It’s All Part of the Plan

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT in Feature Stories

You'd have to be as "inspired" as this guy to figure out the Raptors' current contract situation.

It's been a while since we've had a deal to genuinely get excited about here in Raptor-land and there are just so many ways to look at this particular deal – and therefore a number of ways I want to break things down.

On the one hand, you just have to be impressed by the magnitude of this entire trade. Involving four teams in a trade situation is never an easy task, and it gets even more interesting when not every single team is just going after players, but actual cap room and financial obligations. For example, Orlando was seen as a team that could get absolutely no benefit from this trade and would potentially strengthen their Eastern Conference rivals. And yet, here we are talking about how Orlando has facilitated a sign and trade that allows the Raptors to keep their Mid-Level Exception (MLE) as well as their Bi-Annual Exception (BAE) for this off-season. Orlando in turn, gets some cash (from both Toronto and Dallas) and a meaty trade exception from the Jerry Stackhouse deal.

Speaking of Stackhouse, the only reason Memphis was involved was to pick up his contract in order to gain extra cap room. A 2016 draft pick was also included in order to facilitate the deal since Quincy Douby was unavailable to be traded due to the nature of his contract. Extra cash from Toronto and Dallas was also sent to bolster the deal.

Then of course, there are the "human" pieces.

Dallas gains Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai, and Greg Buckner. Toronto gains Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, and Devean George.

The Toronto Raptors have positioned themselves to remain active in this off-season while shoring up some of their depth in troubling areas. What has long looked like a possibly sticky contract for a very good player in Hero Turkoglu has turned into a deal that also nets the Raptors SG/SF Antoine Wright and SF Devean George all at the cost of Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai, some cold, hard cash and the Raptors' trade exception. While neither George nor Wright will be All-Stars, they are veteran pieces that have been through several playoff battles and shoot a decent percentage from the free throw line. They both have size and address the Raptors dearth at the wing positions and their contracts are only for one year.

Oh, and the Raptors keep their mid-level and veteran exceptions.

But here's the deal. The plan isn't complete. It's obvious that the Raptors still have a few more steps to go in the summer.

Yesterday they kept inching towards a completed roster by signing DeMar DeRozan to a two-year rookie deal with team options for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

Then there is Anthony Parker, and Carlos Delfino.

Anthony Parker has yet to officially sign his deal with Cleveland at the time of writing this post, and Bryan Colangelo has been saying in public that he's still willing to inquire to see whether Parker is available.

As a mentor, a backup point guard, a team leader, and a pretty good defensive/offensive player, he's a person that should be on Colangelo's radar, especially since he's a Larry Bird Exception candidate who can be re-signed without the use of either exception. Similarly, Carlos Delfino also can be re-signed without the use of exceptions thanks to the Raptors attaining him in the trade with Detroit from a few years ago thus retaining his rights. Oh, and all qualifying offers are still on the table, allowing the Raptors to match contracts.

Which just might leave the entire Mid-Level Exception open to grab another big piece.

As Bryan Colangelo mentioned yesterday, his phone has been ringing off the hook with offers and inquiries. There are many players still available for purchase, including the much talked about Linus Kleiza. If the Raptors need to take on more than one player (i.e., if Parker finally signs with Cleveland) they could use their MLE to sign more than one player, say for example Jarrett Jack and Linus Kleiza. (If indeed both players were available for that discount price.)

However, the Raptors may want to look even further. What if they were to use the entire MLE on just one player? Would that allow the Raptors to go after such players as Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, or Ramon Sessions?

The possibilities available to Colangelo have just increased exponentially, and TSN.ca’s Tim Chisholm in this piece presents a few more possible ideas for Raptors’ fans.

In the days leading up to this deal, I've been waiting to pass judgment on the whole deal until it was finalized. My hope was always for a sign-and-trade that would help the Raptors keep their exceptions and Colangelo has done just that. The surprising parts of this deal are that the Raptors have added two more pieces bringing the roster size up to 12 players. The Raptors could even possibly waive a player and take on four more contracts. I'm very comfortable with how things have shaped out financially on this deal and while we'll be arguing about how this roster will look together on the floor all summer, at least Colangelo has secured key pieces without tossing away flexibility on his secondary talent. After all, it's been his golden plan to re-establish a team that will be comparable to his 2006-2007 club and he's finally got a chance to do so, with the coaches he wants, and the situation he's designed.

