DeRozan and other thoughts

Love the DeMar DeRozan pick. Apart from the obviously ridiculous athleticism he has, love his mannerisms; he seems very grounded, driven, coachable, and genuinely excited to be here in Toronto. And he kind of looks like a cat (not in a bad way). If his hops are anywhere true to the Vince Carter comparisons, then this city will get a bolt of lightning this upcoming season again and have a good distraction while the CB4 tensions continue. I like that DeRozan has not shyed away from the VC comparisons, and it was awesome to see him tweet "Toronto here I come. Air Canada's back."

I'm also excited to have Carlos Delfino, aka Playboy Argentina back. No he's not a superstar or anything, but I always liked his game - he can do a bit of everything - slash, shoot, play some point, and is a decent defender.

Is there anyway we can dump Marcus Banks? Remember him? I really hope somewhere out there, Roko Ukic is working on his game. He struggled mightily last year but also had his moments like the clutch performances against the Spurs and Magic. If the kid can develop a shot and learn not to over-dribble, he'll be just awesome.

Let Anthony Parker walk, who cares. We don't need to keep him around just to have a "good locker room presence." To tell you the truth, I'd rather keep Graham over Parker at this point: Yes Parker's the better offensive player, but Graham is much younger and more aggressive. Did I mention younger?

How's Shawn Marion doing? If we can somehow keep him with the rest of the core, we'll have a pretty decent team (with a few more fixes of course this off season).

Shaq to Cleveland, Vince to Orlando. Damn, the East just got tougher. I hate Vince, and I don't want to see him win, but seeing a Cavs-Magic playoff series with Shaq vs D-Ho and Vince vs LeBron would be amazing. And I definitely wouldn't want VC to reach the finals, but seeing him go up against Kobe on the game's biggest stage would be that much more crazy...as long as Kobe piledrives him of course.

My attempt at nicknames for DeMar DeRozan: DeDe? D squared? Devastator? Destroyer? Okay, now I'm just going with Transformers names, which you should absolutely see in theatres by the way.

I wanna see DeRozan hurt some rims, Delfino pose for some Armani ads, and Reggie Evans grab some nuts like an elephant. Your new additions to the 2009-2010 Raptors everyone!

Delfino, where are you?

I'm not going to lie, its pretty difficult to write about the Raptors when you're sick about speculating on rumors, venting frustration or praying for a rally. So let's take a refreshing take at not someone who can save us now, but may be integral in the future. A player we all came to love last season for his calm demeanor, do it all attitude and fantastic two way ability, Mr Carlos Delfino.

Put on a Raptor uniform again!








On a side note, I thought it was hilarious that on google images, this was the first image that came up for him.












But in all seriousness, when I first heard the rumor of him wanting to return a few months back I was ecstatic! When we first got O'Neal, I was of firm belief that we would be a strong force IF we could keep Delfino. Use him how you will, our starting sf to help Parker with defensive assignments, or a nice solid lead by example player with a scoring punch for the bench. Either way, he satisfies our two greatest weaknesses, the ability to penetrate and draw fouls, and the ability to play two-way basketball, be a threat and guard your position. Unfortunately, Khimki knows what a model player and person they have and are committed to keeping him there as a center piece. As expected, he is helping them contend for the title and be one of the giants of their league. As more and more NBA players are striving to return to the NBA however, BC and many others feel confident that Delfino will attempt to return. I doubted whether BC had full intentions to bring him back, but after witnessing the Raptors plight and hearing him express his desire and plans to in fact do so, my faith is renewed.

For those of you including myself, who wish he never left, we fail to see the benefit of his leaving. For one, this gave Graham a final opportunity and to his credit, he is making use of it. Not only to help restore our confidence and his own, but to also prove that although he will never be a star, he has a place in the NBA as a solid cheap rotation player. Whether he remains in Toronto is impossible to foresee but he has definitely increased his trade value and I'm sure he will play somewhere in the NBA. The more important reason however is the opportunity for growth this provided for Delfino. He stormed into a situation where for once, he could literally be the man and with his package of shooting ability, penetration, defense, speed and strength, he was in a position to bring some magic to that league. As was the case with Joey, he took full advantage of it and has blossomed into one of the faces of that league. Sources say that he has not only thrived, but developed greatly in his already high basketball IQ, basketball abilities and his team play, a staple of European basketball. Another key benefit, he's learning to be clutch, has become a fourth quarter factor and has led Khimki through a lot of last minute battles. Can you name a certain team that might need that?

I for one can't wait to see the new and improved Delfino with the Raps again next season, and you know you're lying if you're not excited either!