Linkage for May 20 9am through May 25 11am:
- Doug Smith’s Toronto Raptors blog – Jose tops our little world today
- Dino Nation Blog: Matt Devlin Talking Raptors (Part 2 of 2)
- Jose Calderon not playing for Spain in Euros
- Europe take notice of Britain’s rising stars – Times Online
- JTF’s Mock Draft and analysis of the Mavs’ options – Mavs Moneyball
- Sunday Thought – The Importance of the "Slasher" in Today’s NBA. – RaptorsHQ.com It’s been well documented of course that Toronto lacks said “shot creator” and needs to find such a player this offseason; either via the draft, or free-agency. These players don’t just fall off trees off course but there are some options available to the Raptors this year, and possibly for a reasonable price.
BC obviously has other needs to address as well so it will be interesting to see how he decides to allocate his limited resources.
But hopefully he’s been watching the playoffs closely and is drawing similar conclusions.
- Swirsky Versus Devlin – Who’s Better? Part 1, Chuck | Toronto Sports Media Blog Last summer, longtime play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky bid the Toronto Raptors farewell, and was replaced by Matt Devlin. The two couldn’t be more different – Chuck is the entertainer, while Devlin is more traditional. Now, after one season, it’s time to evaluate. Who’s better? Let’s debate.
- Talking Contract Extensions – HoopsWorld
- The NBA Draft from a European perspective | IN THE GAME
- NBA Mock Draft: Round One (Full) | Bleacher Report 9. Toronto Raptors- DeMar DeRozan – SG, USC
The Raptors have been searching for an elite shooting guard ever since Vince Carter left, and in DeRozan, they may finally find him.
DeRozan is extremely athletic, but is still very raw.
His lack of inexperience and low skill-set could keep him out of the top ten, but his natural ability and fluidity could see him here, at the nine spot.
- NBA Lottery Mock Draft 3.0 « Strotty’s Blog 9. Toronto Raptors:Tyreke Evans, PG, Memphis
Tough pick here for the Raptors as I have them going with value. Anthony Parker is more than likely leaving the Raptors next year via free agency and Evans is a good replacement. He can play both guard positions and has outstanding size. He is also great value right here.
NBA Comparison: Dwyane Wade
Other Options: Earl Clark, Demark DeRozan
Previous Pick: Gerald Henderson at #9
- Some sage advice for the Timberwolves’ new president of basketball operations – Merced Sun-Star Hire Sam Mitchell
Mitchell is the perfect hire for this franchise. He evokes memories of the Wolves when they were at their best. He not only has head coaching experience, he was the NBA's coach of the year, and after he was fired, the team he was coaching, the Toronto Raptors, went south.
He has enough charm to lure fans and free agents, and enough backbone to hold players accountable.
- 2009 NBA Mock Draft – Version 1.0 « Boston Celtics: The Big Green Machine 9. Toronto Raptors – Earl Clark, F, Louisville
This was one of the tougher picks to make as I was juggling between Clark, Wayne Ellington and Chase Budinger. For now, Clark gets the nod but in later versions of this mock, don’t be surprised if that changes. Clark is an all-everything forward, just like Shawn Marion, but doesn’t do any one thing very well. Those type of players don’t always flourish in the league, but Clark could prove otherwise.
- Trade scenarios, from Atlanta to Utah – Bullets Forever Toronto Raptors
Tier 1: Chris Bosh (16 million through 2010)
Notes: Toronto is Chris Bosh and a bunch of guys I don't want. Bosh has the highest value of anyone on this list. He's the only guy I'd trade McGee for and the only guy I'd consider giving up one of the Big 3 for.
Potential offer: Bosh and Kris Humphries for Etan Thomas, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche, DeShawn Stevenson and #5.
- ESPN: Chat with J.A. Adande – SportsNation Bryan (Toronto): I haven't heard you weigh in on this J.A. — will Bosh leave the Raps?
SportsNation J.A. Adande: More important than my opinion, a GM told me the Raptors are listening a little more seriously to trade proposals for Bosh, indicating they could be trying to get ahead of his departure. Not that they're shopping Bosh, they just aren't rejecting trade offers outright as much as they were before.