The Raptors are far from done this off-season and it remains to be seen just how Colangelo will bring his plan towards completion.

This isn't the end of the ride, but merely crossing the first hill.

Vicious D

PS – The entire Raptors press-conference with Hedo can be viewed here at Raptors.com.

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Comments

Loving this trade and these moves,

BC gets much love for remaking the raps in one season, and he is still not done. As always great reporting done by the crew here at hooplife.ca, Would like to see them let douby go so that we have the option of a 4th player available to sign, wright is a player, if we can get delfino back in the mix things are looking up,

question ?? How much $$$ does the MLE cover and is it available to be packaged with a player for other players ??

Would like to see the raps Sign a coupel fo free agents college kids and stash them in the d league, Mcneal and Adrien, the kid from temple that did not get drafted..

later guys and keep up the good work.

by biggyc on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Vicious, you scare me, one of your your BC-Joker finest lines was: "A plan? Do I look like a guy with a plan to you?"

haha I am having fun at thinking at BC coming up with such line in a press conference

by renato on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I'm excited about this new team, hopefully bosh will sign an extension this summer, so we have a core for the next 4-5 years.

by Sho on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Got to agree about Parker. I've been pimpin' him for weeks now in spite of most people saying he's old and past his prime. He's a veteran presence in the locker room who checks his ego at the door. I think he'd be an excellent mentor for Derozan.

Also, I'm glad to see BC isn't just rehashing old moves. For a while there it looked like he was just going to reassemble the team of 2006 sans Garbo. I don't agree with all the moves, but I love the agressiveness. Can't wait to see what this squad looks like come pre season.

by Posterized on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

biggyc - How much it covers is in the spreadsheet; $5.85M. You can't just simply package the money available to another team though. However, if a trade was to be worked out, I'd think it's more likely that the team would want either George or Wright and their expiring contracts.

Personally, I'd much rather see the Raptors buy out Marcus Banks. It sucks because that contract was one that Colangelo gave him way back in Phoenix and it's come back to haunt him. Removing him doesn't get rid of all the money associated with him, but it does remove a piece that is unlikely to participate in anything, and it does save a bigger chunk than Douby would.

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Alhough the last two years have been tough and its still hard to attract non-european players we have something to smile about. Without BC at the helm we would be riding at the bottom of the east for a very long time. Collecting a vince carter, mcgrady or bosh via the draft then watching them walk or trading for lil in return. And repeating the process. With BC we have a reputable GM that is aggresive and I believe other gms like to deal with. Interested to see how demar plays today. Keep up the good work boys, viva las vegas..

by vanisleballer on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Good post Vicious D.

I think you are mistaken about all qualifying offers being on the table. In the presser, BC said he retracted parker and delfino's qualifying offers to prepare for signing Hedo. If he had known the trade was going to happen, he would have not retracted the offers.

by GrayZ on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

GrayZ - I read the same thing too, but my head has been spinning around since yesterday trying to figure all this out. According to Eric Smith and several other people, they didn't actually end up rescinding it. I thought the same, but I've been told otherwise, so that's what I've put in this article. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Aaaaand according to Michael Grange, Anthony Parker is gone.

Thanks for the memories AP. We'll miss you.

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I still have to beliebe this deal is for real. My dream scenario now is to waive Douby and bring AP (back-up PG and mentor), Delfino (starting SG), Rasho (back-up C) and Matt Barness (back-up wing). We also have flexibility going forward with expirings in 2010 and 2011.
Now it is on the coaching staff to design and execute a strong team defense strategy. It is much easier now though as we have diverse skillsets to use in training camp and practices. In the East we need a Howard stopper, a LeBron stopper and grit to beat Boston. Tall order but not impossible.

by Daniel on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

This was posted late last night on a now superseeded article. Sorry for the repost.

I’ve been watching the ongoings for the past few days with much interest but was unable to post. For the most part, everything I wanted to say has been said very eloquently by much of the commentary on this site. However, a few things to add.

It’s a great time to be a raptor fan. These are truly exciting times and I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to the beginning of the season with more anticipation. And I have to give props to TJ, great call! Here are some addition random thoughts:

First let me just say that I’m a huge fan of this site. In fact, I come here first and usually last. I don’t have much time and know that whatever is out there that impacts the Raptors, you and the my fellow posters will break and break down on this site. Great work and congratulations to what you, Howland, and Vicious D have been able to accomplish.

