they need a big man who can play right now alongside bosh in the middle. you put arajuo in there, then you have a line up of
C Arajuo 6-11 285
PF Bosh 7-0 230
SF Marshall 6-9 235
SG Carter 6-6 225
PG Rose 6-8 220

thats not a bad squad as long as they do some things to their depth. but they need a big man in the draft IMHO a real BIg man. arajuo sounds about right at 8 with Toronto.

I don't understand why are you so high on Araujo. He does not even put that outstanding numbers in college. Picking him as high as 8 is a very very big reach. Also, Rose at PG does not really work well other then for just certain streches in games. The Raptors would be essentially playing without a real pointguard, and relying for a so so rook to to deliver. That doesn not bode well for them the way I see it.

Arajuo reminds me of Todd MacCullouch. He's gonna be solid but I'd wait till the teens. Utah will pick him.

Posted by BRIGGS:

As for college 18.5 pts and 10 reb in 30 min shooting 57% is pretty darn good.

Those are very good college numbers. I can see the Raptors going big with Arajuo or Podkolzine depending on their workouts....or going with a point guard. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't think Rose or Williams is the answer for them at the point...and looking at their draft workouts it seems like they have had all of the lottery point guards in for a workout as well as Arajuo.

big difference between arajuo and pavel. pavel has never proven he can play against any competition 5-5 full court and put up numbers. individual workouts are much different that game conditions. arajuo is a 6-11 285 pound skilled C who is also a very tough hombre. the raptors spent a high pick on a 7-4 C just a few years ago and like fred weiss the guy never materialized. Arajuo is worth the 8th pick, just like Sweetney was worth pick 9 because hes proven commodity with much less risk.

i think araujo is going to end up in seattle. in fact, seattle may be a team to watch. if they draft araujo and then make the deal for kmart, that gives them a young and strong frontline of kmart, araujo, and collison with rashard at the wing.

briggs - you're right, toronto should take araujo since they have players that can ball at all the other positions but i think they're going to buy into the hype and take pavel (which would be a mistake).

i'm not too familiar with araujo but from what i saw in the tournament, he reminds me somewhat of a tsakalidis but will probably put up better numbers.

1 more thing...I was reading Arajuo scouting report. And they say his defense could be shaky. Since he's very slow moving side to side and a slow jumper. He gets good position but since he jumps very slow. Guys go over him to get rebounds.

There is absolutley no way a rook center of Arajuo's talent level would come in and average 14 and 10. That's pipedream for Raptor fans. Arajuo will need some time to develop into those numbers if he ever be able to even put those up. Down the road he might, but not his rook year. As for Brad Miller, he is fast for his position, and is extremely smart bball wise. He is also a decent leaper for a 7 footer, no way is he landlocked like, say KT. And Brad Miller took some years to develop into what he is today. Skilled guys can't just come in and look polished on the next level. They of all types need some time to use there smarts and fundamentals to adopt to the NBA game. Arajuo might be a very solid C down the road, in a season or two, but not right away. Personally, I think Pavel will be a bust, these 7 4 guys never work out, Yao being the only exception. If you want a center who might help right away, I'd go with David Harison. A good old American 7 footer with athletic ability, etc.

Good Call Briggs!