A Quiet Draft In Toronto

Most NBA cities were going crazy over the 2007 NBA Draft, touted as the best since that hallowed 2003 class that brought us LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Toronto was curiously hushed though; not being in the lottery for the first time since 2002, and not even having a pick for that matter, there wasn't much for the fan base to discuss. In the bar where I watched the draft, for example, I had to request for them to switch one of the TVs from the Yankees game. (They happily obliged, just saying...)

There were a lot of players who would have looked great in Raptors uniforms in that draft, with rumours placing Bryan Colangelo directly in the hunt for a first-round pick. Among the players we allegedly coveted, most of them international, were Rudy Fernandez and Tiago Splitter. Fernandez looks like an interesting player but it's Splitter who's the killer. He's a player I've wanted on the Raptors for a good couple years, he's a lottery talent and, of course, all that meant that he went straight to the Spurs.

Something that alarmed many of the more die-hard fans, myself included, was the ease with which teams bought first-rounders combined with the Raptors not getting one. Portland, the undisputed winner of the draft, managed to buy the #30 overall selection (which became Finnish guard Petteri Koponen) as well as not only buy Phoenix's #24 (the aforementioned Fernandez) but also get James Jones in the transaction. Jones, who was a solid sub for Phoenix, could potentially start in Portland and he'd at least be in the mix for that job here too.

Given Colangelo's track record thus far, though, it's hard to call his inactivity a failure. There were clearly many things going on that we didn't see on draft night, the countless fruitless trade scenarios among them, and it's impossible not to think that Colangelo wasn't trying to do something. Well, something other than land Greek prospect Giorgios Printezis, who'll be a solid guy to have stashed overseas but won't provide the kind of immediate impact a lot of fans wanted.

I suppose all I can say about the Raptors' draft is that we were at a disadvantage going in and you can't win every time. Sure, Canada's team would look utterly formidable if it had Fernandez, Splitter and maybe a swingman like Alando Tucker for good measure. Most playoff contenders would. What's next is to put aside the barely-existing memory of a lacklustre draft and look ahead to free agency. Don't worry - it starts tomorrow.

NBA Draft Stuff

The draft is coming up very fast (thursday of this week). A couple of months ago I made the decision to do a sort of draft consensus spreadsheet to try and keep track of the fluctuations that would occur during the lead up to the draft. Of course, that never happened... but I have decided to run one now, with 5 days to go before draft night and to compare it to the one that was put together 2 months ago.

It's a pretty simple thing - just plug in the mock draft listings from 6 different mocks, add up the numbers and then divide it by the number of mock drafts used to come up with an 'average'. The mock drafts used are: draftexpress.com, nbadraft.net, insidehoops.com, collegehoops.net and realgm.com. Here are the results as of today.