Franchise:

Not sure what happened but it began with the Kapono signing. While the rest of us began to contemplating how the raptors will drop more trays than a drunken waitress, you were more worried about who would pay for the drinks. This was followed by a post about how we must rid ourselves of the albatross which is Bosh’s contract now lest the financing get out of control (which spurred on a tsunami of posts form people with an inferiority complex about which bench player we should target in a trade for Bosh, I thought I was somehow redirected to realGM). This has subsequently been followed up with many discussions about whether Bosh truly is a max player. Most recently, BC pulls a rabbit out of a hat and your post isn’t about fit but rather about the Benjamins and how we can no longer build a solid bench. Then came the Barney deal which again, instead of focusing on the fact that we locked up our up and coming big for the next 6 years, you went on a rant about how we spent too much.

Here is what I have to say about that. Why do we care? As a fan, I am focused on the group of players that our GM assembles. Can’t we leave the money to BC and the Board to worry about? That’s what he is paid to do. I’m just excited being a fan. This is especially true in the case with BC who has proven over and over again not to be shackled by any contract. Let us be fans and enjoy the possibilities without worrying about our next mortgage payment.

BC just pulled off a deal which was unfathomable a few days ago. We should all be in awe of this man and congratulating him on a job well done. Let’s remember this next week when some of us are calling for his head again because he took Bargnani and not Thomas #1 overall.

P.S. If you really want Jawai, I’m pretty sure we can sign him back 30 days after Memphis waves him.

Doug Smith:

I have to stick up for the guy. He’s been getting some unfair bashing on this site. Yes, he is condescending, but that’s just his style, I don’t think he means any disrespect. For the record, what he said was that the Raptors do not have their MLE without a trade with Orlando, no matter what. He was right. He does have his sources and they are good. I think that if you want to pick a fight with the media, DS is not your guy. He’s on our side.

He is the only reporter who regularly reports on the sport taking time away at nights to blog live during non raptor games and weekends to respond to questions. He is the guy on the fan 590 duking it out with the hockey heads who don’t understand a thing about bball. Grange? Love reading the guy, but I clean my eaves troughs more often than the guy posts to his blog. The Fan 590 (the so called home of the Raptors)? They cancel the only dedicated bball radio show whenever there is a baseball game or a dart competition at the Madison. 680 news (sister station to the fan)? They referred to the staples center as the home of the Kings in reference to the Michael Jackson ceremony. Staples Center, the home of the KINGS!!!

There is no one in the media, no one! who is fighting our battle other than DS. So I cut him some slack.

by Zona on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Very well put Zona. Especially regarding Doug Smith. I agree with everything you posted about him.

by Silverback on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I do appreciate how aggressive BC has been, but my one question I have about our starting 5 for next year and perhaps years to come is, does our starting 5 have enough defence to stop teams on a nightly basis? Do we have any top rated defenders on our team? We were bottom three defensively last year, we ranked bottom third last year in rebounds. If we don't have the defence, this team may still be good enough to make it to the playoffs, but not good enough to go deep into it. Again, my question is does this team have enough defence and enough rebounders to be a competitive team?

by BargsBust on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Ok.. time for some mild analysis. I'm a big fan of the Roland Ratings to give an approximation of how good a player is (82games.com). It's far from perfect, but it's decent enough.

Example of following players last year:

LeBron: 23.5; Wade: 17.9; Paul: 17.7; Bryant: 12.6; Roy: 12.5; Howard: 12.3; Bosh: 6.0

Obviously ranking is very arguable, but it does give you a ballpark.

I've been able to use the regular season RRs to predict the NBA finals using the top 4 players (percentage played) on each team and their RR.
Here's a sample:
Lakers: 12.6,7.3,9.2,0.7
Magic: 12.3, 7.3, 4.7, 0.5
Cavs: 23.5, 3.0, 5.2, -0.4
Blazers: 12.5,7.2,-1.6,2.5
Nuggets: 4.2, 7.6, 6.0, 6.0
Celts (-KG): 8.4, 5.2, 5.6, -1.2
Kings:-6, -0.6, -1.9, -2.5

The year before
Celts: 14.5, 10.4, 4.9, 3.4
Lakers: 12, 8.9, 2.4, -2

Interesting patterns huh? For my gambling purposes my formulae is a little more complicated, but just using the very basics, it would have given you the finals and the winners. Its been very profitable! This has lead me to conclude depth is fairly meaningless.

