End of Season Media Day Thoughts

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT in Feature Stories

Hard to believe that these two were the focus at the last team media session the HQ attended...

At this stage in the life of RaptorsHQ, we wouldn’t say we’re old hat at the media thing, but we definitely have a better awareness of what to expect during these sessions.

Usually, things get underway a few minutes after their reported time and while it’s always good to get up and close with the team’s players, the fact is that an ardent fan could guess most of the questions that would be asked and the answers that would be given in turn for these sorts of events.

Yesterday was really no exception although as always, some interesting tidbits do end up coming to light, and that’s why we’re always extremely grateful to the Raps’ media folks for giving us access.

We’re not going to regurgitate all of the interviews, most of the press and blogs will probably be doing that today, but we do want to touch on a few things and if you want to check the discussions in full, the videos can be found here at Raptors.com.

I think the first thing that struck me was that all the players seemed to comment on how well the team finished and it was a little bit annoying. Factually they are correct in that they went on a bit of a run and won and handful of games, but if you look at their opponents and their wins, as Franchise mentioned yesterday, it is not something to get THAT excited about. Now it’s hard to determine at these sorts of things whether the players are saying what they actually feel or whether they are just going through the motions, but it felt like the late season stretch was a more accurate reflection of what this team is capable of than any other portion of the season.

From my perspective there are two ways to look at this.

If you are an optimist you are bullish on what this team, currently assembled, did and feel like the players are right when they argue that had this group been together all year, things would have been different. Calderon was finally healthy and the team started to look like a cohesive unit towards the end of things.

On the flip side the pessimist would say that the late season wins were simply a function of an easy schedule, and a team playing loose and with nothing to lose. Therefore when Toronto was forced to play mediocre and high competition, they showed their true colors earlier in the year; Marion or no Marion.

I for one think it is a bit of both. If fact, I think that AP was bang on when he thought that this team next year, should it remain intact, would compete with the likes of Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia. The question that has to be asked however is whether this is good enough. Is the ceiling for this team 41 wins next season? That’s not exactly something to get too excited about.

My next observation was that there seems to be genuine support for Jay Triano to become the full time head coach. I think this is going to get done and soon, not only because the players seem onside with the idea, but it also because it will not cost MLSE that much money. The franchise is still on the hook for Mr. Mitchell’s contract and it is naive to think ownership is going to want to dish out a big fat contract to a big name coach so long as it is already paying one head coach.

Despite the fact that the team seemed to gel towards the end of the year I am still not sure that Triano is the right guy however. He is definitely an adaptive head coach, the players seem to like him, and he has an enormous amount of basketball knowledge. However the question remains - what kind of basketball is "Jay Triano basketball" and how does that fit with BC’s vision?

Anthony Parker was the second Raptor to speak with us yesterday and it struck me as to how polished he is. Parker doesn’t just got through the motions when with the press. He takes his time, thinks his answers through, and seems very forthcoming regardless of the question asked. Based on his media session it was very apparent that he would like to be back with the Raptors and he is flexible as to what capacity that might be in, even as a back-up in limited minutes.

As a starter AP’s inconsistency on the court is a big detriment to the team, but if he were to be part of the bench rotation it would be hard not to welcome him back with open arms. He seems to genuinely love the city, the team, and he alluded to his family being comfortable here. I think AP coming back is a 50-50 proposition at this point.

Perhaps the first point that really echoed throughout the media, and something we mentioned yesterday, was the comment by Calderon basically saying that if the Raps didn’t want him to play for the Spanish National Team this summer, he wouldn’t. Although he said there is no connection between his hamstring injury and last year’s Olympics, it was nice to hear that Calderon is willing to rest up, work on his game, and come back next season at 100 per cent.

Over the past month his play has been what people expected from No. 8 when he took over the starting job. He acknowledged yesterday that he essentially couldn’t play defense for three months of the season because of his injury. We couldn’t help but wonder why he was playing if this was the case for such a large chunk of the season, but let’s not forget if Calderon hadn’t played, the team likely would not have fared any better with the likes of Roko Ukic, Will Solomon or anyone else on the roster for that matter.

HOWLAND

For starters, it always impresses me as to how much media there is surrounding this team.

