Linkage - May 19
So the director of global scouting for the Raptors was back home last week, holding his fifth annual Giants of Africa big-man camp in Lagos, continuing to build a foundation on which the sport can grow in the years to come.
“These kids have the raw talent, unbelievable physical talent, but fundamentally, they are just not that sound,” Ujiri said in a recent interview. “They are just so raw.”
There were 50 kids at the camp, chosen from the thousands of big men trying to learn the game. Enrolment is limited to players 6-foot-8 and over, precisely the kind of untapped teenagers who might not otherwise benefit from the coaching they got on the weekend.
“I just wanted to do something the big kids in Nigeria could look forward to,” said Ujiri. “Everywhere you play, guards always dominate the ball; this is to let the big men get all the attention for a change.”
“One camp, I had all the kids and coaches waiting outside for an hour for the gym co-ordinator who didn’t see the use of getting to work early,” he said. “Because there is a frequent lack of electricity, we have to rely on the generator system and this involves providing fuel for the generators. … This is sometimes tough, especially if there is a fuel scarcity in the country.
“We understand this and will fix it with time.”
I’m told not only is John Lucas likely to get an interview in Chicago (Cleveland reported this on the weekend) but Lucas is also in line to chat with Phoenix about that job opening.
What I’m sort of surprised about, given the breadth of their searches, is that neither the Suns nor the Bulls have thought about approaching Toronto about any of its three assistants, all of whom, I’d say, have as much chance at being a successful NBA head coach as some of the guys (Elston Turner? Tyrone Corbin? Bryan Shaw?) No disrespect to those guys (and I’ve always thought ex-Raptor Corbin would be a head coach some day) but surely teams would at least have an interest in the Toronto guys?
And I know all three would listen if someone called. And I’m sure the Raptors would give them permission to be interviewed if it came up.
But, before anyone gets up in arms about what this might mean to Lucas’s off-season training sessions and whether or not Bargnani will get some help this summer, let’s let the interview process play out and see if Lucas lands one of these jobs. I’d say it’s a long, long, long shot that he’s a head coach in either Chicago or Phoenix next year.
Toronto Raptors maybe can take a lesson from all of this. In this civil war of the point guards all seems lost and things seem completely hopeless. Just like things looked like in L.A this summer. Sometimes things do not always go the way they seem to be heading. It may be rambling in search of some positive answer out of all of this. But the Lakers were going to trade their best player and it was only a question of when and not if. But things change and circumstances can improve. So maybe we all need to think of that when the latest Jose and T.J story comes along. Just a thought.
Nathan Jawai leaves for the US today for a six-week build-up to the NBA draft, which could make him an instant multi-millionaire.
His trials begin with the Golden State Warriors on June 4, with the Charlotte Bobcats and Toronto Raptors showing most interest.
expiring contracts are generally dealt closer to the trade deadline, when a franchise has at least given the illusion of making an effort that season. Even Colangelo’s famous Marbury-Hardaway dump came in January of 2004. Also, any possible trade that the Raptors could make would be hugely contingent on the order of the draft (which will be decided on May 20) and would probably involve either Jose Calderon or TJ Ford. Problem is, TJ Ford can’t be traded until July 1 because of his base-year compensation status. Finally, if you were Rasho Nesterovic and you were given the choice to make $8.4 million or explore free agency wouldn’t you avoid putting it off?
“Because you know my road to get to where I wanted to be, you know it all started right here where these kids are at right now. So you know it’s always big to come back and give to those kids and come out and show your faith and show them that people do care,” said Jamario Moon.
I always assumed that Ford would be the one they moved, and they may well try. But Ford has a disquieting injury history (to say the least) not to mention that Calderon is bigger (6′3″ vs. 6′0″) and a better outside shooter (43% from three vs. 29%) so there’s little doubt that the Spaniard will bring more in trade. Interestingly, although I’ve contemplated Maggette for Ford in a S&T, I’ve ignored Maggette for Calderon.
For one thing, I’ve never really considered that Toronto might be ‘clamouring’ for the guy. But on reflection, it is an awfully good fit. Chris Bosh is the Raptors best scorer at 22.3 per game. Their second best? Anthony Parker at 12.5. And Ford and Calderon are 4 and 5, so if you deal one of them you’d better get a scorer back. No other team in the league has such an anemic second option (although Seattle comes close and the generic Clippers were pretty close too) - and the vast majority of teams have three or four players scoring over 13. So yes, Toronto could use another go to scorer, pretty desperately. Over and above that, while Bryan Colangelo has willfully built a team of shooters north of the border, it’s time to consider the possibility that it’s been a mistake. The Raptors were 32-24 on 2/27, and fell all the way to 38-39 on April 5th, a dismal 6-15 during that stretch. Only some gimmes in their last 5 let them climb back to .500 on the season. At which point they were handled pretty easily (4 games to 1) by a less than stellar Orlando team in the first round of the playoffs. So there’s little question that changes are needed, and maybe a guy like Maggette driving into the lane is exactly what they need as an alternative to all those guys standing around the three point arc.
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