The Raptors didn’t give you a reason to party this season? No problem, the RR Draft Party beckons. We’ve had these shindigs for the last couple years and they’ve turned out to be lively affairs, so we said why not have a go again and spread the cheer. The goal here is to put the Great Gatsby to shame and give Charlie Sheen pause.
What:
The annual Raptors Republic Draft party. Last year we celebrated the birth of Ed Davis in a Raptors uniform, on June 23rd we will welcome Kemba Walker Brandon Knight Derrick Williams Nikola Vucevic to the fold.
Where:
St. Louis Bar and Grill
528 Yonge St. (Wellesley or College Subway stops, map)
Twitter
When:
June 23rd, 6:30 PM
Why:
- Why not?
- Watch the Raptors draft a Hall-of-Famer
- Pitcher and food specials
- Contests and prizes
- Throw stuff at A-Dub for hating on Bargnani
- Ask Tom Liston what he’s having for dinner and instead listen to a 45-minute spiel on discrete probability distribution
- Other stuff that is fun and better than sitting at home
Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s recap the current “news”:
No move on the coaching front. Hardly qualifies as news, but for the sake of completeness we have to say that no hire will be made until Dwane Casey gets his ass over to Toronto and gives an interview. I imagine if Dallas wins Game 6 after holding LeBron James to 2 points in the fourth quarter again, the job is his. Can you imagine Casey walking into a job interview after his defense held LeBron James to 4 points in three fourth quarters. Wow! I don’t if Lawrence Frank walks in with John Wooden’s playbook memorized backwards, he can’t top that.
Some Raptors scouts are over in Europe checking out Jan Vesely. Here’s the forum thread weighing Vesely’s merits and the consensus seems to be that he’s a raw talent with great athleticism who doesn’t quite have a NBA position and struggles to use the tools he has on defense. There’s also Chisholm’s piece on why Vesely could work out. Then there’s a discussion on Biyombo, the latest Raptors workoutee (the thread includes a great piece from ESPN Insider about him). The Raptors will not draft either of these players, and sources close to the situation confirm that the only reason Raptors scouts are in Europe is because they had Airmiles which would expire unless they used them right this very moment.
As for the draft, you know where I stand: we all need to have Kemba’s babies. But wait! What’s this? Cleveland could possibly select Derrick Williams and let Irving fall to PG-heavy Minny? Lot of talk in the Cleveland media and amongst their fans that Williams might be the one. This could potentially leave Irving acquirable via trade with Minny.
Leandro Barbosa might be thinking about playing in Brazil next year. Let’s see how I feel about this:
The linked thread discusses the merits of Barbosa leaving or staying in Toronto (saved cap space versus productivity). My personal opinion is that he’s a good player who doesn’t suit the rebuild, unless of course Colangelo is trying to expedite the process in which case Barbosa fits right in as a reserve scoring punch. The draft and the moves around it will paint a clearer picture of what the Raptors’ objectives for next year are. Once their motives surface, then it’s time to discuss the roster going forward. Until then it’s hard to make a call about a player like Barbosa who has 1) a reasonable salary, 2) decent trade value when not injured, 3) a well defined role on the Raptors, 4) a playmate for a girlfriend. I honestly don’t mind him picking up his $7M option in the least, but if he does and isn’t moved by the deadline during another 20-win season, I’ll find it hard to accept that the Raptors weren’t better off trading him for something.
Let’s check the Twitterverse:
Ed Davis tweets:
eddavis32 At my cuz little league game big trippin
Julian Wright says:
Mannnn! I need a haircut super badly!!.. Who know somebody that know somebody that can come to me to cut my hair?? Lol (out here in L.A.)
Reggie Evans agrees with @thisisveezy247:
[R] [E] [A] [L] Realizing Everyone Ain’t Loyal.
There you have it folks, fascinating stuff as always from Twitter.
If you ever want to hit me up, the email is arsenalist@raptorsrepublic.com. Enjoy the weekend.
