In the wake of a rather uneventful NBA draft day 2008 for your Raptors, we take a closer look at the only addition the day brought to the team.
Down Under they call him Baby Shaq or Aussie Shaq but make no mistake, outside of his size and perhaps slight resemblance to the Phoenix Suns centre, Nathan Jawai is a long way from becoming the next Shaquille O’Neal.
Picked up with the Pacers’ 41st pick as part of the Jermaine O’Neal trade, Jawai, a 6-foot-10, 280-pound beast, has the tools to be dominant, but he only picked up his first basketball six years ago.
The biggest question mark is Jawai’s commitment.
“The kid’s got unbelievable talent, he can play in the NBA if he really wants it,” Australian national team coach Brian Goorjian told Tim Morrissey of the Dailey Telegraph of New South Wales. “But I need that commitment. Nathan has to show me what he has got at camp. There are a lot of unknowns about him.”
Jawai was in the national team camp leading up to the world championship in 2006 but did not come back until just recently.
He made the huge commitment to leave Australia and attend Midland Community College in Texas but left after just six months. Jawai contends he tore knee cartilage and was forced back on to the court a week later with no time to rehab. Instead, he packed his bags and headed back home where he debuted with the professional club in Cairns.
Jawai was hoping to represent his native land in Beijing at the Olympics but that too has been put on hold. Goorjian says Jawai will eventually join the Boomers as they are known, but the recent pre-draft workouts in the U.S. took him away from the camp selection process this time around.
“It doesn’t work right now with the national team for this Olympics but … he’s got a bright future with us for this program. Once he’s on a team (in the NBA) I think the process of playing in the NBA and being a part of this for Nathan will be easier.”
By dealing for Jermaine O’Neal in a three-for-one transaction, and limited in the amount of money they can spend before hitting the luxury tax level, there’s every indication the Raptors will have a defined 10-man rotation next season with three or four bit pieces taking up space at the end of the roster.
That would be instead of the 15 players they carried for most of last season, a group that included a glut of similarly skilled swingmen who all were clamouring for playing time.
“It’s not a bad thing to have that kind of roster makeup,” president and general manager Bryan Colangelo said yesterday.
Financially, it’s a necessity, too. After re-signing point guard Jose Calderon, coupled with the buyout of Jorge Garbajosa and the addition of O’Neal, Toronto won’t have a lot of money to throw around when the free agent negotiating period begins Tuesday.
The salary obligations for the 10 players who’ll be under contract when Calderon and Roko Ukic sign – along with the cap hit caused by the Garbajosa buyout – will be about $67 million (all figures U.S.) for the Raptors. And because the tax level won’t be known until the first week of July, it’s impossible to say for sure how much wiggle room they’ll have before they bump up against that number but an educated guess puts the threshold at about $72 million, leaving $5 million to spend on filling out the roster.
It’s a virtual certainty that former second-round draft pick Ukic will be in Toronto next year and it appears the Raptors are willing to bring over this year’s second-round pick, Australian centre Nathan Jawai, to let him try to develop his game.
That leaves one spot for a third guard and one for perhaps another swingman to give Toronto a 13-man roster.
“We do want to have a nice, lean roster,” said Colangelo.
The one player who seems to be on his way out is restricted free agent Carlos Delfino. Because of financial constraints, and the desire to give coach Sam Mitchell a chance to establish a regular rotation, Delfino doesn’t appear to have a future with the Raptors.
And because of those same issues, it’s unlikely Toronto would entertain a sign-and-trade proposition for Delfino, who may end up heading to Europe, where he’s sure to command a greater salary than he’ll get in the NBA.
Had chats with a couple of Raptor coaches yesterday, trying to figure out what they think of the big deal and what they were doing to figure out how to use Bosh and O’Neal together.
Reaction was overwhelmingly positive (yeah, that’s a huge surprise) but mostly because of what O’Neal might do defensively.
Now, when some flat-footed wing guy gives up one of his many blow-bys, they think at least there’s a big, ornery fellow waiting in the paint. Rasho, for all his good things, was not big and ornery and I’m pretty sure Andrea couldn’t find big and ornery with a search warrant.
O’Neal at one time was a pretty good defender, even excellent at times, and if he’s at either of those levels this time around, that’s the huge plus of the deal.
