April 28, 2008...10:42 pm
It’s Time To Blow Up The Toronto Raptors
For the second straight season the Toronto Raptors have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. This year the third seeded Orlando Magic had the distinction of sending the Raptors packing after a short five game series, taking Toronto out 4-1.
Yet unlike last season when I did feel that Toronto was ‘upset’ by a New Jersey team that I felt was inferior to the Raptors, this year’s defeat doesn’t upset me as much.
The Orlando Magic were a better team in the regular season and 1-12 were a better team during this playoff matchup. I feel the Magic have a legitimate shot at reaching the Eastern Conference Finals and should they avoid Boston, I feel they can even go so far as the NBA Finals.
With that said, where do the Raptors go from here?
In his two years as GM of the Raptors, Bryan Colangelo has turned the Raptors from a bad lottery team into a mediocre playoff team in the Eastern Conference. If you asked me to assess how good the Raptors are currently in comparison to the rest of the league, I would put them in the 14-16 range overall.
So how can Colangelo and the Raptors get to the next level after taking an obvious step back this season?
Well it’s this writer’s opinion that the time has come to blow up the Raptors.
Looking at the current Raptors roster, the Dino’s have 14 players under contract and are currently $11 million dollars over the salary cap.
The contracts of four current players (Brezec, Calderon, Nesterovic and Delfino) are expiring but with club options or restricted free agent abilities.
I fully expect the Raptors to re-sign both Jose Calderon and Carlos Delfino this summer. I’m thinking that it’s highly likely that the Raptors will also pick up Rasho Nesterovic’s $8 million dollar option as it would be a valuable trading chip come next season. I can’t see them re-signing Brezec so that will knock off $3 million in salary for next season.
So how to make this Raptors team over? Let’s start in the backcourt.
The Guards
I think it has become pretty apparent that this Jose Calderon / TJ Ford experiment is over.
Colangelo has made it known that he fully intends to match any offer for Calderon who made $2.5 million this past season. Calderon is sure to see his salary jump to the $7-$9 million dollar range this summer. Couple that with the $8.3 million that TJ Ford is already making and you’re talking about trying up $15-$17 million in PG’s who play 24 minutes a night each.
I’m hoping that the Raptors keep Jose Calderon. He runs a much better offense and is capable of becoming an All-Star PG. Ford fans seem to point out that Calderon is a weak defender, but as witnessed by Jameer Nelson’s domination of TJ Ford during the playoffs, TJ is not going to make any All NBA Defensive Teams anytime soon.
I’m not going to get into a large amount of detailed statistics here, because no matter what you say or write some people just love TJ Ford and want him to stay.
I think his “me-first” attitude and high potential for injury tip the scales on any trade decisions.
Personally I would like to see TJ Ford traded to the Western Conference. A team like the LA Clippers could send 6-6 SF Corey Maggette back Toronto’s way. The salaries match up and would give Toronto a SF who gets to the free throw line 8-9 times a game on his way to a 22 PPG average.
I think such a trade could benefit both teams.
I can’t really get any other TJ Ford deals to work out, so if you think of one please let me know.
As for Shooting Guard, I see no reason to not keep Anthony Parker. He had another solid season, makes a decent salary and comes to play every night. Unless he could be included in some blockbuster package with Ford (say to Denver for Carmelo Anthony) then I think we keep him at the 2.
Delfino could be re-signed to play both back-up PG and SG for Toronto. It’s also thought that Euro prospect Roko Ukic will be ready to join Toronto next season and could see some time as a backup PG.
The Forwards
Let me start by saying that Chris Bosh is a star. He’s NOT a superstar. Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett are superstars. Chris Bosh and Paul Pierce are stars.
With that said, the team still needs to be built around Bosh. But he needs help. A player like Maggatte would bring in extra offense in the front court and take some pressure off Bosh up front.
As for the rest of the forwards. Jamario Moon had a solid rookie year, but I don’t see him improving much more in the future. Hopefully he can focus on becoming more of a slasher and improve his shot selection.
Andrea Bargnani was the biggest disappointment for Toronto this season. The second year forward took huge steps back this season and I’m certain his confidence is quite low. He needs a full summer of work to improve his game and get it near the level of a #1 overall draft pick.
I’m willing to go one more year on the Bargnani experiment, but if the 2008-2009 season plays out like the current season just did it’s time to break out the “Bust” label.
The Bench
The bench and the Raptors depth was supposed to be their strength this year. But it never played out like it should have. Another wasted season from Garbajosa, Joey Graham’s inability to crack the rotation, Jason Kapono not seeing the floor near enough and Kris Humphries either showing he isn’t the big man we need or not getting the time to show his skills.
The Draft / Off-Season
I’m hoping that the off-season draft adds a big man to the line-up, perhaps a player like JaVale McGee from Nevada or Kosta Koufos from Ohio State could add some defense and rebounding to their lineup. Although the Raptors nearly have an All-Star team of players they should have drafted, but decided against. We’ve got Bargnani instead of Brandon Roy, Hoffa Arrujo instead of Andre Iguodala and Joey Graham instead of Danny Granger.
So who knows how the draft will pan out…
Aside from likely moving just TJ Ford, should the Raptors look into a possible blockbuster deal involving Ford, Parker, Bargnani, Joey Graham, etc?
Either way it looks like it’s going to be an off-season of change for the Raptors.
Will Sam Mitchell be back? I think so
Will TJ Ford be dealt? I think he’ll be moved by draft day.
Should Toronto try and move up in the draft? Who should the Raptors select?
It’s only another 6 months until the tip off of a new season! What do you think the Raptors should do this off-season?
Check out my latest posting (as of May 21st) about the Raptors Draft Situation by CLICKING HERE
kurtisbillard
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1 Comment
April 29, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I totally agree with what you have said. As much as I like the Toronto players, I feel that some players should be moved if we want to become a contender and not a pretender… To become a second round team, not a first round exit.
A trade to L.A. for Maggette would not be entirely impossible, seeing as they are definately weak at the PG spot. The Clipper’s Livingston is oft-injured, as is T.J. Ford, but I don’t think Livingston is a true #1, while certainly Ford is.
I’m sorry to say this but Graham needs to go. I always felt that he had great potential, but he really has not panned out over the last year or so.
Brezec will not be back, the trade was just to get an expiring contract. Hump is a hardy-type player, but I can’t see him as a regular part of the rotation (sometimes he’s just not reliable enough). He might be gone… Re-signing Jose is a MUST. He was pretty close to being an All-Star reserve.
Parker is a solid player, I think he should be kept. His sots weren’t really falling against Orlando, but we all know he can get many of those shots.
The thing about Moon is that he is falling in love with that outside shot, and we all know, despite the fact he made two 3-pointers in a row in Game 5, that is not his strong point. Dunking is a strong point for sure. He has to drive to the basket, dunk it or try and get fouled. We can’t rely on Bosh to get us to the charity stripe all the time.
Sam Mitchell really should be back. Bringing in a new coach at this time of Chris’ career (he’s only 23) would be a mistake. He only had O’Neill for one seaon in 03-04, but Mitchell for 4 seasons. Not just for Bosh, I think all the players really respect Sam and what he stands for. I’d like to see a couple more seasons with him at the helm.
Despite Kapono’s lack of three’s this year… I mean, you gotta respect his efforts in the Orlando series. And with that smooth shot, I have no doubts we could become a… 52, 53 win team.
Bryan Colangelo has a hand full, but he’s more than capable. I’ll have my fingers crossed…
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