So how were the Raps last year?

Raps: 6, 0.7,3.2,-3.6

What scares me is AB is the -3.6

Parker was a 0.7 and played 69% of the time.

Hedo was a 4.7.

Just that alone is made the raps a significantly better team.

What worries me?

Evans -7.8, Wright -5.6, George -8.8

So if any of those players need to make a significant contribution, we're in trouble!

But luckily as I said, depth, schmepth.

The success of this team depends on someone becoming a 10+ player, and AB to get to atleast a + side.

by ustation on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I think zona might actually be Doug Smith.... LOL... I keeed.... damn, now i sound like him.

Anyhow, I was reading Hollingers chat yesterday and he suggested a player that might be a good for for the raptors front court needs might be a Brandon Bass.

Regardless when BC says "stay tuned for more moves", it almost sounds like he has a couple of significant moves in mind, more of an upgrade then Rasho or Deflino... here's hoping anyways.

by j on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Oh sorry I meant that Bosh needs to return to his RR rating of 11 the previous season.

by ustation on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

And here's my reply to Zona:
Re: Doug Smith
I'll tell you what... I read his articles every day because they're informative and he gets to some issues that we just don't have access to. That being said, he's pretty condescending to fans, dismissive of the entire blogosphere (despite HAVING a blog), and we can sometimes have differing opinions on a variety of issues. None of this is particularly wrong per se, but sometimes people have different ways going about things. Any shots I've taken at him lately are largely due to the fact that he makes people feel stupid for thinking outside the box, which I think is a big no-no especially for a guy in his position. Is every trade scenario and thought worth looking at? No. But sometimes he puts stuff out there just to make fun of the person, so I think it's ok to fire back at him every once in a while. ;)

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

And jeeze. Smith just basically said we need help EVERYWHERE. Taken from today:

"And now that they’ve got the big ones taken care of, they can start specifically looking at holes.
They need help at the four and five.
They could use help at the two and three.
And if they remain unconvinced that Roko’s the guy and they are more comfortable with Douby not handling the ball an awful lot, there’s a point guard spot, too."

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

"Personally, I'd much rather see the Raptors buy out Marcus Banks. It sucks because that contract was one that Colangelo gave him way back in Phoenix and it's come back to haunt him"

Actually Banks was signed after Colangelo left Phoenix, I believe it was D'Antoni who wanted and made the signing. Colangelo has made some mistakes in the past, but Banks wasn't one of them.

by dfp on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

dfp - My bad.

by Vicious D on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

vicious d, from what i understood from the eric smith blog mp3 clips, they retracted the qualifying offers to delfino and pops, but they had not renounced them yet... so i guess the raps still have a leg-up on re-signing these two guys?

for no practical basketball sense, i am really crossing my fingers for a douby-sessions backcourt. reaaaaally hoping.

by ted c on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I for one am hoping for a Josh Childress signing at the MLE. He's the perfect fit at 2-3 for this squad and still young enough to be a key piece moving forward. IMO he's a way better fit than a Marvin Williams or Linus Kleiza.

As for Bargs, I'm always a bit leery of looking at his numbers for a whole season when he so clearly improved over the second half vs the first. Once O'Neal was out of the picture Bargs stepped it up to be a solid contributor at both ends of the floor and showed a lot of the upside we had only seen in flashes till then.

I do share many of the criticisms voiced by others, he doesn't rebound enough, and his D needs to move up another notch or two, but I also think these are things he is capable of making improvements on.

Can't wait to see what the Legomaster does next!

by bedhead on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

VD, I agree with DSmith, the Raps with only CB,AB,Evans, and O'Bryant as bigs do need help at the 4/5, with Rasho being a good option. Also they need help at the 2/3 with only Wright & George, who are defensive oriented, and Delfino who is multi-talented, offense, defense, rebounding, scoring, and can play at the 2 or 3 and even the one, the best bet.

