BOSTON

A week with a Hall of Famer sharing his knowledge of the game doesn’t come cheap.

For Raptors’ forward Rudy Gay and Austin Daye, who didn’t have to foot the bill, the experience was a once in a lifetime sort of thing.

At the request of the Raptors, both men along with some front office types and even assistant coach Nick Nurse spent portions of a week this summer with Hakeem (the Dream) Olajuwon picking his brain and learning and (for the players) mimicking the moves that made Olajuwon the Dream and generally just soaking up whatever they could from the man.

Reported estimates have the cost of Olajuwon’s expertise starting at $15,000 per week and rising to as much as $100,000 for a month-long tutorial.

Neither player was willing to provide any insight into just how much the Raptors paid.

“They told me to go,” Daye said of the Raptors. “I didn’t even know it was an option, but I do know how much it cost and I wasn’t going to pay it myself. I’m not going to say how much it was but it was enough for me not to pay it. But it was a great experience and I was really appreciative of the Raptors for having me do that.”

Gay was equally appreciative and having made a little more money in his career already than Daye, has admitted he would have dug into his own pocket for the experience if that was what it was going to take.

Gay has obviously worked out with specialists before, but nothing of this magnitude.

“The difference between that and Hakeem is that he’s a Hall of Famer and he’s putting in time to work with guys,” Gay said. “It’s not really a workout per se. It’s more like picking Hakeem’s brain. I just took it as knowledge and also stealing a bunch of his moves.”

Gay laughs after that last part like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but truth be told that’s not far from the way Gay felt for the duration of that week with the Dream.

While some have criticized Olajuwon for the money he charges, others have said he doesn’t necessarily tailor it to the individuals he’s working with.

Gay said that may be the case for others, but it wasn’t where he was concerned.

“Honestly it’s more tailored to people like me because Hakeem was a man before his time,” Gay said. “Look, the league has changed into big men that can run the floor, handle the ball and make moves like he did. He was before his time. Really to me, he was a guard. A guard who played against big men. Against David Robinson, he had him jump all over the place with his face. So you know I think it was tailored towards me anyway. Some people it would work for, some it wouldn’t.”

Head coach Dwane Casey said whatever the cost, it was worth it to him because Gay came away believing it helped him.

“For Austin it was kind of a new frontier because he’s not a post-up guy,” Casey said. “He’s more of a face-up guy, so trying to get used to that.

“With Rudy it was more footwork, enjoying the contact, feeling the contact and his footwork from that,” Casey said. “Balance and counters and all those things were stuff he was working on. The key thing is Rudy felt it really helped him.”

Daye said it’s impossible to take all of Olajuwon’s repertoire and make it work for you, but he got a few moves he’s confident he can use down the road.

“There is one move that I really love that I know I’m going to use in all types of my game and other moves I can use on the block,” Daye said. “Of course he is who he is because not everyone can do his moves and especially not everyone has his build, his length, his athleticism. Certain moves are made for certain people.”

Gay certainly didn’t come away empty-handed from the experience but he’s saying it’s a little too early for him to be breaking one of Hakeem’s moves out in a game.

“It takes a little time to get comfortable with some of the moves, but the funny thing is that stuff came natural to me,” Gay said. “For me I have to get out there and do it, mess up a couple of times before it will actually work.”

BARGNANI COULD START FOR KNICKS

BOSTON — Former Raptors big man Andrea Bargnani is in the mix in New York to start for the Knicks this year.

That’s the word out of Knicks camp where Bargnani has been running with the first team with Carmelo Anthony moving back to small forward, Bargnani coming in at power forward and Tyson Chandler locking down the middle.

Head coach Mike Woodson was making no commitment to it, but he has reportedly liked what he has seen with that trio starting.

Anthony says it doesn’t matter to him.

“For the most part, (Bargnani’s) actually a smart player, he can play off people,” Anthony told Long Island Newsday. “The way we play, we space the court, so a lot of time all the attention is on me, he can just space out, he can do what he has to do. This week, I saw from him, the game has been much easier for him. He don’t have to try to force anything and do what he’s not used to doing out of his comfort zone.”

If there is caution with this moving forward, it revolves around what Bargnani would do to the defensive culture in New York.

“He’s capable of putting the ball down on the floor and making plays,” Woodson told Newsday. “He brings a lot from an offensive standpoint. I just got to get him up to date from a defensive standpoint and stay out of the way offensively. I’ve got to still feed him and let him do his thing out there.”