Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game – Playing the Hand You’re Dealt

tough to compete when the Pistons bench is better than the Raps starting line up. Still think Bosh is the trade for value players TO should make. They probably can't resign Him anyways.

Please let us deal for marion...pleasee...for thsi seasons sake and for next, having that money in the off season to get sombody this summer... forget signing anybody in 2010..

A Case For the Opposition

Can someone help me understand the O’Neal trade? This has been brewing slowly for a while and now with reports that the teams have exchanged medical records, it appears to have "done deal" written all over it. But I fail to grasp the rational. I’m hoping someone here can clarify.

Our current predicament is not very good. Assuming you need to get to 500 to get into the playoffs, that would mean that we would need a winning percentage of .658 over the next 38 games. Just to put that in perspective, this would mean that we would have to win at a higher winning percentage than we’ve had in any past season (our best was .573 in both 2000-2001 and 2006-2007). Our current playoff odds as per Hollinger are 15.6%. Is there anyone out there (once the homer hat has been removed) that truly believes that this is achievable? Yes we are only a few games out of 8th, but there are many teams for us to hurdle and this is very difficult to do. Is Marion going to make that much of a difference? I don’t think so. I don’t think BC thinks so either.

So what this comes down to is the following: 1) trade O’Neal for some cap space this summer or 2) keep O’Neal for some cap space in 2010. Please note that neither of the two available options paves a path into the 2009 playoffs so we have to remove that distraction from the current discussion to focus on the real issue at hand.

Option #1: Trading O’Neal for Marion does give us cap space this summer to go out and get someone. But who? Here is a list of available free agents: Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace, Andre Miller, Lamar Odom, Richard Hamilton – ETO, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur – ETO, Kyle Korver, Wally Szczerbiak, Drew Gooden, Anthony Parker, Chris Wilcox, Marvin Williams – restricted. From this list, AI will not be a good fit, Marion is only a rental and will not resign, Artest would never move to Canada, Wallace does not play the 2/3, Hamilton may or MAY NOT exercise his early termination option. Bottom line, this is not the year to have cap space. Filling up the roster with Trevor Ariza’s of the world is not the missing piece we need to get to the top of the East.

We must also not overlook the long term cost of this trade. Having Banks on our books with his $10M over the following 2 years brings back flashbacks to Yogi and Murray taking up bench and cap space for what seemed to be far too many years. You can’t have useless junk on your cap if you are trying to make it to the top.

Lastly, I’m not in the "We’re not worthy, Bosh is going to leave us" camp. However, if you are, and I know many of you are, wouldn’t this trade in effect mean we have traded Bosh. Moving O’Neal to Miami gets Miami more competitive (attractive) and gives them the cap room they desperately want in order to be able to steal Bosh. It’s not a secret that they covet Bosh. Why would we play along and in effect help them take our best player?

Option #2: I like to refer to this as plan A. This is what O’Neal was brought in for. His contract expires at exactly the time everyone wants to have cap space. I don’t know if everyone has seen the list of 2010 FA, the headlines only talk about the big 3, but there are many impressive names that could conceivably come here and make a huge difference. Names like Prince, Josh Howard, J.R. Smith, Thornton, Gasol, CDR (that one is for you Franchise!), Stoudemire, Nash, Richardson, Salmons, Kirilenko, Butler, Thaddeus Young and Hamilton to name a few. We may conceivably get a couple of these players with the amount of cash we have freeing up. How does Nash and Howard compare to Marion (replaced by Ariza a year later) and Banks? Even if we fall back onto our insecurities and doubt anyone will ever sign with us, we always have the option of moving O’Neal this time next year. At this point, GM’s are pricing O’Neal based on what he brings the team (hence the waiting to see if he’s healthy), next year, his playing status is irrelevant as he will be a pure cap play. GM’s will pay dearly for his expiring contract.

