Raptors Right On

Draft night fell perfectly for the Raptors when Minnesota drafted their second point guard of the night in Jonny Flynn at number six last night. With the Knicks or Warriors sure to grab Stephen Curry with one of the next two choices, the Raptors were guaranteed that either DeMar DeRozan or Jordan Hill would be available to the Raptors with pick nine.

As projected in this blog on June 22, the Raps had DeRozan targeted as their pick and only the falling of Hill down the board would have altered those plans. Hill did drop as we thought, but with the Knicks losing out on Curry they snapped Hill up with the eight pick which left DeRozan to fall right into the Raptors lap.

The pick of DeRozan deals with the one of the Raptors major holes which was the lack of athleticism at the two spot. Not only does he bring great athleticism, he also packs all that into a 6’6, 211 pound frame. Always remember in basketball, that size is one thing that you can’t teach. DeRozan only had one season at USC so he comes in pretty raw. With the Raptors having two great teaching coaches in Triano and Iavaroni, this could be a perfect fit for DeRozan as well. With Iavaroni’s focus being defense, he should have a great student to help utilize his size and quickness to guard some of the NBA’s top two guards straight up. Offensively his year started off slow in college, but he picked that up during tournament time where he averaged over 16 points and just under 7 rebounds a game. DeRozan brings a slash to the basket kind of explosiveness that the Raptors desperately need and now has to focus on his outside shooting to round out his game. Again you can teach a player to shoot much easier then you can teach a player to be quick and slash to the basket.

The starter at the two spot at the beginning of the year should either be Parker or Delfino depending on which one returns. With DeRozan on board, the Raps no longer need to try and sign both. Triano already has stated that he doesn’t think that DeRozan can learn from just sitting on the bench, so expect him to start earning his minutes early and I would not be surprised to see him starting a few months into the season.

From what I’ve heard of DeRozan I think that he has the right attitude to earn those minutes and to push himself. Comparisons to Vince Carter’s potential do not scare him and a major reason that he left college after one year was to start earning money so that he can help with the costs of his mother’s medical treatments for lupus.

It was nice to see the Raptors also reaffirm their faith in Calderon and Ukic by not trying to trade back into the first round when point guard Jrue Holiday fell all the way down to 17. The Raptors had interest in Holiday, but instead of going for additional insurance at the point they have opted to focus on filling their immediate need at the two which means a team with more potential for this year.

With this move I can see the Raptors intensifying their desire to hold on to Marion. If Colangelo can not get Marion signed to a contract that makes sense, expect a sign and trade fairly early that brings back help at small forward. As I’ve said before, the start of this season is all important to the Raptors so they need to put the pieces in place quickly so that Triano and Iavaroni can start putting this puzzle together.