To Boldly Go Where No Raptors’ GM Has Gone Before…

That is the reason I come to this Blog. Excellent work Franchise.

HILLARIOUS!

Agree with sunray, great compare, and the youtube clip of the redshirt guys is classic!!!

Nice work as usual Franchise, but I think looking to the future we should be talking more about having approx 30 Million tied up in 3 players...Bargs, Turk and Calderon, the only ones that are really locked in long term.
With the reality that there is a good chance that Bosh will jettison, you could conceivably look at having MORE than 1 player for what would have been his salary.

Personally, I like the flexibility of having this core of 3 and the ability to work around it.

Franchise and Howland are on one side, and I'm kinda on the other on this one. I'm not too sure if Bargnani will become the star Colangelo wants him to be, but at $50 million, I'd say his contract is manageable and enticing enough, especially as a 7 footer.

As for where our money is tied up, it's true that we're putting a lot of eggs into a basket that we're not too sure is going to hold all these eggs... Colangelo is kinda banking on this group meshing rather than trying to mesh a group and then giving extensions. It's certainly riskier than I'd like it to be, but at the same time, there are no guarantees either way. Putting it another way, the Raptors squad that went up against Philly oh so many years ago all got extensions and many applauded the risky contracts at the time. We know better now.

For me, I'm still trying to figure out how Colangelo is aiming to fill out this squad. While some people talk about the Raptors possibly being the destination of choice, I'll have to see it to believe it. There's a huge difference between being the minimum contract player on the Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Lakers, or Spurs and being a minimum with the Raptors that didn't even make the playoffs last year.

Overall I agree with you, although I would say the problem are NOT the 10 to Andrea, but the max contract to Bosh. If you take Andrea's contribution as a term of reference, how much you would you rate ( in $$$) Chris's worth?

I think the Andrea signing is a pretty good one. It seems $10 million is the going rate for a starting centre in the league, and to get a 24 year old with possible star potential locked up for 5 years. I think you could have done worse.

As far as all the Hedo concerns about his age. I keep thinking back to a Hollinger article from about a year back where he stated larger PG tend to perform at a higher level for longer. Although Hedo is not a PG, he also happens to be a larger SF that relies on craftiness and size rather the speed and athleticism. So I see him playing at a hi level for a while.

Depth is still the big issue with this team. So if Marc Cuban is willing to take back Banks with Marion... DO IT!!

Umm...Looking at it from the perspective of the Eastern conference...Cleveland's projected core is better than the Raptors projected core because of one transcendental player. Cleveland is an anomaly that might not hold past this year.
If you look at this from the perspective of losing their current best player for any reason over the next 5 years, Toronto is pretty well positioned, especially if Bargnani improves as Colangelo expects. The oldest player in this projected core is 30 currently. The contracts for this core (especially if you look at it from a positional perspective) are good value for the projected contribution, also making them tradeable assets. True, the investment in the core is fixed, but the composition is not.

It's not like any of these players are going to be a 17M Wally Szerbiak.

Signing any long term deal is a hedge bet that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. And depth can be addressed economically by capitalizing on proper scouting/drafting, as a good rookie will contribute at a rate that is in excess of his compensation.

Don't dwell too much on depth at the expense of putting together a competitive starting 5.

What you fail to factor in is age for the Eastern Conference teams. Of the current Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston group the only team that looks to be a concern over that five year period is Orlando (Howard, Nelson, Lewis).

You know, having $50 mil in four players isn't bad, and its actually pretty standard.

That still leaves $20 mil up to the luxury tax to fill out the roster. Say $4 mil to the other starter, leaving $16 mil to fill the bench of 7-10 players. That averages out to $2.3 (7) to $1.6 (10) per player. Pay your 2-4 rotation guys a bit more ($2-4 million), then fill out the rest with draft picks and minimum contracts.

How can you argue that those other teams are getting a lot more bang for their buck??? We haven't even seen these guys play together yet. You're comparison is unfair because your giving examples of teams that did well last year. Why didn't you put New York in there. They have a heck of a lot of salary tied up in a few guys. We should give TO a season together before you judge whether it's money well spent or not.

