All Quiet on the All-Star Weekend Front

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST in General

In previous years BC was able to make small changes at the trade deadline...this year, maybe not so much.

With six days until the NBA’s trade deadline, and heading into the annual All-Star break where GM’s will be throwing around more basketball player names then a Game track, it’s a curious time to be a fan of the Toronto Raptors.

The club has been perhaps the most disappointing in the league, has been engulfed with rumours regarding the likes of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal, can’t seem to stay healthy, and yet somehow even with a measly 21 wins is still not out of playoff contention.

As a result of the chaos, Bryan Colangelo is left with the unenviable task of trying to right the ship, and it’s hard to say just what should be done to do that.

Some fans are advocating moving Jermaine O’Neal’s hefty contract to get Chris Bosh, the franchise’s center-piece, some help.

Others see the writing on the wall and want to move Bosh himself.

At previous trade deadlines things were a lot simpler weren’t they?

"Fred Jones has been a bust, let’s move him for something."

"Well, Juan Dixon really isn’t helping matters that much either, so let’s gamble on another big; even if that turns out to be a 7-foot white version of Memphis Bleek."

But this year?

I mean, can you just move the entire team?

Apart from Joey Graham, who I’m not sure fans ever expected anything of after his first few seasons, the rest of the team has ranged from disappointing to um…"why is this guy in the league again?"

Let’s look at some individual pieces.

Jamario Moon – sure, there’s probably some interest there but his salary is so small that he’d have to be packaged in order for a deal to probably work.

Jason Kapono? Opposite issue, not enough talent to warrant the size of his contract.

In fact outside of the aforementioned Graham and perhaps Kris Humphries, there’s not a lot to work with on an individual level.

So really, Bryan Colangelo is left without a quick fix and then has to debate moving other pieces that perhaps he wants to hold onto. A swingman is a definite need and having watched the Mavericks and Celtics last night, you saw the impact of guys like Josh Howard and Paul Pierce. These are the types of players you want with the ball in their hands in crunch time, not your power forward.

For all of those who still think that Bosh isn’t doing enough to carry his team, did you notice what happened on the final play for the Spurs on Wednesday night? The first option wasn’t going into the world’s best power forward, Tim Duncan. It was getting the ball to Manu Ginobili, and then when that didn’t work, and Duncan didn’t have an easy look, it was up to Tony Parker to create off the dribble.

Now let’s say Bosh and co. are all healthy, what transpires in a similar situation? You got it, it’s up to Bosh or maybe Jose if that doesn’t work, to create something.

Perhaps though that’s more of an indictment of the lack of talent and options this team has though than an argument about Bosh’s ability in the clutch. After all, the team is on pace for 31 wins with 27 games left, so there’s something not working. And it’s hard to say that a team with Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, Joey Graham and yes, even Jamario Moon isn’t more talented than the 2004-2005 version of the club that won 33 games!

That team featured a top seven of Bosh (albeit only a sophomore at this point in time), Jalen Rose, Mo Pete, Donyell Marshall, Rafer Alston, Lamond Murray and…I guess Matt Bonner. (Unless you think one of Hoffa, Eric Williams or Loren Woods deserves that last spot.) Yep, not exactly Hall of Fame material.

I think the main difference is that as shallow as the 2004-05 team was, it played with a lot more grit as players like Peterson, Rose and Alston were all almost as competitive as they come. This current team just can’t seem to play with the necessary intensity and focus consistently and I think the loss to Memphis and then the short-handed win over San Antonio are testaments to this.

On Monday following the All-Star festivities we’ll be doling out some long-awaited grades and thoughts on the season through the first two-thirds. By this point, Bryan Colangelo may have made a deal to try and bring in some depth, toughness and/or athleticism but I’m not holding my breath.

Instead, I’m preparing myself for what could be a rather bland All-Star weekend (Mo Williams and Rashard Lewis are All-Stars this year – a game of GEICO? What is going on?), without a Chris Bosh appearance to cheer for, and the sinking feeling that Jason Kapono is going to struggle defending his 3-point title.

Will Dwight Howard put on a show in the Slam Dunk contest?

Probably.

But you’ll excuse me if I’m busy reading The Sports Guy’s annual trade value piece and frantically playing with the updated version of ESPN.com’s trade machine.

FRANCHISE

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Comments

Reason why trading JO (the heart and soul of this team) is better than keeping him. JO brings it ever night especially on Defensive end. I really like him as a player and his attitude is suburb but 22 million is to much to swallow. This off-season we need cap space badly.

If not it going to be the same team next year and probable the same result as this year.

Now I not saying the FA below are better than 2010 (which would be crazy)or any one guy is going to save the this Franchise next season, but two or three of the correct signing could have big impact on this team and fill the most of our needs.

