The Raptor that Never Was: Mickael Pietrus

Great article. I was interested in Pietrus while he was in his final yr at GSW. I wanted us to trade for him. BC missed the boat on that one but in all fairness, it happens. BC needs to find a couple of gems this summer to win back some confidence. His player evaluation has been off i.e. he gave Moon an extended role on this team when he should have been an 8th-10th man off the bench, he signed Kapono, forget the bad contract, signing him was a waste of time and everyone except him knew it, he gave Will Solomon a backup role when he should not have even been in the NBA, he traded for Oneal who was/ is on the downward cycle of his career and was never going to regain his all star form, he drafted Bargs 1st overall but to date he isn’t the best player that was drafted that year.
All in all, I like the way BC is not afraid to make moves and make changes when things aren’t working, I’ll give him credit for that but his talent evaluation seems a bit off to me. It seems like when he likes a guy, he inflates his value and doesn’t see him for what he really is or going to be.

I always liked Pietrus to... but I still don't think he would have been a Raptors saviour. He had a mediocre regular season at best (and thats the few games he did play when not injured). His playoffs were not much better. The exception being against the Cavs where he did play great and did a good job against Lebron. Not saying he wouldn't have been a nice addition to the Raps, but he wasn't a deal breaker.

Member29 - how can you say that Moon should have been an 8-10 man on the Raps after his rookie 2007/08 year? He played great and deserved the starting role he EARNED. Now he may have lost that over the course of this year and by mid 2008/09 he may have needed to be moved down the order. But starting this past year he deserved the starting spot. Not to mention, who do we replace Moon with if he was 8-10 man? Kapono? Joey?.... not sure either of these are better choices.

doesn't he make Turkoglu a little redundant now ... I can't see Orlando resigning him (I'd rather have Pietrus), so maybe we should look making a play for the Turkish "Jordan" instead.

On a lighter and barely basketball related note:

http://www.newmoonmovie.org/2009/06/andy-samberg-punks-the-twilight-crowd-at-mtv-movie-awards/

This killed me last night...

PS - Just so no to Hedo.

No, I do agree that had Pietrus played with the same injuries, he would have been cruxified in Toronto, but I also think that at 5.3 mil per year, I don't think you need to expect the world from him. As a great backup (which is something the Raptors still need from that position) at 5.3, I think the Raptors would think that they'd have a relative bargain that can occasionally step into the starter's role.

And Turkoglu is still important if only because he can run a great pick and roll for the Magic.

"doesn't he make Turkoglu a little redundant now - I personally dont think he and Turkoglu are even close to comparible. Turkoglu is an overlooked star in this league. A 6 10 sf that can (and pretty much does) play point.... Mr fourth quarter for the Magic (this year anyways) and years of playoff experience. Not to mention a matchup nightmare for nearly any team. I couldnt imagine the Magic not resigning Turkoglu (if only short term). Pietrus is more of the classic 2 or 3 that plays behind the 3 pt line with the occasional slash to the bucket... and expected to play D on the other end. The two of them are completely seperate players.

Vicious - I agree he would have fit perfect in that role.

Turkoglu has the Raptors disease, 1/10 or 8/10 on a game by game basis, never know what. He does have great size and is multi talented, and likely to want $10 mil plus. Too expensive.

Can't get the link to work - need to be in the US I think.

I saw the fake New Moon trailer...

Doesn't compare to Eminem getting his comeuppance...!

Didn't the real slim shady once rap this:

"My bum is on your lips, my bum is on your lips;
And if I'm lucky, you might just give it a little kiss;
And that's the message that we deliver to little kids".

Feel free to delete .. I'm just waiting on the Bosh statement to break...

From what I hear, Pietrus wanted more than the midlevel exception, so the Raptors couldn't sign him since they were over the salary cap. So he was never actually an option. So this article is pointless.

WARNER MUSIC CANADA SIGNS BASKETBALL SUPERSTAR CHRIS BOSH

Chris Bosh, NBA Allstar and six year veteran of the Toronto Raptors, has entered into an agreement with Warner Music Canada to produce a unique DVD and CD to be releaed in the fall of 2009. Chris Bosh is also thrilled to launch his iPhone app.

press release http://www.chris-bosh.com/cb4mediarelease.pdf

LOL I THINK THAT WAS IT?! lol that's the big announcement?

Aaron - you beat me to it. Figured it was going to be something random but this was REALLY random. Maybe we can get Warner to help pay for his Max Contract Demands...

Great. All this anticipation for that announcement. Now I can cleep better. All of a sudden i have the urge of going to the trade bosh bandwagon.

