The Toronto Raptors entered the 2010-11 season as a young team with leadership issues after the loss of All-Star Chris Bosh to free agency and exited the season even younger with the team’s only vocal leader Reggie Evans an unrestricted free agent.  For all the calls of needed upgrades at the point, small forward, and center positions, it is leadership the Raptors continue to search for.

Evans is a great locker room guy and teammate, but he isn’t the leader one would expect to take a team to the post season.  The Raptors veteran point guard Jose Calderon does direct his teammates well on the floor and he has their respect, but he isn’t a locker room leader.  The Raptors had hoped the Italian “magician” Andrea Bargnani might emerge as a team leader, and he still might in the future, but Bargnani only led his team in scoring and nowhere else last season.  Finally head coach Jay Triano admitted at the start of last year that the coaching staff might have to provide the leadership until someone emerged from the locker room and the Raptors recently opted to find a new head coach.

Whether it comes through trade or the draft, the overriding and unspoken goal of this offseason should be to find someone who can (eventually) lead this team.  Should the Raptors attempt to trade the number five pick in the draft in order to acquire what the team needs or should they keep it?

“I think that is always spoken about but I think it is very rarely done,” said Jim Kelly Senior Director, Scouting for the Raptors at the team’s first pre-draft workout in Toronto on Tuesday.  “Not only for the Raptors, but (when) people say what if they traded a number one or number two pick, it is very hard to set a value for what you would get in return.  It is a great philosophical question to have over a few cold ones, but I don’t see it done very often.  I think when you are up to the top picks, most teams tend to hold onto them.”

When it comes to leadership, most teams find their guy in the draft, and once they find him, he isn’t going to be traded, at least not willingly.

“Clearly we didn’t have the season last year that we wanted to,” said Kelly.  “At this point in the top part of the draft we are looking for the best possible player and there happens to be a number of very good point guards there and we will have to make decisions as we go – if we go in that direction.”

Going in that direction means one of Calderon or Jerryd Bayless has to be moved.  Toronto can ill afford to draft a point guard only to have him sit on the bench and watch.

The Raptors had just returned from Chicago where they worked out center prospect Enes Kanter and they have their eyes on possible center prospects Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo.

“We have seen the Europeans play,” explained Kelly.  “Kanter was a little bit of a unique situation in that he had to sit the year out.

“Kanter was a big strong physical player.  Someone asked if he was a true five and I couldn’t really tell as he shot the ball so well from a face up position but he is strong enough that he could pound people inside.”

Leadership, however, is more likely to come from the point guards in this draft.

Top point guard prospects Kemba Walker and Brandon Knight were at the Air Canada Center on Tuesday.  Unfortunately “scheduling” issues prevented the two guards from going head-to-head and Walker worked out against Kansas State senior Jacob Pullen while Knight appeared as Walker was leaving to work out against Washington junior Isaiah Thomas.  Needless to say, both of these top prospects impressed their audience.

“We had two very good guards in Kemba Walker who had a fantastic college season and Jacob Pullen from Kansas State, who in his junior year had a great season,” said Kelly.  “Especially today, Walker showed very good passing ability.  I think everyone knows that he is a very good scorer from his college career, but I think most impressive today was his passing ability.

“(Size) is always a concern.  He measured 6′ 1″ in Chicago.  The bigger the guard, the better usually but I think he has enough quickness and savvy and definitely enough basketball experience that he knows how to play at his size and get his shot off or get the ball to the open man.

“(We saw) great athleticism from Brandon Knight.  That was about what we expected.  We had seen him last week and the week before as well as numerous times this year.  He is a big time athlete with a big time motor and can really fly up and down the court.  

“He has a bit more size to him, if size is a determining factor, but I don’t think it is. He is a little bit bigger than Kemba, probably a little bit quicker straight ahead.  I think Kemba has a little bit more on the ball maneuverability and a bit more experience.  He has three years college basketball and got his team to the championship this year.  You can’t knock experience, especially at that high level.”

The 19-year-old Knight was a scoring guard in high school who Coach John Calipari converted to the point and Knight struggled early in the season with his decision making and turnovers. In the NCAA tournament Knight led his team to the Final Four before losing by only a single point to Walker’s Huskies.

