There are still a few days before the Raptors can sign free agents to complete their 2008-09 roster, but hopefully they’ll find the second coming of Jamario Moon with the crop of players from their Summer League Team.
Headlining the squad is Chris Bosh’s 22 year old brother Joel. Joel played the last four years at Alabama State, averaging 6.6 ppg and 4.4 rpg in his senior year. Although he saw limited time with Alabama State, he may find some groove playing for the franchise his older brother is the face for.
Other players named to the camp are Hassan Adams, Daniel Ewing, Deji Akindele, Sean Banks, Rod Benson, Coleman Collins, Thomas Gardner, John Lucas III and C.J. Giles.
- Joey Graham is the only returning player to the squad and will look to impress the coaching staff with a strong camp
- Adams, who was signed by the Raptors last week, is a defensive minded guard who last played 61 games for the New Jersey Nets
- Ewing is a former Duke guard and Clipper 2nd round pick that has struggled to adapt to the NBA game
- Akindele is a 7″1 center who has spent time with the Warriors and Bobcats organizations, but never cracked the line up
- Banks spent last season with the LA Defenders of the NBADL and averaged 21.7 ppg
- Benson averaged a double-double for the Dakota Wizards last season in the NBADL
- Collins played for Ludwigsburg in Germany last year
- Gardner has spent time with the Bulls, but was released last season; Lucas III has 60 NBA games under his belt with the Rockets
- Giles a highly touted player, but has been kicked out of two college programs.
As of July 9th the Raptors will have 12 players under contract. Hopefully the Raptors find what they need via free agency, but if Colangelo doesn’t, we may see one of these players cracking the squad.
Technorati Tags: Bryan Colangelo, C.J. Giles, Coleman Collins, Daniel Ewing, Deji Akindele, Hassan Adams, Joel Bosh, Joey Graham, John Lucas III, Rod Benson, Sean Banks, Thomas Gardner
July 8th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
put me in the camp that hopes none of these guys makes the team.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Elton Brand has reportedly just signed with Phily. Sixers now better than the Raptors? I think so.
Maggette just signed with GSW. Another target off the map but we pretty much knew that he wasn’t coming anyway.
Daves last blog post..Summer League Day Two
July 8th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Yep, I don’t see any keepers there either. Possibly John Lucas as third string point guard. None of the other guys catch my eye. Dubious looking group.
Daves last blog post..Summer League Day Two
July 9th, 2008 at 7:13 am
agreed, but Id like to see Adams get a little playing time and see what he can do.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Phily looks good now. Can the Raps go get a swingman? I think Pietrus in Orlando hurts! He would have fit in nice and possible started. Where does BC go from here. I bet this is the team he goes to the start of the season with but makes a significant change during the season.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:33 am
im absolutely disgusted that the raptors weren’t mentioned int he pietrus sweepstakes…
IMHO, the raptors are 3rd in the atlantic behind boston and philly.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
yep they are looking like a 3 spot in the division.
Already not liking the layout of the season.
cuzzys last blog post..Blog Building - July 9
July 9th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
We are better then 3rd in our division.
Bosh and Oniel are better then Brand and Dalembert
They have an edge with Iggy but we are better at every other postion and bench. Phily has no outside shooting either which they need to address.
I like the signing for them and it will make them better but not better than us.
I just finished watching the Oniel news conference and you have to be excited.
Best part is hearing the word “defence” so many times.
I think Oneal can be the infusion of D on our whole team similary to the way KG was for Boston last season.
Moon, Parker, Addams and Graham if they bring there D they will get minutes, Mitchell and pur new front court will make sure they bring it if not they can go sit next to Sam. Kapono can get by due to his offencive game.
Raps win 50 + next year but more importantly make some noise in the playoffs.
Still need a swingman to make us perfect but that can be addressed in the season with some expiring contracts (Artest when the Kings are 6-24) or somebody else who may not even be on our radar right now.
Jack is Back which is just awesome he is the best voice of basketball in the country by a wide margin.