Pick	Team	Player	Score
1	Trailblazers	Greg Oden C	1.00
2	SuperSonics	Kevin Durant SF/PF	2.00
3	Hawks	Al Horford PF/C	3.33
4	Grizzlies	Mike Conley Jr PG	5.33
5	Celtics	Brandan Wright PF	5.50
6	Bucks	Jeff Green SF/PF	6.83
7	Timberwolves	Corey Brewer SF	7.00
8	Bobcats	Joakim Noah PF/C	7.33
9	Bulls	Yi Jianlian PF/C	9.00
10	Kings	Spencer Hawes C	9.17
11	Hawks	Al Thornton SF/PF	11.50
12	76ers	Julian Wright SF/PF	13.33
13	Hornets	Nick Young SG/SF	13.50
14	Clippers	Javaris Crittenton PG	14.00
15	Pistons	Acie Law PG	15.00
16	Wizards	Thaddeus Young SF/PF	15.83
17	Nets	Rodney Stuckey PG/SG	17.00
18	Warriors	Jason Smith PF/C	18.17
19	Lakers	Josh McRoberts PF/C	21.17
20	Heat	Tiago Splitter PF/C	21.33
21	76ers	Derrick Byars SG/SF	21.83
22	Bobcats	Daequan Cook SG	22.40
23	Knicks	Rudy Fernández SG	22.50
24	Suns	Marco Belinelli SG	23.67
25	Jazz	Sean Williams C	24.17
26	Rockets	Morris Almond SG/SF	26.67
27	Pistons	Gabe Pruitt PG	29.60
28	Spurs	Alando Tucker SF	30.67
29	Suns	Jared Dudley SF/PF	31.33
30	76ers	Arron Afflalo SG/SF	31.40
31	SuperSonics	Marcus Williams SG/SF	32.60
32	Celtics	Petteri Koponen PG	33.00
33	Spurs	Wilson Chandler SF/PF	33.00
34	Mavericks	Nick Fazekas PF/C	33.33
35	SuperSonics	Taurean Green PG	34.33
36	Warriors	Aaron Gray C	34.50
37	Trailblazers	Kyrylo Fesenko C	36.20
38	76ers	Glen Davis C	38.00
39	Heat	Marc Gasol C	38.00
40	Lakers	Zabian Dowdell PG/SG	38.67
41	Timberwolves	Aaron Brooks PG	41.00
42	Trailblazers	Jared Jordan PG	41.00
43	Hornets	Demetris Nichols SF	42.00
44	Magic	Reyshawn Terry SF	42.00
45	Clippers	Dominic McGuire SF/PF	42.20
46	Warriors	Ramon Sessions PG	42.20
47	Wizards	Ron Lewis	43.00
48	Lakers	Kyle Visser C	43.80
49	Bulls	Bobby Brown	46.67
50	Mavericks	Trey Johnson SG/SF	47.00
51	Bulls	D.J. Strawberry SG	47.75
52	Trailblazers	Carl Landry PF	48.25
53	Trailblazers	Zoran Erceg PF/C	49.00
54	Magic	Stanko Barac C	49.50
55	Jazz	Quinton Hosley SF	50.00
56	Bucks	Ali Traore PF	50.20
57	Pistons	Renaldas Seibutis SG	50.25
58	Spurs	Stephane Lasme	50.50
59	Suns	JamesOn Curry SG	51.33
60	Mavericks	Russell Carter SG	53.00

This is what it looked like a couple of months ago:

Pick	Team	Consensus Pick
1	Portland	Greg Oden C
2	Seattle	Kevin Durant SF/PF
3	Atlanta	Brandan Wright PF
4	Memphis	Al Horford PF/C
5	Boston	Yi Jianlian PF/C
6	Milwaukee	Joakim Noah PF/C
7	Minnesota	Mike Conley Jr PG
8	Charlotte	Corey Brewer SF
9	Chicago (via NYK)	Roy Hibbert C
10	Sacramento	Jeff Green SF/PF
11	Atlanta (via Indy)	Julian Wright SF/PF
12	Philadelphia	Spencer Hawes C
13	New Orleans	Al Thornton SF/PF
14	LA Clippers	Acie Law PG
15	Detroit (from Orl)	Thaddeus Young SF/PF
16	Washington	Nick Young SG/SF
17	New Jersey	Josh McRoberts PF/C
18	Golden State	Rudy Fernández SG
19	LA Lakers	Tiago Splitter PF/C
20	Miami	Javaris Crittenton PG
21	Philly (from Den)	Rodney Stuckey PG/SG
22	Charlotte (From Tor)	Marco Belinelli SG
23	New York (via Chi)	Derrick Byars SG/SF
24	Phoenix (from Cle)	Jason Smith PF/C
25	Utah	Ante Tomic C
26	Houston	Brandon Rush SG/SF
27	Detroit	Marcus Williams SG/SF
28	San Antonio	Morris Almond SG/SF
29	Phoenix	Gabe Pruitt PG
30	Philly (from Dal)	Aaron Gray C
31	Seattle (from Mem)	Alando Tucker SF
32	Boston	Marc Gasol C
33	San Antonio (from Mil)	Daequan Cook SG
34	Dallas (from Atl)	Arron Afflalo SG/SF
35	Seattle	Sean Williams C
36	GSW (from Min)	Kyle Visser C
37	Portland	Dominic McGuire SF/PF
38	Philadelphia (from Chi)	Nick Fazekas PF/C
39	Orlando (via Utah)	Jared Dudley SF/PF
40	LA Lakers (via Cha)	Glen Davis C
41	Minnesota (via Phi)	Herbert Hill PF/C
42	Portland (from Ind)	Petteri Koponen PG
43	New Orleans	Jermareo Davidson PF/C
44	Orlando	Trey Johnson SG/SF
45	LA Clippers	Wilson Chandler SF/PF
46	GSW (from NJN)	Kyrylo Fesenko C
47	Washington	Taurean Green PG
48	LA Lakers	Reyshawn Terry SF
49	Chicago (via Phx)	Ivan Radenovic PF
50	Dallas (from LAL)	Devon Hardin C
51	Chicago (from Den)	Aaron Brooks PG
52	Portland (from Tor)	Bobby Brown PG
53	Portland (from Chi)	Demetris Nichols SF
54	Orlando (from Cle)	J.R. Reynolds PG/SG
55	Utah	Dominic James PG
56	Milwaukee (from Hou)	Stanko Barac C
57	Detroit	Ryvon Covile PF
58	San Antonio	Marko Thomas SG
59	Phoenix	Quinton Hosley SF
60	Dallas	DJ Strawberry SG