I think the current starting line up for the Raptors is one that a lot of other clubs would be glad to have...and is not far off talent-wise from the Magic last year.

I do admit that the overall success of the team will be how BC rounds out the bench, but I am highly optimistic on this team and am excited for the start of the season.

One thing that a lot of people have been talking about is the idea of trading Bosh to GS for Biedrins and Azibuke etc.

Now that we've locked up a quality SF for long term, maybe it's time to revisit that idea from a different angle?

Looking at the GS roster someone jumps out at me.

Stephen Jackson.

Is it conceivable that Bosh could be moved for Jackson and Biedrins? I'd like to think so, but I imagine that I'm overvaluing what the Raps could get for Bosh.

But a starting 5 of:
Calderon
Jackson
Turk
Bargs
Biedrins

Sounds pretty dangerous to me.

Anyways, just having some fun trying to figure out how the raps could fill out their starting 5.

Franchise, check out Marc Stein's article at ESPN, title:
2010 cap may limit signings.

Projections of where cap may go next year, may possibly give some more impetus to extensions this year, for the fab 3.

Franchise, I think you should consider adding DeRozan to your group of four as with his rookie contract he is there for 5 yrs also.

What it does is give cost certainty for a few years, which in the NBA is tough to do.

With BC's locking up a core group long term, the draft is going to become much more important, in adding talent at a reasonable cost, for the next 5 years.

It appears to be the way to win in the NBA now, re Boston, LA, San Antonio, Orlando, core stars and role players to fill in.

Raptors are not going to win big this year, but with a year of the core playing together, and the ability to add more talent next year, they should be in position to make some waves in 10/11.

Very similar to the NHL GM's with there hard cap.

[ " ... when players like Marcus Banks and Reggie Evans are eating into about $8 Million of that room and are still on the books for a few more years." ]

Hate to be a stickler Franchise, but using the words "few more years" implies we’re saddled for awhile. As I understand, both these guys are off the books after next season. And with that, I’m sure they’ll be easier to move next season as well – when Bosh leaves.

I like the Bargnani signing – it was beginning to worry me, especially with how the whole Bosh "I want max and a Championship team" persona has permeated amongst the team. I actually can’t believe people are complaining that AB "settled" – now I’m just waiting to hear those conspiracy theories on why he signed so fast.

Speaking of Bosh (and his 2 mutually exclusive goals), would he actually sign for less than Max (and not a Raptor Max either), if it meant playing with a Championship team?

As intriguing as things have been with all this Cap crap – Marion sign & trade, etc. – I can’t help wonder why basketball doesn’t try to overhaul such a convoluted mess (that it is).

I wouldn’t say that the Raptors’ squad is not nearly as talented as some of these other teams based on the four core players. I believe those other teams to be far more talented than the Raps in general (counting player number 1 through player number 12), but I think the Raps have more talent in that 50M than Orlando, or the Cavaliers. IMO, Bosh has way more TALENT than Lewis or Howard, Bargnani certainly has more talent than Howard, Calderon (when healthy) is better than Nelson and well Turk is as good as or only slightly worse than Carter. The same type of comparison can be made with the Cavs’ team.

However, those teams have more dominant players in that 50M. I think that if we had a center that played a much more physical game ala Dampier, Horford, Nene or Pachulia that we would definitely be an all around better team than Orlando, Cleveland and even maybe the Spurs (Damn Kobe stops me from including the Lakers in there).

Basically, what the Raps need is to either ship Bargnani for a player in the mould of Howard (less talent but physically more imposing) or hope that Bargnani can provide what Bosh consistently does and ship Chris for a player in Howard’s mould.