WARNER MUSIC CANADA SIGNS BASKETBALL SUPERSTAR CHRIS BOSH

Hopefully that will make him stay in toronto and if i was BC i will call orlando and ask about pietrus for kapono since orlando love 3 point shooters kapono will fit perfectly

Can we please move Bosh; this announcement was a joke and I feel like he played on people anticipating it would be basketball related in order to gin up interest. I mean, he's not taking games off to produce a rap CD like Ron Ron, but this almost feels worse and whack.

Mr. Colangelo, if you're reading this great Raptors blog, please call Washington and get us a player who is serious about basketball, can play the PF position, has intensity to his game, scores 20 and grabs about 10 boards and can knock down the occasional 3; you know Antawn Jamison!

Rob

PS-and Bryan, ask for that pick of theirs and an expiring contract.

And THAT is why I was not getting excited about this announcement. I knew it was going to be something pointless like that. CB4 is going to join the ever growing list of athletes (Shaq, Iverson, Artest)who produce mediocre (at best) rap albums. Ugh!!! Or maybe it'll be a comedy album. WHO CARES!!!

2nd Raps fan in LA
You are right. Ever the self promoter, Bosh totally played us... Well, those who actually thought is was going to be b-ball related. Maybe the silver lining could be that this may be enough to keep him in Toronto without a max contract. Maybe.

P.S. Just say no to Antawn.

lurker,
apparently that link wasn't offered in London either. Weird.

I didn’t see anything wrong with the announcement. It's ok for him to have interests outside of basketball, isn’t it? Isn’t that healthy? I’m an "airport guy" by profession but I still love to coach and fish. I see this announcement as the same thing; he obviously has other passions and interests.
I’m not sure y fans thought this would be basketball related, everyone should know by now that all significant B ball related news would come from the Raptors organization, ie BC. Let’s give the guy a break and stop over reacting over a small deal.
Chris if you’re reading this, CONGRATS on your new deal; and thanks for all your hard work for this organization, we appreciate it. I’d still trade you if you don’t sign an extension with us this summer tho.

So Lebron scores almost 40 points on average, scored more more total points than anyone in the history of the Eastern Conference finals, and has his own personal high as far as scoring in a playoff series and tha makes you think that pietrus did well defensively and that he was able to limit Lebron? Which series were you watching? do you even check stats and stuff before you write these articles?

Tuesday news and notes:

Sorry about the link, this one will work but you have to scroll over to clip 28 to see the one I was referring to...it's from Sunday night's MTV Movie awards and yes, slightly off topic:

http://www.mtv.ca/movieawards/2009/video_content.jhtml?id=1612964

Great news about Alvin Williams - I'm going to talk more about it tomorrow morning but a move like this was due by this organization. If you haven't gotten the breakdown, here's a link from The Star:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/nba/article/643930

As for Bosh's announcement yesterday, while I posted earlier about it hardly being earth-shattering basketball-wise, it's still an interesting development, especially for social media enthusiasts like myself. The CD/DVD piece makes a lot of sense but I'm more interested in the Iphone Application. Everyone is jumping on the "make an app" bandwagon but like widgets, at some point it gets a bit overwhelming and you have to ask "how useful is this really." So based on the description of the App given to us by the folks at the Raptors, I'm scratching my head a bit as to how useful it really is going to be.

Here's the press release piece:

The ground-breaking Chris Bosh app for iPhone and iPod touch was created with OneMethod Inc. Digital + Design. It allows fans to keep track of Chris' Twitter feed, watch his latest videos as soon as they're posted, view his latest photos and keep track of updated game stats throughout the NBA season.

For anyone who has an Iphone and wants to give it a test run, it can be downloaded here:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=310621
378&mt=8

Curious to get some feedback.

Finally, draft workouts resume late this week, Thursday and Friday. Not sure if we'll be attending both right now based on schedules so we're waiting to see which day promises better prospects...

Oh, and one intersting note from Draftexpress if you haven't seen it:

Marc Iavaroni appears to be a lock to secure the lead assistant’s role in Toronto, with the only holdup now being his contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. It seems like Iavaroni and Toronto may be in a similar situation to that of Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic a few years back, when the Miami Heat demanded compensation in the form of a second round pick in exchange for releasing him from the last year of his contract. This time, though, the Grizzlies are reportedly demanding cash, somewhere in the range of a few hundred thousand dollars.

This would be a major pain for TO even if the end result is only shelling out a few hundred K, reason being, that's probably money that would otherwise be ear-marked for purchasing draft picks. With various teams like Detroit and Portland sounding like they want to sell, I'd rather see Toronto keep as much money on hand as it can.

Not sure how Bosh's contract will possibly through a wrench in all our predictions, but it's kind of good news for Bosh supporters as it's another indication that he's putting down more roots in Canada. After all, he's signed this deal with Warner Music Canada.

I'm really psyched about Alvin Williams though. It'll be great to talk to Boogie again as he'll be a great addition to giving some heart back to this team.