So where does this leave us, oh yeah, Bosh. That’s what this is all about after all. If you were Bosh, would you be more impressed with 1) average year in 2009-2010 fighting for 7th with the likes of Szczerbiak and Korver in your locker-room or 2) an improved performance with the current squad trying to sneak into 8th (with improvements to Bargnani and some minor re-tooling this offseason) and knowing you have real help in 2010-2011 with good talent all around you with 2 new FA, Bargnani, Calderon and the stud from the 2009 draft ready to contribute?

Bosh’s decision will come down to two things, money (no one can offer as much as us) and a winning environment. Which option will result in an environment which is more conducive to winning?

I know it’s painful to watch, but we have to put up with the pain to get to a better future. Trading O’Neal now is not the answer.

Could not agree more with Zona. Explore your trade options for O'Neal next winter, but if a gem of an offer does not appear, ride out his massive contract and collect lottery picks. I feel that we can not spend the next 2 years trying to please Bosh. We did that with VC when he inked his last deal with us.

zona, the deal to me fits with colangelo's win now and win later - but mostly win later - approach. Assuming calderon comes back, Marion plugs our defensive hole at small forward, and come off the books next year freeing up cash we need to keep bosh and yes, bargnani.

Say calderon comes back at 100% next game and is good the rest of the season and marion is our new starting sf, not relied on for scoring as much as slowing down superstar opposing sf's... this team could make a serious run. I think our flaws are really that obvious and simple.

So why win now? The toronto market just needs a competitive team to make money, MLSE likes money. You don't want to foster a "losing culture". You want players to be happy, beyond bosh, we're going to need to keep bargnani at least,he might even turn out to be a max contract guy himself...

Where did it all go so wrong?

2006 and 2007. And I don't mean drafting Andrea.

This team got too good too quickly. Signing Parker, Garbo and obtaining Rasho. Great for the short term, but ultimately it was deadly for the long term.

But even worse was losing a draft pick for 2007. How would this team look now if they had a Al Horford, Jeff Green, Al Thorton, or a Rudy Fernandez? Heck even a Marc Gasol in the 2nd round.

And obviously not picking Granger for the 05 draft was the ultimate killer (I had the Granger jersey ready too after NY picked Channing Frye.

So the past is the past, what now?

Fans are running out of things to blame. Obviously Smitch wasn't the problem - but is Triano the solution? Well doesn't look like it. It's two different systems and honestly, it looks like now that Smitch's system was okay.

1)I touted the Princeton offence a week ago, so I'm going to stick with it and say we hire Eddie Jordan. Is it THE answer? No, but it's not going to hurt.

2) Get into the draft. I'm a big proponent of the draft for basketball more than any other sport. The way the salary is structured with the cap and all, it's the best way to build. **Note I didn't say the quickest or easiest. Look at Portland for example. It'll still take them another 2 or 3 years to become an elite team, but I'm willing to bet on them.

3) We went for the quick fix, and it didn't work. Unfortunately with very few tradable assests, it's hard to blow this team up - without going back a hundred steps to rebuild. As I stated last year, trading Parker while his stock was hot would have been key. Now the only things out there is the VC for Williamses type deals -- forget the trades. If we can get out under the O'Neal/Kap1 contracts, sure.

At the end of the day, this team will look vastly different next year. Bosh, Bargs, JC, Rocky, and probably Humphries will return but I can't forsee anyone else. That would mean 8 new bodies (well including Delfino).

If I were you, I'd start reading up at RealGm for F/As and Draftees for 09 and 10.

this is a great read from you Howland and Zona. I have to agree that we should keep JO's contract until at least next year. NO need to jump the gun and deviate from BC long term plans for the Raps and I think that is probably why we have not seen a deal done by BC yet. There is some quality people on the Raps that can still grind it out like the 2005 squad with mike james did. If the players are smart they would play hard, compete every night and let the chips fall where they may. I have to feel for Bosh and Jose but we have to excercise patience like BC is doing. I too have given up on this year and making the playoffs will just see the Raps get oust in the 1st round and ruin our chance of a good pick in the lottery....Unlike most of you I will still watch the Raps because as painfull as it is I am a Raptor fan and just watching the games is fun for me and now that I really expect them to lose if they win its just bonus. After the next 4 games we have the best teams in the league scheduled to start February I really hate David Stern hadn't it been for the schedule along with the injury bug we would be the team that BC thought he had. This will be a long off season.......raps4life.

Here's an interesting link that discusses the Raptor's cap situation come 2010 in detail. I would appreciate your thoughts, Franchise.

http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/raptors-2m010-salary-situation/

Excellent analysis of the situation from both Franchise and Zona, even thought I would disagree to some extent with both of you. All I know is that we have a ton of holes to fill and JO"s presence makes that pretty much impossible for a team unwilling to pay the tax.

Also, just because we have cap space in 2009 doesn't mean we can't save it until the following year while adding only a player or two via free agency (namely someone like Trevor Ariza!). We need serious player turnover, and we need it sooner than later. Kapono, Hump, Graham, Parker, et al. should be traded for whatever asset can be gotten in return.

ustation - While I agree with all of those aforementioned mistakes, I also think that the JO trade is the one that really screwed us. TJ should have been traded for a 2 or 3, or even youth or draft picks. Rasho's deal should be the carrot we're using right about this time of year to plug in the one hole on the team. Instead, we have 5 holes and no carrots. We basically took one good asset in Villanueva, turned it into another good asset in TJ Ford, and then turned it into an old, injured asset with a terrible contract that requires a huge sacrifice in player depth. And to make matters even worse, that asset is blocking the development of your previous huge investment. To cap it all off, that asset is now not even good enough to be in the starting five.

And that my friends is called mismanagement. While I admit that I have been a huge BC fanboy since day one, the truth is brought this entire situation on himself. Sadly, it all seems like history repeating, as ustation noted, in that we chose to get good in the short term at the cost of the longterm. All this said, at least this time we have the core assets to get better quickly, we just need to add youth in a big way, which I think can only be done by stockpiling as many picks as possible.

I think they will be fine next year. The fixes are fairly evident, some things just have to happen to make them possible. Strangely though, as horrid as this might sound, the best thing that could happen at this point is one of those yearly Chris Bosh injuries that put him on the sidelines for 12 games. It gives JO more playing time at either the 4/5 which should translate into proof of health and an eventual trade, allows Bargnani to further entrench himself as a focal point, and gives the team a better chance at the good draft pick they're in need of. Being in a position to draft at a good spot should also force the scouting staff to do something this year. The team hasn't really participated in the draft since Bargnani and we're starting to see the results of not getting SOMETHING out of that yearly exercise. Apathy is setting in though and that's a problem. I hope I find reason to continue to watch games

I don't think the JO deal "screwed" us. There wasn't a market for TJ. It was a trade our risk for your risk. I doubt there were any better deals out there, and we HAD to trade TJ -- for better or for worse.

But here's who we go for in the F/A this summer. Von Wafer. Yup. And I'm being serious. He's been gang busters for the Rockets since T-Mac & Artest has been out.

I think a couple of months ago someone stated that we had the worst 2+3 in the league and I argued that the Minny, Golden State and the Clips were worse, however when Rick Davis went down and Eric Gordon took over, they would move ahead once EG got some playing time. And if you picked him up in your poolies you'd be a happy camper.

Anyways... now its Von Wafer. Scores points with High Percentages. Average defender for a SG. Unfortunately, doesn't get to the line.

Also Ben Gordon is out there.

I'd love to see the 09-10 line-up of:

Bargs/Bosh/Odom/Wafer/JC

and off the bench: Rasho/Delfino/ and maybe Trevor Ariza + draft.

Raso, Wafer and Odom should all be undervalued sign-ups.

I think that we need to accept that this season's a write-off. Our goal should be to avoid messing up next year as well. That's why I don't like the proposed Marion-Banks trade. Yes, we get Marion's money off the books, but we get saddled with Marcus Banks' atrocious contract in the process.

Personally, I'd rather do a straight up trade for Marbury. Sure he's an absolute cancer, but his contract comes off the books at the end of the year and his salary is very similar to JO's so we won't have to pick up anybody else's bad contracts. Plus, Marbury would probably make us bad enough to score a really high draft pick and it would be hilarious to watch him gun for a new contract. Stephon Marbury makes Mike James look like Steve Nash!

