A Change of Opinion

I still think they're goign to draft a SF, in the hopes that Barg's improves, and Rasho plays steady like he did this year.

I think buying a second round pick and using it on a big is very possible (personally, I like Dorsey).

Do you think using the draft workouts is a good way to guage what teams are leanign towards? Im surprised that there have been few SF and SG, and it would seem like Colangelo isnt doing his full job. Maybe he is tryign to mess up the other GM's, or perhaps it is a good guage of what he is planning on doing.

Keep up the great work.

So if BC is looking for big men projected as early second rounders, which teams have early 2nd round draft picks to deal AND have a swingman? I'm thinking he has plans on acquiring an early 2nd round pick as part of a deal for a swingman...TJ and parts for that swingmen...and that perhaps Rasho will part of the deal, if he needs a big.

Minnesota has 2 at 31, 34.
Seattle has 4, one at 32.
Portland has 2 at 33,36.
The Clips (35), Bucks (37), Bobcats (38), Bulls (39) round out the first ten.

Portland has an available swingman in Travis Outlaw. Seattle has some bigs, but no availabe swingmen. Clips - maybe a sign-and-trade with Maggette. Chicago has Gordon and Deng as RFA's. Minny has McCants.

Of those, only Maggette, Gordon, and Deng are bona fide scorers. BC may take a flyer on Outlaw, thinking he can produce more, but I think he is NOT going to gamble on this deal, and get a solid scorer to compliment Bosh.

Clips and Bulls need an upgrade on PG. I doubt that Chicago will let Deng go, Gordon is more of 2 than a 3, so I'm predicting Maggette. The only hang-up is that he is not a "team-player", which is something BC looks for.

can't remember where i read it but aren't we attending some other team's workouts as well?
wonder if they are trying to discern how much of a difference there is between the quality of big man in the 1st or 2nd. since most of the players in the draft seem like complimentary or role players.
also, hump or baston could be packaged in a trade to pull back the better player in a deal.

Well, the draft is June 26, and free agents don't go on the market until July 1. So, I'm not sure how we can work out sign-and-trade deals for players like Maggette and the Clips' second round pick before the draft.

One of BC's priority as he stated himself, was to get another big man and another 20 pt/gm scorer for Bosh. For the latter it's safe to assume this would mean a 2 or 3 who an create his own shot. I don't think he will get that with the 17th pick. That leads me to believe that he's looking to trade TJ for a wing. Then use the 17th pick for a big that can be part of 4-man bigs rotation. Furthermore, its a lot easier to trade a PG for a wing player then to trade for a good big man. BC is most likely going to pick a big wih 17.

I heard a rumour that the Mavs would like to trade Kidd. That puts TJ to Dallas in play. Anything on Dallas that could be worthwhile for the Raps?

So many options so little time, I personally like the idea of drafting a big man, at 17..and there will be plenty to choose from in the later parts of the draft, as much as I like the idea of drafting a talented 3, we have too many of them as it is, And as anyone knows who watches the nba these days it is way easier to find talent at the 3 via free agency or talented ero's, then it is to find tallented bigs.. exg...( J moon, Garbo, A parker) I need not go on.

Point of intrest...J Magloire free agent to toronto...Stong posibility, and great pr move by the raps. Former all star still younge at age 30 worth a look ???

until next time T-DOT!

Big C

Excellent analysis Franchise, it is funny how obvious things seem when you just look at the facts that are staring us in the face!

The longer we wait and contemplate trade scenarios, the more I think it will be a simple TJ for Magette trade. I know there are people that feel like Magette has his flaws as a player, but TJ certainly does too! Magette brings us athleticism, slashing, decent rebounding, someone who can create their own shot and get to the foul line. Those are all things we are desperate for. If we can trade a tiny PG with a history of spinal injuries for all that, we should happily take it.

Another player I really covet in the draft is Westbrook, his athleticism and perimeter D would be welcome, hopefully we can trade up to get him. Maybe this can somehow even be worked into the TJ trade with the Clips? Mind you, if we could move into the 7th spot, would we use it on Westbrook if Gallinari was still available?

