Raptors guard Anthony Parker had surgery yesterday to repair an injured extensor tendon in the middle finger of his right hand.
The surgery was performed in Toronto by Dr. Brent Graham. Parker must wear a cast for three weeks before he can begin rehabilitation.
Parker’s procedure came eight days after Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani had nasal surgery in Milan to remove his adenoids and repair a deviated septum. Bargnani, who must wait two weeks before resuming basketball workouts, was injured in a March 17 game at Utah when he was elbowed by teammate Jamario Moon while going for a loose ball.
Chicago winning the right to the No.1 pick in the June 26 draft, knocking the favoured Miami Heat down to No.2, was “not a bad thing,” according to one voice within the Toronto hierarchy.
The scenario the Raptors envision is:
The Bulls, who have soured completely on Kirk Hinrich as their point guard, take Memphis’ Derrick Rose, a Chicago product represented by an agent with close ties to the Bulls organization, with the No.1 pick.
That leaves the Heat to decide whether they want Kansas State power forward Michael Beasley and, if they do, Miami will still be in the market for an accomplished point guard, something Toronto has in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon.
No one from the Raptors was talking in specifics yesterday, but the chance to move either Ford or Calderon could net someone like power forward Udonis Haslem in some kind of package deal.
And with the way general manager Bryan Colangelo likes to think, there’s even a likelihood he’ll ask about the availability of the No.2 pick in some kind of blockbuster trade.
But even if the Raptors are able to get nothing accomplished by trading with a lottery team, they have all kinds of options with their own pick, No.17 in the first round.
Colangelo and his staff are whittling down an extensive list of potential selections to a manageable number.
There are about a dozen big men and an equal number of wings and guards who are likely to be available at that choice, giving the braintrust plenty of names to consider.
Seems our man P.J. Tucker’s had a great season, named the Israeli League’s MVP by a player’s vote in Eran’s Ma’ariv Sports and by the rival Yedioth Aharonoth (I’d prefer you all read Eran’s paper, of course).
Tucker led Holon to first place in the regular season and their in the Final Four next week in Tel Aviv.
Not sure what it is with Raptors and Israel but that’s very cool for P.J.
And, no, this does not mean P.J. should be back in the NBA next year. He remains too small to be anything more than an end-of-the-bencher.
The camp’s going to run June 20-22 at the Air Canada Centre and it’s just a way to keep track of some guys they’ve been bird-dogging over the course of the season.
I can’t see how they find another Moon (that was an absolute aberration, albeit a good one) and I’m sure the list of invitees (which is still being finalized) will include a bunch of other guys no one’s ever heard of.
As for intriguing players? Can’t think of any off the top of my head, maybe Randy Livingston, the D League point guard who was the league’s MVP I believe, would be the only guy I can think of who might have a shot at sticking.
Other than that? Nobody, really.
You might see John Lucas’s kid here, maybe another friend or two of existing Raptors but, really, it’s to find a summer league team more than it is to find a gem.
“A couple of teams in the East will end up with some pretty good players and Chicago made a big jump and will be able to add a player to a roster that is already pretty deep, which will give them a chance to get back on track faster than expected,” Colangelo said. “And Miami didn’t fall back too far and will get a good player, too.
“Either the first or second pick in this year’s draft will give you a player that you can use to jump-start your team or will give you added leverage for a trade scenario.”
The Raptors will pick 17th, a position that Colangelo feels has potential to deliver a good prospect.
“The draft is pretty deep,” he said. “Picking 17th is not like picking No.1, obviously, but it is a draft that we believe will have some very good players available later in the first round.”
The Raptors are over the NBA salary cap, but can still offer a potential free agent the full mid-level exception – or roughly $35-million (all currency U.S.) over five years.
In addition, the Raptors will have to set aside money to re-sign point guard Jose Calderon, a restricted free agent who is expected to draw offers in the range of $35-million to $40-million or more. The Raptors will have the right to match any other offer Calderon receives, and they are expected to use it.
D’Antoni has a connection with Toronto Raptors assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini, who was D’Antoni’s GM when he coached Benetton Treviso in the Italian League. But the Knicks have not made contact with the Raptors for permission to interview Gherardini for the job, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
There is a widespread belief that the Knicks will buyout Stephon Marbury only if they can find a better option at the point for next season. Obviously there are other options around the NBA — the Raptors will likely have to move T.J. Ford if they make a major committment to Jose Calderon and Memphis is committed to Mike Conley, Jr., so Kyle Lowry will certainly want a new address and if Chicago drafts Rose, Kirk Hinrich might be on the block.
Colangelo will spend the next few weeks meeting with players to make sure they will be able to play in Las Vegas and Beijing. He is to meet with Dwyane Wade today to check on the Miami Heat guard’s progress after left knee surgery. Wade did not play for Team USA last summer when it won the FIBA Americas Tournament in Las Vegas.
Colangelo also needs an update on the condition of forward Chris Bosh, the Toronto Raptors All-Star who hurt his right knee in March. A foot injury caused Bosh to miss last summer with Team USA.
17. Toronto Raptors: Chris Douglas-Roberts, 6-7, 200, SF/SG, Memphis. CDR’s hometown Detroit Pistons don’t pick until No. 29, which is too bad, because his sophisticated game could be a perfect fit in their operation. Douglas-Roberts is not an elite athlete, but he understands how to use his body to manufacture scoring opportunities and excels under pressure.