I hope Ukic has found his shot this summer, but if not we are left with Banks, Douby, possibly Delfino as back ups. I would still like to see an experienced NBA PG added for a year @ a min contract, in case of injury to someone.

by Johnn19 on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

the raptors' biggest priority now that they have secured some depth at the wings is to fill in the C spot, in which i think rasho would make a nice fit.

the next priority would then be to get an off-guard, someone who is a capable ball-handler and who'll be able to score a little, but more importantly the ball-handling skills... we now have all this money to spend in a buyer's market, and we know already that BC's phone is ringing off the hook with the agents of the FAs, as he said so himself... this means that he is in the driver's seat and can now take his time to evaluate the PG needs... therefore, i would not be surprised if the backup guard issue isn't taken care of until after summer league, as BC will now have time to take a look at roko and douby's performances and decide whether he'll even need to sign another backup guard.

as for delfino, it seems that our need for his services are no longer as pressing as they were before, but then our merely decent backups at the 2 and 3 could always be stronger, and delfino would certainly help... and it wouldn't hurt to have another capable ball handler like him as well.

i wouldn't mind seeing jarrett jack in the starting 2 spot with DD backing him up, but that would make the starting backcourt small...

by ted c on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

oh yeah, so to sum up what i just wrote:

- priority 1) sign rasho or other capable C;
- BC now has the time to evaluate roko and douby's progress in LV... if he feels that they can handle the job in the regular season, he won't need to sign a(n) (off-)guard... but if they haven't developed to a point that BC desires, then he'll pick up an extra guard...
- delfino: no longer a pressing need, but still nice to have. if he can wait till after summer league (assuming what i just said is actually BC's intention for the next 10 days), then delfino will be back next season in a raptor uniform.

that's as far as i've thought out... even with rasho and delfino signed, there'd still be plenty of money left to pickup a final piece.

the raps have both factors of money and time on their side now... soooo many options.

by ted c on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Re Doug Smith: Instead of condescending, I think his blog style might better be described as sarcastic - which is not always inappropriate. Firing back is ok - as long as your position is defensible!

by dc on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

We have arrived in Vegas and will be heading to summer league shortly. Should be really exciting and we hope to get some one-on-one interviews.

Obviously we will have our recap up in the AM, although it might be a little different from what you are used to. We are about to announce some exciting news in the next 24 hours (fingers crossed) - news that has been one of the reasons I have been sort of awol the past few weeks...that and my real job.

by HOWLAND on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Howland...does this make up for not being at MSG?

by d279 on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Bass signs with Magic.

by d279 on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Some props from Michael Grange for Raptors HQ:

Some other notes: The Raptors summer league starts tonight. I direct you to RaptorsHQ.com, as they will be in Las Vegas and have the first Demar DeRozan sighting. I know the club is disappointed that Marcus Banks isn’t playing. Roko Ukic and Quincy Douby have been okay in practice, but possibly just tired given they’ve been going pretty hard. DeRozan has had one practice, so no real feedback there.

I can't wait to see the reports, as I am too cheap to spend $15 to watch Summer League.

by Brian Gerstein on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I had to comment just for the Joke reference!

As far as Raptors happenings are concerned, I’m not sure I’m as optimistic as everyone else appears to be. I understand there are a few positives about this massive trade that just happened, but it seems like Toronto gave up more than it got. Not only did BC ship Nathan Jawai to Dallas, but he also sent a second-round draft pick to Memphis. Does he not value the draft whatsoever? And the players Toronto received… I’m a Devean George fan only because I’m a Lakers fan. And Antoine Wright will need to average more than 7.3 ppg to be worth taking. Toronto gets to keep its exceptions, and I’m glad for that. And they get some sorely needed depth with George. But Jawai and the draft pick…

This is the second time BC has made me see red. Last season he traded Toronto’s first round pick so he could get JO from Indiana, and Indiana ended up drafting Roy Hibbert. A year later, JO is in Miami, Hibbert is putting up decent numbers (for only 14 minutes of playing time) for Indiana, and Jawai is going to Dallas. I never liked the JO trade… ever! BC should’ve kept the pick and drafted Hibbert.

But at least he signed DeMar DeRozan…

by James on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

And I forgot the R at the end of Joker... oops.

by James on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

D279 - It was great of the Raps and the NBA to allow us access to the draft but they were limited in space and I drew the short straw. Too bad, but great for the site and the readers. They have given us both access this time around.

I love Vegas. It's electric...now hopefully Dezonan dunks on someone in about and hour to make it all worth while!!!

by HOWLAND on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

James,

Don't fret Jawai and the 2nd round picks. If BC felt he really wanted a player in the 2nd round of that particular draft, he could easily trade for a pick. 2nd rounders are such a low payoff, it's almost not worth discussing them. As for Jawai, if he turns into a useful player I'll be shocked.

by Klopps on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Wow.... most impressive Raps player in Vegas so far.... PETWAY!!