It always amazes me how hyped fans can get on any signing regardless of the implications of the signing (I call this Leaffanitis). I have no idea why people are projecting that this team is anywhere near as good as the other teams mentioned by Franchise (San Antonio, Cleveland, Boston, Lakers et al are all championship calibre teams either through deed or projections from most pundants). As it has already been mentioned, even if everything goes gravy with the starting roster (Bargnani gets better and DD is more NBA ready than advertised) we still have massive issues off the bench. History has shown us that neither Bosh nor Calderon can stay healthy for an entire season and until they show that we have to predict that they will go down again for at least a few games. Under that scenario, who steps up off the bench to replace their numbers? Evans can fill in from a rebounding stance for Bosh but where is the 20 points going to come from? Hedo can play point forward but Ukic hasn't shown that he is worth covering which sets up a 4 on 5 on offense. Not exactly pretty.
Granted we still need to see what BC pulls off but if this is the team that goes into the regular season, we are one starter injury away from being a 25 win team. Sorry but I refuse to drink the Koolaid until they improve the flavour.

McGateway...

I don't see anyone projecting a championship level team here... in fact... you read more skepticism than blind faith.

I think the comparison to championship level teams in terms of management of assets is valid, as the point being made was investing 50 million in 3 or 4 players isn't as crippling as it sounds. The issue is just investing in the right 3 or 4 players with that money.

Again, this seems to be a pretty sober comment section... no spiked koolaid of any kind.

I read this blog religiously but usually dont post as the quality of the dialogue and discourse is excellent and I am not sure I can add anything.

But Franchise today's post was PURE GOLD - baskeball analysis using the Star Trek crew as an analogy.

Go and pick up your Pullitzer!

Franchise great article as usual. I agree with "Meetoo" that comparing our core with other teams is premature at this point because we haven’t seen the Hedo installment of the core yet. It may be that our core looks like one of the best by the end of next season, who knows.

Johnn19, I sorta disagree with adding Derozan to the list of "core" players because he hasn’t played one minute of NBA basketball and it’s yet to be seen if he’s any good. Douby, POB, Roko are all ahead of him in terms of value to the team as of today July 8, and until he hits the court and proves otherwise it to soon to call him a core player. I have the same problem with people penciling him into the starting lineup. I’m not saying he isn’t good enough to start, but what has he shown to suggest he is a starter in the NBA?

As for the Bargs extension, I think it was a smart move because whether he turns into an all star or just a little better than he is now, 10mil is the average going rate for starting centers. What this does is it shows Bosh what his guaranteed future with the Raps looks like. He’s got a supporting cast of Bargs, Jose, Hedo and POTENTIALLY Derozan. These contracts will go a long way in convincing Bosh that his future is secure and I’m sure BC is thinking that he is only an impact SG away from having a strong/competitive team for years to come. The bench is also important but much easier to acquire than impact players like Hedo and Bargs. I think both the Hedo deal and Bargs extension was aimed specifically at selling Bosh on resigning.

I’m really hoping we’re able to off load Banks in a S&T with the Mavs. If we can somehow end up with Antoine Wright in return he would be a good addition. He can’t score but he sure can defend and that’s pretty much all he does. At 1.8mil, he’d be a good acquisition.

The problem with our 50 million core vs. those other teams isn't our supporting cast (turk, bargs and calderon) its that Bosh isnt as good as D12, Lebron James or Tim Duncan. Hell if we Had Dwight and not Chris i think everyone can agree that would at least be a very scary 4 players.

I support signing Bargs to an extension now. Reasons:

10 million a year is a reasonable salary for a starting 7 foot center. And, I would think Bargs will have a higher ceiling than comparable salaried centers - Bogut; Dampier; Dalambert.

Given the shrinking cap and worsening economy, signing reasonable longer term salaries makes sense. At least I think that's the way team owners would see it.

Plus, it gives BC more options. Trading Bargs with a reasonable salary would be easier if that ever becomes an option.

Also, I honestly think some team would give him a ridiculous offer, (a 7 footer with Dirk potential), which we would have to match or watch him walk.

Honestly, I think Bargs likes Toronto, the Italian community here, and 10 million per season is a comfortable salary by any stretch.

