Linkage for May 25 3pm through May 30 7am:
- Bargnani was happy to see Mitchell leave – The Globe and Mail
- Balance of power is key for Lakers, Cavaliers
- Why Kid Canada Makes Sense For Toronto – RealGM
- 2009 NBA Mock Draft V1.0 | Dabullz
- The most unprofessional, unresearched, biased, laziest, straight-from-the-gut Mock Draft ever 1.0 – The Dream Shake
- NBA mock draft: Thabeet may go before Rubio – NBA- nbcsports.msnbc.com
- DraftExpress: NBA Combine Media Availability Interviews
- Andy Katz: Gani Lawal might bypass NBA draft and return to Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets – ESPN A week ago in Toronto, Young was impaled by a metal piece off a vertical testing pole. "It was one millimeter away from hitting my nerve; three millimeters away from a blood vessel," Young said.
He described the incident as follows, and the account was corroborated by at least one Raptors official: Young jumped up to slap the pole, turned in the air and the piece of metal popped into his skin. But the piece had two sides, and it went in two different directions, making it impossible for him to just pull it out. Young was suspended in the air on the pole before Raptors personnel gently took him down with the pole still attached to him.
"It didn't break off, so I hung on it," Young said. "They turned the vertical pole sideways. But I couldn't take the whole thing with me. So the guys in the gym weren't sure what to do. I waited 15 minutes for paramedics. They came, put a towel over my face and with a chain saw separated me from it. There were sparks flying everywhere."
- khandor’s sports blog » Lack of Quality Depth is a major problem for the Raptors Until the Raptors re-stock their barren shelves with Additional Players to provide them with INCREASED Ability Level & Functionality, in terms of QALITY DEPTH, overall, they will remain a Treadmill Team, in the Salary Cap-driven NBA.
- Breaking Down the 2009 Free Agent Class: Shooting Guards – Roto Evil After shooting a stellar 48% FG and 44% 3P in ‘06-07 and ‘07-08, Parker’s shooting numbers fell to just 42.6% FG and 39% 3P this past season. However, he showed that he can be an adequate playmaker (Parker averaged 4.6 assists in January when Jose Calderon was injured) and is still an above average defender. Early reports suggest that Parker and Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo are optimistic a new deal will be worked out, but since he turns 34 in June, I’d like to see him join a real contender. If Eddie House leaves Boston (see below), I think Anthony would be a great fit for the defensive-minded Celtics.
- The Hoop: Djordjevic and Bavcic for Olimpia Another player that is rumored to interest Olimpia is power forward Edin Bavcic(2.11-PF) that started the season in Antalya and later on moved to Koln 99ers. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, 56th overall. Bavcic was also the captain of Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 19 games with Koln in Germany.
- Amare: Knicks should take me over Bosh Back in New York, ESPN Radio's Brandon Tierney had Amare Stoudemire on this morning and reiterated remarks about his desire to play for Mike D'Antoni in 2010 while boasting about being better than Chris Bosh.
- Dino Nation Blog: Things I Need To Re-Gain Some Faith In Raptors I thought maybe I will just do a list of things that I need to get some faith back in the Raptors. Some might be serious, Some might be funny, Anyway here is the list such as it is. They are in no order.
- Courtside – NBA draft update: Combine results released Finally, a lot of noise going around that the Raptors are very interested at Dajuan Blair. I have nothing to base this on, but reading between the lines of front office types like Jim Kelly and others talking the past few weeks about how tough it is to get players to come in to work out, I suspect the Raptors might be buttering up Blair a bit (and possibly other prospects) in order to get a good look at them.
I suspect, and again, this is just my speculation, a lot of teams, Raptors included are presenting themselves as more interested in many prospects than they actually are, in order to get them to come up for workouts. - Jrue Holiday – Holding the Key to the Raptors’ Draft Success? – RaptorsHQ.com Well besides repor
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tedly being on the Raptors radar, Holiday could indeed hold the key to Toronto’s draft success in a few weeks.Like Westbrook last year, Holiday is suddenly being discussed as not only a lottery pick, but possibly a top five option. Chad Ford had him slotted in at number four to Sacramento in Wednesday’s latest Mock Draft on ESPN.com, and there are rumours that other clubs above the Raptors have interest in the former Bruin. So perhaps now Holiday being selected in the top 8, could push someone of interest down to the Raptors spot.
- DraftExpress: DeRozan may not even work out for the Raptors “DeRozan is not working out with anyone. He isn’t going up against Gerald Henderson or anyone else at this point. He may not even go to Toronto. He won’t fall to 9.”