Finally, another off season means time to float the idea of signing our very own Jamal Magloire. I always have been a fan of this idea and still am. He will come cheap. He can still rebound and block shots. It would be a great PR move. He brings toughness. Sure he has slowed down, but he would likely be our third C. He would be better than Brezec or Slokar (what ever happened to him?), so why not take a flyer on him? His toughness would be his best quality in TO. Rasho is solid and skilled, but has rightly been labeled a little soft. Throw in Magloire when you feel like the other team is punking you a little. For how little this move would cost, I don't see any reason not to do it!

EasemyPain - From Dallas? Love to get my hands on Josh Howard...but don't think he'll go anywhere.

Scott - I think draft workouts CAN be a good indicator of which way teams are leaning, there have been tons of examples in the past. Even Toronto for instance. Back in 05 they had Joey Graham back for a second round of workouts so it looked pretty likely that he might be one of their two first round picks. However I think workouts really are used to confirm the work a club's management and scouting staff has done during the year. Seeing players up close just gives a slight different feel and allows them to test out some of their previous hypotheses in regards to players' abilities and even personalities.

Please no more talk of Magloire...the guy is done. He'd be a plodding malcontent sitting on the end of this bench. The league has changed since he was an All-Star and now big men who aren't that athletic, quick or skilled offensively have a hard time being effective.

I agree that Magloire is no where near effective as he once was...but if he comes cheaply, then I say take him. Come playoffs, you either have one dominant big man (Howard, Duncan, Garnett), or you need a rotation of 'decent' (meaning defend, rebound, block, intimidate) big men to keep the others in check. As long as he comes in as a 'team player' and accepts that role, then do it.

Tim - good point about the FA/draft timing. So how does that work then? I mean, sign-and-trades are talked about all the time w/ draft picks...or am I missing something? Or do they do a 'backroom' deal, promising to draft certain players then exchange them w/ the sign-and-trade>

Just wondering..Where do you all hear your rumours from? Basically i just read whats here, and nba.com (but they don't post much rumors there). Let me know cuz i love rumors!!

So I am going to make you happy again since it seems like the Raptors want to buy out Garbajosa's last year contract

renato: The best site that I have found is

http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm

But its more like a collection of info from all of the newspapers for the teams...but still, they always have rumors in the papers.

Hi, I am getting ... older and I like epople doing the leg work for me :))
I go to the raptors forum at realgm where all those international fans who have lots of spare time check all the possible news in all possible languages and post them there....

JayElzee:

Well, if they did do it under the table, it obviously couldn't be announced. The other thing is that the Raps would obviously have to talk to Maggette to make sure he'd be willing to come (Clips would negotiate his contract terms and tell him he'll be traded).
But no negotiations are supposed to take place until July 1. Not saying something like this couldn't happen in the NBA (ask Van Gundy or Carlisle off-the-record how they're feeling today!).
I'm not sure if it's been done before. I assume previous sign and trades with picks have always been future picks, or players just drafted. But what if Maggette reneges on this gentleman's agreement and signs an offer sheet for more money than the Clips had talked about with him. The Clips could match, sure, if they wanted to. But if it was pretty high, and they already drafted a player on Toronto's behalf? Risky manouevre by the Clips, I'd say.
But, really, I think we need the opinion of someone who knows this sitch more than me. Franchise, care to comment?

I can confirm what Renato said, the spanish media are reporting that the Raps are trying to buy out his contract and have made a proposal to Garbajosa already. It sure plays a role that another conflict was coming, with Garbo wishing to play in the Olympics after being named to the initial 15-man squad pre-selection yesterday.

If the deal goes through, I'd say it's likely he ends up leaving the NBA and goes back to the spanish league next year.

I believe the Raptors will upgrade the frontcourt through a trade this summer or in free agency in the summer of 2009.

Big men that should be available at the 17th spot include Speights, Mcgee, R. Lopez and Hibbert. Arthur, I believe, will be off the board by that pick. Speights and McGee are big-time projects that will take years to develop and should be avoided. R Lopez and Hibbert could be good fits as immediate fringe starter/top rotation types who are limited offensively but can rebound and defend. The Raps need a rebounder to compensate for Bargs and to take the pressure off CB4.

However, if a high upside 2/3 such as CDR or Batum is there I think the Raps will draft one of them over a big.

Renato and sergi p thanks for the info on garbajosa's situation. I checked google news and there was a VERY detailed article from the globe and mail regarding the situation.

Try as I might, I could not locate the article again when I wanted to post a link to it here...strange

I will spit out a few details from memory.

