BasketballCanadian curveballs spiced up NBA draft

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Toronto Raptors' first-round draft choice Jonas Valanciunas, left, poses with Raptors' president and general manager Bryan Colangelo during a news conference in Toronto on Friday. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

Everything made sense at Thursday's NBA Draft - according to conventional wisdom, anyway. Kyrie Irving went first, Derrick Williams second and Enes Kanter third.

Then the Cleveland Cavaliers threw something of a curveball and selected Brampton, Ontario's Tristan Thompson at No. 4.

Myself and all of basketball-loving Canada was at that moment happier than a pig-in-you-know-what. After yelling a lot for a minute, I debated cranking the animated CBC sign-off anthem from, like, 1995.

But then all hell really broke loose.

It came in the form of Bryan Colangelo taking, by all accounts late Thursday night, the only player the Toronto Raptors really ever wanted in this 2011 NBA Draft, Jonas Valancunias.

Ironically, many so-called experts had the big Lithuanian comfortably in the cradle of Cleveland at No. 4, with Irving at No. 1 to at least try and dilute any doubts about the big Euro to any cynical inquisitor from a northern Ohio blog or the Cleveland Plain Dealer. But the fact is, when the Cavs went for the best baller to come out of Brampton since David Thomas, it dropped Valancunias right into Toronto's lap.

Consensus reaction among many in Raptor Nation was swift, and to put it mildly, unhappy.

In 2004, I went to a Raptors Draft Party on the Air Canada Centre floor for free ribs and corn and watched rookie GM Rob Babcock try to sell Rafael Araujo as a "hockey guy." Minutes earlier, a bemused smile had crossed David Stern's face as he struggled to pronounce Araujo's name, likely because he couldn't believe this true second rounder was being picked ahead of Andre Iguodala.

Seven years later, I'm still trying to reach my cerebellum with a toothbrush to clean out that image. My first instinct was thinking about that moment happening all over again, but I quickly realized it was nothing close to that - even if some Raptors fans do.

I'll plead ignorance on this one because I didn't know much about Valancunias. And that puts me in the same boat as most NBA fans. We've heard the vitals and even seen a few impressive game videos, but even despite Dirk Nowitzki's spring, the natural reaction among jaded North American ball fans - especially those in Toronto lately - is to treat glowing accolades of big Euros like the voices of Charlie Brown's parents.

Valancunias is not Rafael Araujo. He is likely the best big man in this draft - Kanter included. He has a high degree of athleticism for a big, and his game is reminiscent of a young Zydrunas Ilgauskas - whom many forget was once a very good NBA centre. The question marks come from, among other things, the buyout situation with his Lithuanian club team.

But honestly, with a chunk, if not all, of next season in jeopardy, what does it matter if he can't hit the floor at the ACC until November 2012? At least he'll be playing basketball. Did Colangelo err by passing over Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker? Only time will tell. And this pick has to ultimately mean his job if that decision proves to be a mistake.

It had already been beaten to death in the Toronto media by early Friday morning, but Colangelo's nerve here is breathtaking. That alone is admirable. He's like Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. "You know what it takes to draft a big raw Euro in this climate? It takes brass balls."

As for new coach Dwane Casey, he's the right man at the right time. He should have been hired in Toronto in 2003 over Kevin O'Neill, but it's highly debatable if that would have changed the course of how things shook down with Vince Carter as they did.

The nicest surprise of draft night came with the last pick of the first round - and the Spurs taking Pickering, Ont.'s Cory Joseph. He took a gamble by staying in the draft and it paid off big time - not just because he was picked, but because he went in the last spot where he gets guaranteed money.

It's also clear San Antonio is going to have use for him, given that they traded away the best young player on their roster in George Hill to get a scoring wing in No. 15 pick Kawhi Leonard - and Tony Parker's future with the Spurs up in the air.

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