- khandor’s sports blog » Five off-season moves for the Raptors which would have helped to address their Treadmill status Looking back on the first phase of the 2009-2010 season, it’s clear that the Raptors failed to address their major problems adequately during the off-season when Bryan Colangelo [GM] could/SHOULD have:
- SLAM ONLINE | » SLAMonline Mock Draft: Tyreke Evans, No. 9 That’s right residents of Toronto, rest easy, too easy in fact. We finally have that missing piece! As we speak, our season tickets are being sold out. As we speak, Chris Bosh is noticeably happier. He might not request a trade now. Can you imagine this starting five:
1: Jose Calderon
2: Tyreke Evans
3: Shawn Marion
4: Chris Bosh
5: Andrea Bargnani - The A-S-S-O-C-I-A-T-I-O-N has R-E-S-C-I-N-D-E-D… « Chris Bosh: Bosh was a National Honors Society member and graduated with honors from Lincoln High School. He is also a member of the National Society of Black Engineers but left Georgia Tech after only 1 year to join the NBA.
- 2009 NBA Mock Draft – Complete First Round 9. Toronto Raptors – Jrue Holiday
- 2009 NBA Mock Draft 1.0 « Fifty Mission Cap 9. TORONTO RAPTORS
DeMar DeRozan – From Southern California to Canada. DeRozan was one of the top recruits going into college, but had a mediocre freshman year. However, the skill is clearly there and he will be able to score at the NBA level. An athletic 6′6″ guard is exactly what the Raptors need.
- Rumors « Everyday NBA Most mock drafts are saying that the Raptors will take Tyreke Evans, the 6-6 shooting guard from Memphis. Evans had an impressive freshman campaign as he averaged 17.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.9 apg and 2.1 spg. Evans would be a great fit in Toronto, considering free agents, Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion will most likely be leaving this off-season. The Raptors desperatley need a perimeter scorer to help ease the load on Bosh, and Evans is exactly that. He has great size for a shooting guard and his penetration would open up a lot of open shots for the Raptors three point shooters (Kapono, Bargnani and Calderon).
- AboveLegit’s 2009 NBA Mock Draft | Bleacher Report 9. Toronto Raptors: Tyreke Evans, PG/SG, Freshmen, Memphis
This is an obvious pick for the Raptors, they need a combo guard who can produce on the offensive end. He's getting a great back-court mate in Calderon, who will find him and maximize his potential, and I'm sure the front office is aware of that. - Blair could bolster low post – JSOnline Blair said he interviewed with four teams Wednesday at the combine – the Bucks, San Antonio, Indiana and Toronto. The Raptors, who have the No. 9 pick, also are said to be extremely interested in Blair.
- Starting Power Forward’s Rebounding Numbers « nbaroundtable (13) Toronto Raptors — Chris Bosh — 15.4%
- The Hoop: Pops Mensah-Bonsu to Maccabi? There are rumors in many different european media about a possible deal of ghanese power forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu (2.06-PF) will be signing a 2+1 seasons deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Bonsu becomes another player in a very long list of players that have been associated with rumors to Maccabi. He signed a 10-day contract with San Antonio back in February and after that he signed with the Raptors.
- Social media: Grub guru – Bosh/Doritos Campaign – Canadian Business Online While the methods likely depend on the situation, some insights might lie in a recent promotion from Frito Lay Canada dubbed Become the Doritos Guru. The 11-week program, which ended in May, asked Canadians to come up with a catchy name and create a 30-second commercial for a new tortilla-chip flavour. The prize — beyond the obeisance of all and sundry before the crowned Doritos Guru — was $25,000, the thrill of seeing your ad on national television and 1% of the future net sales of the product. The public voted both for the five semi-finalists (with the help of a judging panel that included Toronto Raptors’ star Chris Bosh) and for the winner, who turned out to be Ryan Coopersmith, a 21-year-old Concordia film student. Together with seven friends, Coopersmith invented the flavour Scream Cheese and put together an ad that depicted people yelling in everyday situations.
- Jerry Colangelo – FAN 590 Audio
- Hoops Addict » NBA Mock Draft – May 28, 2009 9. Toronto Raptors – Gerald Henderson SG
- Raptors turn attention to draft – The Globe and Mail “It’s a chance to get face-to-face with people, ask some questions, get to know them a little bit,” Toronto Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo said. “It helps to get a gut feel for the person.”
- Preparing for NBA draft a dizzying process | Toronto Sun Even the Chicago event this week may turn out to be much ado about nothing. While Kelly is confident the Raptors will at least get solid medical information on the players, finding out anything further about their game and abilities from these workouts will be much less certain.
- Doug Smith’s Toronto Raptors blog Does this pass for news? Was having a conversation with someone in the Raptors organization, who shall go nameless, yesterday and asked when the much-anticipated hiring of Marc Iavaroni and the rest of the staff might be completed.
