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Do not expect a saviour to come out of the NBA draft this year. That was the message Raptors president/general manager Bryan Colangelo got across as he met with the local media for an informal gabfest yesterday at the Air Canada Centre."
Toronto Sun
"It's a very deep draft," Colangelo said. "At the top, there are quite a few players that are worthwhile additions to any club, (but) in terms of one star -- one LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan type of pick -- it probably doesn't exist at this point."
Toronto Sun
"Timberwolves vice president
Kevin McHale and general manager Jim Stack are back from Europe, where they scouted players for next month's NBA draft."
St. Paul Pioneer Press
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David Noel got to college by being a football prospect, but don't call him a football player. "No, I'm a basketball player," he says. "I love it. This is a game that stuck with me since middle school, and I'm trying to definitely make a career out of it." The 6-foot-6, 232-pounder quickly talked and walked his way onto one of the nation's top basketball teams, jumping as a freshman from the football team to the University of North Carolina hoops squad coached by Matt Doherty. He got a basketball scholarship his sophomore year as new coach Roy Williams agreed with Doherty's assessment."
Deseret Morning News
"Though they come from some of the country's best college teams,
none of the four — Noel, UConn's Rashad Anderson, Washington's Bobby Jones and Georgetown's Brandon Bowman — is considered a hot NBA Draft commodity. They're generally thought of as more free-agent signees."
Deseret Morning News
"Texas forward
P.J. Tucker, the Big 12 player of the year, has signed with an agent and won't return to the Longhorns. Tucker said last month he would explore his NBA draft position, but remained eligible to return because he had not signed with an agent. School spokesman Scott McConnell said Thursday that Tucker has signed with agent Leon Rose."
Buffalo News
"[Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell] told me they're looking for a guard that can distribute, knock down open shots and play some defence," (Marcus Williams of UConn) said yesterday. "I feel like I can fit that role."
Globe and Mail
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(Marcus) Williams is projected as the top point guard available, based on his three seasons at the University of Connecticut, where he averaged 12.3 points and 8.6 assists a game. The assist average was the best in the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association last season."
Globe and Mail
"With the Raptors' rather obvious need at point guard -- assuming incumbent Mike James does not return, which seems increasingly likely -- and their No. 5 spot in the draft,
Williams could be the long-term solution (for Toronto). In that scenario, it's not simply important the Raptors get a feel for Williams's skills, but they that get a sense of his character as well."
Globe and Mail
"Missouri guard
Thomas Gardner has hired an agent for next month's NBA draft, thus ensuring he won't return for his senior season. Gardner, who declared for the draft shortly after last season, signed with Bill McCandless of Immortal Sports. McCandless has been Gardner's adviser during the past month."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Gardner has a workout scheduled with the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and an open workout for Golden State, Portland, Sacramento and Houston on May 27. McCandless said part of the reason Gardner signed with an agent is that he couldn't fund travel to team workouts. NCAA rules state that any player wishing to return to school must fund his own way to predraft camps."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Gardner is training in Carson, Calif., with Joe Abunassar, who trains Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince in the offseason. Over the past nine years, Abunassar said, he has had between 20 and 30 players drafted. Abunassar said Gardner, whom he has worked with for the past two weeks, trains from 9 a.m. until about 5:30 p.m. daily."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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It doesn't look like Pitt center Aaron Gray will be working out at the NBA predraft camp in Orlando next month. Instead, the 7-foot junior who declared for the NBA draft three weeks ago will have a workout at Pitt or in a nearby NBA city at which general managers and scouts will grade him in one, all-important workout."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Gray said that workout likely will be sometime in the next two weeks before the Orlando camp, which is June 6-10. Gray still plans on attending the predraft camp, but he said he will only be there for physicals and official measurements and weigh-ins."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Gray retained his college eligibility by not signing with an agent. If he attended private workouts, he would have to pay for all expenses related to those trips by the start of the school year in August. Gray said his workout will be at Pitt or in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Detroit or Cleveland."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"I'm confident in myself," Gray said. "I'm not afraid of Greg Oden or anyone else out there. I'm not afraid to come back. My worst option is an amazing option. If I don't work out well and they tell me I have to come back, then I'm more than happy to come back to school."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Anderson and Milwaukee Bucks all-star centre Jamaal Magloire went to the same Toronto high school - basketball powerhouse Eastern Commerce. And he and two-time MVP Steve Nash practised together a couple of summers ago in Toronto.
(Jermaine) Anderson, a six-foot-two guard out of Fordham University, worked out for the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, and would love nothing better than to follow in their footsteps to the NBA.
National Post