Also doesn’t mean that we have to sign Bosh. I’d still rather not. Do a sign and trade, get a couple of decent players to compliment Bargs, Turk and Calderon. Still keeps us within reason in terms of salary.

Great name for our bench "The red shirts" HAHAHA

ah great article! anything written piece that makes reference to star trek is always a winner... too bad you had to aptly compare the bench to the red shirts 'cause that just made me feel more scared than ever for our bench.

Generally agree with this piece except for the obvious point that if things don't work with the core of 4 this season, what's going to prevent BC from trading one or two of them? Bosh is obviously a question mark since we don't know if he will re-sign anyway.

The key is to avoid having bad contracts that you can't move. I'll worry more if Hedo and/or Bargs stinks this season or they get seriously injured. Otherwise, the pieces can be moved around.

Johnn19 linked to the ESPN piece regarding the cap but for those who didn't check it, here's the scary part:

In a memo announcing next season's salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, sent out shortly before the league's annual July moratorium on signings and trades was lifted at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, NBA teams also received tentative projections from the league warning that the cap is estimated to drop to somewhere between $50.4 million and $53.6 million for the 2010-11 season.

So again, even if Toronto's current core performs at a peak level, why would they have signed Andrea now when next year it seems they could have had him for much less given the economic climate?

And suddenly, if Bosh gets a max deal, that's basically four players taking up your entire salary cap so how can you keep improving and adding pieces?

Yes, the top teams around the league will be faced with similar issues but I still don't think that this is a top team and like McGateway, feel that this group as presently composed is an injury away from winning 25 matches.

PS - I'm using "The Redshirts" all year for sure...hopefully BC adds an Uhura and a Checkov in the next few days.

And DeRozan's nickname clearly needs to be "Grimlock"...

Unfortunately, the Bargnani deal is a product of the CBA under which he was drafted, no the economy. His qualifying offer next summer would have been 8.5 million. Who's to say this 5yr/50 deal isn't structured with his first year being his qualifying offer and maximum increases each subsequent year? In that case, BC got Bargs for pretty much the cheapest he could without risking having to match an RFA offer. In a lot of ways Bargs was much more closely tied to his qualifying offer than the economy, and even if BC had waited until next year to sign him, he would have still had to make him an 8.5 million dollar qualifying offer to retain the right to match any offer Bargs received form another team. So even if the economy of the NBA continues to tank... BC couldn't get Bargs for less than 8.5 anyway, not without losing all the valuable rights that go with making a qualifying offer.

So I think under those circumstances, BC came away about as good as he could have. Waiting would have been risky... and potentially very very costly.

Franchise...what's wrong today...you're neglecting some key points. Look at it as 28M confirmed next year for 3 of your starting 5. If Bosh resigns isn't he restricted to a percentage of that cap? So even if he re-ups for his max 25 to 30% of cap that's 16M, so that's 44M confirmed

Interloper - No, you're right on Bosh. I'm going to write on this tomorrow so that I'm not trying to juggle real job and financials for the Raps but here's my thing:

Even if the salary cap drops by a large amount and means that Bosh's max deal isn't as big as it normally would be, it still takes up a giant piece of that Toronto salary pie.

And by signing Andrea now, it may mean having even less money to work with to upgrade positions around the "big four."

Unfortunately we can't make today's press conference this time around but I'm hoping someone asks BC some of these types of questions.

If the Raps waited till next year to sign Bargs we could have been in a serious predicament. If Bargs improves, even slightly over, the second half of last season, a team would easily pay more for then what we are agreeing to now. A guy who can pull an opposing center away from the basket would be highly valuable on a team with a dynamic slasher (Wade or LeBron?).

Is Bargs Press Conf. Live today , wasnt it supposed to start @ 3 pm ?

Ice T - (Love the handle) Sounds like they're not doing the presser live unfortunately.

Also, sounds like Marion deal is very close:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-marionmavericks070809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

II kinda get tired at times of people mentioning that Bargs can pull opposing centers away from the basket.

First, opposing centers have to stay on their player otherwise it’s an illegal defence. Then all Bargnani needs to have to push a center to HAVE to stay close is a jumpshot. He is not the only center in the league with a jumpshot. As a center, I think Bargnani has too much offensive skill (I’m begging you not to take this as an oxymoron). What I mean is, for the salary he’s paid, the Raps could get a center that has a jumpshot and who’s more aggressive AND some money leftover to get an SG or any other backup.

With that said, I’m happy he’s getting 10M a year, it’s a manageable contract.

Thx for the info Franchise, hope that deal gets done soon. Any word on Pops , i heard the Coaches wanted him to get used to playing the SF .

You know im in my 30's with a name like ICE T.

Franchise,
Forgot to mention in my last post – Great article today. Loved the ‘red shirt’ perspective.

In your post (and follow-ups), you bring up a good point about AB and waiting till next year to re-up him. It’s possible (next year) that we get Bargnani for 5 years and 45 million, but it’s also possible that some other team puts the pressure on and pushes that number way past 10 million per.

Poker is a not a game for the feeble, at least when the stakes are in the millions – Ask the guy who bilked 10 million from CIBC, and spent it at the tables. By the way, that movie is called "Owning Mahowny".

From my perspective, the Andrea signing takes away an unknown. And as much as Bosh seems to be that other unknown, I personally think he’s gone. If next year means we can keep him for about 16 to 17 million per season – then yes, I’d take that. At 20 million per season (Raptor Max maybe?) – No thanks. At least not for 6 years.

The other concern I have – and it seems to be relevant to the Turk signing – is, why have any cap space available. From my limited Cap knowledge, it seems like those that are below, might be able to grab a super star, but lose everything else in that scenario (ie. Toronto for example – renouncing veterans).

For BC to work his way through all these land mines, one needs to not only be savvy but have a serious Math guy in the fold. As well, he needs some luck (sometimes a lot). And from what we’re seeing with the Turk / Marion scenario, BC needs a good rapport with his fellow GMs.

I am totally drunk on this analogy;

Maurizio G = Spock

Bosh = Bones

AB = Scotty (The warp engines are gonna blow! Ok, maybe not, Warp 6 it is! Wait, something is wrong with the matter/anti-matter intermix...)

Calderon = Sulu 'The Navigator'

Hedo = Uhura (Communications specialist...Ok, its a stretch)

Reggie Evans is 'the Gorn'(book it)

POB = 'The Klingon'

DD = Chekov - the kid brought in to spice up an already established cast? (that said 'Grimlock' totally RULES)

Hump = Hump. He can be nothing else.

If you do any more Star Trek/Basketball posts I will either lose my mind, orgasm or both.

Make it so.

Small adjustment;

Jay Triano would be Spock. Cool, cerebral, and the guy who is actually in control.

Maurizio G would be 'Starfleet', giving more or less useful advice from very far away that may or may not be paid any attention to.

my geek cred:

http://antiphonrising.blogspot.com/2006/03/red-alert.html

espn....is reporting that the 3rd team looks like Memphis...nothing firm till thursday?

What's up with all of the European players on the Raptors squad. We are starting to look a lot like the Pacers and Utah with a lot of white players on the team. It would be nicer to see some balance on the team.

Bedhead - HOLD UP!

How did you pull that off?? That's the greatest ha ha ha!

You'll have to give us some details...

On a Raps note, doesn't look like there's much from the press conference so we'll leave it at that. Would have loved it though if someone had asked BC if he couldn't have gotten Bargs cheaper next year with the cap expected to fall...

That is my actual wedding photo.

I was in Vancouver at the time, and GF and I decided we both wanted to have kids. Once we made that decision, we figured we should probably get hitched. I wanted the traditional wedding, but my GF had been married once before and wasn't keen on repeating the whole wedding experience. I suggested a beach wedding somewhere, and she countered with 'how about we elope to Vegas and do a Star Trek wedding?'.

We booked the costumes in advance, told everyone we were on vacation in the Kootenays, and they kindly provided an honour guard of all the staff in full costume and a Klingon Admiral to give my wife away.

We even got mistaken for staff members as we made our way to the wedding and posed for tourist pics.

After it was all done, we got liqoured in Quark's bar and called our families to let em know we were hitched.

All in all, it was legendary.

Sadly, the 'Star Trek Experience' is no more as they had a falling out with the hotel and had to pack it in.

Hey Bed,

Nice touch. Does Mrs. Bedhead have a sister?

MARION DEAL DONE. At the end of the day BC made something out of nothing, even if it is just cash and or 2nd round pick. It could have been nothing if Marion had just walked. That for me is assuring re: Mr. Bosh. If Colangelo can work out a S&T for Marion, he can do real good with Bosh too in the worst case of a Bosh leaving at the end of 09-10 season.

Bedhead - That's a great story! Did any of the peeps from Quark's bar pose in other pictures??

Sad to hear that the Star Trek experience is no more though as Howland and I would have checked it out this weekend.

Not to elope though ha ha.

In Raps news, ESPN is reporting that the Marion deal is nearly done and would involve Toronto and Memphis in the process:

"The known parameters of the deal call for Marion to receive a five-year contract in the region of $40 million from the Mavericks and land Stackhouse in Memphis, where he will be bought out by the Grizzlies -- with cash furnished by Dallas -- for $2 million by Aug. 10. Toronto will receive unspecified draft considerations and/or cash, but the involvement of a fourth team virtually assures that other players from the Mavericks and Grizzlies will be involved.

The fourth team bit though sounds like it's dying so this will probably be the meat of the final deal. I just hope the Raps can get some cash or draft picks out of the whole crazy affair.

Also, it sounds like Anthony Parker is a Cavalier. Reports surfacing on the net now that he's close to signing a contract with Cleveland:

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/07/cleveland_cavaliers_close_to_c.html

Here's my favourite part from the blurb:

Parker is an athletic player who is effective at creating his own shot, which he did often in Europe when he became the Euroleague's Most Valuable Player, and as a spot-up shooter.

Is Cleveland.com describing Anthony Parker here or Paul Pierce?

I see nothing wrong with having a core group of 4 or5 players that is payed 50 million. Yes that is the cap, and yes the other teams you are comparing us to (lakers, cle, orlando, bos etc) and saying they have better benches than we do. Of course they have better benchs. All of those teams are also over the luxery tax (or the one that makes them pay $ for $ over). It is hard to say our bench is going to suck for 20 million and compare it to all these other teams with better benchs that are spending 30+ million on their bench! Plus, with the interchangability of Bargs, Bosh, Turk, and Calderone (SG?) players and positions, and the amount you would expect 35min/night, you dont need a deep strong bench, as you can have one bench player playing with 3 of the 'star' players.

bummer about parker, would have been nice to keep around... and what, (maybe this was mentioned already, but) derozan's supposed to start??

Franchise; we have shots (though not posted on-line) of my wife with an Andoran, and two of the Klingons, as well as a shot of her and Penn from Penn and Teller (Best. Show. Ever. Do not miss them!)

Rapthoseleafs: Sorry buddy, no sister.

For all those who don't like the Bargnani deal... just be thankful we're not extending Varejao for 6yrs/50mil!

bedhead,

i think you're wrong about reggie evans... to me, he has always looked like a klingon because of his teeth. meanwhile, POB, he's still a mere red shirt, though if you want to give him a more distinguished role then he can be that red shirt engineer from the latest star trek movie who couldn't be bothered to listen to proper instructions for the space jump because he was too caught up in his own world of fun, and pulled his chute way too late.

Dave Aldridge from NBA.COM is saying we get 3 million.

"The Raptors would sign Marion, then trade him into the exception, and take cash back from Dallas in exchange--likely $3 million, the maximum amount allowed in trades."

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/07/08/marion.raptors/

aldridge is reporting that the marion deal is done. toronto gets ca$h and picks

in the video he says cash and picks - but not in the write-up

Adrian Wojanowski (sp) at Yahoo Sports might be the best NBA news breaker around. It's a 4 way, Orlando is involved. It's a sign and trade to get Turkoglu. Hump is gone Devin George and Antoine Wright are Raptors

I guess we keep our exceptions

Here is the link

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnRchpmIvDKYqWLUFdCZsnvqbwM6?slug=aw-marionmavericks070809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

According to this news story:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/070909dnspomavslede.206ba4a0.html

Devean George and Antoine Wright would be coming back in the Marion trade with Humphries going out.

Leaving the Raps with a remade roster of:

Bargnani - O'Bryant
Bosh - Evans - Jawai
Turkoglu - George
Wright - DeRozan - Douby
Calderon - Ukic - Banks

With a few more roster moves to go, I'm sure...

Up up and away!

Interloper - No, we lost the midlevel. That's what Orlando got as a result of the deal, according to Eric Smith.

ted c: I suggested 'Gorn' because lets face it, the Gorn was wicked awesome.

That said, I'm all behind a nickmane of 'Mr. Worf' for him.

POB was 'Klingon' for the wordplay on 'cling on' as in 'he's clinging on to his career'.

Colangelo is simply awesome. Getting George and Wright addresses some needs in that both are defense first players on the cheap - albeit a tad low in the talent department. Wright may still have some upside at only 25 that hasn't been tapped yet.

Marion gets treated like a champ, the Raps get cash and picks back, and we get to keep our trade exceptions meaning more/better bodies on the way.

Looks like a home-run to me.

Oh, and just cause I forgot, Douby is gone too.

That's a solid move by the legomaster.

It helps to thin the glut in the front court and give us some desperately needed twos and threes. Guys with a little athleticism who are in the last years of their deals. Wright's still got a little bit of upside. The roster isn't going to scare any body, but George and Wright are better than guys who we'd pick up in summer camp.

vicious D: you just harshed my glow

Bedhead - lol. Can't get something for nothing... Well.. At least, not a whole lot. But at least this frees up cap room in a year, Wright is not a totally useless guy, and next year, we'll have our midlevel again to go after someone. And Colangelo still can pick up cheap guys.

Vicious...I think it's a trade exception that Orlando got from Toronto not the mid-level. I don't think mid-levels can be traded. So I think we have our mid level as a result of the sign and trade, which was the only way we could keep our exceptions.

Interloper - That's right. I can't read past midnight. lol. Thanks for pointing that out.

So there's still some possibilities to get some action past today. Should be interesting.

So, I guess this means we don't have to renounce Delfino and can simply resign him if we want. Options like Kleiza as a back up 3, and a solid back up point to help Jose and suddenly we're not bad at all. Rasho or some other useful piece can come back for the vets min. I wonder how far along that Parker to Cleveland deal is and whether further sign and trade options can be explored. This makes for some pretty interesting days ahead.

Wow,

this appears to be an impressive set of moves.

work tomorrow will suck.

wow.

I just don't get what great alternatives are out there, or what you would expect BC to try and do. There's only one LeBron, and we don't have him unfortunately.

Sure Bosh has some faults, but not many, I think we have gotten spoiled with him, quite frankly. Sure Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Shaq own his ass, but beyond that I think Bosh will be great once someone else starts sharing scoring duties.

Dunno if he's worth the max, I don't give a shit anymore really, if the team clicks this year I'm not gonna want Bosh gone so we can sign Corey Maggette and Chris Douglas Roberts or whoever the hell else people think would contribute more.

Now that we have DeRozan as a possible future star, I see light at the end of last season's dark tunnel.

Turkgolu will be an infinetly better signing than Marion. It's not like he's already 37. Marion is older than Turk anyway.

Holy shit, I just posted a positive post!

I would say BC really went where no other Raptors GM had gone before .... and a bit further away

If true, amazing work considering where we were. Will we win the championship? Not likely. Will we have a chance to compete and turn our possible depth into serious assets? Yes, we can!