“It’s close” was the reply.
Hardly a surprise but I bet some of you are interested.
- ESPN Insider Chad Ford has the Raptors picking Tyreke Evans at #9 Evans' ability to penetrate and finish at the basket should make him an excellent complement to the Raptors' perimeter-oriented bigs.
- Chris Bosh says "big announcement" coming on Monday Big Announcement Coming Monday June 1st log onto http://www.chris-bosh.com for details
- Starting Center’s Rebounding Numbers « nbaroundtable Bargnani’s rebounding is catastrophic
* Average rebounder at the starting center position is at 16.5%. That’s 65% better than Bargnani. Bargnani was averaging 35 plus minutes as a starter this season, imagine having those extra rebounds? This had a huge negative impact on the Raptors
* The third worst rebounder on this list — a very poor rebounder — Roy Hibbert was 33% superior to Andrea Bargnani on the backboards. Said differently, Bargnani is a third worse than one of the worst rebounders at his postion. He’s on his own scale in terms of rebounding rotteness … it’s truly incredible how bad he is. - ESPN: NBA’s 65 in 65: Leo Rautins – SportsNation
- NBA Draft 2009: Top 10 Largely Picks Itself « Straight to the League Toronto picks 9th and they will need to address their lack of backcourt power, probably by taking Demar DeRozan. A real slasher, he should fit nicely with Calderon and compliment the Raptors frontline perfectly.
- Revisiting the 2003 NBA Draft « The Young Lefthander Chris Bosh – While you can’t really argue with this pick, as Bosh did lead them to the playoffs last year (even if they were AS SOFT AS COTTONELLE TISSUE [thanks SAS]), and he did have a fantastic Olympic campaign, this marriage was never meant to last. Bosh badly wants out of Toronto, and we assume that the feeling is mutual with all (10) Raptor fans. Tough to say whether another player would have worked here.
- TheStar.com | NBA prospects gather for scrutiny in Chicago "This was a compromise of sorts to get everyone there," said Colangelo. "I know there are a lot of basketball people who are disappointed we won't get to see any five-on-five action. (Previous years) it was a great opportunity to watch late first-round or second-round picks possibly compete."
Just as important, the Raptors will get a chance to conduct one-on-one interviews with several of the potential No. 9 draft picks. The league has asked each team to submit three lists of 10 players they'd like to interview — in order of descending priority — and will set up the sessions. Colangelo said the Raptors aren't planning to make public the list of players they expect to interview.
The two things Colangelo will be most closely interested in are the physicals the players will get and the interviews the team will conduct.
- Has Bosh gone as far as he can go? "I don't think he's going to get any better," says one NBA source who has scouted Bosh extensively. "I love him, but he is what he is — he's a jump-shooting power forward."
Bosh was left off the league's three all-NBA teams this season, finishing 18th in the voting. The year before, when Bosh missed 15 games due to injury, he was 26th. Both times, coincidentally, he finished one spot ahead of Atlanta's Joe Johnson, a miscast No. 1 if there ever was one. The best-case scenario is that there is a leap left in Bosh, or that he can be a Garnett-like centrepiece on a team with perimeter finishers. It's not clear that either is a possibility.
- Draft Picks: Buyers & Sellers – HoopsWorld Toronto – The Raptors are already in the lottery with the #9 pick, but it's being said that they'd also like to come back into the late picks of the first round for another selection there. With teams like L.A., Chicago, and Minnesota selling that area, they're likely to find someone they can work with.
- Breaking Down The Pick Debt – HoopsWorld #39 – The Detroit Pistons received the Toronto Raptors pick when they traded Carlos Delfino to the Raps back in June of 2007. The Pistons need depth at just about every position.
- Knick and Roll : Memorial Day Weekend Mock Draft 9. Toronto Raptors – Tyreke Evans, PG, Memphis
The Skinny: Tyreke Evans is a tough kid that can defend and get into the paint. His move to PG last season opened some eyes and proved he can do it at the next level. His ability to drive and dish should be a good fit with Toronto’s perimeter style offense. If he can ever develop his jump shot, look out.
Strenghts: Scoring instincts, transition game, ball handling skills, strength, man to man defense.
Weaknesses: Decision making, turnovers, perimeter shot.
- Hedo Turkogly Could Be an Elite 2009 Free Agent | Empty the Bench Signing Hedo would also help Toronto maximize the value of their draft pick, reserving the 9th slot in the lottery for “best player available” rather than reaching for marginal talents because of a need. If they’re lucky, the Raps could see a talent like DeMar DeRozan or Tyreke Evans slip to them just inside the top 10, and having Turkoglu on the roster would provide either a young point or swingman at least a few years of cover to develop.