Offensively?
Well, and take this not as a true comparison but just as an example, the staff’s going back to look at vintage video of how San Antonio used Duncan and Robinson together. Not saying Bosh and O’Neal are at that level, not a chance, but as a way to figure out some plays, that’s a pretty good duo and a pretty good coaching staff to mimic.
Check out this Jermaine O’Neal quote from the interviews he did yesterday.
“You’re talking about a team that’s extremely athletic, extremely big at the wing positions, and they play defence.”
Guess he didn’t spend a lot of his downtime last season actually, you know, watching Raptor games.
Bargnani update:
Don’t for a minute think the Raptors haven’t been keeping a close tab on him.
They sent Keith D’Amelia, the team’s strength and conditioning coach over to Italy to work him out, test him and make sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing. They tell me he is.
Oh, and he’s going to the big man camp in Vegas in late July to continue his off-season work.
Once they do Jose’s deal, they’ll have 10 guys under contract and will have very little money to spend. Without knowing the cap number, tax level or Jose’s number, it’s impossible to tell with any certainty but I’m guessing they’ll have around $5 million to spend on two point guards and another player and that’s not going to yield a star, that’s for sure.
My best guess: They do Roko Ukic, another point guard (I know there’s been some sniffing around Jason Hart) and then a young swingman in the Moon mode. If there’s money left, then they’ll go look for another big.
Managing partner Michael Jordan confirmed Thursday that the team talked to the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped forward Gerald Wallace for point guard T.J. Ford.
That deal snagged when the Raptors also asked for a draft pick.
Higgins said Wallace shouldn’t take offense at such talks, as it demonstrates his value around the league.
“It happens. Names come up,” Higgins said. “In some ways, that’s a good thing” for the player.
While two Eastern Conference teams — the Bucks and Raptors — greatly improved as a result of trades, the Nets gave themselves maximum financial effectiveness ($22 million under the projected cap of $58M, July 1, 2010) to recruit potential free agent (while boxing out the Knicks) LeBron James . . . and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
By my count, the Nets are the 23rd team to set their sights on the free agent Class of 2010.
The Raptors, meanwhile, were very good the season before last, winning the Atlantic Division, and just plain good this past year. By acquiring Jermaine O’Neal from the Pacers for extraneous playmaker T.J. Ford, conceptually, no opponent from either conference should be able to sweat them.
Never hesitant to take a risk, team president Bryan Colangelo is gambling his limit this time by taking on a contract ($44M for two years) owned by a chronically injured player. Count me in for a piece of that action.
Should O’Neal return to All-Star form the Raptors’ upside is equally boundless. I’m told he’s in excellent shape while joining a title contender is certain to boost his dwindling spirit.
Pretend you care and ask the fans howling at the Jamario Moon who they would rather have, the frontline of Bosh-O’Neal-Andrea Bargnani . . . Bogut-Jefferson-Villanueva . . . or Eddy Curry-Zach Randolph-Gallinari?
I believe this is a good thing for Nate and his NBA aspirations. The Raptors were one of the few teams that took time out to scout Nate during the NBL season. Also he had multiple workouts for the club right before the draft.
Taking an educated guess here, but the Raptors would have asked the Pacers to select Jawai on their behalf. Although there are no guarantees by being a second round pick, the Raptors may be so impressed already that they will have cut a deal with the big Aussie.
With the way this scenario has played out, I’m guessing the Raptors may want Jawai to stay in Canada and join their roster for the upcoming season.
Good luck to Nate. I hope he makes the roster on Opening Night.
Draft Grades: A
Toronto Raptors. They gave up their first-round pick and guard T.J. Ford for a chance with Jermaine O’Neal, an All-Star as recently as 2007. Maybe he can get it back. If he does, the Raptors should improve in the East with unselfish Jose Calderon now taking over at point. Nathan Jawai later is the latest baby Shaq. So we’ll see, though we know there is only one.
Draft Grades: D
Indiana Pacers. So the Jermaine O’Neal trade was a salary dump after all. Making the deal with Portland for Jarrett Jack suggests the Pacers are unsure about T.J. Ford’s health. Now they have three point guards — Jamaal Tinsley being the third. Adding Brandon Rush — in the deal that netted Jack — and slow turtle Roy Hibbert — in the O’Neal deal — does little to cure their sad lack of athleticism. So Hibbert and Rasho Nesterovic? Make some new statues at downtown Monument Circle.