Yesterday we were packed like sardines into Toronto’s usual-post-game discussion room, and the combination of number of bodies and lack of space was akin to conducting interviews in an oven.

I mentioned to Howland post-press session that in 60 per cent of NBA cities, I couldn’t envision there being half that amount of media and outside select cities like New York, LA, Boston and Chicago, there probably would have been a decent number, but not the amount we were grouped in with yesterday.

It’s something that I think always surprises players when the first arrive in Toronto, not just in that there are two local and national papers that scrutinize the team, but a bevy of other print, radio and television media, on top of about 15 different Raptors’ blogs. Of course not all of these have media access, in fact I believe we’re the only pure Raptors’ blog that does, but the point here is that the coverage of this team, considering their recent history, never fails to amaze me.

Do you think 30 members of the press were waiting for the Bucks or Warriors when they were cleaning up shop yesterday?

Neither do I.

In terms of the player discussions themselves, outside of some of the more major points of interest like Bosh stating that this season didn’t affect his view of the team, and that he wouldn’t demand a trade, I thought one of the more interesting "read between the lines" notes came from Anthony Parker.

You can see it at about the 9:20 mark of this video and it was actually in response to a question I asked regarding the current style of play and whether it did a better job of utilizing his own talents.

As you can see, he didn’t really answer my question, but instead talked more about the style being better for the team in general. ("Running with a purpose versus just trying to run.")

His note of the change in styles >("players running because there’s a chance they know they’re going to get the ball versus just running to our spots…") struck me as both an acknowledgement that with Marion, Triano could finally implement the style he wanted and also, a bit of a "tell" regarding something us Raptors’ fans had been saying for quite some time; Sam Mitchell’s offense was simply too stagnant at times.

I’d mentioned before on the site that I thought Anthony Parker’s talents were better utilized in the up-tempo style since he was a good finisher in transition and unable to create off the bounce in a half-court setting. Under Mitchell, outside of the opening curl and jump-shot that AP would attempt to start each match, far too often Anthony was parked in the corner hoping to spread the floor, but often unable to really maximize his talents.

Mo Pete found himself in a similar situation in his final year in Toronto and I think it’s clear that going forward, whoever inhabits that starting 2-guard spot is going to need to be ready to get out and go.

Do I think Parker will be back next year?

Howland above put things at 50/50 but I feel it’s more like an 80/20 situation. Parker is comfortable here, I think Colangelo values his on and off-court contributions more than most, and considering AP discussed the need for a wing who can create off the bounce, it sounds like he has no illusions of retaining the starting 2 guard spot.

From Parker yesterday:

"Obviously if you can get a dominant perimeter player…but how many Dwyane Wades or Lebrons are out there?" If there was a player like that, that you could put beside a Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani it would make everyone’s life easier…the challenge is, where do you get a player like that?"

He’s right, and as much as I came away from everything yesterday feeling like fans will see a very similar team next year unfortunately, the hope is that comments like these by Parker, and a season of on-court evidence, will sway management into hunting down a player of this ilk.

A final thought on yesterday’s proceedings. A few of the players, AP in particular, acknowledged the poor state of the economy and that financial expectations may have to be tempered going into this off-season.

Considering NBA players are most-often painted with the "we live in our own world financially" paintbrush, I’m hoping this means that agents are already planting the "we may not be able to get that high-dollar contract this off-season" seeds.

Because as great as it was to hear Bosh sounding like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be, and Marion believing his style of play is a great fit with the club, things still come back to the numbers and right now, they don’t add up for the season after next.

Perhaps if Colangelo believes Chris is now on-board for one more go with this group next year, then he’ll cross that bridge when he comes to it.

But again, we’re just not sure that in this situation, it wouldn’t be better to be proactive about things, even if it means having CB4 in another jersey come the next full team media session we attend – training camp 2009.

FRANCHISE

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Comments

The roster as constructed has no chance of being a contender. Colangelo has a big job in front of him and no more excuses: he can bring his own coach, we have only 5 players with contracts until at least 2011. I don't believe Triano is right for the job however he seems to have it anyway. It looks like the brass considers this year some kind of fluke and th roster is much better than its record. Other than Jose, Andrea and AP (off the bench) everything else should be open for discussion.

by Daniel on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Great read and i agree with daniel. This team is fooling itself if it thinks the only thing needed is to bring back the current group, even if its only ap, marion and pops.

by fromlongrange on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Contender? We just got knocked off the treadmill and you're tossing the C word around?

