Alex Radojevic and Oliver Miller and a summer of work

No news of note yesterday, that’s for sure; and I don’t imagine there’ll be much today.

The braintrust gathered, the braintrust talked and braintrust continues to hammer out different scenarios. It was that way yesterday, it’ll be that way today and I imagine it’ll be that way tomorrow and Thursday, too.

Wish there was more to offer, and I’m trying to find more, but the cone of silence is descending

Luckily, you have some wildly entertaining speculation to read here.

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The proverbial elephant in the corner as we head in the final couple of days before the draft is not what the Raptors are going to do at No. 9 and certainly not if they’re going to buy themselves a second pick.

The big question, the one that will determine whether this summer is a success or not is this:

What are they going to do with Shawn Marion?

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

There's one major issue lurking in the background right now.

The draft will yield a player no doubt, perhaps even a starter and certainly someone who can be in the rotation but the 31-year-old Marion is the guy on whom so much hinges. It’s not that he’s irreplaceable, it’s that he plays a position of weakness on the roster and he can’t just get away.

We all know the issue with Marion is going to be money. I think he was okay playing in Toronto, the season ended with some promise, but if the Raptors aren’t going to pony up enough cash to keep him happy, they have to find someone who will.

And that’s where Bryan’s summer gets exponentially more difficult.

I haven’t spoken to too many people to find out just what’s out there on the market in a possible sign-and-trade; I do know their favourite free-agent-to-be is Hedo Turkoglu but I don’t see a scenario in which they can get him.

At the very, very least, if they can’t get a deal done with Shawn (and my first offer is a three-year deal with a team option on a fourth that starts at about $7 or $7.5 million) they have to turn him into someone who can start in that small forward position.

So no matter what transpires on Thursday night, the real work of the summer is ahead.

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All right, before there are more questions and concerns about Anthony Parker and the fact Olympiakos of the Greek league is supposedly interested in signing him to a deal.

That is not news. It is not even mildly surprising.

Parker’s still got game – as an NBA backup but as a EuroLeague stalwart, I believe – and the fact a top European team will come asking shouldn’t be at all eyebrow raising.

It might even be true.

But the Raptors knew that possibility was going to arise, they knew it before last season when there was some interest expressed in AP and they have to sit back and see how things develop.

They want him back, no question about that, but they are not about to get into a bidding war with a deep-pocketed European team.

It’ll be entirely up to Parker if the lifestyle in Europe is something he and his family wants to experience again.

I never thought Parker to be money-hungry and a guy who simply chased the biggest offer so I don’t think that’s going to be the determining factor.

But the offers will come, no doubt.

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Big day at the Air Canada Centre today.

Bryan’s doing his Last Availability Before The Draft thingy this afternoon when we all get to hear what we’ve all been reporting for the past few days.

But at least we’ll get to hear him say that they’ve got their list narrowed to four or five or six, they aren’t entirely sure what’s going to go on ahead of them and, yes, they’ll be looking to acquire a second selection.

It’ll be up to us to find out some juicy news ahead of time to ask him about or some juicy news after that’ll make the stories a bit better than they might be.

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Someone was asking me the other day about workouts and whether there were any really good Raptor workout stories and I have to tell you, searching the dark recesses of my mind, I really can’t come up with any spectacular ones.

Or even really good ones.

Aside from Sam Young impaling himself on the machine that measures vertical jumps this year – and that one might go down as the best ever – 1999 provided one glimpse at why individual workouts are, um, useless sometimes.

Armed with two picks – No. 5 and No. 12 – they knew they were going to trade the top pick for Antonio Davis but they were in a quandary at No. 12.

So they worked out a kid who killed a kid in the session and looked so good doing it they had to take a flier on him.

Yes, in a lot of ways just because Alexander Radojevic beat up Zeljko Rebraca in one of those pre-draft workouts did Toronto entirely wasted a late-lottery pick on a guy who had more surgeries than baskets in a short and non-illustrious NBA career.

Workouts? Sometimes they just don’t work out.

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Oh you lucky, lucky readers.

Remember last summer, Beijing, the whole Olympics Doug Covers Other Silly Sports thing? Well, the Benevolent Bosses have asked me to spend at least part of the weekend chronicling the Canadian Track and Field championships at the U of T and, trust me, you don’t want to miss that.

And I’m thinking, I need to get over the fact I used to think the only thing more boring than track was field.

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Oh.

My.

God.

Please, tell me this story, kindly pointed out by Reader Jim yesterday, is a spoof?

Please tell me that.

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Can I just say this about the draft on Thursday night since we’re all focusing on who they take and why.

I would consider it a failure if all they came away with at the No. 9 spot was a backup point guard.

Yes, this is a draft deep in them and there are some good ones. But the holes on this roster are many and they are at the two and three and using the top pick they’ve currently got on someone they know has no chance at starting seems, to me, to be a bad decision.

Of course, Bryan doesn’t usually ask my advice or seek my counsel but what the heck, I better offer it anyway.

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Comments

[rob]

Doug,
any thoughts about the trade between milwauke and the spurs... I think Milwauke might have won this trade because of all the money they will free up next year (and the fact that jefferson is hugely overpaid).
Thanx again for all your work.

Blogger's note: An okay salary dump for the Bucks

[chris]

Revisionist history is convenient, huh? I can reference lots of print written by you lauding his abilities as a PG. He was playing at an all-star level (at least offensively) before he went down to injury and came back as Me-J.

Its easy to say look back and say he hasn't worked out, but we viewed him as a pretty good asset then. I assume others in the league did as well (especially if the gerald wallace rumors were true)

Blogger's note: From the tired old should-be-forgotten story, yes, T.J. Ford played well and was indeed lauded. And then asked to assume a different role he pouted, sulked, handled himself like a seven-year-old and was eventually traded.
And of T.J. story.

[Nick]

Hey Doug, what do you make of the trade between Milwaukee and San Antonio? Personally I think it gives the Spurs a kick in the pants and assures them another couple of seasons to fight for an NBA title.
Thanks,
Nick

Blogger's note: Salary dump in Milwaukee and the Spurs now have to really, really, really hope Tim Duncan holds up

[Dan]

You seem to be a little harsher on TJ now than you were a year ago. Is this because of anything you've learned about him since the trade, or just a matter of retrospect?

Blogger's note: I think I was pretty harsh on him when he was moping on the court as a backup

[chris]

Doug - what was the deal with Radojevic? Was he a player who was hobbled with injuries....or just a giant misfire? I remember him being pretty huge (i think)

Blogger's note: A fragile, skinny 7-3 kid who never played against legitimate competition and couldn't take the pounding

[Mark]

For the life of me I can't understand the infatuation with Flynn. Ty Lawson was the best PG in the NCAA this year and it really wasn't close. Check out the statistical comparison here:
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-By-the-Numbers-This-Years-Point-Guard-Crop-3262
I simply don't get why some people are so willing to overlook real tangible success or performance in workouts.

[Dallas]

hey doug, what's the downside in letting marion walk?

With the current economic environment, plus 2010 FA coming up, I don't see how Marion commands more than 8-10 mil but I'm sure he expects it. If he doesn't reduce his price, wouldn't the $ be better spent on other free agents, there's some bargain shopping going on this off season.

Or is there something I'm forgetting? I mean besides the glaring hole at the 3 if he leaves.

Blogger's note: Downside is having less money to spend on free agents. If they sign-and-trade him, or sign him, they can give him, or his replacement, a higher salary than simply part of the mid-level exception

Doug,
Isn't the down side that if Marion's simply left they would be under the cap and thus, not have access to capspace and not the MLE, as its only for teams over the cap. By signing Marion or by S&T'ing Marion, Raps would get him, or whatever he fetches in a trade, and get to use the MLE, becasue they would be over the cap. Since they can only go over the cap to sign their current players, signing or S&Ting Marion is the only way to capitalize on all the tolls available. If we renounce everyone we can for cap space, we just have that capspace and not the MLE and we can only spend to the cap. So if we made a move for Hedo, we'd have another shallow roster I'd imagine. Hedo cold proably play the 2/3, but not at the same time. I guess, if Marin walked we could give huge raises to Parker, Graham and Deflino, just to get over the cap and be able to use the MLE, and LLE but that hardly makes sense.

I think we will try to keep Marion, and we will have to slightly overpay, as conditions are perfect for us to do. I would not be surprised to see something like 3 years for close to 30 mil, given the way he has us over the barrell.

[Marc]

Hey Doug,

Just saw on SI.com that San Antonio has acquired Jefferson from the Bucks for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas, I am surprised that San Antonio would jump on this trade without waiting to see what happens with Marion and the Raps.

Would you rather have Jefferson or Marion on your roster? I think I would take Marion for sure, I mean Jefferson is good, but he isn't quite on the same level as Marion, and the fact that the Bucks were willing to trade him after one year makes me think he could possibly have some personality issues. I was wondering if you've heard of any such issues?

And one last quick one, do you think that with the addition of Jefferson San Antonio will be able to challenge the Lakers in the West now?

Thanks a lot for all your hard work, I truly appreciate it..

Marc Douris

Blogger's note: Dealing with Bryan's draft thing at the moment, let me digest the deal a bit more later

[Dan W]

The Spurs got Jefferson for end of the bench players. If Ginobli gets healthy that is a good team. It's funny becuase everything i've read on the bucks was statements saying Jefferson was not being traded. He would have looked good in a Raptors uniform.

[Phil]

Hey Doug,
You seem to have the most up to date Raptors info on the web, great stuff.

My Question: I realize you have already stated Colangelo has not made a mention about moving down in the draft, but do you think something like this would make sense: Number 9 and Banks for the Pistons number 15. I have read the Pistons want to move up, and they have the cap room. We may be able to pick up Johnson, Henderson, or Clark at number 15, and we would have another 5 million in cap room.

Blogger's note: With such little difference between No. 9 and No. 15 why would the Pistons -- who want to shed salary rather than take it on -- be remotely interested?

[Wallace]

Doug, you've written a couple of times now that the Raptors don't have any 2s or 3s under contract. Are you then considering both Banks and Douby to be essentially back up point guards? If so, that gives them four point guards and I can't understand why they would now consider drafting Holiday or Flynn. Aside from that, if Holiday or Flynn are selected, what does that mean for Calderon?

Blogger's note: I'd say Banks and Douby are 1 1-2s. And Douby's deal isn't fully guaranteed

[Vlad Lucic]

Taking Radojevic instead of Rebraca was one of the biggest mistakes in the Raptors history. Rebraca came off a great season in Europe, where he was the best center and the dominant force behind the Yugoslavia's gold in 98 World Championship in Greece. Being from ex-yu myself and knowing both player well, I was flabbergasted by this decision.