The Raptors haven't just been sitting around

So, the Raptors have been busy under the cover of darkness.

This just in after a 45-minute pre-draft session with Bryan Colangelo but they’ve been quite active without too many of us knowing: While they have narrowed their possibilities with the No. 9 draft pick to the usual Gang of Five, they’ve had one back in for a second visit and hope to get another one in to chat in advance of Thursday’s draft.

James Johnson, a small forward from Wake Forest, has been in for a second visit, and Jrue Holiday, a combo guard from UCLA is expected to pay a second visit today or tomorrow.

That was about the extent of the draft news – USC forward Demar DeRozan, Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn and Duke guard Gerald Henderson would round out the five that Toronto expects to choose from in Thursday’s draft.

“I think we have a very good read on this draft right now,” Bryan said in his last full-blown media session before the draft. “All the people we’re talking about can add something to help us improve.”

In other news (and how cliché is that)

-- The chance of Toronto adding a second first-round pick is diminishing.

It sounds like a specific guy they want may not have emerged at any spot they can get him and Bryan isn’t sure taking on the three-year guaranteed salary commitment is worth it.

-- Moving up in the draft? Nope..

“We had a little bit of conversation about it … but didn’t feel like there was anything there that made sense.”

Touched on the coming free agency season, too, and the first priority right now is to bring Shawn Marion back – at the right price. And if that right price can’t be agreed upon, Bryan thinks he can turn him into an asset or two in some sign-and-trade transaction.

Okay, now it’s time to go write for the paper, there’ll be more on this tomorrow

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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KO in Southern Cal and CB at the video thing. What a weekend

We’re almost there, almost draft day, almost time to move on to free agency and figuring out that future plans regarding Marion, Parker, Graham and Delfino. Really, the fun never ends.

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First, the news.

There is none.

Despite their best intentions, the Raptors couldn’t piece together any workout for this week so we’re left to do nothing but try to unearth news on the phone and texts and then speculate to our hearts content between now and Thursday night.

That ought to be fun, no?

Seriously, though, they were tying to get Tyreke Evans in for a session, as Jim Kelly told us last week, and probably a couple of others like Stephen Curry, who blew them off after every invitation.

They have, however, seen everyone who’d be legitimately on their list for No. 9, at least the list hinted at by Bryan last week. That’d be Holiday and Flynn, DeRozan and Johnson and Hill, if he falls.

What’s it all mean?

I was speaking to a few people in the organization over the course of the weekend and, honestly, they have no idea whatsoever what’s going to go on above them in the draft, and that’s really ticking them off.

They’ll be working the phones harder than I will be this week, primarily figuring out what Washington, Golden State and Minnesota are going to do. Those are the biggest wild cards out there.

They remain, today, steadfast that the top picks are Griffin, Thabeet, Rubio, Harden and Evans but after that? No real clue.

And that’s what’s going to make this week so interesting. .I warn you, however, most of what you’ll read is utter speculation, some of it is blatantly manufactured “news” (like the breathless headlines that say: “Such-and-such a team open to trade” since every team in the NBA is open to a trade under the right circumstances) and some of it is pure fiction.

Have a nice week.

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As the wise man once said

Oooooh!!! And. Boy!!!!! KO to USC?

God help the Pac-10 lamps.

Three things questions come to mind:

Don’t they read the Arizona papers?

Don’t they check references?

Is the AD on crack?

Seriously, folks, when I heard that news on Saturday afternoon, that our old friend and nemesis got one of the higher profile college jobs seemingly out of nowhere, I was almost speechless, a very rare happenstance.

Now, I don’t mind KO, kind of like him in his vulgar, quirky “Screw-the-world, I’m-KO-and-you’re-not” mentality and he does have some attributes that would make a good coach. But the dude also, apparently, has about 90 lives and to say it was surprising that he got the USC gig was an understatement.

And I’m not entirely sure that if KO showed up in my living room, asking me to entrust my teenage son to his guidance for even a couple of years, I’d sign those scholarship papers.

I’m trying to think of the best KO story I can tell here and there are almost too many.

There was the time he had us banished – for one game at least – to the other end of press row at the Air Canada Centre because one of us had the temerity to report what he’d screamed at the top of his lungs in front of us on the bench.

There was the time he really played corporate good boy by telling RaptorsTV – when they asked some lame Oct. 31 question about a favourite Halloween memory – “will the (expletive) ridiculousness never end?”

There was the time he came into a post-game bistro on a Friday night after a big win over the Knicks to get cheers from the assembled imbibers and then told one of us: “If you write that, I’ll kill you.”

And there was the day – the day Bryan Colangelo traded Stephon Marbury to the Knicks, as a matter of fact – that I sat with him in that same jam-packed bistro, trying to get reaction to the trade, while he persisted in cheering for the US over Canada in a world junior hockey final, much to the vocal chagrin of the inhabitants of that jam-packed bistro.

I have no idea how he’ll do as the USC coach (although I guarantee you it doesn’t end well whenever it ends) but I also know I’ll be paying more attention to them now.

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So I’m flipping through the dial last night and there’s good old Chris Bosh at the Much Music Video Awards and I’m thinking:

Imagine that, on a Sunday night in June, a 25-year-old kid with an interest in video and music is taking part in one of the more prestigious (or so I assume) events on the music video calendar instead of being in some gym working on his drop step and jump shot before he lifted weights.

Trade his sorry, non-competitive ass, I say.

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This is pretty big and even if you don’t care about such things, you probably should if you want a grasp on where the Canadian teams are sitting in international play.

The Cadets – 15 year olds coached by Roy Rana – beat Venezuela yesterday at a qualification tournament in Argentina to grab the third and final berth in next year’s Under-16 world championships in Germany.

Cadets (and Cadettes for the girls) is being contested world-wide for the first time under the auspices of FIBA and it’s a pretty big deal that Canada qualified for the worlds.

It’s another step to give our young players great experience and exposure to the international game, which is a much more realistic long-term goal for them to pursue.

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Oh yeah, I had no idea who Lady Gaga was until that flipping through the dial thing last night but now I believe I must run out today and buy all her 8-tracks.

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And this goes to that early point:

Q:Hey Doug, My question was concerning the top Canadian recruits like Tristan Thompson opting to not play for the country and instead choosing to attend the summer camp. From your reaction, it would be fair to assume that you expected them to play for Canada.

My question can you really blame him for skipping the tourney? I mean, there's no guarantee that he's gonna make the NBA and make a ton of money, so why wouldn't he attend the camp to get as much exposure as he can and also possibly open some doors for endorsements?

It seems pretty reasonable to me cuz if he's good enough to play for Canada, that opportunity will present itself in the future too. Things like money are no guarantee however.

Harsh D, Mississauga

A: As a matter of fact, after spending part of a delightful night in Hamilton on Saturday (yes, I said “delightful night in Hamilton” with a straight face), I can report that both Thompson and Cory Joseph are going to join Greg Francis’s squad for the coming world juniors in New Zealand.

And that’s the right thing to do, as I’ve mentioned often.

And here’s the answer to your question: Everyone in North American who follows teenage basketball (the good folks and the bad ones) know who the top kids are. People in Europe don’t. It makes far, far more sense to me to join a national team program that’s going to be seen by talent scouts of the European Leagues – as well as the NBA – and get your name in front of more people.

Going to a silly shoe company camp to play the same guys in front of the same people making money for the same “advisors” is far less important, in my opinion, that broadening both your personal and basketball horizons by facing the best players your age in the world.

And, believe me, no one who doesn’t “make the NBA and make a ton of money” is getting any kind of lucrative endorsement because they went to some summer camp in North America.

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One more on that video thingy:

How come they have all this great young talent on display and then a relatively old group that I’ve heard of, for God’s sake, wins the big award? Seems odd to me.

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More mail than you can handle on a rainy Saturday

My goodness, you are an inquisitive bunch, aren’t you?

We’re chock full of questions and answers here today; glad it was a rainy, crappy, ugly Saturday so I had something to do to pass the time.

Now it’s off to Hamilton, I think, to check out the Canada Under-19s since Saturday night holds little else of significance.

And for you homebodies, here’s about all the mail you can handle.

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Q: Just one observation about Chris Bosh which seems to be bothering me. Chris Bosh's "other career" he keeps pursuing, the acting, the comedy, etc. Is this how a superstar shares his focus and attention? Haven't the great ones already proven that a full focus and drive on basketball is what it takes to separate great from good. Do you remember Shaq, in his news conference after they won they're 3rd championship with Lakers, a reporter asked Shaq "what changed since Orlando", and he replied his focus changed. From all the rapping and acting and other crap outside of basketball, he realized what should be his full attention (at the same time Shaw gave his verbal shots to the media). Should the Raps be leaving everything on the table in the hands of a player who's a jack of all trades, instead of a master of one? The one we care about. Basketball. Unless we get another superstar that has that drive or Chris leaves the team to partner with a superstar who has that drive, I don’t see us doing anything beyond mediocrity. Thanks

Adrian M, Toronto

A: This kills me, it really does. Does anyone really expect anyone – you, me, Chris Bosh, Joe Blow – to work 24/7/365 at their job, especially a job as physically demanding as being a professional athlete?

Mike Grange ™ did an excellent piece last week on Bosh’s off-season training plans, plans that include a lot of time in the gym and on the court. He is not sitting around eating bon-bons and dreaming up comedy bits every day of the summer.

So, for you and others who think that way, please go into work on Monday, sit down in your bosses office and tell them you want to forgo every day of vacation you’ll ever get so you can focus entirely on your job and have no life. And then report back to me in six months and tell me how burned out you are.

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Q: Do you think it's fair that players have to dress up in suits, including ties, during travel to and from the games, and a coach can wear a sports jacket and t-shirt? I'm better dressed watching the games than Mr. Van Gundy is coaching them.

And, have you ever been in a situation where you were told something "off the record" and then actually found a quotable source? Did the "off-the-record" source lead you to the quotable one? If you've ever gone public with the quotable source's info, did the "off-the-record" source get upset? Did you claim "inevitable discovery" (yeah, I watch some Law & Order)?

Brian P, Cambridge

A: Actually, players don’t have to wear suits and ties anywhere; the Raptors, for instance, had no firm dress code on their charter. The league mandates sports coats and a “business-professional” look on the bench and Stan, while not Sam Mitchell by any stretch of the imagination, pulls that off.

If I hear something from someone that they’d like to keep off the record, I have no problem at all trying to get the same information from other sources. And if a second source that I trust wishes to remain anonymous, I – and everyone I know – would have no problem writing a story citing “multiple” sources.

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Q: Is there a chance that the Raptors waive Nathan Jawai this off-season? Are there any other options that exist (D-League, Australia, Europe) where they could go play him and not count him towards the 15-man roster?

Imran P, Oakville

A: No chance. Why give up on a kid they’re paying a mere pittance? It’s not like he’s 35 and at the end of his career, he’s 22 years old, coming off a lost rookie season and they need to find out what he’s got. Could he spend some more time in the D League? Maybe. But that’s the only option they have for him. They cannot send him to Australia or Europe without cutting him and eating his salary and that’s not going to happen.

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Q: A question about trading expiring contracts. When do free agents officially become free? Are the contracts officially expired at the end of the season? i.e Raps couldn't trade Anthony Parker for a player because they no longer have his rights. Is the situation the same for restricted free agents? Or can the rights to Lee and Robinson, for example, be traded as expiring contracts to another team, who can then sign or not sign them to new deals.

Jeffrey M, Beijing

A: Contracts expire June 30, which is when players become free agents. The Raptors could trade anyone they like between now and then, but the salary coming back, and it’s implications for the tax levels, would be on the 2008-09 numbers.

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Q: A few draft questions for you Mr. Smith. What is the team's reaction when a player (like DeRozan) refuses to play against competition in a workout? Does it diminish the player in their eyes? Would they consider drafting someone like Curry who refused to work out for them if he fell to 9? How much does having a strong personality (like Henderson's) factor for coaches and scouts when selecting a prospect? Thanks Doug!

Nik W, Ottawa

A: And a few answers for you.

Teams don’t like to have kids work out on their own but they have to put up with it on the odd occasion. It’s not the determining factor whether they draft someone or not, but it is in their minds when it comes to making the selection.

And, yes, teams have drafted kids they haven’t had in for even private workouts but it’s rare. The last one that comes quickly to mind is Milwaukee and Yi Jianlian and we all know how that worked out.

Personality? It’s a big factor. In fact, some teams rely heavily on the opinions they get from having dinner with a kid, or just chatting with him. You can be sure that when it comes time to make their selection, the Raptors will take into consideration the results of chats their sports psychologists have had with potential picks.

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Q: Doug, unless I've missed something, it sounds like there is no real stand-out at the 9 spot in the draft to fill our SG or SF spots. But there seems to be some greater depth at PG, which is typically a rarer talent. Do you think there is enough interest on other teams for a guy like Ty Lawson, that it would be worthwhile drafting him for his trade value rather than drafting a guy who sorta/kinda fills our immediate needs to a mediocre degree?

Jordan C, Toronto

A: There may not be a real “standout” to some people’s minds but I cannot imagine Toronto taking a guy to trade him, for two reasons:

If there are no “standouts” why would teams want to trade to get a guy from No. 9 they might get at 14 or 16?

And the Raptors do feel they’ll get someone who can contribute with that pick, regardless of what the “experts” say or think.

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Q: Hi Mr. Smith. Last year there was a lot of talk about Bargnani and his off-season workouts (Big Man Camp). Is Bargnani or any other Raptors involved in any special camps this off season? Keep up the good work. #1 Blog in Canada (you should blog more often)

R R, Toronto

A: No, not really. Not sure about when, or if, there’ll be any specific “big man” camp this year after the passing of Pete Newell and everyone else is going to be working out on their own or with Raptors coaches, who will see everyone at least once to keep tabs on their progress.

Kudos to Canada and a whole bunch of talk, very little action

T-minus less than a week ‘til draft day and you can feel the excitement, no?

No?

Oh, okay.

Maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, gotta go through the mailbag for the once-a-weekend offering so if you’ve got questions, I can bluff answers so send ‘em in, it’ll give me something to do tonight after a radio gig goes 5-7.