Let's just get back to an entertaining, passionate style of basketball where the team has a shot at winning every night first, K?

That, we are close to, but we're years from contending. Like the HQ says, the recent success is largely due to an easy schedule (though hey, in that stretch we beat teams that are in the playoffs) so the logic follows that the previous losing is largely due to a very tough schedule.

The game before the big winning streak, the raps sat at second toughest schedule, and in only what, 10 games, we're at the 7th?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi?season=2009&sortColumn=sos

Someone tell me we wouldn't have made the playoffs if we'd had the schedule of the cavs. We were only six games off the pace for the eighth spot and one game over .500 would have gotten the 6th frickin' seed.

Yes, even considering calderon's injuries and the Oneal factor I believe this is true.

The silver lining is Bargs. I credit O'neal with Bargnani's breakout, he was the right guy at the right time to challenge Bargs, he was to Bargs what Oak was to VC. I truly think bargs will be a superstar in this league. If he was in a system like dirk Nowitkzi where most of the action revolves around getting him open, he'd be putting up dirk numbers right now.

IMO, we need to keep this core together for another couple seasons and just keep searching for that hard-defending, hard charging small we've need for years. Then see where we're at.

I don't see how people can criticize BC's decision making process. He tried to bring in John Salmons and Gerald Wallace - what if he had? Those would have been great moves, and we'd be having a different conversation right now I bet.

Those guys just flat-out didn't want to come here, marion didn't even want to come.

So if you realize BC has a tough job getting even available players to come to toronto I think it's obvious he has no choice but to build on what he's got as much as he can. Once he gets the team to a certain level, then the FAs will be available.

by axl on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I'm sure there will be many scenarios bounced around out there over the next few months but I've already been on Trade Machine and heres a couple...

Kap and Banks for Marcus Camby. A big man rotation of CB, AB, Camby and Pops is solid. That then makes Humphries available for trade (Hump for Brewer out of Minneosta works and is a nothing for nothing deal) and we can part ways with Jake and O'Bryant. Doesn't fix our needs at the 2 or the 3, but gives us that veteran with some attitude.

by Rahulan on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Rahulan, I think those trades being viewed with rose colored Raptor glasses (ie. we turn our crapbags into one of the best centers in the league). The reality, as RaptorBlog pointed out a few days ago, is that Bosh is likely to draw very limited interest, particularly since he's essentially a one year rental unless he agrees to re-up before the deal. The only place I think he would even consider doing that would be Miami. I read this somewhere else, but a Bosh + insert crappy contract here (I"m looking at you Banks or Kapono)for Beasley, Haslem and Blount, plus maybe our first rounder back. The thing is, I'd do it, even though I don't like Beasley all that much. We just have to get something for him, and more importantly we need to avoid signing him to a cap-killing max deal for a decidedly non-max level player (but who is probably the best second banana in the league and would kill it with WAde).

by RaptorsAddict on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

There's another thing to try and talk to BC about on Monday; just how challenging is it to find players who want to play here? You'll never get the absolute truth obviously but it's an important factor in anything that goes on in the off-season. BC might have the money to grab someone, or have a blockbuster trade option on the table, but if any of the players involved are still looking at Toronto like Russia, then that's a serious problem.

I find MLSE folks love to play up the "people love Toronto" and while I think that's true in general, I still think there's a negative stigma attached to being north of the border, even simply from a player's ego standpoint.

We've seen it even through networks like ESPN, who've had "analysts" say things like "oh yeah, Chris Bosh is good, but he's in Canada."

Pretty frustrating as a fan so can't imagine being a GM and having to work through players who take said experts at face value.

by Franchise on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Seeing that blank square under "Next game" on the homepage, kind of surreal.

Great media wrap up guys.
Franchise you've got it pegged, at the end of the day the numbers are what determine what is and isn't possible. Doug Smith regarding the Bosh Situation (Paraphrased) "what's the worst that can happen, we have his salary off the books to pursue free agents in the deepest FA class in history. I would be surprised if the Raptors didn't sign 2-3 players of their choosing with that money."
Given our track record with free agents, what makes anyone think that the Raptors sans-Bosh will attract people any more then the Raptors with him? I appreciate the effort he puts into his reporting, but I find him less willing to take a controversial opinion then someone like Grange. Maybe he keeps the rose-tinted glasses on to prevent a deluge of "The Raptor Sky is falling oh Nos" emails from more casual fans. Yet another reason why I'm grateful to have the coverage of the Star, Globe, and the Raptors blogsphere. Everyone's got their own slant on things, and as a fan its best to take in a variety of sources and form your own opinions.

Going back to the long-term impossibility of signing both Bargs and Bosh long term. IMHO, trading Bargs without a firm commitment from Bosh is folly. We've committed to run and gun, having a mobile big man that can shoot jumpers is an essential part of that. Bargnani is still on his rookie deal, and has subsequent restricted free agent status. That means we have him under our control for perhaps the next 4 years minimum if we choose to keep him on. Misconceptions about Toronto and Canada in general are widespread, which is why drafting and retaining homegrown talent will always be a key pillar in our growth as a team. As such I think there is a slight premium on players that seem to like Toronto, kind of a "they are more valuable to us then to anyone else" type deal. This only comes into play with bigger names, but it does exist in some form.

I'm going to tie this back to our upcoming draft pick. Whoever they draft will most likely sign their first extension with us and become a part of the foundation going forward. In an all things equal scenario, I hope they give due consideration to drafting a player with strong leadership qualities. Someone who doesn't just lead by example and handle themselves professionaly. I'm talking about someone who's going to hold their teammates accountable, because they identify with the team. Someone who views anything less then a full effort, as an insult not just against the team, but themselves as well. This last aspect of leadership is something which one is more likely to find in a player that you drafted and developed yourself. This is a tall order for the lottery pick. The most talented players look to be those who've proven the least in the ncaa. However, the lower half of the draft seems to be filled with upperclassman, surely a few have shown that kind of leadership on their respective college teams. Buying an extra pick now, gives a one year head start on developing that player with the players we already have.

by yardly on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Yardly, I couldn't agree more that it would be a mistake to trade Bargs withot having Bosh signed long term. However, I don't know where you got your info from, but we've only got him until 2010, provided we give him a qualifying offer for that season, and then we have to pony up for an extension; so 4 years is not accurate in terms of how long we'll have Bargs under his first contract.

However, i think you bring up an interesting point regarding salary; we have Bargs for 2009-10 and 10-11 under a manageable salary, so why not move Bosh, not for another max type player, but for a couple of guys who can be re-signed for manageable contracts and make a push for a deep playoff run for the next two years. The way I see it, if you've got AB at around 6mil next year and a bit more the next, and Jose is only costing us 8mil, you can take the projected salary for Bosh and sign/trade for a couple of productive players who will make that money combined (hello Biedrins and Crawford). I think that addresses talent and depth issues.

Moreover, I think the NEW NBA economy will dictate that a lot of guys will make less going forward. Teams that are going to hand out max contracts now, are going to regret it once the new CBA gets done; which will surely lower salaries across the board. if a team like Toronto can make moves in anticipation of this, and not overspend, we should benefit. Either way you cut it, I am on the trade Bosh bandwagon because we need the cap flexibility to sign more players at different positions more than we need Bosh.

If we had had a really shrewd GM he would have pushed for a deal to send Bosh to Portland in a deal for ALdridge/Lafrentz; and we would have had a younger, cheaper Bosh to pair with Bargnani and Jose, and the mooney necessary (from Lafrentz's expiring contract) to sign a very good SF/SG. Now you've got a legit contender in the East. (IF the Blazers would go for the deal).

Rob

P.S-Beasley strikes me as an uncoachable suck, and I bet he would be sulking his way out of TO (a la Vince) after his rookie deal.

by 2nd Raps fan in LA on Apr 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

If Anthony Parker is willing to come off the bench, accept reduced minutes and take a pay cut (which it SEEMS like he is) I don't understand how you don't resign him. As far as I'm concerned, that is the first step to building up our ridiculously shallow bench. He offers a veteran presence and versitility off the bench.

I would also argue that any trade involving Michael Beasley would turn around to bite us in the butt. I agree with those who site his attitude as a problem. I don't believe he would want to play in Canada either. Unfortunately, it seems the only players who want to play or stay in Canada are Europeans. Maybe we could put together a Euro league all-star team and see how far we go.

Kidding.

Everyone knows that the wings are a sore spot for us (especially if Marion bolts) so I have nothing to say about that which hasn't already been said a hundred times.

I think two things that need to be addressed in the offseason are defence and Bargnani's rebounding. As great as it was to see AB's offense improve, a seven footer needs to pull down more than an average of five rebounds a game.

Looking forward to the offseason.

by Posterized on Apr 18, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

2nd Raps,

You're right, my 4 years comment doesn't make sense. I think I came up with the figure as a combination of one year left under the rookie deal plus what I consider to be the absolute minimum number of years we'd sign him to an extension (3). In truth, his next contract could be any length, between a one year qualifying offer (ala Ben Gordon this past summer) to the maximum of six years.

One of the reasons why the Marion expiring deal was a plus, is that it hinted at big change. It was lining us up to for a summer of upheaval, and then hopefully we could go back to adding to our roster piece by strategic piece. We were set up for the same thing in 2010 with JO's expiring deal. Either Bosh was gonna go via trade OR he was going to resign with us. If Bosh plays out the string in 09-10, I'm going to have the offseason of 2010 in the back of my mind. In that sense, its kind of like this past season in repeat.

Axl, if this year has taught us anything, its that no one really knows what Bargs will look like as a finished product. I never thought he would bulk up THIS much. Not to mention, still retain his quickness and driving ability. Thoughts that he'd be content with 10 million a year seem naive if he continues his current development curve. Once the dust settles on summer'09, it would be nice to have a capologist article to review the state of the Raptors cap going forward.

by yardly on Apr 18, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Howland,
the question is not how badly the reserve pg's played, but rather that it was clear that Jose couldn't play to win and that playing him prolonged his injury and ruined the season. This is on BC. Either, he didn't want the controversy of not having a ready reserve point guard to come up on him, or he wasn't giving any coach enough security to accept losing in the short term in order to win down the road. I loved hearing Cito Gaston say that sometimes his decision process isn't about winning today. He said that he didn't mind losing today to win 5 games down the road. That guy is a winner.

by EaseMyPain on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

franchise, please don't ask BC about whether or not players 'like' toronto. it's irrelevant. this is not the same team that came into the league 15 years or so ago. it's not even what it was during the vince era.

people know where toronto is, and although it may not be new york or miami or the LA, it's not exactly minnesota to them either.

at this point in the franchise, winning is what matters. it's whats going to attract players - or dissuade them from coming.

that's it.

win, and the players will come. or stay.

but we have to stop having this conversation about the 'likeability' of toronto as a city.

by papa on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I agree with Papa.

The Toronto 'likeability' Q&A is like an itch you shouldn't scratch with the mainstream.

However I think if pot was decrimimalized in ON, and we finally gussied up the city life around the waterfront; there is a real chance that we could attract a lot more players - and please don't take this is as a racial jibe. The pot de-criminalization could also keep some players away (especially those with families).

There is a far far greater chance of that happening here than accross the border in the US. That is all I am saying.

Outside of that TO; really is a top5 North American city to live in.

by JENGE on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

this roster won't win, isn't athletic enough in general to have role players, and lacks the grit to cover its weakenesses. We need to overhaul.
We have to try to use Bosh to rebuild a team that could someday use a guy like a Bosh, rather than just grind him down.
Hopefully we can get lucky and get a piece in the draft. There are some talents, but only Rubio and Griffin, and maybe Lawson, are ready to be contributors next year. We need a scorer for the future (Evans, Curry?) to fill in at the wing in the future. We can handle going into next year knowing that we are unlikely to compete for a playoff spot if it is a positive move forward. Time for this town to build.
Unlike Hockey, Basketball teams only need a few good young guys to really improve. Let's have a future!

by EaseMyPain on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I think people are missing the point with the 'players not wanting to come to toronto' thing, the fact it's in canada is only one factor and probably not the biggest, probably the lack of "name" is the biggest. Teams like knicks, lakers, celtics are etched into player's minds because for obvious reasons. The cold is another factor, the lack of tv coverage is a huge one.

