The 2010 NBA Summer Leagues in Orlando and Las Vegas have come to an end and, with an unbeaten 5-0 record, it appears that the future looks bright for the Toronto Raptors in terms of rookie and slightly more tested players.

Chief among those to make an impression was DeMar DeRozan, who is going to be counted on to play a big role with the Raptors in the big leagues this coming season after the trade of Hedo Turkoglu to the Phoenix Suns.

DeRozan was the third highest scorer in Las Vegas, going off for 21 points a game in his four outings to trail only Reggie Williams of the Golden State Warriors and the much-hyped 2010 NBA Draft No 1 pick John Wall, who led all scorers and showed off the skills fans in Washington will surely enjoy this coming season.

But for NBA Betting purposes, DeRozan started to show the skills we hoped he might have when he was taken in the opening round of the first round in 2009, and hopefully the kind of balanced offense-defense game we will need in the absence of Chris Bosh.

He was perhaps over-exposed in his rookie season, although on occasion he looked excellent in defense on a team that lacked that elsewhere, but 2010 is the time we will need him to start shining.

The failure of the trade with Charlotte that would have brought in Boris Diaw means an opening night at SF seems likely for DeRozan, although maybe he will be the only member of the Summer League team to have a chance of starting any time soon.

But that is not to say there were not other players who made an impression since Joey Dorsey, for the second year running, Sonny Weems, Ed Davis and Bobby Brown all had their moments in the Nevada desert.

It was fairly obvious to those who make NBA match betting predictions that Davis still has a lot of growing to do into his frame, but 12.6 points per game on 63% (mostly easy) shooting and 1.8 blocks per game all give hope for the long-term future – once he fills out, then our 2010 first-rounder could be golden.

Dorsey was second in the league in rebounding, albeit at lower numbers than last season with Houston, and Weems continued to show the sharp-shooting he used to such effect towards the end of the NBA season.

Brown, who would need to be signed, put himself in the shop window for a contract with a couple of excellent performances and there was also enough of the Solomon Alabi project on show to give hope that, some way down the line, he will be contending for minutes in the Raptors frontcourt.

By Andy Charles

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