1995 NBA DRAFT
First Round Player
1. Golden State Joe Smith
2. LA Clippers (a) Antonio McDyess
3. Philadelphia Jerry Stackhouse
4. Washington Rasheed Wallace
5. Minnesota Kevin Garnett
6. Vancouver Bryant Reeves
7. Toronto Damon Stoudamire
10. Miami Kurt Thomas
11. Milwaukee (b) Gary Trent
18. Detroit (from Portland) Theo Ratliff
21. Phoenix (from LA Lakers) Michael Finley

He Drafted the best player left of the board why is that a genius maneuver? Finely has been to 3 All-Star games, Stoudamire has been to zero and has had plenty a number of off court issues

1996 NBA Draft
1. Philadelphia Allen Iverson
2. Toronto Marcus Camby
3. Vancouver Shareef Abdur-Rahim
4. Milwaukee (a) Stephon Marbury (2-time all-star)
5. Minnesota (a) Ray Allen (5 time Allstar)
13. Charlotte Kobe Bryant (best player in the NBA)
14. Sacramento Predrag Stojakovic (2 times all star)
15. Phoenix Steve Nash (3 time all star-mvp)
17. Portland Jermaine O'Neal (Best PF in the east?)
20. Cleveland Zydrunas Ilgauskas (better career than Marcus)

Tough year to draft an impact player? Don’t think so! Especially someone who averages 60 games?

1996 Was a Weak Draft he had the 9th pick and decided to gamble and took T-Mac, so he gets some credit there

10. Milwaukee (b) Danny Fortson Cincinnati
11. Sacramento Olivier Saint-Jean San Jose State
12. Indiana Austin Croshere Providence
13. Cleveland Derek Anderson Kentucky
14. LA Clippers Maurice Taylor Michigan
15. Dallas (c) (from Minnesota) Kelvin Cato Iowa State
16. Cleveland (from Phoenix) Brevin Knight Stanford
17. Orlando Johnny Taylor Tennessee-Chattanooga
18. Portland (c) Chris Anstey (Australia)
19. Detroit Scot Pollard Kansas
20. Minnesota (from Charlotte) Paul Grant

2004 (Ariza isn’t even a rotation player, he was a breathe of fresh air last year, but lets not call him a rotation player, good pick non the less)

And this draft remains to be seen, Lee nice pick at the 30.....and he gets credit for Channing Frye.....

So he's drafted 1 All-Star/superstar in his tenure so lets get off the guys dick and relax about his draft genius, a lot of scouting goes into drafting players....If one of these three turns into an All-Star then maybe we can give him a little credit

Isiah left Granger on the board. we'll see how that eventually turns out.

has he ever drafted a bust? Camby got us to the Finals, which Mr. MVP Nash could not do. Jermaine O'neal was in the league 5 years before he did anything (kinda like Curry, OMG patience with a young player!)

Posted by McK1:

Isiah left Granger on the board. we'll see how that eventually turns out.

don't forget Gerald Green! He was burning up the D-league!

I like how guys who aren't producing for other teams get the benefit of the doubt but rookies who produce for our team get devalued. That's really cool.

How would Toronto look right now if they had been able to hang on to Tmac, Vince, Damon and Camby? not bad?

He drafted Stoudemire who I think won ROY. And then Isiah traded Stoudemire at the perfect time--right before his production started to decline significantly.
Isiah's not a perfect drafter but he's a very good one. Even nearly all of the harshest critics of Isiah will acknowledge that.

Posted by joec32033:

1995-He deafted Stoudemire because Toronto was JUST starting out and needed a PG to run the team. If I recall he had many options at the 2 (Willie Anderson, tracy Murray, Alvin Robertson)meaning Finley may not have been the best choice.

NOVEMBER 2, 1995: Toronto Raptors announce their 12-man active roster that will open their inaugural season. The opening day lineup includes Victor Alexander, Willie Anderson, Acie Earl, Jimmy King, Oliver Miller, Tracy Murray, Ed Pinckney, Alvin Robertson, Carlos Rogers, John Salley, Damon Stoudamire and Zan Tabak.

1996-Do you blame 19 other GM's for passing on Z? 16 others for passing on JO (who Zeke TRADED for a couple years later), 12 others for passing on Kobe? Or how about he Charlotte Gm for trading Kobe for VLADE DIVAC!


Hindsight is always 20/20...

In 1996, Toronto needed a player who could come in and produce, they already had a PG so Nash was out (he came off the bench for a few years anyway), JOneal would have taken years. Camby was one of the most dominant big men in college. He was a disappointment after his rookie season, but he's one of the best defensive centers in the game.

Hindsight makes things a lot easier. People here were hot to trot for Gerald Green last May, but you don't hear anything about how Isiah made a mistake right now. If the majority of people here got their wish and got Green would they blame Isiah for doing a horrible job?

Everyone here demands patience patience patience, but I see a different plan from these same people every two weeks, always wanting the rumor du jour.

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by McK1:

Isiah left Granger on the board. we'll see how that eventually turns out.

don't forget Gerald Green! He was burning up the D-league!

I like how guys who aren't producing for other teams get the benefit of the doubt but rookies who produce for our team get devalued. That's really cool.

how many times have you watched Granger. Indy has had him starting four when O'Neal is out. He scores distributes defends rebounds blocks shots gets steals. He'll be another AK47 in a year or two.

Posted by MS:

The McGrady draft was so weak after TMAC, he shouldn't have taken any of them...I said he only gets credit for McGrady, and when you are brining up impact player you need to look at the situation....

Lets not forget Houston, LJ, Ewing, Sprewell, and Kurt Thomas were on that Knicks team that got us to the Finals Camby was very important in the Pacers series but that team was stacked it was a joint effort....Houston going off in game 6?

Danny Granger is going to be a very good player maybe even an star he rebounds the ball as well as anyone in the draft minus Bogut....

And Vince would have not been on that team for your info, and if we are leveraging Isiahs terrible ****ing trades, and free agent signings on the fact he drafts well its important to not that he has only produced one all-star in his drafting.....

Drafting you get credit if your building rotation players on teams down the road when your drafting past the lottery I just don't see too many rotation players out there that will help the team win to date, that may change but you need to use logic here

Why would Vince not have been on Toronto? Because it's a freezing city in Canada no one wants to play for? I blame Isiah for Toronto's weather! He really should have invested in some giant heaters.

If Camby was so unimportant to beating Indiana, why did Larry Bird say Camby was the best player on the floor? Why did Indiana blow up their team one year later and make a Camby-type trade by trading Dale Davis for Jermaine Oneal?

It's funny that Granger is such a great rebounder but Frye is rebounding better than him. So is David Lee. Weird how Knicks player stats don't seem to count.

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by McK1:

Isiah left Granger on the board. we'll see how that eventually turns out.

don't forget Gerald Green! He was burning up the D-league!

I like how guys who aren't producing for other teams get the benefit of the doubt but rookies who produce for our team get devalued. That's really cool.

i wanted Green... jury's still out on him... i still think he can be the best player to come out of that draft... Frye was a pleasant surprise & i don't blame Isiah for taking him now that i see how much potential he has as well.

Posted by MS:

Donnie Walsh traded for JO!! Not Isiah he is incapable of making a productive trade

Ok...my bad he didn't trade for him. But he did develop him. Maybe he should be the coach.