Grizzlies, Raptors Begin Nba Foundations

The Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors picked through the NBA’s castoffs Saturday and began building their teams with a couple of point guards.

Toronto used the first pick to get the prize of the expansion draft, Chicago guard B.J. Armstrong, and Vancouver plucked New York’s Greg Anthony with the second pick.

The dilemma for Raptors vice president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas is whether to keep Armstrong, a solid veteran with championship experience and a sparkling image, or swap him. The Washington Bullets and Charlotte Hornets are interested, and the Bullets own the fourth pick in next week’s college draft.

The Raptors have the seventh pick in the draft, picking right after Vancouver.

Thomas said Armstrong may be too valuable to trade.

“He’s everything we’d like for our organization to represent,” Thomas said. “He represents and brings a championship aura.

“There’s no dilemma. I know there’s a lot of interest in B.J. Armstrong. However, from what I know, when people are that interested in something you have, maybe you need to take a closer look.”

In Anthony, the Grizzlies have a player with potential but who has been a career reserve. Last season, he averaged more than 15 minutes a game in 61 games, shooting 44 percent and producing 6.1 points a game.

Among the better-known players selected by Vancouver were Indiana guard Byron Scott, Cleveland guard Gerald Wilkins and New Jersey center Benoit Benjamin. The Grizzlies also took the Magic’s Rodney Dent after Orlando packaged him with a 1996 second-round draft pick.

Benjamin not only will make $3.5 million next season, but has a reputation as a loafer prone to nagging injuries.

Stu Jackson, the Grizzlies’ general manager, went into the draft wanting to avoid such high-priced veterans and thought he largely succeeded.

“We feel very comfortable with the contracts, which is obviously a factor in the expansion draft selection,” he said.

In addition to taking some young players like Tony Massenburg and Dontonio Wingfield, the Raptors selected veterans Willie Anderson, Jerome Kersey and John Salley, a teammate of Thomas with the Pistons’ 1989 and 1990 championship teams.

One of the projects the Raptors took on was Detroit’s Oliver Miller, whose weight problems have overshadowed his skills. Several attempts at counseling and special diets haven’t helped him slim down.