Little Birdies... Sunny Days for KG?

So, a rumour is making it's way around RealGM.com that Kevin Garnett may have been (or atleast in is the process) of being traded to the Phoenix Suns. Generally speaking I don't put too much stock in these types of rumours, but the folks in charge over on the RealGM Timberwolves Message Board seem to think that the person 'breaking' the news has some legitimacy... so one never knows.

Link >>
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: Dooms Day (kg MIGHT be traded)
hey its been awhile since y'all have heard from me but i have some news that doesn't sound to promising for us!!!!! I've been catching wind that kg may have been dealt last night to phoenix. now I'm not 100% sure just yet but please take my word that there has been serious talk going on for the last few nights between kg&his agent with the suns. i really hope this is not true but i wanted to give y'all the heads up.

All I can say is, I hope it's true. If there is 1 likable player in the NBA it's Garnett. And while you can argue that a lot of the trouble that the T-Wolves have had over the years in putting together a decent team around Garnett stem from the fact that his contract is crazy, you can just as easily argue that even with that constraint, Kevin McHale should never have been put in charge of a McDonald's restaurant, let alone an NBA team. I tend to lean more towards the latter, than the former myself.

One look at McHale's 'resume' shows failure after failure - even if you discount the whole Joe Smith debacle and lay blame for that at the feet of the Owner (who should have fired McHale long, long ago). When you add to the fact that McHale's right hand man is non other than our good friend Rob Babcock, every one's favorite ne'er do well-er, you've got yourself a recipe for disaster... which is exactly what has happened in Minny over the years.

There is lots of speculation as to what the deal may be - some think Amare Stoudemire would have to be included, some think that Amare would be a deal breaker and that it would have to be Shawn Marion heading the other way (who has been rumoured to be on the trading block for awhile now). I don't think that new GM Steve Kerr's first move as GM will be trading Amare out of Arizona. He would be silly to make that kind of move - which could end up being the defining decision of a GM's career - right out of the gate.

So, if it is a package with Shawn Marion as the centerpiece (and probably involving a guy like Leo Barbossa and most likely that juicy unprotected Atlanta pick for the next draft) then it's a very smart move for the Suns...

So, keep an eye out for further developments with all of this... you gotta love juicy rumours like this.

Bring On Delfino!

So our beloved Raptors recently acquired guard/forward Carlos Delfino from Detroit for a couple of second-rounders. Before I say anything else, I'll say that this is an excellent move.