Toronto Raptors- The Raptors traded away their first-round pick in the Jermaine O’Neal trade and got back a second-round pick to select Nathan Jawai. Toronto made themselves a top 4 team in the East with the trade. A front-court of Chris Bosh and a healthy Jermaine O’Neal is scary, but his health is a big question. Moving the disgruntled T.J. Ford secured Jose Calderon as their starting point guard and their three-point shooting style will only get better with O’Neal and Chris Bosh drawing double-teams.
TJ Ford interview with Chuck Swirsky
This move is big. It’s up to the coaching staff not to mess it up and to find a way to make it work. They can still be that ball-swinging team we saw in 2006-2007, but now it’s going to be a little different. There needs to be an emphasis on J.O. not being a ball-stopper and just pounding it for his post moves, despite his success down there. His skills can be used within the system already implemented in Toronto. They don’t have to be the ugly half court team some people think they’ll be. Just tune in and enjoy.
Anyway, my wife and I just got back from a nice dinner downtown and while we were walking around the streets of Toronto – heading home – who do I run into? Nathan Jawai.
Again, I’ll fill ya in on our 5-10 minute chat when I post the blog tomorrow morning but I will tell ya this right now … He is THRILLED to be in Toronto and greatly looking forward to being a Raptor. Plus, while it might sound crazy given that I just met the guy, but he has to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth athletes I’ve ever encountered.
No matter how much this guy ends up playing in T.O. … I think you, the fans, are going to love him and his personality.
People know that I am a big supporter of T.J Ford and he is now on his way to join the Pacers. You may also be aware that I was pushing for Roy Hibbert of Georgetown to be part of the Raptors. I even wrote about Hibbert and became the Raptor Blog choice of Hoya Fans. So on draft night the Raptors selected Roy Hibbert. It could have been a great moment for me personally and from a career standpoint. Only problem is despite being technically right about the Raptors pick, it will only be till July 9th. Which is also ironic because the fact I get to remain right until that point is T.J Ford’s Contract.
As of right now our roster simply cannot run the break and get easy points nor can we defend the perimeter. It’s not like with TJ Ford we were Phoenix East, but replacing him with O’Neal who is strictly a half-court player and putting the ultra-cautious Calderon at the helm slows our offense down to an absolute crawl. Roko Ukic, if brought in, might be able to change that to some degree but I hope Colangelo realizes that this team will need to be better in the half-court sets and for that you need a creative X’s and O’s coach, which we all know Mitchell isn’t.
I can live with us being a half-court team that runs everything through Calderon => Bosh or Calderon => O’Neal, but at some point we’ll have to address our perimeter defense and athleticism and it better happen this summer, otherwise this mega-trade is all for naught.
Right now, the Raptors are an arguably better then .500 team. Not sure how much better, but a few games at the least (46 wins?). The problem is that this current roster is as about good as the Boston Celtics after they got Allen, but before they got Garnett. The wing is still suspect. There are a lot of good unrestricted free agents out there that would love the full mid-level:
- Mickael Pietrus
- Matt Barnes
- Bonzi Wells
- James Posey
- Bostjan Nachbar
- Maurice Evans
- Keyon Dooling
- Roger Mason Jr (a bit of a reach I know, but he can shoot the lights out)
I’m sure there are a ton of Euro’s the front office is jerking off over, so please, keep the momentum going and grab a couple of guys that aren’t soft, can create their own offensive opportunities, can defend, and aren’t pansies…
Free Agency starts this Tuesday. Over the next two weeks I expect the Raptors to make a free agent signing with their MLE and a couple of additional acquisitions to fill out their roster.
If Bryan Colangelo can add a good wing player and a decent back-up point guard, the Raptors have a much improved roster over last year. Particularly if Bargnani can provide any level of contribution and/or show improvement over last year.
Here at RaptorTalk, we have been of the opinion that the roster needs a solid makeover. Some of the local media/ broadcasters expected only a tweak or two.
