Draft letdown...

So the Raps got their man - Andreas Bargnani. But without any drama... just a side story in a crazy draft that saw picks flying everywhere. The trading here and there and everywhere seemed to mean that in my mind, Bryan Colangelo, could have gotten more. I won't criticize too much, because he must have a plan, but realistically, it sounds like he could have done a lot more. They also grabbed PJ Tucker in the second round and then traded their other 2nd round pick for cash.

Opportunities missed:
- Portland gets the #4 and #7 picks. This was an opportunity here to get more... Ie. Take LaMarcus Aldridge at #1 and trade down to Portland at #4 to get something... anything... a 2nd rounder? A future 1st rounder? Portland grabs Bargnani at #4. Heck, they could have probably traded down to #7 and still gotten their guy.
- Houston trades Rudy Gay (potential #1) and Stromile Swift to Memphis for Shane Battier... Opportunities abound here... would Houston have done a similar trade to Toronto for Mike James and other considerations? Possible... They could have gotten Gay for nothing.
- New York drafts Renaldo Blackman at #20... this was the pick we traded in the Jalen deal... ?!?!... hahaha... well, hey, wouldn't a Mike James for #20 worked? We could have picked Marcus Williams, who many projected at #5-8... Similar arguments for Washington's #18, Sacramento's #19...

Big thumbs up to Portland here... they needed a big draft, and while they made a silly trade with Chicago, they still had a good day, getting LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. A good restart to a franchise.

Memphis also made waves, grabbing Rudy Gay and getting Stromile Swift back for Shane Battier. Battier is a very valuable player, while Gay has significant potential. Battier was the glue that held Memphis together, so we'll see how they do without him. Houston will be a better team with Battier in the short run, but presumably they will pick up a few wing players or shooters to help out Yao and McGrady. Their defence improves significantly though.

Raptors rating: C. I have a feeling Bargnani will be a good one, but frankly on this night, they could have gotten more with the assets they had (ie. Bargnani + something else or a salary dump).

ok, no more Raptor talk for a while...