The Raptors had a horrible season finishing third from the bottom in the East. Anthony Parker, Shawn Marion, and Jake Voskhul are all free agents. That is 2 starters and a top bench player. That leaves a shaky starting lineup:
PG--JOSE CALERSON SG--JASON KOPONO SF--JEOY GRAHAM PF---CHRIS BOSH C--ANDREA BARNANI
And a very weak bench. Things may get worse before they get better. I don't know of any trades, but perhaps a splash in free agency. It's not a big market this year. And next year, Bosh is a free agent. So the draft is the best bet for now. The Raptors have the 9th pick in the draft. There is bad news and great news with the 9th pick. Of the past 14 drafts 7 have produced startes, 5 bench players and 3 flops. The bad news is out of the top 10 picks, the 9 spot produces the least amount of startes and the most number of busts. The great news is that the 7 starters are all-starts. Picking first or third also produced 7 all-starts in that same span. The 9th pick has yielded just as many all-starts as the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th combined! So, the 9th spot is truly a hit or miss. There isn't much in between.
The top 2 choices on mock boards appear to be either Gerald Henderson from Duke or Tyreke Evans from Memphis. Both are sf/sg type guys who are athletic. An all-star to go along side Bosh would be great. This team is definately retooling.
Keywords: basketball, bosh, draft, nba, raptors, toronto