When and how does BC fill out the rest of roster of all the names out there (assuming we only have enough cash for 1) would be Flip Murray and that’s only if we can only spend 1 to 2 million.
I would prefer someone better but at this price range I think he might be the best fit.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
shayne, i hear you about not going over the cap, but seriously, why would invest 20 mill into a second option (with the first not really a 1st option) and stop there? there are still holes in the armour, have to be remedied before the season starts. why not for once, put the best team you possibly can on the court to start the season, let guys mesh, develop a rotation, and then make small changes to address things as the trade deadline looms? last time we did that, the raptors won 47 games, and went to the second round, in a tougher east.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Raptors fan,
I am all for going over the tax clearly you did not read my rant about MLSE from the word on the street. You should read it’s actually quite funny. take a minute to read it and you will understand my point which is MLSE is cheap. It starts off like this just so you can find it
ON THE LUXURY TAX.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
i agree…they are cheap bastards…
July 9th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
how can you say they are cheap? Arent they still paying Lamond Murray and yogi stewarts contracts?
Gotta agree that was quite the cool press conference. Im psyched!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Did anyone realize that BC said in the Jose Calderon press conference that Jose had to take a cut in order for the team to remain under the Tax bracket? Also Sam mentioned that there is a spot for a combo guard on the team but they will leave that open…..I think there is one more move in the making, But cant really be sure.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:36 am
That Bargnani bit in the Jermaine press conference was interesting. It sounded like Colangelo was firmly entrenched in developing the youngster. Which means he won’t be used as a trade asset which means the perimeter won’t get the help it needs which means Toronto doesn’t have much postseason hope …. which is disappointing and confusing.
Ah well. I think I’m going to stop thinking about Bargnani being possibly traded until there is some indication of that possibility coming through. Until then I’ll think of him as off limits like I did prior to Jermaine’s arrival, a good young prospect.
On the bright side Bargnani is going to be here next season. I like Bargnani. His perimeter shooting will help keep alive the high screen and roll game and provide spacing next for Jermaine or Bosh. That’ll help Calderon and the other wings. So that’s good. Hopefully his D keeps improving, and hopefully by a larger amount this time. The rebounding would be his biggest possible gain, if he could just become a solid rebound that would make the world of difference to his production when on the court. That’s a good trio of 7 footers with Humphries/Jawai finishing off the big man rotation. Good.
Daves last blog post..Summer League Day Two
July 10th, 2008 at 3:45 am
I have been heearing that the raptors have no players that will drive, that we need to trade delfino and maybe make delfino and andrea in a trade but I dont think so. With the oneal trade done you know that BC made the move to help andreas development. And for delfino, in a couple of games i have seen him drive and get an and1 play or go to the line.
btw the one of the things i liked about oneal is when he said andrea is the key cause with andrea bosh oneal 2 of them r gonna be on the floor at all time and andrea is gonna get some pressure of, and every one get the out the salami and cheese cause RAPTORS WIN RAPTORS WIN RAPTORS WIN!!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am
PHD STEVE.
HOW CAN I SAY THERE CHEAP?
Last preseason they would not shell out a few bucks to Raptors TV to show any of our preseason games (they picked up a few in Europe from NBA TV)
I find it total a joke that those preseason games where not on TV last season, if we think back, Raps came off a 47 win season and the excitement fans had was out of control, and Raps TV (which is owned by MLSE) they were to cheap to send anyone out to Europe not Jack Armstrong not Chuck Swirski.
They pick up the feed from NBA TV (which I am pretty sure they pay a set fee for all of NBA tv programming since thats what they show 95% of the time).
They come back home and have a few more preseason games at home and one on the road and 0 are telivised, what a fuken joke. I wonder if Yankees TV shows preseason baseball. MLSE has more money then it knows what to do with.