Franchise, great article. The comparison to the 05-06 squad was apt.

Zona, thanks for the effort you put into that post, especially the FA breakdown. Cap space in '09 doesn't seem like the slam dunk it was before.

Ustation, IMHO the rebuild slowly methodology got thrown out along with Babcock. MLSE just can't stomach a true rebuild(Raptors), and the amount of time it takes for everything to come together. I don't begrudge them that decision. We're a nascent bball market, and they wouldn't want to risk the erosion of a developing fanbase that may not love basketball as much as they love the Raptors.

In the short term, I don't like how readily he sacrificed our 2008 first round pick, to ship out an injury risk that he traded for and signed long term. However, in the big picture, I don't have a major beef with the vision he had. I think he came in with a mandate to reload, not rebuild. And I believe that the MLSE barometer for how well that went, was getting Bosh to resign with us. His first offseason, he put pieces in place that changed the culture of the team in the short term. He also set us up for cap space in 2009 AT THE SAME TIME. That is the accomplishment that stands out for me, and I'm not the only one. Five years isn't a long time, and waiting until all the right pieces fell in our lap wasn't an option. He took bold actions in the absence of assets. That requires alot of luck to work in both the short and long term.
Present day, we aren't very far ahead of where we were back then, with expiring contracts, players in roles that are over their heads, and Bosh about to enter free agency.

I think MLSE has to look to emulate some of the teams in the NHL that are less desirable markets. We've got to develop a core of players (not just one), and then resign them. That's the only way to dispel some of the myths and stigmas of playing in Canada. In addition, run a first class operation. That means stability in the front office. We can't afford to look like the NBA version of Siberia AND have a revolving door of coaches and upper management.

Have to agree with Zona.

Marion not the player he was in Phoenix anyway. Yes his 17mil comes of the books this year but you have Bank's 5mil still on there. I'd rather have 20+ mil to spend in 2010 and a high draft choice from 2009 than 17mil to spend in 2009

I don't have much to add today because all of the posts and Franchise's article were so in depth - great stuff.

I think Franchise was touting Von Vafer earlier this year and I think that's where BC may need to do his legwork this off-season - he needs to find undervalued guys who are ready to contribute in the league, and in a way that can help this raptor team specifically.

The frustrating thing is that he's had chances to get guys like Ariza and Carney (especially Ariza when he was in Orlando and no one wanted him) and hasn't gone after them. And with the decisions to re-sign Hump etc it's starting to get tough to keep saying "in colangelo we trust."

Good points, Franch.
1. Everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong. Murphy's law.

2. Does anyone know when Jawai is going to see some court time? I'm not expecting much, but I'd love to see how big he looks in a uni.

3. THE REASON FOR OUR SHOWING THIS YEAR. 1 word sums this up. CHUCK! Since the departure of The Swirks, this team has been in tatters. I say we trade JO to Chicago for Chuck. We can move Devlan to the 5-spot off the bench in place of JO.

Great Post FRANCHISE and a very good insight and Zona but I have to disagree to some of your points.

Option #1 Trade JO to Heat for Marion and possible Banks can be a good thing this off season.

Reason #1 – Marion is not what he was when he got that big contract in Phoenix but he has the skilled set we required. A very good if not one of the best rebounder at the SF position which will be great help for CB4 and AB. He is also above average Defender which is a big if not huge upgrade from Moon and JK. He can also resign for 10-12 million which is not bad.

Reason #2 – If Marion decide not to resign we can go after a lot of restricted FA which fits the team needs. Hawks – Marvin Williams & Josh Childress… Marvin is very athletic, good defender and can go to the basket plus still has a lot of potential and room to grow. Avg. 13 ppg & 6.1 rpg . He also making 4.6million this year so I doubt it he would want a big contract. Also Zaza Pachulia would be a great big man back to AB for the right price. He is unrestricted FA

Ben Gordon is unrestricted FA which would be perfect for the SG position. He would want big money which would push us over the salary cap and MLSE would want that?

