The Bottom Line

Great post! I posted the same thought process on the boards of a different website. Didn't get much back but posted just the same. It really does beg the question - what kind of team does the drafting of Aldridge make the raps? Bargnani? etc.

IF (and it is a big IF) Bargnani can play some post and some defense then having Bargnani play 3/4/5, Bosh play 4/5 and Villenueva play 3/4 works EXCEPT for the fact that small ball is defined by the fast, skilled movement of ball by a floor general like Nash (or Paul or Cassells). Without that player small ball tends not to work. Good luck to BC finding one of those.

Aldridge is basically a good, athletic 5 who has some offense in his game. But does that make the team a classic post team? Do we emulate the heat or the Spurs (I would figure closer to the Spurs)?

Thomas is a pure defensive play. IF he is a starter then we start to look like the Pistons. IF not a starter, i.e. he becomes a great 'defense-first' 6th man, then all options are still wide open.

VERY interesting issues here.

Don't diss Kelly Gruber.

Raps suck.

did you really just crack open the door to the possibility of bosh being a possible trade option? wow. I don't think it's any word of a lie to say that for the last 3 days I've woken up and, after reading a bunch of different articles and blogs, have been convinced of something completely different than just the day before. sometimes even within just a few hours. it's going to be a crazy month.

I agree it's speculation. But let's look again at the Phoenix franchise once again and it may provide further indication as to what Colangelo will do. After their failed attempt last year against San Antonio, the Suns and BC went out and got Kurt Thomas and Brian Grant. The thinking was that Amare would be able to move back to his natural 4 and Marion the 3. No one with an honest bone in their body would have predicted Diaw's breakout year and he's changed the entire way the Suns will proceed in the future. What I did see was Diaw being thoroughly outmatched inside by Kaman, Brand, and even Kwame Brown. Had the Suns been facing Duncan and the Spurs this Series, I'm pretty sure Diaw would be under-performing again. And please note that the Suns were still playing very well when Thomas was their regular 5.

What's my point? BC knew he had a superstar in Amare and got him the tough, defensive-minded 5 to play alongside him. BC has said that he needs interior presence and a PG this summer. Nobody in the top of the draft, outside of maybe Tyrus Thomas, helps us. If we don't draft him, I am pretty sure BC makes the move to get us someone like him.

Interesting post with some great questions. I don't know if Colangelo knows if all the pieces we currently have "fit". But, I think I would take Colangelo's comment about "amassing talent" at face value. More than anything else, I suspect that Colangelo is trying to get some pieces together to see if the players can work together and also whether we have the right coach for the pieces (i.e., Mitchell). This team isn't good enough to worry about whether or not we get the right guy because we have so many holes to fill. Even if we pick Bargnani, I would expect that a trade would follow - who would go? Your guess is as good as mine.

Great post - keep up the great work.

so your telling me colangelo doesn't have a FEEL for this team because he only watched them for three months after he was hired..... so u don't think he has reviewed the tapes of games from the beginning of the season when more players were healthy(bosh & calderon)....what the raptors don't have that technology?....come on think before u post - colangelo's watched every game from last season ... and that frontline would be unguardable (bosh cv bargnani)... as long as they get bosh signed long term this summer they don't need to win next year so they'll have time to find that small ball point

YKOil:

Are you a Yellowknifer?

a fan - No, solid point about the technology...I'm assuming he's watched lots of tape but ask any scout and they'll tell you it's not the same as watching a team and being around them in person...I guess that's what I was referring to. Seeing a player vs. watching footage also probably explains the Denver Nuggets and the Skita affair but I digress...

In addition, I'm just not sure a Bosh, CV, Bargnani frontcourt is necessarily unguardable until:

a) We see that Bargnani is not Radmonovic part II (remember, we've yet to see him play an NBA game)
b) We know that all three of them can play together effectively
c) We see whether any of them besides Bosh actually plays in the frontline to be significant rebounders or shot blockers...because if they don't, not sure it matters if they can't be guarded and not sure how it solves any of our team's current problems...

But I do agree that they don't need to win next year and it's just good to get things going in a positive direction...

Interesting article. I've often wondered what we could get for Bosh...but then I realize he just brings so much more to the organization than the mere stats. He is a competitor, a guy who leads by example, someone who wants to be here, someone you'll never have any crap out of. Above and beyond his immense talent, just too hard to replace these intangibles (especially in the wake of the Wince nightmare). Bosh needs to stay...you adapt your style to what will work with him.

However, your point about mirroring the team on the Suns model is interesting. But of course what makes that team work is Nash. What other point guards in the league like him are there? Even fewer who might be conceivably available.

With this in mind, I think the guy the Raps should target this off-season is TJ Ford. Undersized, not the outside shooter Nash is...but has the potential to control tempo and push the ball in a way that would play into our strengths. I see a trade for Ford and Magloire in the future (if only in my dreams!).

is tj ford unrestricted and if so sign asap!

