The day after his humiliating draft experience was played out on televisions and in newspapers across Canada, Carl English finally managed to drum up some interest in the National Basketball Association.

After being snubbed through the two rounds of the draft on Thursday night, the 22-year-old from tiny Patrick's Cove, Nfld., was contacted by several NBA teams yesterday inquiring about his future plans.

Harold Cipin, English's Toronto-based agent, said that he had been in touch with a number of NBA teams who were inquiring about his client's availability to participate on their summer league teams. Cipin refused to identify the NBA teams he had spoken to about English.

"He is a free agent now, he can pick and choose who he wants to talk with and negotiate with," Cipin said yesterday in an interview. "He's in a better bargaining position at this point in time."

A strong showing in a summer league for an NBA team could lead to a training camp tryout and a chance to make an NBA roster for the coming season. All that English is looking for now is a chance.

It's not going to take long for Chris Bosh to show his Raptor teammates what he can do on the court.

The teenage draft pick is expected in Bradenton, Fla., on Monday to join a group of Raptors ? including Vince Carter ? at an informal training session.

He should make his playing debut about a week later with Toronto's entry in the Los Angeles summer league.

"The sooner the better," coach Kevin O'Neill said of Bosh's indoctrination.

And with the No. 4 pick in Thursday's NBA draft on the roster, there will be some extra attention paid to Toronto's summer league team.

But Bosh certainly won't be the only player O'Neill wants to see play.

The water bottles were sweating and so was the press. It wasn't a good start for Chris Bosh. Keeping the media waiting in a sweltering gym on your first day in town isn't generally a wise idea.

But the Raptors' first-round draft pick defused the situation when he sat down at the podium, smiled shyly and apologized.

"You'll have to excuse me," said Bosh, clad in a pair of black tearaways and a Raptors golf shirt, flanked by nattily attired general manager Glen Grunwald and coach Kevin O'Neill.

"I was held up at the airport, so I'm not as flashy as these guys."

Flashy fades, politeness stays. It's a value that's been drilled into the 19-year-old by his parents. His dad, Noel, sat quietly to one side with the rest of the family as his oldest son began his professional basketball career in the glare of the cameras.

Just because the Raptors kept their top draft pick doesn't mean a cavalcade of trades isn't on the way.

The Raptors still had numerous irons in the fire regarding players on their existing roster as the NBA draft continued last night. If they didn't pull off any deals in the wee hours this morning, you can bet they will in the coming days, weeks and months.

At the most basic level, Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald did the right thing by hanging on to the No. 4 pick in the draft and selecting 6-foot-11 forward Chris Bosh from Georgia Tech. Bosh has a lot of potential and if the Raptors are serious about improving long-term, then they should buckle down and develop an intriguing athlete like Bosh. Theoretically, that's what good teams do.

But now the fun really begins for Grunwald, who is trying to accomplish the dual task of securing the Raptors' future (by drafting Bosh) and shaking up his roster for next season (by pondering trades for everyone other than Vince Carter).

"There are basically four different ways we can improve our team," Grunwald said last night. "No. 1, our existing players get healthy and get better, and we're working very hard to achieve that. No. 2, there's the draft. No. 3, there's free agency. And No. 4, there are trades.

"We feel (drafting Bosh) addressed one of our greatest needs, since we had only three big guys under contract for next season. We feel we're still two big players short. But some other things will happen."

Kevin O'Neill took over as Raptors head coach last Wednesday and already he has taken charge.

Some subtle and not-so subtle changes have been initiated, in other cases contemplated, by O'Neill, who is intent on bringing accountability to a franchise that became too soft over the past two years.

It's hardly revolutionary for a new coach to bring in his own people and embrace a new approach, but O'Neill is leaving his imprint all over the club's structure.

Gone is video co-ordinator Danny Aning, replaced by Ron Oliver, who worked with O'Neill in Detroit. O'Neill revealed last night that Oliver also will serve as an assistant coach.

O'Neill, it's believed, would like to make sweeping changes beyond the coaching staff but can't because of current contractual obligations to certain Raptors officials.

He has drawn comparisons with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett for his ability to handle the ball, step out on the perimeter and knock down shots.

Physically, he bears a resemblance to Keon Clark.

Chris Bosh, who yesterday was taken by the Raptors with the fourth overall pick, will not be asked to make an immediate impact on a team full of question marks, but his potential proved too attractive to pass up.

With the top three picks in this year's draft decided weeks ago -- as expected LeBron James went to Cleveland No. 1, Detroit took Darko Milicic with No. 2, and Carmelo Anthony went third to Denver -- who would go fourth has been one of the most intriguing storylines heading into the draft.

Resisting trade overtures and the possibility of moving down in the draft order, general manager Glen Grunwald woke up yesterday and decided to select Bosh.

The logic of the move suddenly became readily apparent to Glen Grunwald and a difficult decision was made oh, so easy.

The Raptors general manager was up early yesterday morning, jotting down some of the lists that NBA GMs make this time of year and saw only three big men under contract for next season.

And that's when Chris Bosh became a Toronto Raptor.

Filling a glaring need and drafting a teenager who scouts say has outstanding potential, Grunwald took Bosh with the No.4 selection in the NBA draft last night, eschewing trades and the lure of a 5-foot-11 point guard.

"It was pretty clear we needed to go big, given our roster," Grunwald said after taking the 6-foot-11, 210-pound Georgia Tech freshman. "To get a talented big guy like this in the draft is a difficult thing to do."

On a night when the coronation of high school phenom LeBron James became official, the Toronto Raptors ignored the temptation of a trade and selected wispy forward Chris Bosh with the fourth pick of the National Basketball Association draft.

The 6-foot-10 Bosh is listed at 210 pounds. He was an early entry candidate for the draft after one season at Georgia Tech. The 19-year-old Bosh started all 31 games and led the Yellow Jackets in scoring (15.6 points a game), rebounding (9.0), blocked shots (2.2) and shooting (56 per cent).

In the days leading up to last night's draft, which was held in New York at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, the Raptors entertained a number of trade offers from other teams interested in the pick.

But what was being offered in return didn't grab Glen Grunwald, Toronto's senior vice-president and general manager. Last year, Toronto stumbled to a 24-58 record, third worst overall in the NBA.

"I definitely considered trading this pick because I thought we could move back a few spots and still accomplish a lot of the same things," Grunwald said last night. "I thought there were a few players in the draft who could really help us. And I thought that maybe we could add another piece to our team.

"But I wasn't really interested in trading back into the late lottery [picks] or out of the lottery."

There will be two NBA drafts tonight.

The first begins at 7:35 when, at New York's Madison Square Garden, in front of ESPN's cameras, Commissioner David Stern welcomes LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Shortly thereafter, Darko Milicic will be welcomed to the Detroit Pistons and Carmelo Anthony to the Denver Nuggets.

Then, at 7:50, when the fourth pick is to be announced, the real intrigue will begin.

That moment will belong to the Toronto Raptors, whose decision will directly impact the No. 5 selection the Heat is scheduled to make at 7:55 p.m.

The player on the spot figures to be Georgia Tech's Chris Bosh, a lithe power forward lavishly praised by league executives and coveted by the Heat.

On the eve of the NBA draft, former Texas point guard T.J. Ford said that he has a verbal agreement to represent adidas. The more murky and pressing issue: Who's going to draft him?

The scenarios turned more intriguing Wednesday when Ford participated in what amounted to an 11th-hour workout for the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks have the No. 9 pick. Wednesday's workout indicates that they believe they can move up, or feel that Ford could fall to No. 9.

The latter possibility seems doubtful since Ford has worked out for Toronto (which has the fourth pick), Miami (No. 5), Chicago (No. 7) and Milwaukee (No. 8).

Also, new Raptors coach Kevin O'Neill acknowledges that the team is mulling offers for the No. 4 pick, although Toronto and New York officials denied rumors that they have discussed a trade involving Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell.

If Toronto keeps the pick, it is expected to select Lincoln product Chris Bosh.