The AltRaps Blog

Robin Lopez, who averaged 10 points and five rebounds last season, embraces his role as a defensive stopper. He had 156 blocks in two seasons at Stanford, giving him the school’s second-best career total. The center pulled down double-digit rebounds in four games.

He is projected to go mid to late first round, and has worked out for the New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors.

“I went to the workouts and I played like I felt I should’ve,” Robin said. “I don’t think there’s anything for me to prove, not for the people that really and truly matter.”

- Daily Camera

As a Toronto fan, I like that we are getting back Diaw, as he is a versatile player who could possibly shine without a loaded frontcourt of Shaq and Amare. His contract status is not the best though, as he’s under contract for the next 4 years at $9 million/year.

Diaw is a versatile player, who could fill Toronto’s void at SF, but I’m not sure he brings enough offensively to go along with his hefty contract. Plus, the Raptors have multiple holes, and I think they were really counting on their 17th pick to fill another one of those.

Toronto would still have the mid-level exception to address some of these needs, and Diaw certainly would help, but this is a deal I would pass on.

I really hope they bring back both players, now it has been widely speculated that Calderon would return and Ford is on the way out, but I had not heard that much on Delfino.  Delfino was a key part of Toronto’s bench last season and really stepped it up, along with Jason Kapono, in the playoffs last season.  I had really hoped that they would bring him back as well and this is a step in the right direction.

- Raptors Den

It was another interesting day at the ACC as in addition to the ongoing Free Agent Camp, the Raptors had prospect Marresse Speights in for a look. Contrary to my article yesterday however he was not only accompanied by Will Daniels as four others joined the fray. Most need no breakdown as they were local products or courtesy calls however Illinois’ big man Shaun Pruitt drew my interest.
Pruitt was a player I saw a good deal of last year on TV thanks to Rogers’ pro Big Ten and Big East coverage. He’s a physical presence (even more so in person!) who put up over 12 points and 7 boards a game for the Illini. I was mentioning yesterday that I had hoped the Raptors would have brought in another big to bang with Speights and turns out I got my wish. While we weren’t privy to the “in-game” portion of the workouts, I’m assuming that Pruitt gave Speights all he could handle down low, especially since Pruitt seems in much better shape than he ever was at Illinois.

- RaptorsHQ

I think too that Greene has lost some luster in this draft. Yes, he might turn out to be a great player four years from now when the rest of his game rounds out but I’m now hoping Toronto passes on him even if he does fall to 17. I went back over some of his games last year with Syracuse (good ol’ Rogers PVR) and really, we’re talking here about a player who showed nothing defensively, took more 3’s than foul shots, had horrible shot selection, and had a tough time taking players off the dribble due to his ball handling deficiencies. He’s really just starting to learn the game and I just don’t see him being an impact player for Toronto through his first contract.

From our perspective here at the HQ, the recent draft discussion, our own video footage and these pieces of statistical information from ESPN.com and Draftexpress.com have caused us to rejuggle our top five prospects as well. Now, we’d like to see one of the following five picked next week, in the following order:

1) Chris Douglas-Roberts

2) Brandon Rush

3) Robin Lopez

4) Roy Hibbert

5) Alexis Ajinca

- Raptors DraftHQ

I’m not exactly sure why the Raps extended an offer to Delfino except for the fact it could be as insurance if they need to fill a roster spot, no one else is available and Delfino hasn’t been signed to a large deal by another team. By buying out Garbajosa’s contract, Toronto is about $1-2 million lower from the luxury tax threshold, which gives them a bit more financial flexibility. July 1 will be very interesting for many reasons when the free agency period begins.

- The Raptor Core

Following Marreese Speight’s workout with the Toronto Raptors on June 21st, he talked with the media about how his workouts with NBA teams are going, who he models his game after, and a wide range of other topics.

Click here to listen to this media scrum.

- Hoops Addict

Following the Toronto Raptors free agent camp on June 21st, Toronto Raptors director of player personnel Jim Kelly talked with the media about how his workouts are going, the high level of talent in attendance, what the Raptors are looking for, and a wide range of other topics.

Click here to listen to this media scrum.

- Hoops Addict

John Lucas stood out more than anyone.  He put his speed on display and showed a great amount of leadership as well (as difficult as that is in a quick camp like this).  He was confident, but not arrogant or cocky.  And he nailed a number of big shots as well - most of them from 3-point range.  If you left Lucas open, he made you pay.

The only concern I had with Lucas - was his size.  He’s listed at 5′11 but I’m 5′9 (5′10 on a good day) and I sure felt that I was taller than Lucas.  Maybe … maybe not.

- Fan590

Kosta Koufos called from an airport gate Thursday night. The background noise included announcements of flights headed here or there. He was about to board one.

Since the first week in June, when he landed in Toronto to audition for the Raptors, this has been his life. Here today, there tomorrow, interviewing, testing and playing for one NBA team after another that might take the 7-footer in the first round of the draft Thursday night.

It is a laborious routine, but the former Ohio State center is 19 and full of adrenaline, about to realize his dream.

“Not tiring at all,” Koufos said of the whirlwind few weeks he has had. “I’m very excited about this. God has given me a wonderful opportunity … a lifetime opportunity for me.

“I get to travel cross-country playing basketball,” he said, and stretch his legs in first class while doing it. “I’m traveling good.”

Looking good, too, according to some reports.

“Koufos is gaining momentum at the moment” and has held the upper hand in most workouts against UCLA’s Kevin Love, a higher-rated but shorter forward, draft insider Chad Ford wrote on ESPN.com last week.

Ford also predicted that Koufos would have been a top-five pick had he waited until 2009 to leave school. That being the case, he could have received twice as much in salary over the length of his rookie contract.

But “it’s not about money,” Koufos said when told of that projection. “I just want to play in the league. It’s been a dream of mine. Now I have the opportunity.”

- BuckeyeXtra

And Blake says there are others like Beasley in the draft, though not as good, and certainly not as dominating. Still, it’s a skill set seen in guys such as Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani in Toronto. The signs of change came in former Jazz great Karl Malone, whose game reminded many of Pettit’s.

Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Kevin Garnett define the position now, power forwards who can hit the 18- to 20-foot jumper without a hitch.

“Mommies and daddies just aren’t producing the centers anymore,” joked Toronto Raptors scout Bob Zuffelato. “They’re not growing them strong anymore, so these big guys have to be more versatile and you’re seeing that more and more on every team in the league. We’re fortunate in that we have two like that. Chris is a legitimate four that can step out and hit threes, and Andrea is a guy that can shoot with the best of them, but he needs to develop a little more to play down low.”

- Courant.com

Jerome Moiso (UCLA, No. 11 in 2000): Played for Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors, New Jersey Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He currently plays for DKV Joventut in ACB in Spain.

- Memphis Commercial Appeal

Point guards have been one of the top two picks just seven times since 1990.

The position has grown more in importance this decade, with Kidd leading the New Jersey Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003, Steve Nash winning back-to-back most valuable player awards in 2005 and 2006 and the recent rise of the Hornets’ Paul and Utah’s Williams, who both completed their third seasons in the league. Paul finished second in the league’s most valuable player voting this season; Williams directed his team to the conference finals last season.

“I think you could say their development has made GMs look that way,” Toronto Raptors Director of Player Personnel Jim Kelly said. “But also you can look at the scarcity of good point guards. I can’t say there’s a lot of them that come out of each draft. It seems that we get more and more combo guards that come out of each draft. If you get a player like Rose who is a pure point guard and has size, I think that just enhances his value even more.”

But Kelly warned about getting too wrapped up in position and avoiding talent. “It’s nice to fill your need, but sometimes you skip over players when you try to fill your need, rather than looking for the best available player,” Kelly said. “I think you always try to take the most talented player, and when the most talented player is at the position you need, one and one adds up to 10, instead of two.”

- Washington Post

17. Toronto - Kosta Koufas, C = Nesterovic is aging, and Brezec is not very good. Koufas will help Bosh in the blocks, and fits in well the the Raptors international flavor on their roster.

- Sporting News