Seems like Colangelo sees it our way and that the 15 man roster will likely include at least 7 (yup -seven) new faces in 2008-09. If Joey or Parker are moved (still possibilities), that would mean a 50% turnover in just a few months.
Say what you want about Bryan – he’s not a good loser and he is not one to stand pat. Last season was a disappointment and he’s not going to let it happen again.
The Raptors need to make use of his defensive abilities to shore up the gains they made defensively last year, and further their efforts where they were still weak. Early offense off transition was something this team couldn’t stop last season. Once the defense was set they showed they could get stops. But they were too reliant on help and when it came to speedy guards penetrating right away, the help didn’t just react, it over-reacted, and easy baskets ensued. With a guy like JO in there, they ought to have a greater level of trust in their last line of defense. Bosh and JO together should not need the kind of help that we have seen in the past. And together those two should not need to over-extend themselves and be as prone to injuries as they have been of late while all on their own. They could form a solid presence that will bring a lot more hesitancy to opposing guards looking to create early off the dribble, and allow guys like Calderon, Moon and Kapono to confidently contain guys off of penetration and stop the ball as a unit in spite of lacking in defensive prowess as individuals. My greatest fears of the upcoming season was seeing a flurry of blow-bys, and too many comfortable threes coming from the guys wearing the wrong colored jerseys. Now with the last line of defense strengthened considerably, the weaker defenders on the perimeter can do a better job of working together without an eye to helping all the way inside at some point, and thereby over-reacting all too often.
Final thought: I love the T.J. Ford for Jermaine O’Neal trade for Toronto. They got rid of a redundant player for a high-risk, high-reward player in O’Neal, and the 17th pick (Roy Hibbert) isn’t going to be a game-changer. IF (and that’s a huge IF) O’Neal plays sixty games, and is healthy for the playoffs, look out for Toronto!
The Raptors must decide whether to start Kapono, Delfino, Jamario Moon, or Andrea Bargnani at the 3. I think that Kapono will be the best fit, as his shooting will benefit tremendously from the Raptors’ inside presence. But Sam Mitchell will have options down the stretch. Bargnani should come off the bench as the sixth man, also as the first forward back-up, until he proves he deserves otherwise and Delfino should back-up the guards.
Colangelo needs a P.J. Brown/Udonis Haslem/Nazr Mohammed-type to fill a forward spot in the rotation (unless Primo Brezec or Kris Humphries show that they have improved) and should use the mid-level exception to fill this role. Or he could split the mid-level and also sign the back-up point guard required, since Darrick Martin won’t do this year. Jamario could get some burn, but it’s imperative that he attack the rack much more. Under this scenario (two players remaining to be signed), Joey Graham is expendable but he might be the twelfth player on the roster.
Wow. What a couple days. First the JOdeal and now this. After hopelessly abandoning the 17 due to the supposed futility of landing Rush or CDR, the lengthy Junior from Memphis nearly falls to us at 41only to be robbed at 40 by the villainous rebuilders, the New Jersey Nets. Shit, that would have been delicious. I can’t wait till Bosh’s personality lands us LeBron in the summer of 10, you fucking marsh dwellers.
While nearly pulling the screen from my laptop in anticipation of CDR’s Raptoring, I couldn’t help spewing trade scenarios in order to ensure his arrival. Though my original offer of Joey Graham and the 41 was rejected by 10 seconds of rational thought, Ibegan to construe more realistic deals. Would Jamario be enough to land CDR? Would that be a worthy swap? I think so.
Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has given every indication that Nathan Jawai will not play for Australia at this year’s Beijing Olympics.
On Friday, Jawai was selected in the NBA draft, but the reigning NBL rookie of the year winner is yet to feature for the Boomers in any of their warm-up matches for Beijing.
Goorjian said there was still an outside chance that Jawai would be a part of his 12-man squad for the Olympics, but it was becoming increasingly unlikely by the day.
“If he presents himself we will give him a look, but time is running short,” Goorjian said.
“At this point in time, we are a week away from selecting the final team and he hasn’t been a part of it so far.”
“The ball has been in his court and he has run his race. I haven’t heard anything other than he won’t be available.”
The past couple weeks has been a whirlwind for Landry, who also auditioned for the Toronto Raptors and is waiting for word.