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Whither Roko?

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

He's working on it...

With all this talk about the Raptors thinking of drafting a point guard (I still steadfastly believe they shouldn’t, unless it’s with a late-teens pick they purchase and even then it seems silly to me), what’s up with Mr. Ukic? Talked to a couple of people around the team this week about him and the sense I get is that they’re not quite ready to give up on him, which is good in my opinion, but that they want some kind of tempo-changer on the roster as well.

(I know, I know, TJ Ford, right? Wrong! A thousand times wrong. That was never going to work, ever. There were issues between TJ and his coaches, TJ and his teammates. Forget it. Put it out of your mind. Let it go).

Anyway, Ukic – whose $1.35 million salary could easily be cap ballast in a trade – is still in their minds, regardless of what happens next Thursday. If his shot’s improved, and he’s been working every day on it, I’m told, he could get some run at the two alongside Calderon. He’s still a heady player, a gym rat, as willing to learn as anyone on the roster and a sponge when it comes to soaking up instruction and information.

It’s ridiculous to give up on a 24-year-old, 6-5 point guard after just one season in the NBA. Hope they don’t.

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I presume all of you haveread this story on the development camp that Canada Basketball’s running for a gaggle of talented teens, right?

The kid I wrote about is one of those teen prodigies the program has had a horrible time identifying and getting and the fact he’s in rather than out working at some shoe company camp is huge.

And when the team headed to the Under-19 worlds begins work this week in Hamilton (first practice Saturday, tournament starts in New Zealand in early July) I’m told the other two hotshot Canucks – Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph – are expected in, although it may be Sunday.

It’s going to take years and years for Canada to get back to any sort of international prominence on the senior level, I fear (but if they don’t qualify for next year’s worlds it will be a failure of biblical proportions) but there can be no denying that things like this developmental camp, the cadet program that’s in the process of trying to qualify for next year’s worlds right now, and the junior team that could very well make some noise in New Zealand are hugely significant steps in the right direction.

I’m entirely impressed with the direction the organization is taking – and this is after years and years of being one of the worst-run major sports groups I’ve ever seen – and perhaps the general public will actually start to give a rat’s bum about what goes on with Canada on the international stage other than at the Olympics.

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I hear Alvin Williams hasn’t gotten around to actually signing his coaching contract (he will, don’t worry) but after watching stuff in the gym this week, I bet he’s holding out for a playing deal.

(I keed, I keed).

But he and the rest of the staff are getting lots of work in. Not only do they handle the stuff with the draft picks, they’ve been working every day with Patrick O’Bryant and Quincy Douby, who’ve been in town working out.

Yesterday, it was the complete staff: Jay, Alex, Marc, Micah, Alvin and Eric Hughes all standing around working with two guys.

And I figure if those two kids don’t get better with that kind of personal coaching, they’re lost causes.

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Pretty sure most of you know that I think John Hollinger’s a good guy, works hard, writes well and has developed some unique statistical and mathematical methods for determining the value of NBA players.

But if I hear one more word about his “draft rater” and how it slags Demar DeRozan, I may scream.

Look, here’s the scoop: DeRozan is far from a polished player; he’s got significant flaws just like about six of the six guys the Raptors are even considering have flaws. It’s that kind of draft down there at, oh, picks 3 through 60.

Blake Griffin’s got a chance to be pretty good (although I’m not sure how good), I personally think Rubio’s going to be outstanding but after that? After that everyone’s got problems and it’s an absolute crap shoot.

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Oh yeah, did I tell you that we’re coming to Ottawa for sure for training camp next fall?

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Speaking of Your Raptors, they’re hoping to get one more workout session in here Monday or Tuesday but no one has any clear indication of who might come in. Jim Kelly told us this week they were trying to get Tyreke Evans in but can’t imagine there’s a scenario that he’s available at No. 9.

Stay tuned, when we get names, you’ll get names.

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This is why I love (and by “love” I mean “hate”) this time of year: According to the breathless headlines out there, and the resulting e-mails that come flooding in, the following may happen in the next week:

Shaquille O’Neal gets traded

Amare Stoudemire gets traded

Devin Harris may move

The Wizards are definitely trading the No. 4 No. 5  pick

Josh Smith or Marvin Williams or someone in Atlanta is being moved

Al Jefferson’s in play in Minnesota.

Tracy McGrady’s moving (although why anyone would even think about obtaining a guy coming off microfracture surgery who will, at best, miss the first month of the season is beyond me).

I will venture a guess that, at the most, two of those things happen, maybe only one. And I would also venture a guess that if significant moves occur between now and the draft or on draft night, no one knows about them quite yet.

That’s how things generally work. Stuff pops up out of nowhere (one exception being last year’s TJ-JO deal that we knew about for almost a week before the draft) and a whole bunch of speculation gets washed away and forgotten.

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The Mississauga North peewee house league Complete Mechanical Yankees (how ‘bout that plug for a sponsor?) go to 4-2 on the season with a big triumph last night. We throw two guys out at the plate (one on a perfectly executed cutoff play on a bases-loaded single to left, just like the coaches had been teaching), hit the crap out of the ball and the pitchers threw strikes.

Yes, Mr. Ricciardi, we are available for consultation.

End of digression.

End of transmission.

Go ahead, mock at will

Okay, you asked for it.

The First Annual D. Smith Beat Grunt Mock Draft

I have no idea if it’s right or wrong but it’s here and there aren’t a whole lot of surprises at the moment. Those are still to come.

The disclaimer: There is all kinds of speculation out there, legitimate and not, so the order that’s here may not actually be the order that unfolds next Thursday night.

Still, people I’ve spoken to are pretty sure the six guys at the top will stay there in some order, but the teams making the picks may change.

So …

L.A. Clippers

This is the only lock on the board, isn’t it? Mike Dunleavy said the night of the lottery that the decision was made and there’s been nothing to suggest he’s either changed his mind or found a deal worth making.

Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

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Memphis

Here’s where it gets interesting already. Does Memphis take Ricky Rubio to trade him? To keep him? Or do they take the big fella Thabeet and not worry about Rubio’s buyout or the fact he’s not all that in love with the Grizzlies (more like Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro than Marc Gasol)? Best guess?

Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut.

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Oklahoma City

Another relatively easy one, isn’t it? The Thunder need a big man – I’m sure they’d love to get their mitts on Thabeet – but if there’s no trade with Memphis, I don’t see how they can get him. So, it’s on to Plan B, adding another young athletic kid to a team that’s got a lot of them.

James Harden, Arizona State.

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Sacramento

They need a lot out there in Kings-land. They were terrible last year and there’s not a whole lot one draft pick is going to solve just by his arrival. But they can fill one glaring weakness with the logical pick.

Ricky Rubio, Spain

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Washington

This pick is absolutely in play and very few people I talk to think Washington will end up keeping it. Whether they make the selection for someone else on a pre-arranged deal or trade it before draft night remains to be seen. But even if they end up making it, the guy – my friends tell me – probably remains the same

Stephen Curry, Davidson

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Minnesota

Lots of stuff going on with the Timberwolves, who have about half a dozen front office types, no coach and a roster full of bewildered players who wanted Kevin McHale back.

Should be a heckuva week over there, no?

Tyreke Evans, Memphis

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Golden State

Now the fun really begins. Does Golden State move Monta Ellis to the two and draft a point guard? They really don’t need a wing, do they? This is Larry Riley’s first draft as GM and I can just see Don Nelson like a mad scientist pushing the buttons behind the curtain.

Jrue Holiday, UCLA

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New York

This is one where I have no real idea and no one I’ve spoken to can get a good handle on it, either. They love Curry but he’s probably going to be gone so now we’re down to taking what’s there that fits a need. They have free agent decisions on David Lee and Nate Robinson and could take a replacement for either here. Like …

Jordan Hill, Arizona

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Toronto

Ta-da! Just as we expected, a few names are on the board that they like and it’s time to make a choice. But unless Bryan’s got something up his sleeve – which is an absolute possibility – they currently don’t have a two or three under contract for next season.

Luckily, there’s a guy here who fits that bill.

Demar DeRozan, USC

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Milwaukee

A bit of a no-brainer, since they aren’t sure Sessions is coming back and Luke Ridnour probably isn’t a long-term solution at the point.

Jonny Flynn, Syracuse

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New Jersey

How bad were their bigs a year ago? Yeah, they were that bad. This is a team that probably drafts for need more than anything else.

Dejuan Blair, Pittsburgh

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Charlotte

Local kid makes good? Hard to see this guy dropping this far but I don’t see where he goes in the top 11.

Gerald Henderson, Duke

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Indiana

The Pacers need a little bit of everything, although they do seem set at point guard. Which is too bad because the two best guys here are probably Jennings and maybe Ty Lawson. And that means no one can be sure what they’ll do. The troubling knee woes of Mike Dunleavy might play a factor in a wild card pick.

Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

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Phoenix

Haven’t heard much out of the Suns about the draft, everyone’s preoccupied with whether or not they’ll move Amare or Shaquille. And if they do, that’ll have an impact on what they do here because this pick may be in play as well. But what the heck, we gotta give ‘em someone.

Earl Clark, Louisville

So, there you have it. For now.

Things could change significantly in the next week so this is for fun and frivolity only; don’t hold me to it. We’ll do another one just before the draft, after I’ve had a chance to really pick the brains of my boys and girls out there in gruntland.

This, that and the other things

Big day yesterday, no?

Workout in the morning, new guy in the afternoon, qualifying offer in the evening.

Gotta love the off-season.

Anyway, we’re a week and a day out from the draft, a couple of weeks away from the start of free agency and I’ve got a feeling things are going to get busier before they get quieter.

And then, maybe, we can have summer?

Until then …

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I’ve been through enough of these new guy media sessions – with the “all I want to do is come in and help” chatter with a couple of “yeah, it’s a good team, we’re going to do well” comments thrown in along with an “it all starts on the defensive end” to end the cliché-fest – that my eyes generally glaze over the minute the guy starts talking.

But there was something about Reggie Evans that seemed different.

When the guy started talking, you believed him; he really doesn’t give a crap about anything other than doing his job and doing it well and his job is, simply, the dirty work.

And you people are going to love him.

Oh, and all this stuff that he’s Charles Oakley?

“That’s a first. I’ve got a lot of respect for his game, Charles Oakley was real good. I looked at him a lot playing, especially in the playoffs … Comparison wise? I don’t know because he had a jumper, he could shoot a 17-foot jumper, 15-17 feet, so you couldn’t really leave Oakley open so I can’t really compare.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Delfino offer could be the start of a busy stretch for the Raptors.

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What do we make of this news that the Raptors have extended a qualifying offer to Carlos Delfino?

No news there.

Given what their options were – renounce everyone, get space, hope to get a significant free agent – deciding to kind of stay the course makes by far the most sense to me.

It doesn’t mean that they are going to do nothing, though.

The option still exists to sign-and-trade Shawn Marion and they will have the mid-level exception to offer someone. And judging by the economic climate out there and the number of teams with cap space, I think there are going to be some bargains to be had.

And, just from listening to people around the gym and in private conversations I’ve had with people tuned in, I have no doubt that Bryan’s got a few things simmering.

Now, whether any of them get pulled off or not, I can’t tell you.

But the sense I’m getting from talking to people is that there is going to be more action than you’d think in the next month or so.

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So, DeMar DeRozan is gracing the Raptors with his presence today – to work out on his own.

Big whoop.

I bet he looks great making shots against no defenders and I’m pretty sure he kicks the crap out of the pylons and chairs in one-on-ones.

Yawn.

As one Raptor type said to me the other day: “I don’t know what we’re going to see that we didn’t see in Chicago.”

I guess the chance to talk to him over dinner or lunch and a chance for the coaches to get a shot at him on the court is something. But it’s not a lot.

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As we were standing on the baseline of the practice gym yesterday watching the end of Gerald Henderson and some other inconsequential guys work out, who comes wandering in but Patrick O’Bryant and Quincy Douby.

And after we got done chatting with Henderson – and if I had my druthers they’d draft him just because he’s a good interview – down the other end of the floor, what do we see but Marc Iavaroni, Alex English, Alvin Williams, Eric Hughes and Micah Nori putting them through their paces.

The best drill?

Iavaroni and English, with those big arm pads on you see worn by dog trainers or lion tamers, smacking the hell out of O’Bryant as the rail-thin centre took entry passes in the post.

Toughness is not an attribute usually associated with Patrick; if the Raptors can instill some maybe he becomes something more than a 13th man on a 15-man roster.

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So why like the Henderson kid so much?

Well, here’s one: We asked him about his “stock” and where he might fit in this draft:

“Stock? It’s a mythical thing. It’s not something real. That’s how I look at it. You just prepare for each workout and try your hardest. You see what happens after.

“Really, when it comes down to it, it’s about how each team feels about you, not how people are talking about you or what kind of player people will think you will be or stuff like that.”

I like that kind of answer; sort of goes to how I feel about this whole draft process.

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Jim Kelly on the vagaries of this draft, which is more complicated to figure out than any I can remember for a long time:

“There’s some movement up there. I think there are some picks up there for sale. Rumours are rumours but you hear Washington has a very young team, they might decide, like they have done in the past, to do something else with their pick. If somebody else moves into that slot, you have no idea what they would want in the draft.

"I do think it’s the type of draft where there are some movement possibilities up in the top and spots away from us. You might have a course where you think you know where everyone is and then on draft day, a complete surprise is there.”

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Another interested observer at the workout yesterday, a familiar face that should make fans of Canada’s national basketball programs feel pretty good.

Steve Konchalski’s in town as part of his gig on that solid Council of Elders thing Wayne Parrish has put together to assist the national team programs and Steve’s going to be hanging around Greg Francis and the Under-19 team that starts work Saturday in preparation for next month’s world championships in New Zealand.

Steve’s going to travel to the tournament with the team as some kind of adviser, which can do nothing but help Francis and his assistant Peter Guarasci.

Of tweets, Turks and tough guys

Looks like another great day outside; so nice, it’ll be hard to spend most of the day in the ACC looking at draft kids and new Raptors. But that seems to be what the day holds.

Until then …

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The list of kidlets in the gym today:

Toney Douglas, G, Florida State; Greg Gamble, G, Buffalo; Gerald Henderson, F, Duke, Jerel McNeal, F, Marquette; B.J. Mullen, C, Ohio State; Aron Baynes, C, Washington State.

Yawn.

Except for Henderson, that is. I liked the 6-4 Dookie all season (mainly because I happened to see a lot of Duke games by some odd circumstance) and I know he’s a person of interest around the Raptors.

But he’d be only one out of that group worth getting worked up about. No clear indication yet whether the DeRozan kid’s going to get here. The Raptors are planning another workout session tomorrow; maybe that’s when his agent will let him grace them with an appearance.

And, no, they have no idea yet who they’re going to draft. Everyone I’ve talked to over the last 48 hours has made the same point I made in this story and have been making since the day after the lottery: It’ll be more a matter of who’s there at No. 9 rather than who they want.

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AP FILE PHOTO

Hedo? It's more likely He-don't.

My man Sheridan set the cat among the pigeons the other day with a suggestion that there’s a possibility that Hedo Turkoglu could be a Raptor as a free agent.

Chris sort of missed the financial point which, as we all know around here, would mean Toronto would have to renounce Marion, Parker, Graham and Pops, not extend a qualifying offer to Delfino and not pick up options on O’Bryant and Douby to get enough cap space to make a run at Hedo that way.

Now, I do know this: Turkoglu has some fans in the Raptors hierarchy – and some friends – but that’s a very, very high price to pay. And while I guess it’s a remote possibility, every indication I’m getting is that it’s too much of a gamble.

It would leave them having to fill out the rest of the roster with minimum value guys and would leave this:

Calderon, a draft pick or Marcus Banks, Hedo, Bosh and Bargnani with Roko, Hump, Reggie Evans off the bench along with some minimum contract backup two-three and Jawai at the end of the bench.

Now, maybe they can do it and get AP back at the veteran’s minimum but I somehow doubt it.

What would I do?

As I’ve said since February, if he won’t take a three-year contract starting at about $7 million, I’d try to explore sign-and-trade options with Marion. Although there are very few teams out there likely to be interested, I bet there’s one if Toronto’s willing to take back a player they want and a questionable contract at the same time.

Of course, I’d call the rebounding-challenged Magic and see if they were interested in a Marion for Turkoglu sign-and-trade but if Orlando’s going to let Turk go, I don’t see them letting him go and still going into the tax level. If they’re going to pay tax, I bet it’s with Turkoglu rather than someone else.

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Tweet time: This from Chris Bosh, thanks to Regular Tom:

@chrisbosh O yea. Forgot to mention. I don't have any friends that told the Miami Herald I'm going to the Heat. The rumors are getting worse. HA

I’m reminding you again: Believe about one per cent of this kind of speculation.

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The story of the day? Has to be this one, no?

If I could only have written:

a 55-year-old man in a chicken suit challenged someone dressed as Barney the Dinosaur to a dance-off.

What a wonderful world we live in.

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Some dude over in the comments section rattled off a gaggle of questions yesterday, I may as well knock ‘em off now:

Q: Am I reading too much into the Kapono deal that the Raps likely dealt him more to save on Cap space in order to offer Bosh the maximum amount possible? More than any other team could offer so that if Bosh did not accept when FA time comes, that it'll look bad on him that he had no intention to stay anyway? In other words, offer him the most money possible, essentially giving him an offer he couldn't refuse.

A: Yes, you are reading too much into it. It’ll be nice to have that million or so bucks in the bank a year from now but it’s not the reason they made the deal. The reason is the reason we’ve been saying all along: It adds some toughness and rids them of a guy who wasn’t really a good fit.

And

Q: Back to the draft, have you spoken to many scouts? What is the consensus opinion of Dell's Son Stephen? Some drafts have this guy going as high as 4, some as low as 10. With his small frame, he's very quick, but when you bulk up to get tougher, it's very hard to maintain that quickness. What do you see as this guy's upside because he's quite intriguing (and considering his dad is a good character guy, he's gotta be too)?

A: Every scout I talk to is intrigued by Stephen and, you’re right, he could go anywhere from 5 to 12. I can’t see him creeping into the top four, though. He can flat out score, I’m told his ball-handling skills are good enough that he could play some point guard in the NBA and teams looking for a combo guard have to look hard at him.

I’m not sure there’s a lot of love for him among the Raptors brass, who’d like someone a bit bigger but that may be a moot point because he could be gone by No. 9.

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Oh yeah, Reggie Evans is in town today for some formalities like a physical and to chat with us. It’ll be nice to see what his take is on his new team.

