The Toronto Raptors have acquired 22-year old center Solomon Alabi (the 50th overall pick of the NBA Draft) from the Mavericks for a future second round pick and cash considerations. Alabi played in 32 games (all starts) for Florida State last season and he averaged 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. He played in 77 games (68 starts) in his 3 years in college and he averaged 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. This was a good trade for the Raptors as Alabi is a legit center at 7′1″, 251 pounds.

The Raptors have selected 20-year old power forward Ed Davis with the 13th overall pick of the first round. Davis is built a lot like Chris Bosh as he is 6′10″, 225 pounds and he might get his old starting spot when the 2010-11 season starts. Davis played in 23 games (all starts) for North Carolina last season and he averaged 13.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 2.8 blocked shots per game. He finished his career playing in 61 games (25 starts) for the Tar Heels in which he averaged 9.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. This was a excellent pick for the Raptors as Davis is still getting better.

The Toronto Raptors are a team in flux right now. Chris Bosh is likely leaving and there are rumors that Hedo Turkoglu could be traded tomorrow night. The rumor surrounding Turkoglu has him going along with the 13th overall pick to the Timberwolves for small forward Corey Brewer and the 23rd overall pick. Compounding the fact that the Raptors could be losing two of their starting frontcourt players is the fact that they don’t appear to happy with Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack at the point guard position as they are likely both on the trading block too. Draft “experts” seem to think that the Raptors are going to draft shooting guard Avery Bradley out of Texas but I think that would be a mistake as they will be lacking big time on the frontcourt.

Not too many teams can line up three points guards of the quality of Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack and Marcus Banks. 27-year old Jose Calderon will be the starter at the point for the Raptors this season. He played in 68 games for the Raptors last season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 12.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Look for similar numbers out of Calderon this season. 25-year old Jarrett Jack will likely get a lot of playing time at shooting guard also when the Raptors want to go small. He played in 82 games for the Pacers last season and he averaged 33.1 minutes, 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. His style at the point is different than Calderon’s as he’s a shoot first point guard. 27-year old Marcus Banks has never lived up to his ability. He played in 22 games for the Heat and Raptors last season and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 2.5 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B+

The Raptors were happy to see DeMar DeRozan fall to them with the 9th pick of the first round of the NBA Draft. The 19-year old DeRozan only played in one season at USC and he averaged 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. DeRozan is 6′7″, 220 pounds which means the Raptors might look at him more at forward than guard as he probably hasn’t stopped growing as of yet. This was a solid pick for the Raptors.