Raptors guard Ford is drawing interest

[greasybugsy]

The market for T.J. Ford is heating up.

Though neither Toronto president/general manager Bryan Colangelo or anybody else would go into details about the subject yesterday after six prospects were put through the paces ahead of the upcoming NBA draft, it was clear that the club has received genuine interest from a handful of teams about the diminutive point guard.

Colangelo rubbed shoulders with other general manger's at last week's draft camp in Orlando and it's likely the names of both Ford and restricted free agent Jose Calderon came up.

Colangelo did reiterate that Calderon would be hard to pry loose as it seems there is significant interest around the league in both players.

The team has been confident all along that strong offers would come in for Ford, despite his perceived flaws and injury history, simply because the NBA trade market is not exactly littered with starting-calibre young point guards signed to reasonable deals.



Colangelo, head coach Sam Mitchell and a bevy of team brass began their pre-draft workouts by putting six guards through a rigorous workout, of which the media got to see far more than usual, thanks to the participants' late night arrivals, which pushed the start time back.

The Raptors, who hold the 17th pick in the June 26 draft, worked out Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee, Oregon's Malik Hairston, North Carolina's Wayne Ellington and Danny Green, Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon and Vanderbilt's Shan Foster.

Though all but Lee currently are projected as second-round selections and Toronto does not hold a second-round pick, director of player personnel Jim Kelly said the team has "got to be prepared for anything," and as "a fairly active team on the trade market," could well make a move to acquire a second round pick.

SHIP ONE FOR CASH

A team like Seattle, which owns four 2008 seconds, probably would ship one out for cash, or a Ford deal might include one.

Last season, the Raptors traded away this year's pick for Giorgos Printezis, a young big man who now is playing extremely well for Olympiakos in the Greek League finals, and went on to trade two more future seconds for guard Carlos Delfino.

http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Bas...64666-sun.html

[greasybugsy]

Colangelo gets feelers from clubs about Ford

In his search for a draft choice, Bryan Colangelo has found something that might have an impact on who – and where – he chooses: a market for point guard T.J. Ford.

As the run-up to the June 26 NBA draft began in earnest yesterday, with the first of several workout sessions at the Air Canada Centre for prospective picks, the Raptors president and general manager was juggling interest in Ford from a handful of teams, interest made known during last week's Orlando pre-draft camp.

Whether that interest has a direct impact on Toronto's No.17 slot in the draft can't be ascertained right now. The possibility exists that Colangelo might want to package Ford with the pick or he might be able to address one of his team's needs in a trade rather than with the first-round selection.

However it shakes out eventually, the Raptors are covering all bases in their pre-draft workouts.

Yesterday's session involved six players: guards Wayne Ellington of North Carolina, Shan Foster of Vanderbilt, Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon, Oregon's Malik Hairston, Courtney Lee of Western Kentucky and North Carolina forward Danny Green, who are all marginal first-round selections at best and are just as likely to go undrafted or return to college as anything. But with so many other issues at play, the Raptors feel they need to build a book on as many players as they can.

"Some of them, you never can tell what might happen in the second round," said Jim Kelly, Toronto's director of player personnel. "We don't have a (second-round) pick, but I think in the last two drafts, we've been wheeling or dealing with second-rounders, selling them or buying them. I think they're always for sale out there."

But the Ford issue is the one hanging over the team like a sword.

Colangelo has said he is going to sign restricted free agent Jose Calderon if any other team makes the Spaniard an offer and it's far-fetched to think things will work smoothly if both Ford and Calderon are back on the team next season.

While Colangelo has always asserted he's willing to start the season with both point guards in Toronto rather than be forced into making a bad trade, finding five or six teams with legitimate interest in Ford gives the GM many more options to explore.

The parallel course is finding a draft choice they like best while also being prepared for any trade contingencies.

"Unfortunately, the draft comes before you can talk about what you're going to do trade-wise or free agent-wise," Kelly said, "so you have to be prepared for everything."

The Raptors could swing a deal before the draft, but likely they will either have something in place to do draft night or the day after or they will want to see how the rest of the top of the first round unfolds.

They cannot begin negotiating with free agents until July 1 and can't sign any until July 8.