I am amazed at how many options the raps now have. Beats the hell out of tryng to fill 3 needs with the 5mil exemption. When I start to look at the simplest, most reasonable thing to do, I take Aldridrge and keep him. I still sign Pryz to be the banger inside, Probaby start him for a year or two until LA takes the job from him. Suddenly the raps look like a huge team. Mo pete is freed up for 3's and maybe a safe, veteran point that can shoot a three while Calderon and Ukic develop. You know Mike James actually fills that roll quite well, if he doesn't pass it in to the bigs, hook him and put in Calderon. For years the raps talked about the stability they needed, even when they had no options. Maybe now that they do have options, maybe they should choose some stablity.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them figure out a way to trade for Brevin Knight. However, if all this team does over the off season, is add Aldridge and Pryz and resign James, I am pretty happy. The raps will fly up and down the court with A B C (Aldridge Bosh and Charlie) and be a fun team to watch. SOunds too safe to just do that, but I think it improves us considerably and leaves us some cap flexibilty. It is a blast reading everyone's armchair GM predictions, but I figure even the dullest of offseasons still is looking pretty good right now.

Trade Bosh? No bloody way. It won't happen in this rebuilding cycle. To suggest that BC is projecting out anyone in this year's draft to potentially replace Bosh is not just innocent speculation, it's bonafide crazy-talk my friends. They want to lock his butt up and make a serious 5-6 year run.

And I'm not sold on Bargnani as the top pick and neither, I hope, are the Raps. My hope is pinned to the trade-pick-for-lower-pick+veteran scenario. Ideally you snag a PG as part of the trade so you don't have to rely on Calderon or a rookie. If no suitable PG presents himself through trade you might try and trade the pick for a veteran big and look to draft Marcus Williams. If a deal like this can't be put together you then have to look at Aldridge â€" a guy who can run well enough, but can more importantly board and play post defense.

This team won't be a mirror image of the Suns, but I bet that when all is said and done it will look a lot more like the Suns than it does the Spurs.

Ford and Magloire for Joey Graham and the 1st rounder.

DONE! (Ha, yah right).

Nice ideas Spanky. I'd like to see the Canadian boy back in town for the right price. I'm not totally sold on Ford (a little fragile perhaps), but he'd be a solid addition too.

I agree Bosh is just to valuable from an intangibles point of view. When Phil Jackson starts talking about you as a player two years before you're a free agent and risks tampering fines, you know he's worth keeping.

Franchise, very much enjoyed reading your article. There is really SO much speculation, and I must say the #1 has made the off-season even more exciting than I thought it would be. We'll have to see what BC's got going, but it's a great start after the doom and gloom having followed the club since the VC trade (and perhaps before that as well).

Aldridge played some 5 at Texas, but you're kidding yourself if you think that he is a viable NBA center. For starters, he got absolutely manhandled in the post by 6'8 Glen Davis in the Elite 8. I like LA as a prospect, and I think that he has tremendous potential, but he won't be a full-time NBA 5 without adding 20+ lbs of muscle (could happen, but unlikely) and changing his mental approach (won't happen). Aldridge is a 4, and a finesse 4 at that. Yes, he has some nice back to the basket moves, but I have a hard time seeing how he'll get them off when he'll be pushed out halfway to the three point line as soon as he tries to post up an NBA 5. I don't see why drafting him makes any more or less sense than drafting Bargnani.

I think the Raps will be well off with Aldridge, but for the same reason that I think they'll be well off with Bargnani -- that a Charlie-Bosh-Aldridge/Bargnani frontcourt is a matchup nightmare day in, day out. If you're banking on LA to fill the Raps' need for an interior presence

Since we're all speculating, I was wondering if anyone thinks that we could make a deal with the Grizzlies. Specifically, I was thinking about acquiring Shane Battier. He would help toughen up our team with some needed rebounding and play some defence.

How about something like Battier and Stoudamire for something like Villaneuva and Alvin Williams and maybe our trade exemption (from the Aaron Williams trade)? I can see why Toronto might make this deal because we'd get some toughness and a point guard (remember Mighty Mouse?) plus whatever we do with our #1 draft pick (either Aldridge or Bargnani - or a trade down). I'm just trying to see if this type of deal would make any sense to the Grizzlies. I think they'd like Charlie V, an expiring contract in Alvin Williams, and the trade exemption that lowers their total salaries to give them some room to make some deals. Unfortunately, now that I'm actually writing this scenario out, I'm not sure that the Grizz would go for this deal because we just don't have very many tradeable assets. Other than Bosh or Villaneuva, and maybe Mo'Pete, there really isn't anyone on our roster that people want. The only thing that seems to be in our favour is a bunch of expiring contracts this year and next.

Gotta admit that thinking up different scenarios is much more fun than thinking about the past two seasons.

I'm all for picking the best player in the draft, and if Bargnani truly is that, so be it. But from what I saw in the tournament, Tyrus Thomas is the guy. Furthermore, his strengths - tenacity, rebounding, shot-blocking and athleticism - are exactly what the Raptors need.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that the Raptors are apparently hot to trot over Marcus Williams. If true, this would show Colangelo to be very shrewd. Williams is easily the best pure point in the draft and he absolutely carried UConn as far as they did. Without him, they might have lost in the first round. And Colangelo seems to like having a bona fide point guard running the show, which might explain why he dumped Stephon Marbury for picks and then deftly signed Steve Nash.

Great Article..

1) Draft Tyrus Thomas.. he turns into our version of Shawn Marion

2) Trade Charlie, Joey and a future #1 to NO for their two picks..Take a big maybe Shelden Williams Simmons, Obryant, and either JJ Redick or Ronnie Brewer

3) With the 35th pick draft Juan Jose Barrera and with the 56 take Ryan Hollins

We can sign a PG, maybe jason terry type, and run all day

1. Terry/Barrera/Calderon
2. Mo Pete/ Brewer or Redick
3. Thomas
4. Bosh/Bonner
5. Williams (or whoever the big is)/Hollins/ Sow