There are more and needless to say, lots of teams have a problem attracting players, minnesota, charlotte to name two. My only point is we had two fairly ideal sf targeted and BC couldn't reel them in because of a bunch of extraneous factors. I'd like to see him build a solid program, like in utah, that isn't always being blown up and where a bad year just means a nice draft pick and then getting back to a high level of play.

by axl on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I don’t think this season was just a blimp and if we come back next year with the same team we'll all of a sudden start winning again. When I look at the Hawks, Orlando, Phili and Miami tonight I see incredible speed and athleticism. I also see players on these teams who are contributing already while still having plenty upside and growth to experience.

The Raptors cannot stand still and watch everyone around them get better. Our current team is so slow and "unathletic", I don’t know how we won 33 games. The only way I'd agree to brining back the same team is if we add Ben Gordon or Artest or one or two other high profile free agent. There is no doubt that we need more, and coming back with the same group would be disgusting. I can watch a 33 win team that competes and entertains me; I can appreciate a losing team that is at least entertaining. But I can’t watch a 33 win team that is soft, slow and lack balls.

by Member29 on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Been a while since I piped in though thought one last time until next season.

While Toronto/Canada is not seen as the most desirable destination, it still beats Milwakee, Minnesota, Utah, etc.,etc.. Would probably put it in the middle of the pack for NBA cities.

People keep talking about having the "same team" for next year. Well, basically we`ve had this team for about 20 games. When you have one player sucking up 30% of your cap space, moving him definitely means "changing your team".

I`m not really in the move Bosh or don`t move Bosh boat, though we defintitely would need a superstar, or budding superstar, back in return along with another piece. Wouldn`t make sense otherwise. Bosh is a true max superstar, and you can`t win without them.

As much as I love speculating, I`m just going to sit back and watch how this unfolds. BC knows what are weaknesses are. Don`t really see Delfino as a starter, nor Parker, and probably not Kapono (who was my choice at the beginning of the year over Moon), so something`s going to have to happen.

by Acie on Apr 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

A couple of points.

1. I believe that for the most part, the perception of Toronto in NBA circles has changed for the better over the last 15 years or so. You can find at least 4 or 5 writers on SI and ESPN who either acknowledge that that they are Closet Raptor fans or acknowledge that we have dedicated (read - insanely loyal) fans and that this isn't such a bad place to play. That being said, there are also the Steven A Smiths and Charles Barkley's who will assume anyone who has talent (american player wise at least) is just itching to go to a real city like Cleveland (that made my soul ache just typing that, I mean really, CLEVELAND IS BETTER THAN TORONTO?). At the end of the day, if in the next 5 years, Toronto could at least make a final, (I doubt we would win one) like the Cavs did a few years ago, it would go a long way to making Toronto a desirable place to play. San Antonio is really not a big city and although its nice enough I am sure, it draws interest from players because the franchise is extremely well run. Think of it this way, everyone in the NBA would love to play for the Lake, how many want to play for the Clips?
2. Let's face it, this is a really bad year to dump Bosh. When you look at this draft you just do not see a single "franchise" player in the bunch. Griffin is slated to be a very good player but even he is not worth Bosh in a trade (if a player like durant, mayo or rose were coming out this year, wouldn't you trade Bosh almost straight up for them?) unless you are getting a ton of other players in return as well. Seeing as any team that is likely to get the 1st pick (outside of GS and Phoenix) is also unlikely to have much talent, can you really see getting anything close to value for Bosh? Baring someone suprising me with a really good deal for him, I am really starting to lean towards letting him walk in 2010. I just do not see the point of setting the franchise back by accepting the stigma of trading your franchise player who is in his prime and getting 40-60 cents on the dollar back. Is that really going to help our franchise in the long run? Letting him walk may not sound appealing either but I think everyone in the league is expecting it now so the blow will be softened and there is always a chance of a sign and trade which may or may not (unlikely) get us a return at that point.

by McGateway on Apr 20, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions