A $24-million bench-warmer

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – A $24-million bench-warmer
Raptors coach Sam Mitchell went on the defensive yesterday when asked if he would be disappointed if Kapono, the club’s most expensive, most heralded, off-season signing, did not turn out to be a regular starter at the small forward position — the lone starting spot still up for grabs.

Mitchell has said the last couple of days that Kapono may not be his starter at the three spot, that the job may go to another newcomer, Carlos Delfino, or the wildly inconsistent Joey Graham, or even to Jorge Garbajosa, whom Mitchell would prefer to play at power forward.

Raptors, Celtics put on more than just an exhibition game

globesports.com: Raptors, Celtics put on more than just an exhibition game
But where the Raptors’ visions of defending their Atlantic Division title looked most promising was when the second units were on the floor.

The Raptors put out Jose Calderon, Carlos Delfino, Joey Graham, Jorge Garbajosa and Rasho Nesterovic and benefitted against a Boston group that was still learning each other’s names.

“You pretty much know what Rasho and Garbo and Jose and those guys are going to give you,” said head coach Sam Mitchell. “I think we went up 10 or 12 with that group.”

Toronto pushed it’s advantage to 37-27 on the strength of a Delfino triple, but as the Celtics went back to their stars — all three played at least 19:30 in the first half, reflecting perhaps Boston’s desire to get them acclimated as quickly as possible — they managed to take a 43-40 lead into the half.

Graham says this will be his big year

TheStar.com | Sports | Graham says this will be his big year
But there will come a time when Mitchell will have to avert his eyes when Graham’s on the court, and that’s been the story of the two-year career for the mercurial swingman.

“If you can figure it out, I’m going to tell you to resign and I will double your salary to sit behind the bench,” Mitchell told a reporter who wondered what it would take to get Graham to be consistently good instead of maddeningly inconsistent.

“And your whole thing would be, get Joey ready every game. I would double it, I’d triple it because I would make so much money when we win.

“There’s just things he can do physically that not a lot of guys in the NBA can’t do. Hopefully, this being his third year, that light came on. We’re hoping.”

Graham says his time has come

globesports.com: Graham says his time has come
He played down his dunk on Bosh, but wasn’t shy about his hopes for the coming season.

“I owed him one, because in practice he’s got me many times,” Graham said. “So why not do it here? [But] I feel good. I’ve been working hard this whole summer, I didn’t take any time off. This is my year, it’s my coming-out party year, so I got to do it. Usually, it takes guys two or three years. If they haven’t established themselves by that moment, they move on. This is my year where I determine if I’m going to have longevity or whatever.”