Collin Murray-Boyles and Other Draft Reactions

 NBA draft night! It's always funny to see the reactions the fans have to the guy that their team picks. The Raptors fans in particular fall in love with certain guys, then the hive mind gets behind them and when the guy isn't picked, the fans riot. I remember when Scottie Barnes was picked the fanbase was clamoring for Jalen Suggs. Obviously the fans were wrong, maybe the front office knows what they're doing? The same thing happened last night when the fans were all geared up to take 7 footer Khaman Maluach who was still on the board at 9. Adam Silver went to the podium and announced the Raptors would be taking Collin Murray-Boyles, a 6'7 forward. The fan reaction was mixed to say the least, and that encourages me more than anything. I've got thoughts on some other draft picks as well that I can't wait to get into! Before I do though, let me just say that I am far from a draft expert. I have barely watched any of these guys and everything I "know" about them comes from podcasts or articles written by other people. I am reacting just based on stuff I've heard and just like people who actually dedicate time and energy to this are wrong all the time, I am definitely going to be wrong about some of these takes as well. It's just for fun, who am I even arguing with anyway? Lets get into it!

CMB!

First things first, lets talk about the reaction. The fans really ran with this and got out of hand so I feel like I should address it off the top. When CMB was picked, he shook his head and said the F word. Fans took that as meaning he was disappointed about being picked by the Raptors. He clarified in the interview literally 1 minute later that all he meant by that was disbelief that he was finally being drafted and his dreams were coming true. He's mentioned in interviews before the draft how he likes the Raptors and sees himself fitting in with the team and the players. Basically what I am trying to say here is the fans are being stupid. Obviously he's excited to be drafted, no 20 year old kid finds out they're making the NBA and is disappointed because of the city. I heard people were flooding his Instagram comments with hate because of it, absolute morons. Anyway, that's all I'll say on that! I am excited to have him and am looking forward to my next paragraph where I talk about fit stuff. 

So who is CMB? From what I've seen, Collin Murray-Boyles was one of the best defensive prospects in the draft. At 6'7 with a 7' wingspan, CMB had the size and quickness needed to guard 1-5 in college. The report is that despite the fact he doesn't jump out of the gym, CMB is strong and always in the right position. He has great hands on defense that I've heard compared to Fred VanVleet's but in a much bigger frame allowing him to get steals on ball handlers and get into passing lanes. While he's not tall enough to be a traditional rim protector, he's positionally aware, and strong enough to be difficult to post up. On offense, in college CMB was a very good driver. He generally finishes in the paint by initiating contact and going strong to the rim. His touch around the basket is really good as well, I've seen a few plays with him finishing with finesse around the rim as well as power. He has a really strong handle for his size and his vision on passes is awesome. They say as of right now he's probably not a total point forward type, but he's going to be a good decision maker who knows how to keep the ball moving and find the open man. Where he struggles on offense is shooting. He was not a good shooter in either of his 2 years of college. He didn't take a ton of 3s and when he did, he didn't make them at a high clip. He shot ~70% from the free throw line as a sophomore as well. All indicators point to his jump shot being a big thing to work on. 

That brings in the fit questions! First of all, I think drafting for fit is almost always a mistake. By the time CMB is ready to be a real contributor to winning, the team will likely have changed a ton. If he's indeed someone that's a key piece, they'll find guys that fit around him. That being said, on the team next year his game is very similar to Scottie Barnes. A lot of the thought process of the fanbase was that we needed more shooting next to Scottie or someone who could play the 5 long term, CMB is probably neither of those things. I think people are missing the gaps that CMB does fill though. The Raptors are in desperate need of a defensive stopper. Last season, you could make the argument that Scottie Barnes was largely the only good defender on the team. Scottie is better suited as a help defender where he can rotate over for blocks or switch in the pick and roll. CMB in theory can come in and take on the other team's best wing, forming a really good duo with Scottie on the defensive end. With Brandon Ingram, the Raptors now have 3 giant wings who can all handle the ball and pass. I am interested in seeing some small ball lineups that have Scottie/CMB at the 5 especially given how Darko likes to use his 5 man as a post hub. Either of Scottie or CMB can be that hub given their skillset. Finally, with the way they treated Chris Boucher at the end of last season, it became pretty clear the team would be moving on. Without Boucher, the Raptors actually had a pretty big hole at backup power forward. I think early in the season you can convince yourself that CMB can come in for Scottie Barnes off the bench and the team doesn't have to change much about what its running. Overall I'd say Scottie Barnes is an extremely versatile player that we've seen play literally every position in his 4 years in Toronto, why would it be a bad thing to have 2 of those guys? If things pan out, having 2 guys who can play multiple positions just allows you to be more versatile with your lineup combinations. 