- Raptors find their guy: DeJuan Blair? – Hoopsworld Raptors Looking For Size: League sources are saying that the Raptors may have found their man and it could be Pitt's DeJuan Blair. The Raptors have been in to see virtually every workout site in the country and have split into two teams stopping in for advanced looks. The Raptors will bring in several first round prospects after the Combine, but early word is they are looking for toughness and rebounding first and could be buying a later first rounder hoping for a backup point guard. Don't rule out Toronto taking a sniff as Gonzaga's Austin Daye late in the first if he's still there, word is Raptor's head coach Jay Triano was intrigued by Daye's length and outside shooting. The Raptors currently hold the 9th overall selection.
- Dino Nation Blog: Searching For Inspiration In Raptorland These tough times economically have lead to some teams being in some serious trouble money wise. You have a free agent market in which no one is quiet sure the value of players. How much do you pay an Iverson, Marion an Artest. Same goes for a younger guy in Trevor Ariza what does he get. All good questions but the biggest question is what happens to Chris Bosh and is he going to remain in Toronto and if not how long does he stay? How Colangelo manages his way through the whole Bosh situation is likely going to define him in the history books in a good or bad way.
- Changing Focus – RaptorsHQ.com Franchise and I have come to be on the same page in regards to CB4 which is unusual to say the least. If this summer BC offers him an extension (at a fair price) and he declines, then the Legomaster needs to extract as much value as he can from the situation by dealing Bosh sooner rather than later.
The alternative? Spend an off-season trying to plug all the holes in this leaky vessel of a franchise no matter the cost.
If the decision is made to keep CB4 the pressure will be on Colangelo to fix the situation in Toronto in a hurry. By not signing an extension, or even indicating that he is happy here in Toronto (circa Lebron), Bosh is sending a strong message to the Raptors brass – fix this situation, convince me otherwise, or watch me walk.
- The Knicks Blog » Mills Mock Draft V1 Toronto Raptors – Tyreke Evans
Evans is a long 6′6 shooting guard, who may be able to play the point. He has a good handle, some good passing abilities, great athleticism, questionable shot selection tendencies, and a suspect jump shot. He would be a nice replacement for Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion.
- RCJ Sports Blog »First-ever Journal NBA Mock Draft Toronto Raptors – DeJuan Blair, PF, Pittsburgh: The Raptors have a couple of skilled, lengthy big men in Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani who need an enforcer to make their lives easier. This may be a little high to take Blair, an undersized power forward in terms of height, but his toughness and offensive rebounding would immediately make the Raptors better.
- Hoops Addict » Calderon Elects To Take Summer Off Even though Calderon will be missed on the Spanish national team this summer, he’s made it clear he wants to play in the Olympics in 2012 and then at the World Championships being held in 2014 as his final time suiting up for Spain.
And why shouldn’t he be allowed do to so? Even with a young hot shot in Rubio about to emerge as a force in the NBA next season, it makes sense to allow Calderon to have the chance to mentor Rubio while representing his country as long as he is willing and able.
- FAN590 – Blogs – The Rap » Calderon, Coaches, and Chicago What seems to be officially unofficial though is that Marc Iavaroni will be on Triano’s staff … and the talk of Alvin Williams – first reported here a couple of months ago – is legit. The interest is there on the Raptors’ part … but time will tell if Williams is interested as well (and if he is – if the I’s can be dotted and the T’s crossed on a contract). And *IF* Williams is ultimately hired by Toronto, it may be in an assistant coach / team ambassador kind of role. Williams could workout players and act as a sort of mentor to some of the younger guys while “learning the ropes” of coaching in a sense. As I’ve said before, if he were to join the staff, there’s a chance that he could possibly sit in the 2nd row – with the other basketball development consultants/coaches (not necessarily up front with the main assistants). We’ll see how it all unfolds … if it all unfolds.
- Jordan Hill to Have Better Rookie Year Than Blake Griffin | Bleacher Report # Toronto Raptors: This is a dream selection for the Raptors: If they get Hill, then they can deal Chris Bosh and get something for him before he leaves in free agency. All indications are that Hill will start and receive plenty of burn.
- Jawai pumped to flex muscles – Local Sport News – Cairns, QLD, Australia Keen to head to camp next month, Jawai will discuss plans with the Toronto Raptors before committing.
"I need to talk to my agent and talk to the Raptors and see what works from there," he said.
"I want to make the first camp but (it depends on) what happens with me and the Raptors because we have (NBA) summer league and (I have to find out) whether I play Boomers or do summer league."
