There were many who wanted Juan Mendez to be the first Canadian ever drafted by the Toronto Raptors, however, it was widely known that the forward from Niagara might not have the full skill-set to compete in the league.  This did not stop the Raptors from making Mendez an offer to play in their summer league to which Mendez declined, opting to play for the Miami Heat.

Mendez's agent, Merle Scott, told The Associated Press. "We appreciate their interest and consideration," Scott said, referring to the Raptors. "But Juan's going to accept the Miami Heat invitation."

Miami Heat general manager is happy to have Mendez on the summer squad.

"If we got him, that's great," Pfund said. "That kid can play basketball. If he doesn't make it in this league, he'll make a whole lot of money playing in Europe or someplace else."

Gary Payton, along with Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey, are due to appear in a Canadian court on Monday to face assault charges stemming from an incident outside a Toronto strip club, according to court documents obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in April 2003 after a Bucks/Raptors game with Payton being charged with one count of aggravated assault causing bodily harm and two counts of simple assault.

Cassell, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is charged with two counts of simple assault, while Caffey, a free agent, faces one count of simple assault.

According to a source close to the team, the Raptors attempted to trade down in the draft where they could still have obtained Charlie Villanueva, but there was little interest in their position at No. 7, mainly because the picks in the teens had so many high quality players.

Villanueva said he was surprised he was taken so high.

"It definitely feels good to be the seventh pick, Toronto definitely saw something in me and they believed in me," he said. "All my life there's been people doubting me. One thing about me and that's I always believed in myself and I know what I'm capable of doing.

"All my hard work paid off."

Babcock said he only made his decision to take Villanueva on Monday.

"He can play the four spot and the five spot," Babcock said. "He runs the floor very well, he can go outside and shoot the ball and he can put it on the floor and take it to the hole. He can post up and he passes the ball very, very well. He's a good rebounder and he's an improving player and he's only 20 years old."

The Bobcats are one team that have reportedly pulled back from trade talks where they?d move up and are looking to move down and that is because the value of the 13th spot has increased so significantly over the last week.

They think that there is so much value to be had in this area of the draft, and a source informed RealGM's Christopher Reina late on Monday that the Bobcats are discussing a deal with Toronto for the 7th and 16th picks.

Toronto?s guy is Danny Granger and they know Utah will not select him, regardless of who they?re drafting for, so the 16th pick is being considered as an insurance policy on getting him, similar to when the Raptors baited the Warriors into the Vince Carter-Antawn Jamison trade. If they don?t do the trade and Granger is drafted by the Bobcats at five, then they will be forced to select either Gerald Green or Martell Webster, both of whom interest the Hornets and could be used later this summer if they should strike a Jamaal Magloire deal.

These draft picks have just become too valuable for team?s with multiple selections to relinquish them so freely and that is because Andrew Bynum, Channing Frye and Hakim Warrick are now virtual locks to be drafted before the second turn of the night comes around for teams like the Bobcats and Raptors and these are three players they expected to be behind them. The result of this is of course a significant displacement of several players that they have considered at number five, most notably, Raymond Felton.

A league executive told Reina on Monday that the Bobcats are prepared to trade down from 13 if Raymond Felton is off the board.

In a move that surprises none, the Toronto Raptors exercised their contract option on forward Chris Bosh.  The option will kept Bosh in Toronto through the 2006-07 season.

''Chris showed tremendous development both as a player and a leader last season,'' Raptors general manager Rob Babcock said Monday in a release. ''He has proven to be a key performer for us and we look forward to even bigger things from him in years to come.''

Last season Bosh averaged 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds and has been the constant focus in the Raptors plans to rebuild.

With two days remaining before Tuesday's NBA draft, the Hornets are involved in trade discussions with the Toronto Raptors to get two first-round picks, according to league sources Saturday night.

The possible deal would involve the Hornets trading center Jamaal Magloire to Toronto for the Raptors' picks at Nos. 7 and 16. No other players have been mentioned in the trade discussions, sources said.

If the deal is made, the Hornets would have three picks in the first round.

It could be a struggle for the Hornets next month to land a high-profile free agent, so it appears they want to build through the draft to get a much-needed small forward or power forward in addition to selecting a point guard with their No. 4 pick.

League sources said the Hornets want the deal, but Toronto is somewhat hesitant about having to give up both of its first-round picks. There is a chance the Raptors could be more willing to give up their No. 7 pick and offer one of their current players as part of the deal.

Hornets general manager Allan Bristow and Toronto general manager Rob Babcock could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Raptors general manager Rob Babcock may be the busiest GM on draft night, as he weighs several trade possibilities.

"We're looking at several high school players," he said. "You have to weigh their talent level now and what they might become ... against someone else. Those are all part of the things you look at."

The most highly touted high school player ? Houston's Gerald Green ? worked out in Toronto yesterday, although the Raptors didn't get a complete look at his skills. On the advice of his agent, the 6-foot-8 guard-forward refused to work out against any other players and planned to do only individual drills.

"You'd rather evaluate him against other guys, but they have their reasons," said Babcock.

One of the more intriguing trade possibilities involves the New York Knicks.

The Knicks covet Arizona centre Channing Frye with the No.8 pick and Frye has refused to even work out for the Raptors and several other teams.

"It doesn't mean we can't take him," Babcock said of the 7-foot Frye. "We've evaluated him a ton."

It opens the possibility that Babcock could take Frye at seven, deal him to New York along with another Raptor or two with bad contracts in return for whoever the Knicks take at No.8 and an expiring contract or two.

"There's a lot of chess match-like stuff you have to look for," said Babcock. "Who's bluffing, who's really thinking what."

Another rumour rumbling around the NBA final was that the Los Angeles Lakers, looking to move up, were offering No.10 and a package of suspect players for No.7 and Jalen Rose.

"We've made some calls, we've received some calls," said Babcock.

According to a number of NBA sources, Danny Granger had an outstanding workout this past week in Toronto and could be their top available player on the board when the number seven pick rolls around on draft night.

With the #4 for #6 trade DraftExpress reported earlier between Utah and New Orleans off the table right now (New Orleans is beginning to realize what an excellent spot they are in at the moment), Granger would indeed be there at 7 as long as things go as expected with Green or Paul going 3rd or 5th, Deron Williams going 4th and Utah standing pat and taking Raymond Felton. Granger fits in perfectly with what the Raptors are looking to accomplish in terms of his style of play and character, with the fact that he was absolutely lights out from behind the arc being icing on the cake as far as Toronto is concerned.

The feeling appears to be mutual. Sources close to Granger have indicated that Toronto was indeed his favorite city on his workout schedule so far, going as far as to say that Danny expressed that he loved everything about his trip to Canada; including the coaching staff, front office, and just the organization in general.