Andrea

Bargnani

Therefore, Bargnani will not participate in the next big NBA draft event, the Eurocamp next week in Treviso, Italy. He’s been linked to the Raptors, who hold the No. 1 selection. Raptors GM Jerry Colangelo is reportedly exploring several trade possibilities for the draft pick. “What (Colangelo) is trying to do is see whatever player he likes (and then decide),” one NBA executive said. “‘Can I get him at No. 3 (or later), can I get another player, can I trade it or should I stay with it and make sure I get the guy?’”

Bargnani is the front-runner to be the No. 1 pick so far and the fact that the Raptors are in the process of hiring the GM of his current team in Italy could mean it’s almost a done deal. Of course it depends on what Mitchell and Embry see on their trip, as well as what kind of offers Bryan Colangelo receives for the No. 1 pick. Embry will probably have the final say as he is known as a “draft master.”

“He can really shoot the ball, but like I said before, I think we have plenty of talented big guys who play the finesse four spot,” Bosh told the Fan 590 AM. “I think we need to get more of a banger.” With Charlie Villanueva and Chris Bosh also able to play each forward spot, the Raptors should target a true center or a pure point guard in the draft. They will have to replace PG Mike James, who will use his player option and become a free agent.

So interested in fact, they’re actually in the process of hiring Maurizio Gherardini, general manager of Benetton Treviso, the team for which Bargnani currently plays. And what makes this scenario more intriguing is that they can probably get him with the third or fourth pick in the draft, meaning they could actually trade down to third and still get who they want. Charlotte currently holds the third pick and coach Bernie Bickerstaff recently returned from scouting Bargnani in Italy.

Writer Dave Feschuck suggests that Colangelo is hyping the Italian star in hopes that a team like the Hawks may be inclined to trade up for the No. 1 pick, as the Raptors could get point guard Marcus Williams with the Hawks’ fifth pick if they pulled off a trade. And there’s no doubt that the Raptors are in desperate need of a point guard.

“He has good size, an excellent first step and he can really shoot,” Bickerstaff said. “Right now I think he’s a (small forward). He needs to learn to play with his back to the basket, which he doesn’t do right now.” Bickerstaff is reportedly leaning toward coaching the Cats again next year. In other Cats’ news, forward Gerald Wallace will represent the team at tonight’s draft lottery, taking place at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

While this wasn’t a surprise in the end, it wasn’t clear they were taking Bargnani until a few hours before the draft. The best thing about him is he has a ton of experience on a professional level and is a great shooter. The Raptors are just hoping he turns out to be more like Dirk Nowitzki instead of Nikolos Tskitishvili. He became the first European player to ever be taken No. 1 in the NBA draft.

Under the NBA’s rookie scale, Bargnani will make $7.78 million in the first two years of the deal that runs through 2007-08. The Raptors also hold club options for the next two years of the contract.

After releasing mock draft after mock draft, Ford has stuck with Bargnani as his No. 1 pick all the way. He also spoke with Chicago GM John Paxson on Tuesday night and came away with the impression they’re still set on taking Tyrus Thomas. Out of most of the web sites covering the NBA draft, Ford seems to be as connected as anyone, and he’s the only guy we’ve found to use a phrase like “strongly believe” associated with any draft pick, for what it’s worth.

GM Bryan Colangelo may or may not give one of these guys his title, but it’s assumed both Colangelo and the new hire would have a lot of input into basketball decisions in Toronto.