This is a repost but with little more info

Unrestricted FA

Ben Gordon A fantastic pure scorer who can hit from well beyond the 3-point arc. A great athlete who can leap over defenders… Does a good job of keeping defenses guessing by driving to the hoop and drawing fouls. Has a smooth and sure stroke and is a top-tier free-throw shooter. 20ppg, 4apg shooting 0.42% from down town.

Chris Andersen – Would be my number 1 back-up. An extremely athletic and explosive leaper for a 6-foot-10 player. He is an excellent shot-blocker (top 10 in the league as per ESPN and Coach Karl) 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. 6ppg, 5.3rpg and 2bpg in 19 minutes.

Quentin Richardson – (ETO) - Early Termination Option. Averaging 11ppg & 2rpg per game

Hedo Turkoglu - (ETO) Need no description. An All-Star IMO. 17ppg, 5rpg & 5apg.

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 19ppg & 5apg 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…

Al Harrington – Playing good ball right know. Making 10 million this year and will be looking for a raise. For that type of Money I would pass.

Lamar Odom an all around SF/PF you can literally do anything he wants on the court. Have the skill set to play 4 out of 5 NBA position. Double-double guy. 10ppg & 7rpg

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. Has been struggling over the last five games but still averaging 9.2ppg. Making less than 1 million this year.

Keith Bogans – Solid back up if we lose AP.

Matt Barnes – Jamario Moon type player who is not afraid of contact.

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 or even start. Personally I think a guy like this is most suited for Championship caliber team…Not the Raptors…Lakers already said they won’t let him wake!

Zaza Pachulia would be a great big man back to AB for the right price. 6ppg & 6rpg in 20 minutes.

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. 8ppg & 4.5rpg in 20 minutes per night. Make less than 1 million dollar right now. Could be a steal for us.

Mike James – Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha LMFAO….. ROFL. Ok great back up pg with a shoot first mentality. Not even close. Had to add him!

2010 FA class is way greater and have so much more talent but IMO there are a few guys here to add with Bosh and AB + a solid draft pick to turn around next season.

by JordanFanatic on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Restricted FA

#1 Choice for SF Marvin Williams Marvin is very athletic, good defender and can go to the basket at will 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.

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?

Paul Millsap, Channing Frye, Charlie Villanueva, C.J Watson, & Josh Childress

by JordanFanatic on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Of all the names listed, my preferences are probably;

Josh Childress - does everything well - including defend athletic 3's, and he does all the un-noticed things that help a team win. He's a worldly guy with solid character, and he might decide he likes the international atmosphere of the Raptors just fine. Plus, he's not going to be an expensive aquisition.

Hedo. In my dreams he becomes a Raptor. But only in my dreams. Will be too sought after to even consider the Raptors.

Birdman. Love the Birdman. He'd be an excellent fit except he's made of balsa wood and we already have experience with that in Jermaine O'Neal.

Shawn Marion. If his head is on straight I don't care if he doesn't bring any offense anymore because he is still a lights out defender at five positions. But (and its a big but) is his head on straight?

Lamar Odom. My biggest issues with him are his age, and his contract. Otherwise I think he's an awesome pick up. Would he want to live in TO? Can we all take turns volunteering to shovel his driveway to make it happen?

Trevor Ariza. Works for me as an athletic, lightning quick defensive 3 who can chip in offense by going to the rim.
However coming to Toronto will not happen.

Marvin Williams. I've never been a big fan of his, and always thought he lacked the focus defensively to be the right guy for the Raptors. However he'd solve every issue on the offensive end we have with our wings, and Triano can always try to teach him better D.

Linas Kleiza. Underrated IMO. Does a lot of small things right, and can step up when needed offensively. Plus we need a guy named Linas in the clubhouse.

Von Wafer? I guess.

Jamal Crawford. Too me first, too small defensively and too expensive. A knee injury away from irrelevance.

Ben Gordon. I. Hate. His. Game. He would still be a serious upgrade over what we have, but only on the offensive end. Defensively he's a William Blake on mushrooms caliber nightmare. Plus I have always found his attitude (on court and off) atrocious. How long before he pouts about his contract, playing time, touches, coach? Avoid.

by Bedhead on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

woah - great discussion on some possible options down the road. Agreed that the team needs to make a deal and shore things up - ideally to get one stud and a few of these legit backups as opposed to the dead weight were currently carrying.

Lets start the von wafer era!!!!!!

by fromlongrange on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Franchise,

This is something i will not understand about you... you have good baskbetball knowledge but I feel it is quite obvious that we need to to the JO deal for marion...maybe even more so then any of those obvious small tinker changes in the past.

We need to keep bosh happy, he wont be with this team and the draft wont do anything... therefore, we need to make the change simply to show we are trying..secondly we will have a lot of money to get sombody this summer and hopefully have a winning squad to keep bosh...thirdly, we can maybe pull off a miracle and make a massive run with marion...