Finally on CMB I wanted to get into some player comps that I've seen really quickly. A high end outcome is Draymond Green. That's always a comp given to tweener forwards with a handle and shaky jumper, but there's probably good reason to give it to CMB. Murray-Boyles by every advanced metric was one of the best defenders in the NCAA last year. He seamlessly guarded both 5s and 1s, something Draymond has made his career off of. Another comp I heard was Paul Millsap. Millsap made himself into a respectable shooter which CMB would need to do to reach this level on offense, but their post game at their sizes are pretty similar along with the passing and ball handling. CMB himself mentioned Aaron Gordon, along with Draymond, as guys he thinks he can be like. Aaron Gordon is another tweener forward type who can do a little bit of everything on the basketball court. I could see that outcome for him as CMB has said he's happy doing all the dirty work, similar to what Gordon does for the Nuggets. Finally the lowest end comparison I saw for CMB is Thaddeus Young. I think if the jumper never comes around, Thad is a pretty good comparison for him. A forward who can pass, handle and score inside with his left hand as well as defend multiple positions. Thad was never a star or fringe star like the other guys I listed, but he was an awesome role player in the NBA for a long time, and the Raps are going to need those! Player comps are hard, none of the guys I listed here have the same exact game and all of them have been used by experts or the man himself to compare to CMB. Ultimately CMB is going to carve out his own path, he was a very effective player in college who's team was much better with him on the floor. He brings pretty much everything except for shooting to a team and his intangibles are through the roof. I think there's a place for players like that and I'm excited to see what he can do!

Other Intriguing Draft Stuff

Ok I dragged out my Collin Murray-Boyles takes for way longer than I thought I could so I'll try to be brief with my other draft stuff. I promised myself I wouldn't get sucked into the Pelicans again after they embarrassed me big time last season, but with the 7th pick last night they picked Jeremiah Fears, a smaller point guard with defensive concerns but a guy who can stop and start on a dime reminiscent of Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Then with the 13th pick they selected Derik Queen, my personal favorite prospect in this draft. Queen is an undersized center with conditioning and effort concerns. In the Maryland games I watched, he was a total liability on defense and on the glass, but oh boy can he ever hoop. Queen is a guy with a deep bag of tricks whether its off the dribble or in the post. He's got great footwork, a good handle, a quick first step and is an amazing passer especially for his size. All of the sudden the Pelicans how have Jeremiah Fears, Jordan Poole, Zion Williamson and Derik Queen, a pure hoopers dream team. That team is going to play zero defense, they're going to look super unserious at times, but they're going to score in a multitude of ways and be extremely fun to watch. I think this might be the first must watch 20 win team in NBA history and I seriously can't wait. 

The other big surprise of the night was Hansen Yang being taken with the 16th pick. Touted by many online as "Temu Jokic" the Chinese big man is slow and prodding, but has awesome vision for a center and a really intriguing post game. A lot of people projected him as a second rounder, he doesn't figure to be a very good defender and the only data on him is him playing in China against much weaker competition. The Blazers took a shot on him at 16 though and I think that's exciting. A key thing to watch now is the Blazers have a glutton of centers on their roster after this pick, something the Raptors might be able to help out with. 

Finally the last one is Ace Bailey who I thought pretty hilariously tried to dictate where he went in the draft by stating publicly how he doesn't want to play for anyone picking in the top 5. The Utah Jazz didn't care and picked him at 5 anyway which I think is very funny. I get it kid, nobody should be subjected to living in Utah. 

That's that! Draft night is fun. Time will tell if this was the right pick or not for the Raptors. A lot of the reaction came from not picking a backup 5 when all the 5s in the draft were still on the board at 9, but I like picking best player available instead of fit. Masai rarely leads us astray, I trust in him.