We recently ran a list of impact players from the second round (lower on this page) but they're few and far between. For every Michael Redd or Antonio Davis that gets mentioned, there's a Derrick Zimmerman, an Alex Acker or any other second-round hopeful that couldn't translate or merely didn't have the talent. Most importantly, and this is crucial because Bryan Colangelo's known as a GM who likes making moves, second-round picks are very easy to get. They flow faster than champagne at San Antonio celebration parties. (Something's telling me TD'll have to use the leftovers in place of Gatorade on the sidelines.)

Point is, the picks are virtually meaningless. There are two major components to this trade: Carlos Delfino and the teams involved. (No, I don't consider Detroit gaining $2M in cap relief to be all that major.) Delfino's a solid prospect, and very young at that; he's one of the many international players who's effectively spent his college years in the NBA. The 24-year old Argentine, while never a factor in Detroit, had a chance to learn from some of the best. One of Delfino's best abilities is his perimeter defence, while the always tenacious Ron Harper, who's probably still better on D than most of the NBA's starting guards, is an assistant coach there. On top of that, Delfino's rebounding is a skill that's virtually a part of every Pistons player the way lungs are to the rest of us.

Why his defence and rebounding are so fascinating are because these are exactly what the Raptors need. Andrea Bargnani, for one, is a gifted passer and scorer who's improving defensively but needs to play with a player who won't get beaten by his man. Delfino's tough, having demonstrated the ability to use his athleticism to slow down opponents - this can, in turn, lead to Bargnani getting prime position to block shots. Also, Bargnani's poor rebounding can be masked when a player like Delfino slides to the shooting guard position. Delfino averaged 3.2 rebounds per game in 16.7 minutes this past season, which isn't immediately impressive but came on a team given to rebound cannibalism and that translates to 6 a game if he were to get starter's minutes.

If Delfino's such an intriguing player and all Detroit gets are a couple of measly picks that are often sold for cash considerations, why do the Pistons do this deal? The Pistons have been known to be interested in long-time Raptor Morris Peterson, who went to college at Michigan State and would fill their opening at backup swingman quite nicely. His combination of effective spot-up shooting (a skill Delfino lacks) and tight defence, as well as his experience in the league (since 2000) would make him a very attractive candidate for a team that clearly needs reinforcements. Ultimately, could the Delfino trade be part of a larger plan that places Peterson in Detroit? Come July, we'll see.

Even with these reasons, though, Pistons blogger Matt Watson claims that "[Peterson] is a talented guy who plays both sides of the ball, so as long as the Pistons didn’t sacrifice a young player (Delfino, Jason Maxiell, one of their first-round draft picks) I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed." Well, it's looking like he'll be plenty disappointed even in the best-case scenario. As a Raps fan, I couldn't be happier.

Let's see how Delfino plays in summer league and then, barring any collapse, let's welcome the newest member of an increasingly international and playoff-worthy rotation.

NBA Second Round Picks from 1990 to present...

It's coming up on draft time and there is lots of excitement about the potential of the first rounders this year. To me, what is almost equally as interesting is the 'potential' of there being some good players available in the 2nd round of the draft.

Each year, it seems, there are a handful of guys that fall much farther than they 'should'. When you look over the list you see a number of players that carved out a legit career for themselves from the 2nd round (ie. at least got a 2nd NBA contract, if not more). You'll even see a handful of all-stars that slipped through the cracks. So while most say things like 'the 2nd round is a crap shoot' - which i agree with to a large degree - it's still very interesting to me. I like trying to figure out just who might be that 'guy' that slips too far, and ends up being a solid contributor to a good team.

It's a bit early to judge the 2006 draft just yet, however a couple of people seem to have carved out a niche for themselves to date:

47. Paul Millsap
46. Dee Brown
42. Daniel Gibson

Again, it may be too early to write off the class of 2005 right now, but a few guys have stood out to one degree or another:

56. Amir Johnson - added because apparently Detroit loves this kid
50. Ryan Gomes
40. Monta Ellis
37. Ronny Turiaf

2004 has only shown a few guys so far - but all 3 are fringe starters in my mind:

44. Trevor Ariza
39. Chris Duhon
31. Anderson Varejão

2003 was a banner draft year, from top to bottom. While most focus on all of the good players taken in the first round, the 2nd round had alot of talent also - clearly 2003 was indeed one of the best draft classes ever.