They only reason they spent big money on BC is because the other bargin basement GM we used to have(I refuse to say his name) almost made us loose our franchise. (so you think thats a bit harsh)
If we kept Babcock (shit I said his name) we would have lost Bosh and that would have been after Carter wanted out (I know this was a good thing but thats not the point) What message would then send to NBA players, the Raptor franchise was a joke, NO good free agent would ever come here, and we would never be a contender, and the franchise might be in jeporady (unlikely but possible) So the tight wads spent some cash (I was shocked) they realize you have to spend money to make money.
and phd steve they are not paying for Yogi or Lamont any more they just finished paying off Alvin Williams after last year but by the way that does not make a team cheap a bad contract makes them dumb and BC inherited just one in the Alvin Willims contract/ buy out which clearly was not his fault.
I am calling them cheap because BC is not allowed to use his mid level becasue we would have to pay 6 million in extra tax and clearly this would benefit the team and make the Raps chances of advancing in the playoffs that much greater leading to more money for the team but he is not allowed to go over.
It should not take a PHD to understand Steve.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:33 am
lol@steve “Arent they still paying Lamond Murray and yogi stewarts contracts?” hahaha
July 10th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
so it looks like Pietrus is going to the Magic. so what the heck are the raps going to do? what about Darius Miles? injury prone but when he’s healthy he is a good player. I just want this roster to be complete so i can rest better at night.
as for being 3rd in the East…such negativity. The Sixers added Brand, but they still need to sign Igudala and they have a group of young players that are still unproven. The raps will battle with the Sixers for 2nd. looking forward to the season. Who else is out there? besides Bosh’s bro.
Posey? resigning Delfino?
July 10th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
The 13th man.
As I ponder who will be this last man to sign with us as a combo guard (as Sam Mitchell mentioned yesterday) names pop in my head you know the flip Murrays, Darell Armstrongs, etc of theses NBA guys most would be happy do still have jobs in the league.
I thought to myself maybe there is someone else? but who?
Are you ready for a laugh? Ny is going to most likely buy out Marbury and he would be a nice back up PG don’t you think?
Maybe him and Jose could even play togther at times.
I realize this will not happen for a few reasons.
- He won’t sign for that little
- He problaly would not want to come to Toronto
- He would probaly go some where he could either start or get major minutes
- He is a head case and the Raps won’t sign him
I think he would be a nice fit though.
Who is the 13 th man people? Place your bets!
Lets hear some predictions?
July 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I say Carlos Delfino resigns with Toronto to complete the roster
July 10th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
bonzi wells is an option, matt barnes maybe? marbury would be nice if he got signed for a year or two for a couple mill, but that is probably a pipe dream. the guy can still play in the nba.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I’d rather have Carl ENglish suit up for the raps instead of Marbury. the guys a nut case and would be a cancer. some team will sign him for too much money and he’ll become the next Antoine Walker of the league. just being thrown around in trades to match the salaries.
bonzi wells should be at the top of the raps list. he’s a combo guard, has a lot of experience and the raps can afford him. He plays a good post game and decent defence. Barnes would be a good fit too, but he may get some attention from the teams that missed out on Pietrus and Magette.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Flip Murray is a good option. He played well at the point late last season for Indiana and he’s shown some point guard abilities in the past (used to get too self-involved on the court but was good last season). He provides some scoring and a threat off the dribble. Decent defender too. He can play two guard and the point so he can play alongside Calderon if the Raps so wish. He’d be a fine combo backup guard for the playoffs.
Daves last blog post..Summer League Day Two
July 10th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Eddie House, James Posey, Devin Brown, Lindsay Hunter, Matt Barnes, Flip Murray, Kareem Rush, SMush Parker, Quinton Ross, Shaun Livingston, Bonzi Wells, KEyon Dooling, Maurice Evans, Darius Miles, Darrell Armstong and Mikael FInley.
Here is a list of the possible UFA that the Raps could sign for the 13th spot on their roster.
Livingston would be nice but he’s injury prone. Id go for Wells or Finley
July 17th, 2008 at 1:18 am
if the raps can sign bonzi wells they would have a great line up
July 17th, 2008 at 1:19 am
bonzi wells is a combo guard
July 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
i like him too raptors4, but not for big money, 3-4 mill/year.