- ‘Tis the Season to mock – MiamiHerald.com 9. – Toronto Raptors – Earl Clark (Louisville), Combo Forward – The 6-foot-10 Clark is more of a small forward who has great vision and strong interior passing ability.
Think: Rashard Lewis
- Cavs-Magic: How One Series Could Change the Face of the NBA | Bleacher Report Another reason Bosh makes sense is because he's all but assured to jump the sinking ship that is the Toronto Raptors and get out of Canada back to the United States where he is from and where he went to school (Georgia Tech). He's likely to cash in somewhere and the Knicks are the perfect, logical fit, and thus my prediction, even if it's not what I want to see happen.
- Pressssshah… – RaptorsHQ.com If Toronto blows this pick; as in the selection doesn’t have an immediate impact, even in terms of spot minutes off the bench, it’s quite possible that things start to go awry very quickly this off-season isn’t it? Because if BC can’t get the necessary help he needs via free-agency and the ninth pick in the draft turns into another Hoffa, then suddenly this team looks very much like the sub-500 squad it was last year, which doesn’t bode very well for retaining Chris Bosh.
- Nike Hyperize – White – Black – Red – Chris Bosh PE | Sneaker News This Nike Hyperize features a white upper with heavy black accents and some additional red highlights on the outsole, tongue and heel branding, as well as within the Flywire pattern on the side of the shoe. Just so there is no confusion over who these kicks were made for, a CB4 logo appears on the tongue label. According to FootLockerUnlocked, these are expected to be released in December, but without the Chris Bosh personalizations. That’s bad news if you’re a Chris Bosh fan or a PE collector, but luckily these kicks are still looking good enough to stand on their own.
- Dino Nation Blog: Matt Devlin Talk Playoffs and Draft (Part 1 of 2) I was able to catch up with Matt and we had a good conversation on the NBA and the Raptors.
- The NBA All-Overrated Team – HoopsWorld Marion is one of those guys who always had a problem being the third of fourth offensive option in Phoenix. He had this misguided notion that if he was a top offensive option, he would be a top-20 NBA player. Since departing Phoenix, Marion's numbers have taken a sharp dip. This past season he averaged just 12.9 points and 8.5 rebounds. Some people in Toronto will no doubt try and say his numbers are lower because of what he did in Miami and not so much what he did after being traded to the Raptors. However, this argument holds little weight since Marion actually averaged fewer rebounds per game after his arrival in Toronto and his points only went up about two per contest.
- RealGM Toronto Raptors Front Office With both Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh having only one year remaining on their contracts (assuming the latter opts out), it’s still up in the air on whether they’ll both, neither or one, be here after the summer of 2010. Bryan Colangelo is able to re-sign both to long-term contracts this summer, but the ball is indeed in the players’ court.
- 2009 NBA Mock Draft Version 1.0 Right now, I’m projecting Jordan Hill to be available at #9 and if so, there’s a good chance that Toronto will draft him. He’s raw, but he’s a good rebounder and defender, and has a lot of upside. The Raptors might see the departure of Chris Bosh on the horizon and draft Hill as his replacement. They also need a shooting guard, but it would be tough to pass on Hill here.
- NBA Mock Draft Part 2 « Cippin on Sports The Raptors have a need at the two guard and DeRozan would be a good fit. The Raptors big men like to hang out on the perimeter and the ability of DeRozan to drive to the basket would compliment them. DeRozan struggled early on in the season but really turned it on once conference play started. DeRozan has great athleticism and has enormous potential but was inconsistent at times in college.
- What Have You Done For Me Lately? : T.O. Sports It’s not so much that the Triano deal bothers me it’s that the deal makes me contemplate what it is the Bryan Colangelo has done as General Manager for the Toronto Raptors since coming in 2006.
- FAN590 – Blogs – The Rap » 9 at 9 Let’s take a look at some of the prospects (knowing full-well that a TON can change in a month … so this list can (and likely will) change as June 25 approaches and the Raps have had guys in Toronto for pre-draft workouts, etc.
In no particular, here are a handful of candidates; my “9 at 9″ …
- Groundhog Day – What do the Raptors and Clippers Have in Common? – RaptorsHQ.com The Dinos have only eluded the lottery circus five times in their 14-year draft history (4 if you count one pick that was dealt), a 71 per cent lottery rate that is actually worse than both Washington and Minnesota!
