About the only positive development for Canadian basketball after the Toronto Raptors' disappointing showing at Thursday night's draft lottery is that fans in Newfoundland will be among the first to see LeBron James in action as a National Basketball Association professional.

The Cleveland Cavaliers emerged as the big winners for positioning in the NBA draft on June 26, earning the No. 1 selection. The Cavaliers have made no secret that they will take James, the 18-year-old Ohio high school basketball star who has already signed a $90-million (U.S.) endorsement deal with Nike.

The Raptors, who came into the lottery with high hopes of snagging one of the top three draft positions, ended with No. 4 behind the Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons at No. 2 and the Denver Nuggets at No. 3.

While the Raptors saw their hopes of drafting James vanish with the drop of the lottery ping-pong balls at NBA Entertainment headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., they will have one of the first opportunities to gauge if the 6-foot-8 multimillionaire will live up to all the hype.