Let’s be blunt: the Toronto Raptors are a sorry bunch, in real life and in fantasy terms. Sure, there are a decent number of potential breakout candidates on this squad whenever the next NBA season begins, but there are also timeshares awaiting a few positions. There’s no true stud here, but when you’re in the latter rounds of your draft, keep some of these Canadian dinosaurs in mind. Read More »

As the NBA preseason gets underway, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Leandro Barbosa, Ed Davis, Linas Kleiza, Julian Wright, David Andersen, Solomon Alabi

Lost: Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Marco Belinelli Read More »

The Boston Celtics just completed an improbable run to within one quarter of an NBA championship. Still, it sounds like GM Danny Ainge will be aggressive once again come Draft night.

Longtime NBA beat writer Sam Amick tweeted early this morning: “Boston is dangling Kendrick Perkins and its No. 19 pick with the hopes of getting into the high lottery, according to a league source.” Let the games begin. Read More »

We’re already here. The 2010 NBA season concluded just a few days ago, and we’re already taking the first step toward defining the League for 2011. The easiest way to handicap tonight’s NBA Draft (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN) is with your standard mock draft, but it’s rarely ever that simple: Odds are, picks and players will be traded throughout the night and things will end up looking a lot different than any of us predicted. That said, this mock is a combination of what we think teams should do, and what we think they will do: Read More »

Now that the NBA Lottery has been determined and the NBA Draft Combine has passed, everyone is making their mock drafts. There has been a lot of hype coming from team workouts about players that were pegged in the late first round. Many guys are climbing team’s Draft boards at an inordinate rate. We have heard some interesting rumors about guys from around the League. Here is the word: Read More »

The NBA Draft combine at Chicago’s A.T.T.A.C.K. Center was uneventful in the sense that nobody greatly improved or drastically torpedoed their stock. Measurements were taken, interviews were done, and that was about it. No incredible shrinking Mike Beasley or Kevin Durant power lifting exhibitions this year.

So three weeks before the draft, individual workouts and, you know, game footage will take precedence as teams close in on their picks. This updated mock draft is a combination of what we think teams should do, and what we think they will do: Read More »

You know what’s the best thing about NCAA sophomores? They’re not freshmen. Not that two-year players are significantly less likely to be NBA Draft busts than one-and-done guys — ask Cedric Simmons, Pat O’Bryant and Chris Taft about that — but for a lot of the players who do get that extra year in the weight room and of game experience, it can pay huge dividends once they hit the pros. Read More »

After putting together the modified Top-50 list of players from the ’08-09 season, I had about 50 leftovers who just missed the cut. And from that, there could’ve been a whole sub-category titled “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

Going position-by-position again, here are five centers who look the most ready to crack the 2010 Top-10 with their performances next season: Read More »

The feedback from Hasheem Thabeet‘s NBA summer league debut has been mostly positive. Although his stat line was modest (9 pts, 2 rebs, 1 blk, 20 mins), the rookie was praised for altering several shots and looking at least competent on offense, in contrast to Jay Bilas’ Draft Night scouting report that basically made Thabeet sound like the tall White kid from Rebound when it comes to putting the ball in the basket.

Even if Thabeet isn’t a regular starter right away, if he continues to make solid progress during the year and gets farther and farther away from the “potential bust” label, he’ll only make things easier for the Hasheem Thabeet of the 2010 NBA Draft: Florida State redshirt sophomore Solomon Alabi. Read More »