Handful of players intrigued by Raptors
CHICAGO— The looming NBA draft is as clear as mud — and there are the Raptors, somewhere near the bottom of the swamp, trying to get a clear picture of what’s going on nearer the surface.
But while they don’t know what will transpire before — or if — they exercise their No. 8 pick on June 28, there are at least a handful of players intrigued by the possibility that Toronto may select them.
The Raptors held private meetings with a couple of coveted guards and made a solid impression on Duke’s Austin Rivers and Weber State’s Damian Lillard, both of whom will be in Toronto next week for workouts.
“It’s four through 12 where I’m ranged at, and Toronto’s right there in the middle,” said Rivers, the 6-foot-5 guard son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “They have a great city, great organization, great pieces already there: Andrea Bargnani, (DeMar) DeRozan, (Jose) Calderon. I’m very excited for that.”
Rivers met Thursday in Chicago with Raptors coach Dwane Casey, president and general manager Bryan Colangelo and other members of the team’s brain trust and came away impressed with the staff.
“They’re straightforward guys. They’re about working hard and getting the job done,” he said. “I’m excited to go there.
“From what I heard, (Casey) is a hard working guy and he’s smart. He’s one of the coaches that’s on the rise, for sure. I got a good vibe from him (Thursday), talked to him and got to meet with him.”
Lillard, whose draft stock is rising as much as anyone’s, said he’d be a good fit with the already young Toronto roster. “You’ve got DeMar DeRozan, a good athlete, young, same age as me. You’ve got Ed Davis. They’ve got a lot of pieces on their team, and I think I’d add the ability from the point guard position to score and be a willing passer,” he said. “I think a lot of people see me as just as a scorer but I’m more than willing to get everybody else going.” Even though it is impossible to correctly handicap the June 28 draft, the Raptors are casting a wide net and players who may seem out of reach are willing participants in the game. After three days at the NBA’s pre-draft combine, little has come into to focus other than the fact the New Orleans Hornets are going to take Anthony Davis first overall. After that? “It’s like guys two through 12 are the same guy. No one knows for sure who’ll do what,” one league source said.
That leaves the Raptors more reactive than active but it hasn’t stopped them from reaching high.
Small forward Harrison Barnes, who is likely to be gone well before Toronto uses its No. 8 pick, met with Toronto officials here.
“We talked about what they need and where they’re going, how potentially if I came in how I’d be a fit,” said the 6-foot-8 small forward. “They need perimeter scoring … they’re very good defensively but they obviously want to improve offensively.”
The Raptors were at the centre of one of the early camp swirls when it was reported that Syracuse guard Dion Waiters, one of the better scorers who might be available, got a “promise” from a team that caused him to leave the camp.
Immediate speculation implicated Toronto — with an equally immediate denial from Colangelo.
“His agent told me there’s a promise to another team,” Colangelo said. “Regardless, if he’s on the board, he’s in our mix.”