Raptors Youth: Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira – What’s his future?
We continue our look at the future of young Raptors with thoughts about centre Lucas Nogueira.
Rookie Expectations
Lucas Nogueira was selected 16th overall by the Dallas Mavericks for Atlanta Hawks via trade in the 2013 NBA draft. The Hawks must have seen something they liked in Nogueira to trade up for him. The Hawks ended up stashing him overseas and he never played an NBA game for the Hawks. Nogueira was traded to the Raptors in 2014 along with Lou Williams for John Salmons. I believe the expectations of Nogueira were low by the Raptors at that time. Lou Williams was the prize in the deal and it felt like the Raptors may have wanted a Brazilian friend for recently drafted Bruno Caboclo. The Raptors had mainly Tyler Hansbrough backing up Valaniunas at the time. Hansbrough clearly had a low ceiling, so maybe there was little bit of hope Nogueira had some upside.
Performance This Season
Nogueira didn’t really get meaningful minutes this season with the Raptors. He did play some spot minutes when Valanciunas got injured. On the whole, Nogueira averaged 2.2ppg (on 63.6% shooting from the field), 1.6rpg, 0.4spg, & 0.4bpg in less than 8mpg. Furthermore, he did get some run with the 905 averaging 10ppg (on 55.4% shooting from the field), 6.9rpg, 2.9apg, 0.7apg, & 1.4bpg in 10 games at 25mpg.
Expectations Next Season
Some people believe Nogueira will back up Valanciunas this season with Bismack Biyombo gone. However, I believe rookie Jakob Poeltl will get the bulk of those minutes. Nogueira’s major problem has been defence. We just saw the limitations of a player like Luis Scola had this past season because he struggled on defence. Nogueira hasn’t shown he can guard any big man at the NBA level. He is going to have some major competition in training camp with Poeltl.
Nogueira hasn’t shown he can guard any big man at the NBA level. He is going to have some major competition in training camp with Poeltl who is a mobile defensive first centre that can give the Raptors a different look when Valanciunas needs some rest. I believe Nogueira will end up being used as a throw-in if the Raptors make a trade because he hasn’t shown enough NBA skills to warrant significant minutes on a conference finals team. I think it’s also not fair for Nogueira to be on a win now team when he needs more time and minutes to develop. That’s something the Raptors don’t have the luxury to offer him outside of the D-League. Nogueira can probably stick around in the NBA because he’s a positive in the locker room and still has the potential to be a rotation player.
With the Raptors now focusing on developing Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam (27th overall selection in this last draft), Delon Wright, Norman Powell, and Bruno Caboclo it may be time to cut bait on Nogueira if he as part of a package can land the Raptors a player that can help them win now. A potential trade offer could be Terrence Ross & Lucas Nogueira for Taj Gibson & Tony Snell. Gibson would give the Raptors another power forward, which they desperately need. Plus Tony Snell is a wing that could replace some of Ross’s minutes. It’s a deal that should help the Raptors in the short-term and with the East getting better it’s important to try to stay near the top of the conference.
Am I wrong about Nogueira? Can he outplay Poeltl for the majority of the backup centre minutes? Is Gibson a good haul for Ross & Nogueira? Feel free to comment below.