Link working - Andy Samberg rocks.

So I had meant to post something a while back. But I was scheduled to attend a meet and greet with BC (a means to satisfy angry season ticket holders). He ended up canceling to go to LA. But we got Maurizo instead. Turned out to be an interesting session. Nothing earth shattering. The highlights would be.

1. When pressed to explain the raptors need for "toughness". Be it veteran leadership, swagger, or physical play. Maurizo responded that they're basically looking for a (and I quote) "Motherf#@ker".

2. He implied that Calderon's injuries were far more extensive then was let on.

3. One thing I found interesting was that he commented on rumours and discussion groups. And suggested that they too acquire about a lot of the moves we all discuss. But in the end the issue of players not want to relocate to Toronto is still a major stumbling block (Pietrus? Granger? Wallace?)

4. A.I. is absoluteley not happening.

5. When asked to contrast the teams hope to play an up-tempo style vs their best player thriving in the half court he acknowledged it as an issue, but suggested that Bosh could adapt.

6. Jonny Flynn was a name that came up as a player that could address toughness through the draft.

I think those were the main hits.

Hmmm, I am a little nervous about Boogie going anywhere near our PGs next season, unless of course you enjoy your PGs running down the floor and jacking up a jumper only 3 seconds into the shot clock and no one in a rebounding position.
I do not understand what is wrong with people in Toronto. I can understand hating on Kapono as he was a complete waste of space the last 2 years (with the exception of their 1st round matchup last year in the playoffs) but where is all this hating coming from for Bosh? Sorry he didn't make your dreams come true by demanding he be traded for Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. Wake up and smell the reality, we all know that the Raps are more than likely to get shafted in a trade for Bosh as that is just the way it is in the NBA these days and until someone makes a stand, it is going to continue to be that way. Stop driving out your stars just because you have no patience or idea what is involved in winning a championship. All you have to do is look at the two teams in the finals and the final 4 teams and compare them to the Raptors. Do you really think Chris Bosh is the problem with that comparison in mind?

mcgateway,

Ouch! Now i think i will go back to my little hole with my tail between my legs.

Wait a second?!? Did someone actually think Bosh was going to demand to be traded for Lebron or Kobe? I must have missed that post.

Seriously though, it's sad to hear that players not wanting to relocate to Toronto is in fact a stumbling block for the franchise. Toronto is a great city. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard a player who HAS relocated here complain (a la Webber in Sacremento). It must be the whole "different country" thing.

posterized:
do not take it personal, for example most Europeans believe American (as in the US) cities are absolutely odd and boring compared to European ones.
Moreover can you image players being thrilled about going to be in glamorous places like Oklahoma City? Minnesota? Phoenix? ( I could carry on) I believe it has o do much more about "basketball glamor" and in that sense Toronto has still a long way to go to be at the level of, let' say Detroit (ugly place and as cold as toronto otherwise)

Assuming BC stands pat and doesn’t trade Bosh, re-signs Marion and brings back Delfino what do you think we should do if T. Evans is off the board at #9 as well as all the other popular choices to go in the top 8 and we’re left with the options: J. Holiday, Blair, De Rozan, T. Williams, Henderson & E. Clark. Would you trade the #9 pick for Kelena Azubuike or pick one of these fellas at 9. Keep in mind even with Bosh and Marion back, we still need a solid, starting calibre SG.

I posted this yesterday just before this article went up so please forgive me for posting it again but I wanted some of the mature and bright minds around here to yea or ney this idea:

Assuming BC stands pat and doesn’t trade Bosh, re-signs Marion and brings back Delfino. Assuming T. Evans is not on the board at #9 as well as all the other popular choices to go in the top 8 and we’re left with the following options when its our turn to pick:

J. Holiday
Blair
De Rozan
T. Williams
Henderson
E. Clark.

If BC had an option to trade the #9 pick to Golden State for Kelena Azubuike, should he do it or pick one of these fellas at 9.

Keep in mind even with Bosh and Marion back, we’d still need a solid, starting calibre SG to really improve. Would you guys take the grossly underrated 26yrs old K. Azubuike over one of the rookies above all things considered? Or does one of these rookies provide more value to the raps than a guy like Azubuike?

The Warner Canada deal with Bosh would have an advance of $20K max. Ain't going to even pay for Bosh Man's braids.

I don't understand what all the Bosh hate is about either. Still an elite player with an upside. Just need to give him a sidekick. I like Curry JR, though maybe not the right fit.

Would like Holiday just to hear a sample of Madonna's "Holiday" after every basket in the ACC.

The Toronto as a player destination is like a broken record. That being said, remember that oer 90% of Americans don't even have passports and most aren't interested in going anywhere "foreign".