It would be interesting to be there the first time Doug Smith has to interview Antoine Wright given how Smith basically ripped him that time last year when the Bargnani for Josh Howard rumours were floated. He said something to the effect of Wright being such a bad player that he would be surprised if he ever played a significant minute in an NBA game.

I can't believe Colangelo actually pulled this off; he gets Hedo in a sign/trade, picks up Wright and George and keeps the MLE (as per Marc Stein of ESPN).

This essentially means that we can sign Kleiza with part of the MLE + Delfino and/or a more established back-up PG. Not only that, but both George/Wright have expiring deals that could easily be moved. I'm curios and excited to see what's next.

There's no other way to evaluate Colangelo's work here as anything other than masterful......legomasterful!

Rob

I am not a cap expert but do we need to use the MLE for Delfino? isn't he already a player with a contract and hence he can be signed with whatever money there is before the tax?

That is one complicated trade. I think it is a stroke of genius. Well done BC.

Brian Colangelo is the best GM in the history of pro sports!

This sounds too good to be true

According to Doug Smith:

"What I've been told by a most-trusted source is that, yes, it's four teams, Shawn goes to Dallas, and the Raptors can sign their own free agents (Paker and Delfino) and still have the $5.5 million mid-level. "

which would make things, if possible, even better

Renato

The thing I hate is that only a day ago Doug Smith was doing his regular talking down to his readers and basically stated that there is no way the MLE is coming back so get over it!

But today he makes it sound like he basically broke the story when in fact he went to bed at 10 pm on the one night that may just possibly be the greatest coup for the franchise in it's history.

Dougie has been rubbing me the wrong way as of late. Thankfully for him, I am too happy to care at the moment about his stupidity.

Great day and BC is amazing. Once again great call TJ, you basically called this one!

I did not mean my post to be about Doug Smith, I just would like a cap expert to tell me whether that statement is correct, if it is, Captain BC has taken the USS Raptor in safe water in great shape. I let you guys say who wears the red shirt (Doug Smith?)

When do they unveil Colangelo as one of our genius Lizard People overlords?

Just noticed that Sean Marks is an unrestricted free agent. I still have my old-school Marks Jersey gathering dust in the closet.

It would be awesome to break it out again...

Renato,

Sorry I did not answer your question. Yes, the raptors if they wanted can resign, delfino, parker, pops, graham and still have the full MLE and BAE to spend on new free agents. BC is a mastermind!

Great move by BC. Antoine Wright worked his way intot he starting line up in Dallas by mid season and finished the season as their starting SG. He gives you absolutely nothing offensively but he started because he's excellent defensively. Raps fans will become frustrated with his inability to dribble and shoot but we'll probably love his defense and toughness. Excellent steal by BC, in Wright we now have our starting SG and he won't be looking to take 16 shots per game. Oh and he's only 25 so he's still got a chance to improve. Remember Hedo's game when he was 25,it wasn't very impressive so there is some hope for Wright.

Maybe I have come to expect too much from the Franchise/Howland/ Vicous D trio but I am not sure this is the day "not to have an article" on a "home run" of such a scale. This is potentially the day that will shape what the franchise will be in the next several years.
In my opinion it is also the day this franchise emancipated itself from it's most prestigious player, kind of: we want you, but we can be fine also without you.

This is our current roster with this trade:

Bargs/POB/Jawia
Bosh/Evans/
Hedo/Derozon/George
Wright/
Calderon/Roko/Banks

I’d do the following to fill out the roster:

- Trade Banks and George for Nazr Mohammed
- Sign Delfino, Klieza & Ronnie Price

Bargs/POB/Mohammed
Bosh/Evans/Jawia
Hedo/Derozon/Klieza
Wright/Delfino
Calderon/Price/Roko

wow.

so we can resign delfino, and use the mid and mle?

Kleiza and Rasho?

I'm amazed.

soory... I meant BAE.

From this day forward, I want to hear nothing but good things about our beloved BC. Got that?

;)

Simply amazing.