ducks
06-06-2006, 09:20 AM
Colangelo keeps all draft options open MICHAEL GRANGE It's been two weeks since Bryan Colangelo proved his worth in his new role as president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors by overseeing the club's first win at the National Basketball Association draft lottery. But with three weeks to go until he gets to use the No. 1 pick overall, he's no closer to knowing what he's going to do with it. "At this point, anything goes," said Colangelo, who is in Orlando this week for the NBA predraft camp. "We are continuing to run the draft process as we normally would [and] everything is still on the table." When the Ping-Pong balls fell to give the Raptors the first overall pick, Colangelo said he would proceed along multiple paths to make sure that each possible option was explored before the draft on June 28 in New York. Judging by the players the Raptors have had in Toronto so far for evaluations, the options are varied. The most obvious is to simply keep the No. 1 pick and use it on one of the handful of top players the Raptors have yet to have visit Toronto: Andrea Bargnani, who is playing professionally in Italy, LaMarcus Aldridge of the University of Texas, Tyrus Thomas of Louisiana State or Adam Morrison of Gonzaga. A second option would be to exchange picks with one of the teams -- likely the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 4 or Atlanta Hawks at No. 5 -- slightly further down in the draft order. The thinking is that with the top five or so players in the draft considered to be fairly comparable, why not use a lower pick to get a equally valuable player at a cheaper salary? The first pick in the draft will earn about $4.3-million (U.S.) more than the fifth pick over the next three seasons. One player the Raptors are thought to have an eye on if they do trade down to fifth or even lower is Marcus Williams, the University of Connecticut point guard considered the top player at his position. An even more aggressive move would be to trade down to the Nos. 10 to 20 range -- the New Orleans Hornets, for example, have the Nos. 12 and 15 picks -- and possible still come out of the draft with the likes of Rajon Rondo, a lightning-quick point guard from of the University of Kentucky. Both Williams and Rondo have been in Toronto for workouts. Things get even more difficult to pin down if you consider packaging the No. 1 pick with the likes of sophomore forward Charlie Villanueva. If Colangelo is serious about speeding up the Raptors' rebuilding process it's a move that could net the team the likes of Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal or Memphis Grizzlies forward Paul Gasol, if on-line rumours are to be believed. © Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. globeandmail.com and The Globe and Mail are divisions of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc., 444 Front St. W., Toronto, Canada M5V 2S9 Phillip Crawley, Publisher