Where if we dont trade, we are going ton continue to struggle, wont make playoffs, yes we can trade oneal in the offseason...however, i think its better to do it now because even tho we will not get past the first round, i think making the playoffs is still very important because it builds character for the players we will keep and it still will keep bosh happy even if we do lose first round...

Now i understand you may be thinkink.."ya well why make the playoffs and ruin our draft pick"... this draft is so weak that it makes no difference, i think even without trading JO we will end up only getting about a 6th pick because we will be playing better the second half... and there is no difference between the 6th and 13th in this draft really... well at least in regards to making an immediate difference next year to help keep bosh.

So personally, I see it to be more obvious than ever before that we need to make this particular trade.

Anybody else agree?

by Blanco on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

For giggles I checked on the Wages of Wins rating for each of the players I listed. An average player for the position is .100, so a player with .200 is twice as valuable as the average player at that position.

Childress: .206
Turkoglu: .040 (was .157 last year)
Andersen: .211
Marion: .219
Odom: .085 (was .220 last year)
Ariza: .271
Williams: .108
Kleiza: .043
Wafer: -.023 (yes that is a negative number - he's bad)
Crawford: .032
Gordon: .094

What the WOW score does is rate players for a variety of things (rebounds, FT% etc.) so that we get a better picture of the player than just how many points they score.

It's pretty clear that we should move heaven and earth to get Ariza as his per minute production is outstanding even if his offense isn't, followed by Marion, Childress or Andersen.

We should avoid paying more than the average price of a starting 2 guard for Gordon, and we should avoid Kleiza and Wafer all together - as they are well below average for their positions.

by Bedhead on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

OK, so I have some breaking news that hoopshype doesn't even have.......

The Raptors have traded JO and Moon to the Heat for Marion and Banks.

Me, personally, I don't like the fact that we took back Banks AND give up Moon (who could've been a pot sweetner in another deal--maybe to get rid of Kapono).

I have a feeling BC is already negotiating an extension with Marion because I think he made this deal for the player and not the cap space. If BC were going for cap space, this deal isn't so great because of Banks being included.

So, now we're gonna see what this team can be like with a rebounding/slashing SF.

by 2nd Raps fan in LA on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Excellent discussion on possible FA targets. If we manage to move JO now, too, we can look at trading Kapono for picks with a team that is in the luxury but who needs a gunner, like a Cleveland after they lose Szczerbiak this offseason.

I personally believe the offseason should look like this:

Sign Marion for around $12-13 million.

Sign Crawford for around 11 million

Trade Kapono for a serviceable big man backup...or give him away for picks and sign a big man like Zaza or Anderson or Rasho.

Sign Jamario to a two year 3 million dollar deal (1.5 mil/yr)

Get Parker back at 4.5 million per.

Pick up Joey's qualifying offer of 3.5.

lose Solomon, Voskhul.

Salaries as per above would be almost exactly $70 mil with Jawai. Add into that whatever you got for Kapono, plus a first round pick and you're talking about a team in and around $75 million, which will be right around luxury tax territory. The lineup would then look like this:

Barg
Bosh
Marion
Crawford
Calderon

with
Back up centre
Joey G
Parker
Moon
Hump
Jawai
Leni Roko

off the bench. Basically, our starting lineup will be coming off the bench, like they should be.

Anyway, that's just my two cents worth. And that's about all its worth, if that :)

by Casey on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Wow, well, at least there's a reason to watch the next few weeks. I'll be interested in seeing if Marion is motivated enough to play good D, and to see what actually being able to contain dribble penetration might look like. I worry about his headspace a little, given some of the stories in the "7 Seconds or Less" book...and also the fact that he's going from a playoff team to us...and as a welcome present in his first game for us he gets to guard LeBron. Welcome to T.O.

Might be a nice time to get him though, after that game winning slam last night.

Of course, now we have 4 freakin' PGs on the roster (Calderon, Ukic, Banks, Solomon)!! Any other team wanna do us a Hassan Adams type favour to get rid of Solomon?

by Jdbar on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

IT's a DONE DEAL.... JO and Moon for Marion and Banks...

I don;t like it...

by EnviroCaper on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Beat me to the punch 2nd Raps fan...deal is done...more to come.

by Franchise on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Casey, that's a nice fantasy you put together, but it's riddled with holes; the first of which is the cap because you can't dole out 24 mil to Marion/Crawford and then re-sign Parker/Graham while still having the commitment to Banks and trying to pick up some decen back ups.

I don't see why you have such a hard on for Crawford; he's a chucker. I'd rather have Parker at the starting SG spot if we keep Marion and use the extra money to bolster the bench (you know since that's been our OTHER big problem this year).

However, I gurantee that BC will be negotiating an extension with Marion the minute he gets into TO because Marion needs to be re-signed in order to make this deal a favorable one for the Raptors.

Rob

by 2nd Raps fan in LA on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions