By: Dustin Chapman

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• Selected Roy Hibbert 17th overall for Indiana, as a product of this draft pick being involved in the aforementioned Pacers-Raptors deal.

• Indiana selected Nathan Jawai 41st overall for Toronto, which will also be included in the Pacers-Raptors deal.

Draft night was fairly uneventful for Toronto, as they had just one [second round] pick to look forward to. However, they got decent value out of the pick, getting Australian center Nathan Jawai 41st overall. Jawai was thought of as a potential first round pick heading into the draft, and has great size to go along with developing tools that could help him make an impact in the NBA. Don’t expect Jawai in a Raptors uniform in 2009, but after a bit of seasoning overseas, he may be able to help them down the line.

Grade: C+

“With the first pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select….Andrea Bargnani” announced David Stern almost two years ago.  At that point, many were comparing him to Dirk Nowitzki, one of the the best in the game.  Many thought he could be better.

After Bargnani’s rookie season had ended, he was showing flashes of amazing potential, and stepped him game up huge in the playoffs.  At that point, even more were sure he’d be something amazing.  There were faults in his game, yes.  But surely he would get the coaching he would need to make his weaknesses his strengths.  Not everyone believed; he would undoubtedly have to silence the critics before he could climb the mountain to NBA stardom.

Halloween 2007, Game 1.  Bargnani puts up 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.  The Raptors romp the 76ers.  It seemed like a season to remember.  Game two, the Raptors defile the Nets by 37 points.  Bargnani puts up 21.  With Bosh and Bargnani playing the four and five, the future was brighter then the Toronto skyline itself.

The rest is a blur until May, when Orlando beats us in 5.  The off-season begins, 41-41. And we face a huge question.  Does Bargnani get amnesty?  His value right now is still high, and we probably could cash in somewhere.  Where exactly, is not important; but if we make the wrong decision, who knows what could happen; maybe it could be the difference between a championship and nothing a few years down the road.

What will it take to get Bargnani to take it to the next level? His good games were far from flukes, no question.  His talent is so unique.  We can’t possibly give up on him, can we? We’re all supporting him, and when Smitch didn’t for those few weeks, nothing changed.  My only other guess would be that Uros Slokar, who spoke fluent Italian helped comfort him, and let him relax a bit, I suppose.   Could that be it? Could he just be feeling alone? I am obviously not in the locker room, but I suppose it’s a possibility.

The two options are very clear, no question. The choice, not so much. Believe me, I am as confused as a drug addict doing calculus right now with all this.  But im hoping all the best for Andrea Bargnani.

       With two key dates approaching (Free Agent Deadlines & The Draft) the Raptors seem flexible.  We have excess talent at the point, and a whole in the wing, currently filled with question marks.  So, why doesn’t Bryan Colangelo simply put 2 and 2 together and trade TJ Ford, or perhaps sign and trade Jose Calderon, and trade for a player like Corey Maggette.  Then draft a big man at 17, and we’re set.

       Why won’t Bryan Colangelo doing that?  Maybe he will.  It seems to be everything we need.  Would it make too much sense? Probably.  Bryan Colangelo has a knack for doing the unexpected, then it turning out well. 

       If that’s all we do, I can see us eclipsing our 47 win record.  But why can’t we turn ourselves into contenders?  That’s what everyone wants;  The Celtics did it, the Lakers did it, and heck even we did it.  But unlike two years ago, why can’t we take it to the next level?  And for the first time ever since the inaugural season in ’95 earn some real respect. While staying young.

       Forget the depth, it took us to the middle of mediocrity.  So, while we’re paying Jamario Moon less then a million a season, lets take advantage of it, package him with Delfino, and lets get a first round draft pick  (drafting a SG to replace Parker as he ages).  Lets do what we can do to get a Gerald Wallace or Luol Deng (just throwing names out there) draft a tough big man with 17, and make Andrea Bargnani fight his heart out for minutes. 

      And as the season goes on, lets get rid of Rasho’s Expiring, and pick up what we lose during the season, whether its to injury or falling below expectations.  Bottom line is, forget the depth, forget the two point guards, the 2 and 3, and for that matter; everything but Bosh.   We were in a similar spot of building around Bosh two years ago but now we have more options.  Don’t expect something simple, I think Bryan Colangelo is going all out to put us back on the map.  And use innovation with decsions over prowess.

Again guys, hopefully im back for a bit, today was just an overview of what I hope to be writing about over the next few weeks.

June 3
SG - Wayne Ellington (North Carolina)
SG - Shan Foster (Vanderbilt)
SG/PG - Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State)
SG/SF - Danny Green (North Carolina)
SG/SF - Malik Hairston (Oregon)
SG - Courtney Lee (Western Kentucky)

June 4
C - Jason Thompson (Rider)
PG - Jeremy Pargo (Gonzaga)
PG - Drew Neitzel (Michigan State)
C/PF - Robin Lopez (Stanford)
C/PF - Kosta Koufos (Ohio State)
PF - Ryan Anderson (California)

June 5
C - Alexis Ajinca (France)
SG/SF - Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis)
C - DeVon Hardin (California)
SG/SF - Mykal Riley (Alabama)
SG/SF - Brandon Rush (Kansas)
SG/SF - Bill Walker (Kansas State)

DraftExpress’ Raptors Workout Schedule
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Posted By: Dustin Chapman

According to the Toronto Sun, Raptors center Rasho Nesterovic has elected to pick up his 2008-2009 player option, which will keep him in Toronto for one more year.

Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic exercised the player option on his contract for next season yesterday.

The 7-foot, 270-pounder averaged 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 71 games last season, his second with the Raptors.

Nesterovic, who will make $8.4 million US next season, has averaged 7.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 699 career games with Minnesota, San Antonio and Toronto.

He was a member of the Spurs’ 2005 championship team.

That’s right, Stephen A. - “Rahh-sho Ne-ster-ovic.”

The ten-year NBA veteran may not have held career averages, but his play to close out the regular season was more than a pleasant surprise. When second-year disappointment Andrea Bargnani was demoted from the starting lineup in late March, Nesterovic grasped his new opportunity with the ambition of a new man. Throughout the final 20 games of the regular season, Rasho unexpectedly held averages of 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.

The 2008-2009 season may very well turn out to be a career-year for the Yugoslavian big man. It’ll be interesting to see if he can pick up where he left off at the back-end of this season. God knows, Toronto could use a reliable center.

Should he not appease Sam Mitchell and his coaching staff, however, Toronto may finally have a trading chip to play with. Nesterovic’s $8.4 million expiring deal will be of value around the league.

Regardless, it’s safe to say that Nesterovic is going to make Bryan Colangelo a happy man at some point.

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Posted By: Dustin Chapman

As many experts predicted, the Raptors were eliminated in the 2008 NBA Playoffs in a 5 game series against the Superman-led Orlando Magic.

It shames me to say, this is the outcome I had predicted.

If you watched any Raptors games near the end of the season, believe me you would have predicted the same thing. Our team was a disaster.

There is no excuse we can use. Chris Bosh was healthy, TJ and Jose were healthy, and all of our starters were healthy. So why were we not able to get it done in the last few games AND in the playoffs?

I blame it on a couple of things.

First of all, our coaching. I like our assistance coaches, but I hate Sam Mitchell. I hated him ever since he was hired to be a coach. Let’s face it, last year’s award he won was only given to him because of the fantastic job Colangelo had done after he came over. No matter what B.C. did, it still didn’t change the fact that Sam Mitchell can’t coach for shit. He just doesn’t know basketball like people claim he does. Unlike other former players that have become coaches who are usually guards that were smart players, Sam Mitchell was a tough and aggressive small forward, though he probably would have played power forward if he had more height.

He was a hustle player. You can’t take a hustle player and make him design plays for our team.

Mitchell is known by Raptors fans as the head coach who doesn’t know any X’s and O’s to save his life. Honestly, I think he would have better luck as a motivator than a coach, and that’s my honest opinion.

Now that we have covered dear old Sam, let’s talk about the players.

This season I have been shocked by the amount of comments our players make. With all the complaining and negativity I couldn’t believe this was a professional NBA basketball squad. Our players kept bitching and bitching about one another, though there were no direct shots, it was obvious the comments were unnecessary excuses for their poor play.

Especially Bosh, who is supposed to be the leader of this team. I understand the need to voice the concern as a team leader once or twice, but he kept going to the media like he was frequently getting picked on by bullies. Instead of complaining, why couldn’t he just keep it to himself and play better? I’m not saying he played bad but if he has so much time to pick out the whole team’s mistakes I think he being the leader of this team should pick out some of his own flaws, and improve on them so we don’t lose.

That was quite a rant. Although that still doesn’t cover everything, I’m gonna leave it like that for now, and hope you have enjoyed this update from the Raptors City Blog, blog for the Toronto Raptors.

Come back next time for our special Draft edition

Raptors Forward Jorge Garbajosa apparently has healed from his injury, athough he has still not been played by the raptors organization to play for Spain in the FIBA Championships. One has to wonder what is going through the mind of Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo right now. Spain wants Jorge to represent them in the FIBA tournament although BC has other plans that are for the better of the Raptors.

Not to mention we can only wonder what Garbajosa wants. Surely he wants to wear his team colours in the FIBA tournament, but there is some unknown agreement between euros and the NBA about injured players playing for their home country. If the Raptors medical staff decide that Garbajosa is not ready for action, then i don’t think he can play.

We will find out more on this int he upcomming weeks, while the FIBA tournament has already started.

Let me start things off by saying sorry I have not been blogging much lately. I assure you, that I will do it a lot more frequently…

 Anyways, Jamario Moon, who is listed as 6 ‘8″ received a partially guaranteed two year contract. He is twenty-eight years old, and I believe this will be his first NBA experience (if he plays) this is essentially an invite to training camp, and if he impresses there, like he did for the Raptors on June 22-24, he should be on the 15 man roster.

If your wondering what exactly Moon is known for, it is almost identical to what I have expressed in previous blogs. A tough, rebounding, and defensive small forward. Now, I doubt he will average 30 minutes a game and 15 PPG. But, its a lot better to have someone contribute to the team needs, even if its on a small scale, then if we had a player like Kapono who is a shooter. Hopefully, if he makes the team, can give some well needed balance.

I don’t expect much out of this move, and I think the odds are about 40/60 hes on the team opening day, but you never know what Bryan Colangelo is going to do next, and usually its great.

Well, if John Salmons has taught me anything, it is that a deal is not always done until it is signed. But, it looks as if the newest member to the Raptors roster will be three point specialist Jason Kapono. The deal is expected to be four years long, and over 20 million. Jason Kapono played the last two seasons with Miami, and was on the championship team.

The signing, comes as a surprise to many, with rumors involving (mostly) small forwards such as Grant Hill and Josh Childress. It came as no shock that Toronto’s Mid Level Exception (which essentially is the money teams over the cap can spend on players) was used on a SF. It was just that Jason Kapono, in my opinion didn’t fit the team needs. But after I thought about it…

The deal may not be too bad at all. This will enable Anthony Parker play less of a three point game, and wander around more where he in my opinion can be potentially more effective. No teams will want to double Bosh, when he can just dish it out, Toronto (with their superb ball movement) swig it to Jason Kapono and then take the leagues highest percentage three point shot. And last but not least, this will put pressure on Andrea Bargnani to develop his post and rebounding game. Having him down low will help out Bosh on the boards and he will still be able to use his speed to take advantage over some NBA centres while still having the size of a center. Bargnani’s post game has lots of potential, and a few years down the road, will give him LOTS more versatility.

And as great as all that sounds, the problems remain, the rebounding and perimeter defense still need to improve. I think this will create a domino effect. Graham or Garbojosa (whoever Bryan Colangelo chooses)  and maybe Calderon will be moved for that Small Forward we need.

 Only time will tell…

Yesterday, Toronto acquired Carlos Delfino from the Detroit Pistons for two second round picks in 2009 and 2011. The logic behind this deal on Detroit’s part was likely to clear up some cap room for Chauncey Billups to be resigned with the team. He only made a little more then 1,000,000 last year, but everything helps. And maybe  for them to go after someone else.

Delfino may; and probably was not in BC’s plans from day one or anything, but this gives him some more flexibility. He can now move Juan Dixon and/or Mo-Pete and still have a serviceable back-up.

Delfino is 24, 25 in August. He is a solid defender, a tough player who played in ALL 82 games for the Pistons last season (which seems to happen less and less) he can play one, two, or three. But would only be used diligently at the three. Three rebounds per game in sixteen minutes is pretty solid, and a spot Toronto had trouble in last year.

He will continue to bring a winning attitude and national experience that Bryan Colangelo seems to be striving for. He was very successful playing for Argentina’s national team. This addition can not hurt, really, and may end up being another one of BC’s successful steals.

This deal could be a lot in the future, as the little things make up the big things.

Drop some comments!!