Knight believes he is ready to make his mark in the NBA after his freshman season where he averaged 17.3 points and 4.2 assists.

“I am sure that it is going to be a learning process,” explained Knight.  “I can’t say that I am going to come in and be able to change this team around immediately, or any team, but that is going to be one of my goals, I am going to come in and have an impact.  I think that is what any player wants to be able to do.

“I think I am ready and capable.”

The Raptors are obviously enamored with Knight’s athleticism and skill and Knight is working hard to ensure teams want to draft him.  He was still running drills at full speed at the end of the work out while most of the other participants had shifted down to first gear.

As a junior, Walker was the leader of the UConn Huskies and led his team to the conference and NCAA championships.  Walker exudes confidence and averaged 23.5 points and 4.5 assists last year.

“The Connecticut team, they did not have a great scoring punch,” said Kelly. “He was basically the first and second option they had on their team.”

“A lot of people question whether I am a scoring guard or a passing guard,” said Walker.  “I had to score out of necessity for my team.  This is the first year that I had to score a lot but if you put me in a situation where I can get guys the ball or there are guys who are willing to score, I can do it.

“At one point people questioned if I could score or not, now that I am scoring they question if I can pass or not.

“It is going to be tough coming in as a rookie just 21 years old and try to lead a bunch of guys who have been here already,” said Walker.  “But it is going to be up to me to try and get those guys to respect me and I am going to do whatever is possible to get their respect.”

Most mock drafts have the Jazz taking Knight at three because Knight is the bigger, younger, and more athletic player, but there is a chance he is still available when the Raptors pick.

“I think we have a chance at him,” said Kelly about the Raptors drafting Knight.  “There are a lot of different scenarios that could take place on the top there.  That is a very talented player.

“He is a very bright, intelligent, on-the-ball kid who seems serious about the task at hand.  He knows what he wants to accomplish, a very classy individual.”

If Knight has been drafted before the Raptors can get him with the fifth pick, Walker will be available as Cleveland selects first and fourth and will not take two point guards.  This shouldn’t upset anyone in Toronto however as Walker is more experienced, NBA ready, and has demonstrated the leadership traits under pressure that the Raptors have been missing.

“I have played with Kemba for a long time,” said Pullen.  “All the Nike camps and that stuff, we have known each other for a long time.  I think he is a real talent.  He is one of the best point guards in the draft.”

One more factor in Walker’s favor is that he is the same age as the Raptors’ favorite young wing player DeMar DeRozan.

“I have met DeMar,” said Walker.  “I have known him since high school.”

It seems like DeRozan has known everyone that the Raptors have brought in recently.

The Toronto Raptors will not be dealing themselves down or out of the 2011 NBA draft and with the fifth pick the team should select the NCAA champion UConn Huskies’ undisputed leader Kemba Walker.

Send me your comments or questions about the NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors, or anything else in the NBA to my weekly NBA chat and check back on Thursday at noon ET for a response.

TORONTO . Isaiah Thomas stood in the middle of a gaggle of reporters, many of who were taller than the 5-foot-9 point guard, at the Air Canada Centre practice court on Tuesday afternoon. A few steps away, highly touted point guard prospect Brandon Knight stood peering at the scrum, leaning on the stanchion supporting the basket.

His ears must have been burning.

“A lot of them are [avoiding working out against lower-ranked prospects.] That’s just how it is, I guess,” Thomas said of Knight and players of his ilk. “I wouldn’t do that if that was my situation, but that’s how it is. People don’t wanna, I don’t know, I’m not going to .

“My main thing is that’s why you hire agents,” Knight said, basically agreeing with Thomas’s assessment. “Listen to what the agent tells you, just trust him, see what he says to do. Like you said, I’m not scared to work out against anybody. I’m a competitor. Sometimes with scheduling and stuff like that, you’ve got to listen to your agent and what he tells you to do. Sometimes it’s not about being a competitor. Sometimes it’s about being strategic.”

