Rafael

Araujo

“We need to give him a chance and give him a block of games to see how he does. We need to find out exactly what he can do,” coach Sam Mitchell said. “We watch him practice every day, but practice and games are two different things.” Rather than scooping up the rookie, owners will want to part ways with Loren Woods after yet another promising start to a season gone sour.

Araujo tested positive for the steroid nandrolone during the 2002 world championships in Indiana and is ineligible to play internationally until late next month. The NBA does not test players for steroids so the ban has no impact on Araujo’s career.

“Hoffa” has averaged just 2.9 PPG in his 111 career games and he’ll take on the daunting task of replacing Greg Ostertag as Utah’s backup center.

The Raptors throught they drafted a center who was ready to play in the NBA, but it looks like they’re discovering they were wrong. That will probably mean too much time for Chris Bosh at center. At least that would be good news for Donyell Marshall, who can play power forward.

As a result of Toronto’s infusion of big men, Araujo may be out of Toronto’s plans for the remainder of the season.

The rookie probably wouldn’t have played much anyway. He’s day-to-day.

Araujo missed a game with back spasms.

The plan going into the season was for Araujo to share minutes at center with Loren Woods and Jerome Moiso. Woods has started all 15 games and averaged 21.2 minutes, while Moiso has been buried. Donyell Marshall fills in the rest of the time.

The tools are there and he’s eventually going to put it all together. Unfortunately, he’s probably not going to be a consistent fantasy player until next year. But he’s proving to have some value right now.

He got the start, but was on the bench for most of the game. It’s tough to say what Sam Mitchell is going to do night to night.