Hustle... finishing.... blocking shots... wow.

by mcclarky on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

http://atdhe.net/7325/watch-las-vegas-summer-toronto-vs-los-angeles

should have posted earlier for anyone interested- here a link to the summer league game online.

by Jbee33 on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Klopps, I agree. I don't expect Jawai to do anything with the Mavericks. It's just frustrating that BC drafted this guy and Toronto got nothing out of him. As for the second round pick, I know you're not likely to draft a superstar in the second round, but I've never been a fan of trading draft picks... unless you're the Lakers and don't need them.

by Reuben on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....DD just layed it down on the loop from Ukic.... sick.

by mcclarky on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

DeRozan's midrange game looks pretty tight- nice elevation on his jumper. Hasn't had to handle the ball all that much though, no more than one dribble before pulling up.

by jbee33 on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I too am impressed with the fine work of Mr. Colangelo. However, it's obvious that the rest of the league is gonna love playing our porous starting five. Who is gonna stop for us. The style and discipline are key, here. If we open up like Phoenix, then we will get scored on like them. Don't forget, they had lockdown defenders in Bell and Marion, and still were not stopping anyone.

by EaseMyPain on Jul 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

If we can get Rasho for the $1.9M bi-annual, that does seem like an obvious move.

However, like others on this board, I'm concerned about the imbalance of offense vs. defense... and not just with the starters.

Calderon, Hedo, Bosh, and Bargnani and obviously all "offensive specialists", with below-average defense.

Then, look at the bench: Reggie Evans, Rasho, Marcus Banks, and Antoine Wright (if we sign a better starting 2) are all "defensive specialists", who stuggle creating and kind of offense.

So, unless we can change up that mix, I'm concerned that there could be a lot of blowouts coming in the 2009-2010 season.

Look at "final 4" teams like Denver and Orlando:

Denver brings in JR Smith (pure offense) and Birdman (pure defense) at the same time. They also have Carmelo (pure offense) and Kenyon Martin (pure defense) in the starting 5.

Orlando has Rashard Lewis (pure offense) mixed with Dwight (mostly defense) in the starting 5, and then had Pietrus and Gortat (some offense, but more defense) mixed with Reddick/Turk/Lewis when the subs came in.

This isn't like football! We can't have the offense get subbed out for the defense.

I'd like to see at least 1 'instant offense' player on our bench... best-case scenario is that Demar DeRozan is ready to be that guy, but we'll have to see.

As far as the starters go, it's scary to think that Wright or Delfino could be the "defensive stopper"...

Dahntay Jones would have been a great fit, and Ariza could have been also.

Of all the Free Agents still out there that could be a defensive 2 and a 'glue guy', I'd have to say that Childress seems like the fit.

by BC on Jul 11, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

My notes from the Raps vs Detoit game:

Douby looked good but a bit 2 flashy; I like his aggression and shooting; seemed to have some leadership qualities as well; hopes he sticks around but isn't ready for back up duties

Derozan - athletic; looked more comfortable than yesterday; shot a good percentage (around 45%); needs to work on his dribbling; needs to be more aggressive going to the basket; his defence is better than advertised; i stand corrected and admit I was wrong, looks like he may be ready to start at the SG position and probably should.

Parker - Flashy but messy handles; too many bad passes; would be shocked if he makes the team

Summers (from detroit) - played lights out; looks like he's going to get minutes bec he's good; has a very mature game

Daye (from detroit) got game and is gonna be a good one

Taggart - good size and pretty athletic but probably no room for him on the team; I like his game tho and would like to see him replace POB

POB - soft, slow, lazy looking, cant rebound unless it's unchallenged, doesn't box out well; he's not ready for minutes

Roko - looked ordinary; takes ill advised chances with his passes that dont work; doesn't look nba ready; still ahs great size and plays good defence

Doblas - big body but that's abt it; got no chance of making the team

Petway - very very very athletic; made a couple of good plays here and there; prob wont make the team

Others - not really worth mentioning.

anyone else catch the game?

by Member29 on Jul 11, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Raptors need a Canadian on their roster. Why not give Denham Brown a shot, or Carl English, or Olu Famutimi? There are plenty of Young Canadian basketball players who are coming up the pipeline who will be very good players who could go to the NBA, so people are starting to see basketball growing in Canada and eventually people will demand to see some of our home grown talent on the Raptors

by Brian on Jul 15, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions