Raps Start Draft Shopping

Offseason Plan Starts To Get Put Into Action

The Toronto Raptors are all quiet about the draft. But they will be in Orlando with the rest of the NBA to check out some of the top prospects. But Bryan Colangelo says it is also a chance to explore the trade market. So if you haven’t heard enough T.J Ford and Jose Calderon trade rumours you can expect to hear a lot more over the next little while. The draft itself Colangelo was playing things close to the vest. That is a wise move seeing as Raptors are in the middle of the draft. After the pre-draft workouts in Orlando teams are allowed to start workouts for their own individual teams. Colangelo suggested that up to 40 players could be making their way to Toronto to audition for the Raptors. So if that is the case it will not be easy to figure out where the Raptors plan on going. Still it will be interesting to hear the comments on a few of the front runners in eyes of the experts. Doug Smith had a good short list on this topic in the star today. There is also some quotes from Bryan Colangelo on these issues of draft and trade talks. But he is not showing his hand about anything.

Doug Smith May 27th -The Toronto Star

The point to all of it is we are starting to get closer to answers rather than rumours. After all if rumours counted for anything Kobe Bryant may not be a Laker and instead a Bull.  Eric Smith does not like talking fantasy trades much and I agree with that. Their will be lots of time to evaluate the actual moves this team will make. But for those who like the rumours and speculation you are going to be able to find a lot of it. The draft is a target point for movement to happen as team look to move up and down and in some cases out of the draft altogether. Draft work outs for the all the teams will also add to that. Prospects will get narrowed down and teams will start to shape their draft boards. Should a prospect impress a team enough it might be worth moving up the draft to get him. If not it could mean a chance to move back in draft and save some money against the cap. Some teams will even try to get out of first round to avoid having to give a guaranteed contract.

Four teams have the NBA Championship still in focus for this season. The Detroit Pistons kept their dreams of a title with a big win in game 4 last night. The Celtics have stuggled to get consistant play out of the point guard spot. Rajon Rondo has had some bright moments in these playoffs but last night was not one of them. Sam Cassell has not added much to the mix as well. Chancey Billups has struggled to stay healthy and it seems clear he is not at 100%. But in true ” Mr. Big Shot” fashion he nailed a key 3 point shot in a game where both teams were ice cold from long range. But Billups came through when it counted and this series as become a best of 3. If you are a fan of defence this series has provided you a lot of that.

In an interesting twist of fate the NHL and NBA have been having a turf war in Detroit. In Canada the Red Wings vs Penguins Stanley Cup Final is winning that war in the media. No shock in that in Canada. But in Hockeytown of Detroit the Pistons are not impacted by it to much. Where the real impact is felt is in NHL ratings south of the border. You have the NBA on ESPN that is easy to find in any market and you have the NHL on the VS. Network. There was a story in around 1994 that the NHL was closing the Gap on the NBA. But today in 2008 this is a Slam Dunk for the NBA in the United States. Here in Canada the NBA will always play second to the NHL but it is growing the numbers of fans for basketball. The Raptors can be successful in improving that.

They plan on trying to build that national brand this year. Their are plans in place to have the Raptors training camp on east coast and a plan to have a pre-season match-up in Vancouver feature Steve Nash and the Suns vs. the Toronto Raptors. Bryan Colangelo I think is a smart enough guy to understand the unique opportunity that the Raptors have by being Canada’s only NBA Franchise. It has always been a goal of the Raptors to build that cross country fan base since the Grizzles were moved to Memphis. They have never really taken much advantage of it. Colangelo will of course be first and foremost trying to build a winner. Which ultimately is the best advertising campaign you can have is winning. However, Colangelo is also going to try and reach out to the rest of this country and slowly build in roads from east to west in Canada. Another hope would be some day their could be a Canadian grown player that is good enough to be considered by the Toronto Raptors. To have a real home grown talent has always been a hope of mine but that hope has yet to be realized.

Meanwhile in the Western Conference, the Spurs are in the Same Spot they faced in the last round. But the huge difference is Kobe Bryant is on the other team this time. If the Lakers can steal game 4 this series could end in a short 5 games. When you look at the Eastern Conference Final it is going at least 6 and no one would be shocked to see it go 7. If the Lakers could manage to finish the Spurs in 5 games that would be a great advantage. Detroit or Boston would start the finals with a disadvantage. But as many people say in sports it is always a great challenge to knock off the defending champions and the Spurs will be no different. Much Like the Pistons it is a must win for the Spurs though defending Champions or not.

So it was nice to have a day off to recharge my batteries. It has also been nice to see more comments coming in as of late. I enjoy reading your thoughts and it is great to hear what you the readers think. So keep the comments coming. I also want to mention if you really want to have a say and keep in the loop on what is going on with the Blog you are welcome to join the Dino Nation Blog Facebook Group.  You can see what things are in the works for coming blogs and info on our Live Blog Events. You can even make your own suggestions and opinions on stuff you would like to see and read.

Tags: Bryan Colangelo, Celtics, Dino Nation Blog, Doug Smith, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA PLAYOFFS, Pistons, Raptors Draft 2008, Raptors Offseason, Spurs