I think its going to be Bargnani as the #1 pick, the GM just sent Emery and Mitchell to Italy. He seems to be in love with the guy. Bargnani has been playing since he was 16 in the top Euro league... he shot .432% from the 3pt line this season.. I would trade Charlie V. for the Bulls second pick and take Rudy Gay. PG - Ukic SG - Rudy Gay SF - Bargnani PF - Chris Bosh C - Magloire (next year he will be in T.O ) Mike James isn't coming back to Toronto, unless he signs for the MLE...
He was the 2nd best rookie last year, in what right now people consider a stronger draft, plus he is more ready to produce immediately with 1 year under his belt, somethign Chicago may like.
Charlie V not worth the #2 pick? That is a crazy assesment. Did you watch this kid play at all last season? Of all the rookies he was the only one to drop 48 in a game, and they didnt even run any plays for him. If Charlie V would have stayed in Connecticut this past year, they probably would have won the national title and he would be considered a lock for the #1 pick this year.
peleincubus...can you give a reason why you don't think he is worth the second pick? What is it that his game lacks? prv1981...good post. I don't think peleincubus has even seen this kid play. Nice Read. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...213&call_pageid=969907729483&col=970081562040 Raptors-Bargnani talk all a con job Someone check up Colangelo's sleeve Publicly mulling his new-found options as the luck-struck possessor of the No.1 pick in next month's NBA draft, Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors general manager, wasn't exactly in the mood to drop subtle hints about his leanings yesterday. He dropped hammer-over-the-head hints, making it all-too-obvious that he's enamoured with a certain Andrea Bargnani — whose surname is pronounced, at least by this butcherer, Barn-yani. He's a 20-year-old seven-footer from Rome who, in a crop of prospects that lacks a franchise-changing consensus stud, is among a handful of players projected to go anywhere in the top five or six slots. But yesterday Colangelo tried awfully hard to make it known that the Raptors like him more than anybody else on the shortlist. The GM mentioned that Sam Mitchell, the Raptors coach, and Wayne Embry, a senior executive, were jetting to see Bargnani play on the Continent this week. He mentioned that Larry Tanenbaum, the club chairman, had taken in one of Bargnani's games at Colangelo's urging. And he mentioned — surely only in passing — that the man with whom he is in talks to hire as an assistant, Maurizio Gherardini, is the top executive with the club, Benetton Treviso, that owns Bargnani's contract. To be more transparent, Colangelo, who is of Italian heritage, would have needed to hold up a Raptors jersey bearing Bargnani's No. 11 while personally stuffing the gathering of media types with gnocchi and Moretti and calamari. Even without the seafood, all the references to one paisan — in the absence of repeated references to any other player — smelt awfully fishy. As pre-draft strategies go, call this The Italian Job. And if you didn't see the movie of the same name — either the 1969 original or its decent sequel — you should know it starred a group of con artists planning the heist of their lives. That's not to say there's anything untoward going on in Raptorland these days. But if your fisherman has learned one thing about trolling for draft-time information, it's that almost everybody is lying almost all the time. Deceit is only smart business practice for executives looking to protect the scouting information they've spent hundreds of thousands to assemble. And that's not to say Colangelo might not be floating a trial balloon here — simply getting people used to the idea of taking a baby-faced bone-rack from the boot with the first-overall pick. (There are exactly zero Italians in the NBA these days, and the only Italian Raptor, Vincenzo Esposito, was no Phil or Tony). What is far more likely is that Colangelo is looking to make a deal that will net him more from the first round than a youngster who's at least a few years away from contributing to the cause. To wit, Colangelo listed off his club's needs yesterday, and the needs — contrary to all the nice words about the Italian — spoke a different language. They need more "interior presence" and "rebounding help," the GM said, and Bargnani is a perimeter guy who averaged three rebounds a game during the regular season in Europe. They need a point guard. (And when haven't they?) And Bargnani, even if he is being billed as the latest in a long line of "next Dirk Nowitzkis," is certainly not that. You can talk to scouts who'll tell you Bargnani isn't worthy of the No. 1 pick, what with the question marks about his work ethic and toughness. And it's important to note that there are advantages to getting the player you really want — the player you're not silly to gush about — at a lower draft slot. The salaries of first-round draft picks are pre-set. The No. 1 will make about $3.6 million next season. No. 5 will make about $2.3 million. That's a considerable gap in precious spending money. Since the fifth pick is cheaper than the first — and since the fifth pick will probably be, as Colangelo was saying yesterday, as good a prospect as the first — then you'd be silly not to do everything you can to move down to the fifth pick, or somewhere in the neighbourhood. So why would the Raptors feign hyper-interest? Perhaps they're trying to legitimize Bargnani as a No. 1 pick in other team's eyes. The Atlanta Hawks, holders of the fifth pick with no record of genius in their front office, have expressed love for Bargnani, and perhaps they're insecure enough to need someone to second that emotion. And maybe the Hawks would throw in an existing player to move up. There are a couple of point guards, Connecticut's Marcus Williams and Villanova's Randy Foye, who'd likely still be around at five. Either one is a better bet than Jose Calderon. Any way you look at it — and the possibilities are endless, really — this Italian Job reeks of a smokescreen. A deal's brewing somewhere, even if it's only in Colangelo's head. Raptor fans can only hope they're on the right side of any possible larceny.
I'd just stick with Charlie V and not waste time on the #2 in this draft. He's proven a lot more than I expected him to and can definitely be a very good player. I can't say the same for anyone in this year's draft. There's no sure thing out there this year.