51. Kyle Korver
49. James Jones
47. Mo Williams
45. Matt Bonner
43. Keith Bogans
42. Zaur Pachulia
41. Willie Green
38. Steve Blake
32. Luke Walton
31. Jason Kapono

2002 saw a few solid role players, a couple of fringe starters and a star:

53. Rasual Butler
50. Darius Songaila
46. Matt Barnes
42. Ronald Murray
35. Carlos Boozer
34. Dan Gadzuric

2001 included a most improved player winner, 2 all-stars and 2 other solid starters

53. Jarron Collins
46. Loren Woods
42. Bobby Simmons
40. Earl Watson
38. Mehmet Okur
31. Gilbert Arenas
30. Trenton Hassell

2000 had some solid role-players and a star:

44. Brian Cardinal
43. Michael Redd
38. Eduardo Najera
37. Eddie House
33. Jake Voskuhl
30. Marco Jaric

1999 was similar to 2000 in makeup:

57. Emmanuel Ginobili
53. Rodney Buford
47. Todd MacCulloch
43. Lee Nailon
41. Francisco Elson
40. Gordan Giricek
35. Calvin Booth
32. Michael Ruffin

1998 was a pretty good year for 2nd rounders:

58. Maceo Baston
53. Greg Buckner
44. Sean Marks
43. Jahidi White
41. Cuttino Mobley
39. Rafer Alston
36. Jerome James
33. Jelani McCoy
32. Rashard Lewis
31. Ruben Patterson

Not much star power in 1997, but some solid players non-the-less:

55. Mark Blount
48. Alvin Williams
43. Stephen Jackson
40. Anthony Johnson
38. Marc Jackson

Same goes for 1996. Note that 2 of these guys won championships:

54. Shandon Anderson
44. Malik Rose
37. Jeff McInnis
33. Moochie Norris
30. Othella Harrington

1995:

58. Don Reid
52. Fred Hoiberg
47. Tyus Edney
43. Eric Snow
34. Andrew DeClercq

1994:

54. Zeljko Rebraca
52. Anthony Goldwire
51. Lawrence Funderburke
46. Voshon Lenard
32. Jim McIlvaine
30. Howard Eisley

1993:

47. Chris Whitney
45. Bryon Russell
37. Nick Van Exel
28. Lucious Harris

1992:

42. Matt Geiger
32. Brent Price
30. Sean Rooks
29. P.J. Brown

1991:

48. Isaac Austin
45. Bobby Phills
31. Randy Brown

1990:

48. Cedric Ceballos
45. Antonio Davis
43. Tony Massenburg
40. Bimbo Coles
35. Greg Foster
29. Tony Kukoc

NBA Predraft Camp Combine Results

Name	Max Vert	Bench Press 185 Lbs	Lane Agility	3/4 Court Sprint	Score
D.J. Strawberry	35	21	10.87	3.14	283.09
Russell Carter	38.5	25	11.61	3.29	281.78
Dominic James	38.5	14	10.94	3.11	276.22
Mike Conley Jr.	40.5	13	11.63	3.09	268.47
Carl Landry	36.5	21	11.35	3.29	265.3
Dustin Salisbery	38	11	11.07	3.12	261.26
Thaddeus Young	37	13	11.06	3.19	259.97
Jason Smith	37.5	15	10.96	3.29	257.24
Ron Lewis	38	16	11.59	3.22	255.7
Rodney Stuckey	35	14	11.34	3.11	254.74
Reyshawn Terry	37.5	18	11.76	3.26	250.06
Nick Young	40.5	6	11	3.25	245.69
Stephane Lasme	36	17	11.73	3.22	245.41
Aaron Brooks	39.5	6	10.57	3.2	244.23
Anthony Tolliver	30	21	11.49	3.29	243.11
Demetris Nichols	32.5	16	10.39	3.38	242.5
Al Thornton	41	9	11.96	3.16	238.93
Jeff Green	38	17	12	3.34	238.38
DaShaun Wood	34.5	13	11.4	3.23	237.29
Dominic McGuire	34.5	12	10.95	3.25	234.71
Al Horford	35.5	20	12.15	3.37	232.9
Ekene Ibekwe	39	10	11	3.28	231.95
Rashaun Freeman	32	20	11.43	3.41	230.26
James Mays	37	13	11.63	3.26	230.23
Trey Johnson	35	18	11.78	3.31	229.92
J.R. Reynolds	34.5	15	11.69	3.24	229.53
Brandon Heath	36	11	11.39	3.28	228.53
Joseph Jones	31.5	18	11.4	3.34	228.32
Corey Brewer	36.5	11	11.69	3.22	227.04
Javaris Crittenton	38	11	11.6	3.32	224.74
Curtis Sumpter	32.5	12	11.3	3.22	224.71
Acie Law	34	8	11	3.22	222.2
Antanas Kavaliauskas	30	19	11.19	3.42	221.35
Mohamed Abukar	35	15	11.78	3.37	220.07
Chris Richard	30.5	15	11.39	3.29	220
Avis Wyatt	32	12	11.46	3.23	219.23
Rashad Jones-Jennings	30	20	12.18	3.29	218.04
Bobby Brown	41	3	11.27	3.25	215.98
Mustafa Shakur	35	11	11.82	3.27	211.65
Taurean Green	32.5	8	11.3	3.26	208.4
Daequan Cook	34.5	4	11.12	3.22	207.91
Sun Yue	34	9	10.68	3.45	206.73
Joakim Noah	37.5	12	11.79	3.47	206.61
Jared Dudley	32	14	11.32	3.45	205.83
Jamaal Tatum	33	7	11.51	3.22	204.83
Herbert Hill	34	15	12.31	3.39	204.74
Ramon Sessions	33.5	8	11.65	3.27	203.02
Marko Lekic	30.5	19	11.96	3.43	202.21
Coby Karl	34.5	9	11.57	3.41	199.7
Jeremy Hunt	33	10	12.11	3.29	199.58
Coleman Collins	35	21	11.47	N/A	199.43
Ryvon Covile	30.5	19	12.52	3.37	199.28
Blake Schilb	33.5	11	11.63	3.36	198.44
Quinton Hosley	34	12	12.47	3.32	194.16
Zabian Dowdell	33.5	3	11.13	3.29	194.09
Kyle Visser	29	18	12.6	3.39	190.6
Caleb Green	36	9	11.72	3.46	187.02
Josh McRoberts	31.5	12	11.7	3.47	186.24
Major Wingate	30.5	15	12.14	3.47	186.15
Darryl Watkins	31	14	11.65	3.56	181.56
Brandan Wright	35.5	2	11.76	3.31	180.1
Greg Oden	34	N/A	11.67	3.27	179
Brad Newley	31.5	3	11.77	3.29	175.68
Cartier Martin	29.5	11	12.1	3.43	173.62
Aaron Gray	32.5	17	12.07	3.7	172.25
Julian Wright	33.5	2	11.48	3.36	172.23
Craig Bradshaw	28	12	11.88	3.54	164.49
Marcelus Kemp	29.5	9	11.89	3.49	162.84
Mario Boggan	26.5	12	12.18	3.45	161.29
Sammy Mejia	31.5	7	11.87	3.49	160.94
James Hughes	33	8	13.31	3.37	159.18
Spencer Hawes	29	9	11.88	3.51	158.79
Renaldas Seibutis	32.5	1	11.33	3.39	157.24
Ali Traore	29	11	12.16	3.52	157.24
Jared Jordan	28.5	6	11.02	3.39	155.05
Ivan Radenovic	28	7	11.61	3.6	138.85
Jermario Davidson	30	7	12.63	3.53	137.55
Kevin Durant	33.5	0	12.33	3.45	132
Justin Doellman	N/A	19	N/A	N/A	70.37
Sean Singletary	N/A	17	N/A	N/A	62.96
Yi Jianlian	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0