That is the process the Raptors will have to navigate as they approach the NBA Draft on June 23, in which they hold the fifth pick overall. You want to see a top prospect work out against another top prospect? Good luck. If one of them does not have a problem with that scenario, than the other guy probably will.

Or more to the point, one of the agents probably will. The Raptors held their first workouts Tuesday, with a session in both the morning and the afternoon. They had Kentucky’s Brandon Knight and Connecticut’s Kemba Walker in town, but the pair did not work out against each other. ESPN’s Chad Ford reported Arn Tellem, Knight’s agent, insisted that Knight not work out against Walker.

It is logical: Knight is highly thought of, with many mock drafts slotting him in the third spot, behind the consensus top two of Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams. Walker’s ceiling is probably at No. 5, where the Raptors pick, and he could conceivably slide to the back half of the lottery. Why should Knight risk looking bad about a player considered a lesser prospect?

“I don’t know if it’s frustrating. It’s part of the system,” said Raptors director of scouting Jim Kelly, remaining vague on the reason the two stars were not working out together. “It was a schedulingtype thing. One’s got another commitment afterwards, another one has one coming in. That’s just the way it goes.”

This draft is full of practical dilemmas. A number of players in the Raptors’ range are European, and not making the trip to North America to go through the usual battery of workouts. That list includes Czech forward Jan Vesely, Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas and Congolese forward Bismack Biyombo, who is playing in Spain. The Raptors will have to go to Europe to see them again, after monitoring them this year.

And then there is the odd case of Turkish centre Enes Kanter. He dominated the Nike Hoops Summit last year, but was declared ineligible to play at the University of Kentucky last season because he received benefits while playing in Turkey.

The Raptors worked him out in Chicago on Monday, but there is very little actual game action to judge him on.

“Big, strong, physical player. He shot the ball fairly well [Monday],” Kelly said. “Someone asked, ‘Is he a true [centre]?’ I couldn’t really tell yesterday because he shot the ball so well from the faceup position. Yet he’s strong enough that he could pound people inside.”

Still, do you draft a player based on one workout and some outdated footage? That is a question the Raptors will have to ask themselves over and over again. It will not be the only one.

ekoreen@nationalpost.com

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PROSPECT WATCH

The Toronto Raptors had 10 prospects in town yesterday, but only two are considered possibilities for the Raptors’ fifth-overall selection: Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight and Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker

BRANDON KNIGHT

Kentucky

Age 19, Freshman

Ht 6-foot-3 Wt 176 pounds

PPG 17.3 APG 4.2 FG% 42.3%

Mock drafts ESPN, 3rd; Draft Express, 3rd

The skinny Knight is considered to be the best point guard in the draft, despite still learning the position. His size is very good and gives him the tool to be an elite defender at the spot.

The Raptors say “We had seen him last week and the week before as well, plus numerous times this year. He’s a big-time athlete, big-time motor, can really fly up and down the court there.” – Jim Kelly, director of scouting

The player says “I just wanted to come here, just in case I did fall back in a position, just to make sure Toronto is comfortable picking me, to make sure I worked out with them, to make sure I didn’t leave any doubts in their minds. That’s why I came in Toronto. It’s a great place. I wouldn’t mind being here. Lovely place.” – Knight, on working out in Toronto despite high projections.

KEMBA WALKER

Connecticut

Age 21, Junior

Ht 6-foot-2 Wt 184 pounds

PPG 23.5 APG 4.5 FG% 42.8

Mock drafts Draft Express, 5th; ESPN, 7th

The skinny Walker’s role in Connecticut’s magical run to both the Big East and NCAA championships was simple: He did everything. However, memories of his scoring binges have some scouts and fans convinced he is more of a shoot-first player rather than a point guard.

The Raptors say “I think the situation called on him to be more of a scorer for the Connecticut team. They did not have great scoring punch. He was basically the first and second option they had on their team. I think he’s a versatile enough guard that he can do both, especially scoring the ball.” – Kelly

The player says “A lot of people question whether I’m a scoring guard or a passing guard. I had to score out of necessity for my team. This is the first year where I’ve really scored a lot of points. If you put me in a situation where I can get guys involved and there are guys willing to score for me, I can do it.” – Walker

Eric Koreen, National Post

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