Brandon Bass is a very under-rated player, hard worker and has a nick for the ball. A little under-size for a PF but a hustler and a good rebounder… With some consistence minutes he would also be an option as a good back-up PF. He is unrestricted FA!

Chris Andersen - An extremely athletic and explosive leaper for a 6-foot-10 player. He is an excellent shot-blocker and loves to play above the rim, and is also an energetic team-first guy who will run the floor and fill the lane with big dunks.

Linas Kleiza – an all around good offensive and defense player. I would prefer Marvin Williams over him but he would be good fit. But his he worth chasing as a restricted FA?

Von Wafer – a favorite on this site on one of my favorite for this team starting SG. If we get him and resign AP as a back-up. If would be a perfect fit. Athletic and skilled with good size for the NBA backcourt, he is a natural scorer who can heat up quickly. Capable of jumping over defenders but is also a very good outside shooter with solid 3-point range.

Paul Millsap – What can I say about this guy? A starter on any NBA team… It would be a dream comes through to get this guy. Just Imagine CB4, AB and Paul Millsap. Best front court in the League… Note he is a RESTRICTED FA…

Trevor Ariza – As much as people want to knock on him he is a top notch defender, great hustler and a consistence energy guy. If you don’t over paid him get him at a right price man oh man he would be another great guy to come off the bench. Personally I think a guy like this is most suited for Championship caliber team…Not the Raptors…

Desmond Mason – This guy can still play but I not that big on him. He is under-achiever but has the skilled set to get to the basket at will…A little shot happy at times. Also not a big upgrade from AP

Jamal Crawford (ETO) – if he decides ETO then we has a shot to land him. An All-star in my opinion but a little shot happy at times. Scores in a bunch, averaging 20 ppg and he is only 28 years old. CB4, Jamal, AB, JC and probable a Kleiza or Marvin seems like a 50 win team to me…

C.J. Watson – If we can’t get Gordon or Jamal he is an option. He restricted so we would have to make GS offer if they make one

This list is not quite as big as 2010 but I think it is good enough to turn around this team. If I trust BC (which I do to some extent) to pick up a Ben or Jamal would be a win now option. On the other hand there are a few good SF and SG available that most teams won’t chase due to 2010 and will be available without breaking the bank.

Thus the trade for only would be great if BC has the write strategy. Getting Marion for rental or for long term is not a bad option as long as he resigns for less and according to most sources Marion his not going to get more than 10 million. A Marion, Bosh AB JC with a slashing SG seems to me what this team is missing.

Lastly if we do get Banks I would find a way to ship him out with JK expiry contract before I make this deal. Get a expiry contact for JK and Banks for this season or 2010 would be great to complete this trade.

Also remember this season in opinion is done so let focus more on the draft. Mainly, SF and SG.

JordanFanatic....
not to knock your counte to Zona, but I disagree with the comparison of quality FA's in '09 vs '10. Not even close.

PS - Zona, you convinced me that we should hold on to O'neal until his contract expires. Great sales pitch.
PSS - It seems to take me 3 or 4 times to get that security code right when entering a post here :)

Why is it that so many are willing to give BC a free pass on this debacle? The argument that we would not be able to find a quality replacement for him is garbage too. Any bright, underpaid, undervalued basketball mind would jump at the opportunity to be a NBA GM. Sure, finding the right guy is no guarantee, but this unwillingness to not only blame BC, but call him out publicly is ridiculous. Oh thank you Lord BC for granting us with your presence, we would never question your judgment. This approach needs to be dropped for management and players alike. If Bosh ends up going, so be it. I would simply appreciate some notice so as to move him next year and stock up on young talent and picks. I agree with Zona on JO. The way to derive the most from his tenure is to hold onto him until at least next year (as much as I realize that ultimately means at least another half season of watching Moon embarrass our organization). I guess I should note that BC may end up looking good in the end, if we can turn JO into a credible 2nd threat next year or in the 2010 off-season, but that is not what he sold the trade as originally. He sold it as instant improvement, and credibility as an elite team. I also think that we are over-valuing just about every piece of our roster (other than Bosh and maybe Bargs). Calderon is to me the Trent Dilfer (in the Ravens days) of PGs, certainly not a perennial all-star. He just doesn't mess up too often, although I must credit his massive improvements in shooting percentage over his brief career, and you certainly can't complain too much about his contract. But the fact remains, he has thus far not proven to be capable of maintaining his health in the starter's role and likely could not keep me in front of him on defence. Parker is undoubtedly a solid person, and has flashes of brilliance, but as many of us acknowledge, he is a bench player on almost any other team. So let's not view him with beer-goggles here (i.e. as critical for future success). Graham has certainly made improvements, but I think many of us would admit, the recent level of play may be the best he can offer. Again, this doesn't put him in the critical to keep category. Humphries and Voshkul are essentially lego pieces, we could find two more clones tomorrow. Moon and Kapono are verging on useless. Although, in a more refined system (something we are light years away from), Kapono would certainly have a role to play. Solomon has gone past the verge of uselessness. Roko has potential, and I would like to see him developed, while Jawai remains a mystery. And what makes us so content with Triano thus far. Sure we have seen more plays and slightly tougher D than with Smitch, but how many 3rd and 4th quarter collapses before he receives some serious scrutiny (and this from a guy who rejoiced in the Smitch firing). I just think about the Suns when I think about how far we are from the elite of the league. On a team with Shaq, J-Rich, Nash, Barbosa, Hill, Stoudemire, Barnes (and maybe even a solid contributor in Lopez) there is basically no way they will win the NBA championship this year. This team will be dismantled in a year or two and have to start from roughly scratch, unless they are able to fleece somebody in a trade for one of their numerous soon to be elderly statesmen. That must be disheartening for Suns fans. I just laugh when it seems like some people think we are only one guy (2/3) away from being serious contenders. As others have alluded to, this team completely lacks an identity and enters every game not sure how they will get their points and how to effectively defend the opposition. Welcome back to the re-building era ladies and gents. I was just as delusional as some of you for a while there, but as Franchise has been saying, it's time to simply enjoy Raps games as a fun distraction, without illusion of grandeur dancing in our heads.

Guys, Guys:
How is it that this season has caught so many of you by surprise? We all knew that in the event JO didn't work out, this would quickly become a lottery team. That is exactly where we find ourselves, people. So, with that being said, let's just be grateful that we are not hovering around .500 and in the murky waters of mediocrity. Could be worse.

Thanks for your opinion but I was not comparing FA of 09 to 10 that would be crazy!!!

I was comparing why we should trade JO now to rectify the problem rather than waiting to 2010...

This season is done so let try to rectify next season and with JO 22 million dollar contact that not possible unless we go way over the salary cap which is not possible. With the market in recession and a bad economy I highly doubt it MLSE would allow BC to go over the cap

Thus, this list above propose a few good players we could grab since the other teams will be saving for 2010 especially the big teams which could turn around this team for next year.

Which option would you rather have?

Losing for the next year and a half only to lose CB4 to another team because Toronto fans will be calling him a loser, not a Franchise player, wanna be MVP, CB loser, cry baby, Vince in the making, lets trade is ass now, throw him under the bus, I could go on and on or ability to have cap space to obtain a few pieces to rectify next season???

Because we see the Raps play like crap, we fail to see that the playoffs are not that far out of their control. Some say that leapfrogging over a bunch of teams is an issue, but it is not so much. The only reason the gap is only 4 is that the teams ahead of them have sucked at a slightly less embarassing frequency. They are not moving anywhere too quickly.

That said, to focus on making the playoffs is to fall in the Toronto Maple Leaf category of striving for mediocrity.

I would like to know why JO's contract becomes a big trading chip next year. It is a way to get a bunch of bad contracts and a few potential draft picks from someone else. If we dump his next year, it is probably for some longer term flop contracts.
I dream of Stephan Marbury become a Raptor this week. No, I don't want the A-hole anywhere near the city, but I want 22 million to work with now. You might be able to sign Rip and Marion for that kind of coin. I'd rather those guys with Bosh, Bargs, Calderon, in the starting lineup. Heck, It would be an experiment! BC could give them options to leave after a year or 2 after. That way they might come for a shot in the first place. If it all flops, mayber they'll blow town with Chris Bosh.

http://myhogtown.blogspot.com/2009/01/jermaine-oneal-is-on-his-way-to-miami.html

The rumour mill everywhere has this deal as being 'almost' done.