“I think I probably showed a little more than they were expecting of me,” he said. “Who knows what going to happen next?”
So, as he strives to graduate to the world’s premier basketball league, the snow-laden streets of Canada’s biggest metropolis will be Jawai’s new base.
It is a world away from his real home.
This time last year, he was hunting wild pigs and fishing around mangroves near one of Australia’s most isolated Aboriginal communities.
Bamaga, 40km south of mainland Australia’s most northerly point, Cape York, has a population of just 1000 people.
Jawai quickly stood out, especially when at 16 he was almost two metres tall. AFL scouts came to visit, but Jawai loved basketball, although the game’s officials had to work overtime to convince the shy teenager to leave town and make the 1000km move to Cairns to improve his game.
A talk from the NBL’s first indigenous player, Danny Morseu, finally convinced Jawai that wonderful opportunities for himself and his people would emerge if he committed himself to basketball.
After working hard to turn some puppy fat into muscle, Jawai stunned the NBL by averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Taipans to earn the 2007-08 league rookie of the year prize.
Toronto Raptors – B – Traded their one pick for Jermaine O’Neal, allowing Chris Bosh to play power forward solely and Andrea Bargnani to show his versatility. It was worth the trade of pick.
Because he was picked outside the first round (top 30), the Bamaga product is not guaranteed an NBA contract next season.
But he is determined to fight his way into the NBA, his late selection acting as motivation rather than disappointment for the first indigenous Australian drafted to the NBA.
“I’m going out there to get this spot, I’m serious,” he said from New York yesterday.
“I’ll definitely be playing. I’m going to work my tail off for that.
“It motivates me that I got picked in the second round.
“Thanks to Toronto and the Pacers for picking me.”
Cairns Taipans assistant coach Aaron Fearne said some “left field” picks in the opening round complicated the expected draft order.
“We really thought there was a chance of him going to Detroit with the 29th pick,” Fearne said.
But there was still great interest in the forward/centre, with Washington, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly trying to trade up in the second round to nab the 208cm
behemoth.
Host broadcaster ESPN was on a commercial break in the US – as it was in Australia – so pick No. 41 was not announced live, with Jawai first to notice his name next to Indiana in a “ticker” on the bottom of the screen at the ESPN Zone restaurant where he and other prospects were watching the draft.
“‘Look, I just got picked!’ that was my reaction,” Jawai said.
Cairns Taipans coach Alan Black described events as
“sensational”.
Black said talks with officials in North America led him to believe the Raptors had a spot for Jawai on their roster and he was likely to play next season.
Jawai praised all those that had helped him achieve his dreams – from his close family and uncle Danny Morseu who persuaded him to move to Cairns to play basketball, to coaches, officials and players at the Taipans, Cairns Marlins and Kuiyam Pride.
One team I would like to mention is Toronto. The Raptors are expected to trade TJ Ford, Roy Hibbert, Rasho Nesterovic and Macio Bastin to Indiana for Jermaine O’Neal and Nathan Jawai. With this trade, the Raptors are finally acquiring some good, big bodies in the middle.
This is a risky trade, however, because of O’Neal’s recent injuries. If O’Neal performs similarly to last year, it wasn’t really worth it for the Raptors to get a guy who plays 40 games and only scores 13 points a game. But if he can return to his old form…
O’Neal has been a legitimate MVP candidate twice in his career. He lost to Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan—two future Hall of Famers. If O’Neal, 29, can get back to his former 20 and 10 days as a Pacer, the Raptors will be in very good shape.
If not, this trade will hurt the Toronto Raptors dearly, because a 13-point, six-rebound guy—who you are paying $45 million over the next two years—isn’t very good for your team.
In this video we catch up with WNBA star Candace Parker who tells us about her dunking ability. You might be surprised to hear what she has to say about it. We also interview her brother, Anthony Parker, the star of the Toronto Raptors. Around 2:15 into the video find out from Candace which sibling is more popular.
Oh, by the way, I like what Toronto did in getting Jermaine O’Neal. At first, I didn’t, thinking O’Neal was just an older, more broken-down version of Chris Bosh. Well, he is that. But I still think the duo can be effective together. With Jose Calderon running the show by himself, the Raptors should be a factor in the East next year. They’ll be more of a half-court team, but they’ll be tough.