-Garbajosa is unable to pass an NBA physical at the moment, making it impossible for him to suit up for the Raptors or any other NBA team

-a buyout offer by the Raptors has been made.

-the buyout is tied to negotiations with the Spanish federation regarding Garbajosa's contract an insurance

-basically the buyout is an opportunity to come up with the win-win-win.

For Garbajosa: have the amount of money he forfeits in a buyout evened out by a contract with a Spanish team, leaving him fiscally whole.

For Spanish Federation: Once buyout occurs, the Raptors no longer stand in the way of Garbajosa participating in the Olympics.

For Raptors: They can use the money they save as a bigger buffer under the luxury tax, should they need it to sign new players and retain Calderon and Delfino.

Here it is:

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080611.wsptraps11/GSStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/home

Hi, now that I have been praising the virtues of those "international fans" I must say...I am one of them as I am an Italian living in Spain although I really did get the gossip on Realgm :))

Renato - It'll be interesting to see if BC buys out Garbs. It really means a number of things but I'll leave that to Howland as he's going to discuss in an upcoming article. Also, the final comment from the Star link on the same topic mentions that Jose has severed ties with his North American representation. This could have a huge impact on his future with the Raps as well.

Finally, some interesting news via the D League...

http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pressrelease_061108.html

Bye, bye, Colorado, hello Idaho. This might represent the first in numerous steps too for Toronto to have its own exclusive D League club. Right now it will be sharing with the Blazers...

I can't believe Raptors are drafting behind Suns, Warriors, and Portland. The Western Conference is only going to get stronger. And especially with 3/5 first 5 draft picks going to the Western Conference.
For the Finals, I picked Lakers to win it all. But, I hope that Celtics win it. The Western Conference is tough, but if the Celtics win it, it shows some pride for the Eastern Conference, the Conference that the Raptors are in.

It would be a shame to see Garbo go, but if he's not 100% then he's just not able to help this team. I hope he gets what he's looking for in all of this.

As for the Raps, I'd be fine with the Raps getting Maggette, he might be a malcontent but he's no Ron Artest, and he wouldn't be a 6th man like he's been with the Clips from time to time. Also, Sam's more of a players coach, so Mags might get along with Sam better. If you could get him even up for T.J. I say go for it.

Scary news that Calderon has dropped his U.S. reps, I don't like the sounds of that - unless they were trying to tell him to leave the Raps for more money, against his wishes.

Depending on what happens with Boom Dizzle (Baron Davis) out in Golden State, it would be nice if we could get Bellini and GS's pick in the draft for T.J. That would move us up to the 14 pick where we could get a guy like Joe Alexander or Donte Green and keep the 17 pick as well. It doesn't get us the superstar 3 that we're missing, but it gets us another pick and a 2 guard who can score.

Anyway, those are just my pre-coffee thoughts on the Raps.

Quick hits:

Magloire stinks. Get used to it. Some of you wanted him last year and how's he do in NJ? Garbage. And I don't think he is better than Primo. Not even close. Go Beeker.

Maggette would look awfully nice in a newly tailored bad ass BLACK Raps jersey.

Farewell Garbo. I honestly wish him all the best. Might just be a win-win for everyone involved. He will be missed.

I’ve long been a Maggette fan and have advocated for his trade to Toronto. Let’s just clarify a couple of things.
1) Maggette will get crazy money because he deserves it. You are dreaming if you think we can get Maggette for Ford even up. The money will never match.
2) Where is this Maggette has bad attitude crap coming from? He’s been a model citizen in LA for the past 2 seasons, never complaining about coming off the bench when he was clearly the best player on the floor (2nd best when Brand was playing). They guy’s boss clearly has it in for him and Maggette did nothing buy be professional about the whole situation.

I can only see Jose letting go of his American agent as a good sign he'll be back next year.

Josh Smith
JR Smith
Mike Miller
Mikael Peitrus are all players raps whould go after Corey M is OLD
TRADE RASHO PRIMOZ TJ GRAHAM BASTON PARKER for a star LIKE JR SMITH

Jamaal Magloire?? A toronto natinve rumors are that he hates candians buh it aint tru i can see him working behind bargs n robin lopez if he's drafted or jus behind bargs. Seign Jamaal Magloire ro replace Brezec. PUT MORE TIME ON KRIS HUMP n get Jr smith oh n HAVE TJ GONE!!!