I don't honestly know enough about Banks to conclude anything about him, but I have to assume he gives us a better option behind Calderone than Solomon does - even if his contract is simply ridiculous.

Marion would be a welcome relief. He can guard every position well and with the way the Raptors have been getting torched by SF's across the league his D at that position alone makes him a worthwhile acquisition.

Sorry Franchise,
This is a club that you won't see fight and scrap its way to some victories, because you have to be smart with the rock, and beat teams with hustle and hard D. This team is really soft and not smart with the ball. Period. They're not fun to watch either, just really bad. Unless you love watching jump shots.
P.S. They've never been known to have an excellent offense, by any standards. It's always been mediocore.

EaseMyPain is Right!!
Think about it guys. Trading JO this time next year. You wouldn't be clearing cap space, you would be taking on contracts and all those FA that you named wouldn't be on the trade blocks. This is the time that Colangelo wanted to trade JO. He was hoping Bargs started playing better, and knows he can resign Bosh in 2010, we have the money. So now is the time, the place.
Think about it. The 2010 winter is too late to trade JO, it wouldn't make sense. C'mon Matrix.

Sorry for the excessive posting, but I just won't be a happy camper if we have to take on Banks. I mean, we had to toss in a first rounder to get him, now we need to take on a shite contract to get rid of him? I don't get it. I'd do the Marbury deal instead, or even Marion straight up, which works according to the trade machine. Hell, NY might even toss in draft pick, or Gallinari, or Robinson or Chandler. Ok, I"m dreaming, but I'd settle for Anthony Roberson, that's how desperate I am for new blood. Thank god for Jawai, here's hoping we see a lot of garbage time in the next few months.

I also agree that it would be a great time for Bosh to take a 10 game break, which would allow us to show off JO, while also having the side benefit of increasing the amount of Jawai-time we get.

i agree franchise, trade or no trade the playoffs are a very long shot at this point. but what gives me hope is this: think of miami last year; think of them this year. how have they done it? they unloaded shaq, made a decent draft pick, and they're riding their all-star. they seem to moving on up. i don't think we have to wait until 2010 to be a good team again, and to me a $5mil contract for a backup point guard is worth it to get a legit 3 (marion for now and whoever we can sign in the off-season).

From Steve Aschburner on SI grading the entire league.

Toronto Raptors: It's not easy to earn a grade this harsh. You would need to underachieve dramatically, abruptly fire your recent Coach of the Year (Sam Mitchell), have a showy offseason move (trading for Jermaine O'Neal) blow up in your face, turn your lone superstar into a cranky finger-pointer who might want out, cope badly with a key injury (Jose Calderon), run off a string of losses and drown in trade rumors a month before the NBA deadline. Ladies and gentlemen, your ... Toronto ... Raptors! Grade: F

p.s. Only the LA Clippers also received an F.

To quote Bill Simmons: Welcome to the Bryan Colangelo era. I think we have now officially hit rock bottom.

can ppl please stop writing calderone it makes me so angry....

Pat Riley on the JO rumours and his need for a big man: "This team (the Heat) is like 70 percent of the teams in the NBA that play small," Riley said. "There's a whole new philosophy in the NBA, and that is getting into a game that is fast and versatile. It has almost morphed itself into a 6-foot-5-and-under league.

"I don't believe in that game in the long run. I don't think that game is going to win you a title."

Interesting comments in that BC has the same philosophy. Either Riley and BC have become dinosaurs (no pun to Brian) or BC is steering us in the right direction (as long as we keep Bosh that is) for the long term. He's building the team vertically and eventually will insert the skillful yet abundant 2's and 3's we need, when he feels the recipe is right (and go over the tax threshold if need be). Here's to hoping he's more Emeril than Chef Boyardee.