“I went to the Roger Clemens facility (Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hospital in Houston) and took an MRI and I’m pretty sure they sent the information to either Toronto or the Pacers and have their doctors look at it,” Ford said.
“I haven’t got any calls so I think everything’s okay.”
“This is something that was definitely expected,” Ford said. “I wasn’t coming into the offseason 100 percent thinking I was going back to Toronto.”
“I’m happy to be a Pacer. Fresh, new start and an opportunity to play a lot of minutes and try to lead a team that wasn’t in the playoffs, back to the playoffs.”
Ford played high school basketball at Willowridge in suburban Houston and was an All-American at the University of Texas. Ford still makes his off-season home in Houston.
“It’s exciting because it’s a big challenge ahead,” Ford said. “Going to a situation where a team is trying to change the face of the organization and the team is trying to get fans back into the arena. To say I’m part of that change feels good.”
“They traded an All-Star player for me.”
In his first interview since the trade became public, Ford said he hopes the Indiana Pacers can become his home for a long time.
“Hopefully, this is my home and a place where I can really, really establish myself and be the type of player I know I’m capable of being,” Ford said.
“It’s just taken me a little longer to find a home where I can sit there and be there for more than two years. So hopefully this is the place.”
I want to say thank you for everyone’s support in regards with the U.S. National Team. I’m really proud to be representing my country in Beijing for the Olympics. I used to dream of this when I saw the Dream Team win it back in ’92 so it’s surreal for me. I can’t wait to get everything going because it’s always a lot of fun being around the other guys. I think we have a great chance.
Everyone from the team is getting together this weekend for an orientation and a couple of practices out in Vegas. I’m ready to get rolling! I might see some shows or something while I’m out there. I know I’m not going to hit the tables so you don’t have to worry about that. Look out for us next month. We’ll be playing Canada next month in Vegas in an exhibition and I’m sure it’s going to be on TV.
This afternoon marked the closure of the 2nd annual José Manuel Calderón Camp in the Universidad Laboral de Cáceres facilities. José Manuel was with the nearly 300 young players that participated in the same camp throughout the week. The Camp ended with the delivery of some very special gifts, José Manuel presented the players with shoes, shirts and a variety of things from his own club, the Toronto Raptors.
Related posts:
I find it hilarious that the Hoya’s latest center’s name, per the common knowledge that has spread like wildfire through the hackerati, is Roy “Wow He’s Slow” Hibbert.
Who are they comparing him to? Spencer Hawes? The fleet-footed Patrick Ewing or (sorry) Jermaine O’Neal?
Protip: I can probably beat a 7’2″ 280 pound guy in the 40 yard dash. I suspect he’d time better in the mile and, needless to say, absolutely destroy me in any game involving an orange ball and a hoop.
And memo to sportswriters everywhere: The Phoenix Offense was last year (and the year before’s) flavor of the moment. After the failure by Iavaroni to implement it in Memphis and Colangelo’s apparently white flag, it’s officially the see-thru Swatch of NBA strategies. We’re now all supposed to talk about teams bulking up to control the paint a la the Celtics, claim every move to add a big man is based upon that notion, and act really surprised when teams playing big but mediocre players don’t win 50 games.
Have you ever watched Hibbert play? The guy is molasses, and can barely dunk. I don’t think he is going to be much of an NBA player because of those physical limitations… Think Big Z with a LOT less game.
As for CDR, I’m of the same belief. I don’t understand why some wanted us to choose him to badly… undersized wings with average athleticism and no jumper don’t tend to fare well. Brandon Rush, on the other hand, would have been a steal at 17.
Anyhow, JO sounds motivated, and although my fingers are still crossed regarding his health, I think this trade will end up as a big success… especially given the position we were in with TJ and his health/contract/attitude. Worst comes to worst, we either have a huge expiring deal to move next year if there’s talent available, or a huge amount of cap space the year after if we keep JO. Best care scenario, we vault towards the top of the conference, and get our asses kicked by the celts in the east conf finals. Need more help on the wings…
speaking of which, that list of wings was great. Some of those guys could be available for even less than the MLE. Now here’s hoping BC goes and gets one!