ll be here covering it all for you here on the show thank you so much for tuning in and we will talk to you again on uh Tuesday another episode of lockdown Raptors in the meantime follow subscribe rate review tell a friend uh all the good stuff and go check out lockon sports today 247 our all day streaming Channel covering all the biggest stories and sports with the local Experts of the lockdown podcast Network giving you that Insight you can only get from those who spend as much time talking about their teams as we do with that thank you so much for hanging out talk to you Tuesday bye-bye

In Episode 1644, Sean Woodley goes solo to talk about three potential stretch big man options for the Toronto Raptors, specifically when it comes to the 19th-overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft: Indiana’s Kel’el Ware, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II. Off the top, Sean digs into Ware, whose blend of size, athleticism, and rim protection make him an intriguing potential piece in the modern NBA — especially if his three-point shooting is legit, and why despite some concerns about his defensive versatility and motor, he very well could be worth the risk at 19 as one of the best potential fits next to Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley of any big in this draft. Next, Sean digs into Filipowski, whose polished offensive game is super interesting, especially if you view Filipowski as a jumbo playmaking four in the modern NBA. But is the fit right with the Raptors? Lastly, Sean has maybe a new favourite dude in this year’s draft, and it’s DaRon Holmes, the 6’9 big man out of Dayton who played largely as a dropping, rim protecting center for Dayton, but seems to have the speed, length and defensive chops to be more of a two-way wing in the NBA — which would be pretty rad!

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