So while as fans it’s easy to dismiss the idiocy of the Kings and Bucks, the Raptors themselves have a long ways to go in terms of removing the negative stigma of “perennial basement dweller” that’s been attached to this team for some time.
And unfortunately it’s probably going to take a lot more than one good draft this year to right the ship.
- Pete Marasmitch » Raptors’ offseason shopping list To sum up: The Raptors need
1. a starting shooting guard – Carlos Delfino?
2. a starting small forward – Shawn Marion?
3. a backup shooting guard – this year’s number-one draft pick?
4. a veteran backup point guard – Anthony Parker?
5. a tough veteran center or 5/4 – Rashoooo? - RotoTimes.com – Ted Carlson – 2009 NBA Mock Draft 9. Raptors: DeMar DeRozan, SG, USC
Comments: The Raptors' biggest need is shooting guard, and DeRozan fits the bill. The fine people of Toronto haven't seen this much athleticism since that Vince guy. - CJ Giles willing to be naturalized | The Philippine Star Despite invitations from various NBA training camps, American CJ Giles said he is willing to undergo the naturalization process to be eligible to represent the country in various international competitions.
“It’s a good team, we have a good coach and I feel at home with these guys,” said the 6-11 Giles, who powered Smart Gilas Pilipinas to a fifth place finish in the just-concluded 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup here.
Giles averaged 18.83 points, 13.17 rebounds, 2.33 shot blocks and 1.67 steals in six games although he was slowed down by an injury midway in the tournament.
He, however, said that he might accept invitations from the Orlando Magic, the Toronto Raptors or the Milwaukee Bucks to attend their training camps beginning August.
- Talkhoops.net’s Mock Draft Board Hybrid 1.0 – Talk Hoops This is probably the best-case scenario for the Raptors. Evans falls and they can play him alongside Jose Calderon or deal Calderon away for some big man help. Evans' ability and potential might be enough after the first two months of the season to get Chris Bosh back on board with the retooling process.
- Hoops Addict » NBA Mock Draft – May 21, 2009 Toronto Raptors – Earl Clark SF/PF
- Maurizio Gherardini with Bob McCown – Audio
- Jay Triano with Norm Rumack – Audio on Demand
- DraftExpress: NBA Draft Lottery Video Interviews: Presti, Colangelo, Hammond
- Raptors – Team needs This team needs all the help they can get. They traded Jermaine O’Neal hoping to gain a better offensive position which they failed at and Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker (both unrestricted free agents) might not be back. The Raptors need an all around player to work both ends of the court.
- Leadership Nigeria – For God and Country With a couple of months to the African Basketball Nations Cup, Libya 2009, NBA's Toronto Raptors general-manager, one of the three shortlisted coaches for the male team, Masai Ujiri has expressed willingness to coach D'Tigers to the competition.
- Shaq a quick study – The Globe and Mail
- Metro – Breaking down the Raptors’ draft needs The Toronto Raptors didn’t get lucky in the NBA draft lottery Tuesday evening so the team now has to set its sights on improving with the No. 9 pick in the draft.
- WalterFootball.com: 2009 NBA Offseason – Toronto Raptors – Team Needs, Free Agents, Salary Cap Last year was a rough one for "Canada's Team," eh? The Toronto Raptors front office thought they significantly improved a playoff team this past off-season when they made a blockbuster trade for Jermaine O'Neal.
- TheStar.com | Sports | Triano lands plum job with top U.S. team Jay Triano's summer just got a little busier thanks to the folks running one of the most successful international basketball programs in the world.
- TheStar.com | Sports | Raptors’ Triano closing in on lead assistant As Jay Triano tries to piece together his first Raptors coaching staff, he's finding the most important thing is striking a balance – strong voices but not dominant ones, strong personalities but ones that won't lose sight of the overall message.
- RaptorBlog.com: When I Win The Lottery
- TSN – Jack Armstrong – Needs Aplenty In Raptorland
- Mocking the Draft NBA GM style – SLC Dunk
- BDL Mock Draft 2009: Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio and friends – Ball Don’t Li… – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
- Dino Nation Blog: Live Blogging The Night Away
- Hoops Addict » What Could Have Been: 1999 NBA Draft
- Of games of skill and games of chance – Doug Smith
- Post Lottery Thoughts – RaptorsHQ.com
