Sweet Seventeen?

On June 26th Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gheradini will sit in a green room in New York, sipping macchiatos, listening to 16 teams draft amateur basketball players. Then it will be their turn. What are their prospects and precedents?

In 2001, the last time the Raptors picked 17th, they chose Michael Bradley who, last I heard, couldn't make a German league team. In 2005, Indiana got Danny Granger, and the year before that the Hawks chose Josh Smith. Rasho Nesterovic (1998) and Doug Christie(1992) were 17s, as was Jermaine O'Neal (1996) and Shawn Kemp (1989). But never forget about former 17s Zarko Cabarkapa (2003) and Leo Rautins ((Pictured above) 1983).

Below are several sources' narrowly educated guesses at who the Raptors will select with their 17th pick. I expect most mock drafts to change over the next month of private workouts and draft camps (All links to player profiles are from Draft Express):

Draft Express, NBADraft.net and Yahoo!: Nicolas Batum, SF, Le Mans Sarthe Basket (France) - 6' 8", 214 lbs, Age: 19

ESPN.com (Chad Ford): Robin Lopez, C, Stanford - 7' 0", 245 lbs, Age: 20

RealGM: Javale McGee, C, Nevada - 7' 0", 237 lbs, Age: 20

Sports Illustrated: Donte Greene, PF/SF, Syracuse - 6' 10", - 220 lbs, Age: 20

And out of nowhere, Anthony Parker had surgery on the middle finger of his right hand.

Rasho Nesterovic Makes Easiest Choice of His Life

I saw Rasho Nesterovic at the bank today and he was doubled over in laughter. When I asked him what was so funny he told me he picked up his player option for the 2008-09 season. Nesterovic will make $8.4 million next season, making him the second-highest paid Raptor, and while he was, sadly, the Raptors' second-most reliable player over the final 20 games of the season, even his baby son, Nikola, is wise enough to admit that Rasho's overpaid.

What's most interesting about this move is that it comes very early in the offseason. Nesterovic had until June 30 to pick up the option, a deadline which falls after the NBA draft (June 26). Toronto has been rumoured to have interest in moving up in this year's draft and Nesterovic's contract might be an attractive addition to any trade package.

Now let me tell you everything that's wrong with the above paragraph from the bottom up. First, I dislike it when sports writers use the word "attractive" to explain an expiring contract. It sounds like the equivalent of masturbating to a comic book. Second, expiring contracts are generally dealt closer to the trade deadline, when a franchise has at least given the illusion of making an effort that season. Even Colangelo's famous Marbury-Hardaway dump came in January of 2004. Also, any possible trade that the Raptors could make would be hugely contingent on the order of the draft (which will be decided on May 20) and would probably involve either Jose Calderon or TJ Ford. Problem is, TJ Ford can't be traded until July 1 because of his base-year compensation status. Finally, if you were Rasho Nesterovic and you were given the choice to make $8.4 million or explore free agency wouldn't you avoid putting it off?

Jamario Moon No Longer Lowest Paid Player In NBA

The Raptors shocked no one on Wednesday by picking up Jamario Moon's option for next season. The former Harlem Globetrotter and Albany Patroon will make just over $700,000 in '08-09, which I considered making fun of before looking at my pay stub today. But, just for perspective, consider that Darrick Martin made nearly double that last year in 17 games and he didn't even make the 2008 T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

Inexcusably, Moon started 75 games for the Raptors last year. This isn't a slight against Moon's talent, but rather a comment on the paucity of talented wingmen on the Raptors. Moon also broke a team record by recording at least one block in twelve consecutive games.

STATS!: Moon averaged 8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.4 bpg, 48.5 FG%, 32.8 3P% in 27.8 mpg.

Thanks, Chuck

Best of luck, Chuck. See you in Chicago. You gave moments like these part of their magic: