However you can't necessarily fault the Raptors for going this route after the history of being burned by American free agents. In this area the Raptors do have an advantage over other teams however you can't build a team with so many holes and players with overlapping skill sets that don't fit.
Nonetheless one of the MANY holes that the Raptors have includes not having a shotblocker. These are hard to come by and are sometimes wildly overpaid for what they do (see Diop, Dalembert, Okafor). So if there was one type of player that the Raptors are missing from their roster, its an athletic Euro shotblocker.(NOTE: EURO IS NOT A REQUREMENT LOL) Although he's not proven yet in the NBA, he could prove to be a smarter investment dollars wise compared to already established bigs with large financial commitments such as Okafor and Biedrins. And there are a couple of them playing overseas after being drafted by NBA teams. Meet Spaniard Fran Vazquez.
Height: 6'10" to 6'11"
Weight: 240 lbs
Born: 1 May, 1983 (Age 27)
Nationality: Spain
Position: PF/C
After being drafted 11th overall in the 2005 NBA draft, Mr. Vazquez decided NOT join the Orlando Magic because he had no interest whatsoever playing in the NBA.
In the summer of 2005 he got a massive 4 year contract from Akasvayu Girona and it had a massive buyout. Even if he wanted to play in the NBA, it impossible for him to come over since NBA teams can only contribute $500,000 to a buyout. That means the rest of the buyout would have to come out of his own pocket. There were also reports that he was whipped by his girlfriend who was heavily influencing his decision to stay in Europe.
Fast forward to 2010. Fran Vazquez has established himself overseas dunking and blocking shots left and right. In the 2008/09 ACB season, he was ranked 1st in PER, TS%, eFG%, Points per possession, and blocked shots per 40 minutes. In the 2008/09 Euroleague games, he was top 10 in all those categories and was 1st in all the shot blocking categories. This season Fran set the Euroleague blocked shots record this season on a team that featured the likes of Ricky Rubio and former NBA guard Juan Carlos Navarro. In the ACB, he was 2nd in blocks and 1st again in blocked shots per 40 minutes.
His contract is coming to an end after this season but there is a club option for the next season. I've also read somewhere that he has a NBA buyout of 5M Euros, which doesn't make sense because he is set to earn 1.8M Euros for the 2010/11 season if his team picks up his option. In any case if his girlfriend does let him come to the NBA and if his buyout issues are resolved, I'd look for him to get something like a 3 year 12M-14M dollar contract in the NBA. Judging by what Luis Scola, Anthony Parker, Marc Gasol, etc got in the NBA, that seems like a fair deal.
So how would the Raptors get Fran Vazquez? First they would need to trade for his rights. Colangelo could simply offer cash, which MLSE has a lot of, to Otis Smith and trade for his rights. Then the Raptors would need to use part of the Mid Level Exception to sign him. He would not be restricted to the 1st round rookie scale since 3 years have went by since Fran Vazquez was drafted.
Oh and here are some of his highlights:
UPDATE FROM DRAFTEXPRESS:
Not much has changed since the last time we discussed Fran Vazquez as an NBA prospect. He’s still the same terrific athlete who ranks as one of the best shot blockers and most efficient players in the Euroleague--and he still appears to have little to no interest in making his way to the NBA to play for the team that drafted him: the Orlando Magic. With the Magic in the midst of the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if GM Otis Smith even bothers to show up at this point to initiate the courting process.
LANK
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