And here’s how I think the Draft Lottery could affect Toronto …
Miami is dying for a point guard. They need somebody to run the show for Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion (assuming he’s back with the Heat). It was a virtual lock that they would’ve selected Rose if they won the lottery. Instead, despite having the greatest odds of landing number 1, Miami fell to second. Their runner-up prize is a great one in Beasley; he could end up being an All Star himself. The Heat could have a solid threesome in Wade, Marion, and Beasley! But who is going to get them the ball?
Miami STILL needs a point guard. Badly.
If I’m Pat Riley, I’m throwing a WHACK of money at Jose Calderon. Not only is he a special guard; a pass-first guy that might be a great fit for my team … but … he’d be very popular with the Spanish fan-base in South Florida. It’d be a win-win … on the floor and off of it.
But if I can’t sign Calderon as a restricted free agent … and pry him away from Toronto … could I be just as happy with TJ Ford? I’d say the answer is “yes”.
17. Toronto Raptors-Alexis Ajinca, C, France. Much like the last pick, Ajinca is the selection because he fills a key need and is a very good player in his own right.
Well the odds of the Raptors drafting a guy who could actually help the team in any significant manner in the future are a shade under 50%.
The odds of us “stealing” an All-Star type player are about 25%, which is a bit higher than I would have thought, but still low.
The take away message here is that, the draft probably won’t help the team much this year. Factor in our wonderful draft history (Graham over Granger, Arrujo over Iguodala, Bargnani over Roy) the odds of the Raptors drafting a good player are even more slim.
But with that in mind, let’s have a look at some players in the 15-20 range that the Raptors might end up selecting.
The Sixers use their $11-$13M of cap space to overpay for Jose Calderon. Seriously, whatever it takes, they get him. It’s hard to land a restricted free agent, it’s even harder in Calderon’s case, because the Raptors hold full Larry Bird rights to him (meaning they can go over the cap to offer him a max deal). Still, I think there has to be a threshold for Toronto. They’re already paying T.J. Ford $31M over the next 4 years, and I don’t see anyone taking on that injury risk. If you think fair market value for Calderon is in the same neighborhood, fine. Offer him $45M for 5 years, even more if you have to. He’s a top-five point guard who shot 50% from the floor, 43% from downtown and had a 5.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.
If Calderon was the only move the Sixers were to make this offseason, I think you could make an argument for overpaying to get him. In the framework of the moves I’m dreaming about here, it’s a no-brainer.
The size hurts him. His jumper is inconsistent. And he does have a certain tendency to break himself fool with his suicide drives through the lane. Still on the hook for 25 million dollars in 3 years, with an exercised option.
Odds of a trade occuring? Marginal. His salary sucks, but the Raptors seem to be in love with Calderon. They may be willing to take 50 cents on the dollar.
- The Grand National Championships
17. Toronto Raptors – Nicolas Batum (6?8? 210 lbs.) France
What follows after the jump is a debate on which point guard the Toronto Raptors should keep for the forseeable future. Jose Calderon is a restricted free agent and is expected to command serious cash on the free agent market. T.J. Ford is under contract for a few more seasons at roughly $8M per year. Both have been spoke about in trade rumors, and it seems to the point that neither can co-exist with the other for another full season. Jack Forsayeth believes Jose should go, while Blake Murphy takes the stance that Ford should pack his bags.
17. Toronto Raptors: Mareese Speights 6-11 PF from Florida
In the world of mock drafts Speights was a sleeper pick, but now he seems to be getting a ton of hype. Next there’ll be some backlash, then it’ll be retro to move him up again. Retro: It’s the cool new thing!
17. Toronto Raptors- Robin Lopez
- Super, Scintillating, and Sarcastic
From my brief and unspectacular run as a sportswriter, I can think of one certifiably transcendent hometown crowd—the angry, bitter, vengeful group that greeted Vince Carter when he returned as a New Jersey Net to play the Toronto Raptors. As a fan, the only other that comes to mind is the uniformly red mob—giddy and a bit bewildered—that showed up for Toronto’s first playoff game a couple seasons later.
Of course, the home team lost both those games. So much then for home court advantage.
Perhaps a more viable option would be to trade Chris Bosh because the return would be even better than trading Calderon. Maybe the Dallas Mavericks would be an ideal trading partner as Bosh could return home and Dirk Nowitzki would sure look good in Toronto.
The other danger in trading Calderon is that Portland needs a point guard and, should he go there, we could be looking at next year’s MVP candidate, as the Trail Blazers are on the verge of breaking out and becoming a power in the West. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo sure would look good if this were to happen.
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I remember ages ago in our forums I floated the idea/concern that a team would bid-up on Calderon, forcing us to eat some money from our future cap space. I find it interesting that this very idea is being floated out there by others.
I’ve often believed that there is a sort of “gentlemans agreement” amongst GMs (call it collusion if you will) that this doesn’t happen, much like players being placed on waivers and landing with the team they want to be with.
Be interesting to watch.
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Here’s my Bet …
If Colangelo doesn’t sign & trade Calderon … on account of his superior ‘market value’ at the moment … it will be because Sam Mitchell has decided that Jose is HIS guy and NOT Ford.
Which of the two PG to go (and which one stays) will be decided by the Toronto Raptors’ Head Coach.
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