A few weeks ago the world seemed to be imploding for the Philadelphia 76ers.
They were in the midst of seeing their season unraveling after a terrific start, and Liberty Ballers' publisher Jordan Sams was openly wondering if it wasn't better that Philly continued to lose, and missed the playoffs entirely. His argument was that even if the 76ers managed to limp into the playoffs, they were sure to be knocked out in the first round, and perhaps getting a crack at the draft lottery was a better outcome. He simply didn't think the club's personnel was good enough to be an elite team, and that there was a lot of work that needed to be done.
The horror, even the Toronto Raptors made the list!
The post got me thinking; are the Raps really better off personnel-wise than various playoff clubs? And beyond roster, do the Dinos actually have a brighter future than say an aging club like the Dallas Mavericks, or a fringe contender such as Philly?
With that in mind, we decided at the HQ to do just that; run a series of posts comparing the Raptors to current playoff teams, examining how the Raps stack up to the NBA's 2012 playoff crop via four factors:
-Market
-Talent
-Management
-Financial Situation
We'll be running these posts every few days starting with those clubs most recently eliminated from playoff competition.
So that means Big D, the Dallas Mavericks is up first at noon.
When Jordan ran his post comparing the 76ers to various rosters, he picked over half of the league's clubs (17) that he'd prefer to that of Philly.
Can we as Raptors fans say the same thing?