I know Phil in Philadelphia talked to him briefly last week and Evans understands it’s a business and that trades happen but there wasn’t much Toronto-specific content, that’s what we’ll be looking for.

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Final Final thoughts; and congrats to some Canadian kids

What now?

Oh, right. The draft.

Guess this means I have to get cracking on who’s good, who’s bad, who’s the favourite among the Raptors braintrust.

It’ll give me something to do, at least.

But first, a couple final final things:

GARY W. GREEN/AP

Bryant signals victory with his wingman Gasol.

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Speaking of Phil, where’s this leave him?

You saw the nifty ‘X’ hat he was wearing after the game, from his kids, he said, and symbolizing his 10 championships as a coach, one more than the legendary Red Auerbach and most ever.

Is he now the best coach ever?

I guess you could make that claim, he’s won with Michael and with Shaq and now with Kobe, three of the top handful of players all time.

Red, of course, won mainly with Russell and Cousy and Havlicek and Jones, no slouches in that list, either.

Can you say Phil won in a watered down game? It is easier to beat 29 other teams with the talent spread around than it is another 10 or so? Was it easier to coach back then, with no agents to deal with, when what the coach said was gospel and if you disagreed, you could be in Fort Wayne, or unemployed, in the morning?

Is Zen calmness better than a victory cigar lit on the bench of a steamy arena?

Do we really need to pick one over the other?

Maybe we can celebrate the greatness of both of them and their flaws.

Phil can come across as condescending, a feeling that he’s the smartest man in the room and able to get that point across; Red was no picnic either, he’d gloat like the greatest gloater of all-time.

I’m not sure who “the best” is, to tell you the truth.

And I’m not entirely sure it matters.

But if I had one game to win, I’d want Red on the bench more than I’d want Phil. If I had one team to develop over the course of a season, to mesh diverse personalities, I’d probably rather have Phil.

But let’s put it this way: If you and I are choosing, I’ll let you take first pick and I’ll be quite happy with the guy left over.

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Speaking of Kobe, where’s this leave him?

Well, he’s still not in my list of five greatest players, that’s for sure; but the way in which he led the Lakers through the final was indeed impressive.

He scored, he passed, he defended, he was a decoy. He did whatever had to be done and when they needed a big shot, he took it. And made it.

The Magic got off to a fast start in the first quarter last night but just when they were feeling good about themselves, Bryant made a couple of shots that kept the game manageable.

His show-the-ball-pump-fake-change-hands-fadeaway-bank-shot over Dwight Howard was a shot I’m not sure anyone else on the planet could make, let alone try.

He was a tour de force. And by a wide, wide, wide, wide margin the best player on the court every game.

People who don’t like him for whatever reason probably aren’t going to like him any more now that he’s got a championship to call his own.

But no one – no one – can doubt his playing abilities.

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Speaking of Canada, how about taking a read of this?

That’s one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the world that they won – albeit with some help from the good, old, U S of A – but they still beat some very good teams and the accomplishment cannot be laughed at.

I’ve said it here before but it bears repeating: I think Greg Francis is destined to be an excellent coach, this is a good group of young players who may ultimately restore Canada to some level of prominence on a world stage and what Canada Basketball is doing developing young players and giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills at a young age on the world stage is one of the best thing that group’s done in years and years and years.

An aside: Two of the kids on the American team – sponsored by a shoe company trying to get its clutches into teens – were Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph – are Canadians and should be key parts of the program in the future.

Trouble is, in the cesspool that is high-stakes teenage basketball, the interests of the kids is sometimes lost. Personally, I think playing for Canada is more important than playing for Acme Shoe company, but that’s just me.

I have no idea if either of these kids is going to be any good – forget the NBA, I’ll reserve judgment until they’ve at least taken part in a college practice, let alone a game – but I think they shouldn’t turn their back on the national team program because some people in the States are promising them untold riches and opportunities.

But, again, that’s just me.

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The Raptors? Oh yeah, the Raptors.

Bryan and The Henchmen spent most of the weekend in Jersey watching guys work out (the No. 9 pick wasn’t there, I was led to believe) but they are entering the final 10 days before the draft still with some work to do.

Last we heard, they were trying to set up a workout session for here tomorrow but no word on who’d be there.

If you look at the kids they’ve seen, though, they are all over the map, which has to be a good thing.

I surmise from talking to scouts and execs here and there that the Raptors are likely to retain the No. 9 selection but they also have a few irons in the fire to do some other stuff to either pick up a pick in a cash transaction and there are some trade talks bubbling just below the surface.

But, I warn you yet again: These are the days of disinformation and even good grunts are hard-pressed to find out what’s real and what’s fake out there. Read what you read with a cynical eye, think things through before reacting to every rumour out there.

What we’ll try to do before a week from Thursday is ferret out fact from fiction; it won’t be easy.

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The Goods On The Game, NBA Finals Game 5