And Soon It Will Be Eleven

 By RaptorTalk

There should be two new faces on the Toronto Raptors roster in the near future. It seems imminent that the Toronto Raptors will be increasing their roster to 11 players with the expected signing of two second round draft picks.

Reports are that former second round draft pick Roko Ukic will almost certainly be in Toronto next year and it looks like the Raptors will bring over this year's second round pick, Australian center Nathan Jawai, to allow him to develop. In fact, Jawai is already in Toronto and excited about joining the Raptors for the 2008-09 campaign.

   

Roko Ukic is 22 years old, 6'5" and 190 lbs. He will likely be back up Jose Calderon at the point, while also filling in at the two spot if needed. Word is he ready and anxious to join the Raptors.

Nathan Jawai became the first indigenous Australian to be selected in the NBA draft. Jawai, who grew up in the remote northern Queensland town of Bamaga, was selected in with the 41st pick by the Indiana Pacers and will soon be officially dealt to Toronto in the Jermaine O’Neal trade.

The 21 year old Jawai became only the 10th Australian to be drafted in the NBA (behind Ed Palubinskas, 1974; Luc Longley, 1991; Chris Anstey, C.J. Bruton, Paul Rogers, Ben Pepper, 1997; David Anderson 2002; Andrew Bogut, 2005; and Brad Newley, 2007).

At 6’10” and 280 lbs, Nathan is known as “Baby Shaq” in Australia and is said to possess a massive wingspan of 7’5”.  Jawai is a powerful and explosive player. He runs the floor well and has nimble feet. Nathan is loaded with raw talent, but needs top tier coaching to become a true NBA player. In fact, even though Jawai was generally pegged to be selected in the second round, ESPN’s Chad Ford reported that he could potentially be selected in the late first round which speaks well of his potential.

According to a news report from down under, “Jim Kelly, who is the head scout for Toronto was in Cairns under last year to see Nathan play and we know that the Raptors are very impressed with Nathan," said Taipans coach Alan Black in a statement. "After talking with Nathan's agent he has been told by Toronto that they want Nathan to play with the club in the NBA next season, which is fantastic news.

"I'm stoked, I'm real happy at the moment," said Jawai in response to being drafted. He watched the draft in New York, but was not at Madison Square Garden. Instead he watched the draft on the big screen like the rest of us. "It was a bit funny because my name kind of got announced when we went to a commercial, so I was just sitting there and I was like 'whoops I just got picked'."

Last year, Jawai played for one of America’s top junior colleges - Midland Community College. However, he suffered a knee injury and decided to return home because he didn’t want to jeopardize his career without receiving proper rehab on his knee. While at Midland, he averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds on 49% shooting from the field in 14 games.
 
This season playing hoops in Australia, Jawai is averaged close to 18 points and 9 rebounds per game in 30 minutes. He shot 59% from the field. His NBL career high for points is 39, rebounds 24 and blocks is six.

In 2007-08, he was unanimously selected as the NBL Rookie of the Year and named MVP of the 2008 NBL All-Star Game after registering 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Jawai will have little or no pressure on him with the Raptors. On the "bigs" depth chart, he will be fifth - behind Bosh, O'Neal, Bargnani and Humphries. The hope is that with proper coaching, he can develop into a quality NBA center over time.

The other good news for the Raptors is that Ukic and Jawai make the roster younger - which I believe is needed. Plus, their contracts are reasonable by NBA standards. Ukic will likely sign a contract in the $1.5 million to $2 million per year range. While Nathan will be inking a deal which pays him around $700,000 annually, which is a bargain in today's NBA.

It is likely that Roko and Nathan will be part of the Raptors Summer League squad next month.

Watching both young players develop in Toronto is something that all Raptor fans will look forward to next season.