During the 2003 NBA entry drafts, the Raptors had the 52nd pick overall and Carl English from Patrick's Cove, Newfoundland was available. I thought it was a no-brainer. Glen Grunwald disagreed and decided to go with Remon Van de Hare instead. If you haven't heard of Remon Van de Hare, you're not alone. He was a grade-A bust.
Last night, after ordering Italian, the Raptors had the 35th pick and Toronto native Denham Brown was still available. Some projected Brown would go even higher, and he definitely wanted to play in his home town. Without a doubt, Raptor fans wanted him here. Once again, faced with a no-brainer, the Raptors went with North Carolina native P.J. Tucker.
Bryan Colangelo will suggest it wouldn't have been good for Brown to play in Toronto, he'd have too much pressure here. Brown's mother will tell you he has too many friends here and it's better for him to get away. I say if you have the chance to draft a home town boy at a point in the draft when it makes sense, you do it. The Raptors have never drafted a Canadian.
Brown ended up going to Seattle only five picks later. It would have been sweet to watch the 6-foot-5 shooting guard who grew up near Jane and Finch try and make the Raptors this season. I know 4,558,800 who would have been rooting for him.
