Comments on: But What He Really Needs Is A Ring (Part 1)

By: Tim W.

Tim W. — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:31:34 +0000

Wow! I think you’re remembering Bonner a little too fondly. Bonner was an outside shooting big man who rarely ventured inside, was a poor rebounder and needed other people to get him shots. That, and the fact that the Raptors had literally no center on the roster, made getting someone like Nesterovic pretty necessary. Nesterovic was a better defender at the center position, better rebounder and had Championship experience. That’s not mentioning the fact that he was actually a legit 7-footer, which would mean that Bosh wouldn’t have to play center anymore, which he had been before Nesterovic arrived.

Bonner is a nice 9th or 10th man, but he’s a one trick pony on a team that had a lot of shooters already. I would have liked if he had stayed with the team, but to say the deal for Nesterovic sucked is a massive overstatement. The Raptors traded a bench guy for a starter.

And yes, Babcock did make the trade for Mike James, which was good, but how on earth can you say Babcock had little time to scout the draft? What the hell was he doing in Minnesota? Sure, he wasn’t scouting for the 8th pick, but if he was so ignorant of the players available in the draft, what does it say about him? It’s a cop out of an excuse and holds no water.

And the Carter trade was bad, pure and simple. It’s not even what he got that was the most grievous error, but when he decided to do it. A smart GM would have traded him much earlier. I was calling for Carter to be traded the previous summer, a full year before Babcock took over. And quite frankly, I’m no basketball genius.

When Babcock came on board, he should have looked at the team, realized it was a few years away from doing anything. Then see that Carter was right at his prime, coming off the first injury free season in two years, certainly wasn’t the player he was, wasn’t happy with the direction of the team, and had shown himself to be not the type of player that will do the extra things superstars generally do to keep themselves in shape and improve, and dealt him right away. Instead, he waited until Carter went public, sulked and traded him when he had his lowest value. And Babcock should have found out whether Mourning would play for the Raptors before trading for him. And even if Mourning had played, it was still an awful trade. If was a stupid, inexcusable move.

By: McGateway

McGateway — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:53:14 +0000

Are you kidding me? The Nesterovic deal sucked. Bonner was and still is a kick ass player. In essence the biggest complaint about the Raptors the last few seasons was that they were soft and it is no surprise that Bonner brought toughness.
Also, I guess everyone forgets that Babcock also traded Alston for Mike James which was actually a very good trade. I really think everyone is a little too hard on Babcock as it is a fact that he was given very little time to scout the draft and took one of the Raptors scouts word for Arrujo. I know the Carter trade was bad but it was really on bad because Mourning refused to play here. His playing here would have softened the end result of the trade considerably.

By: Tim W.

Tim W. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:04:34 +0000

I was not a big fan of Nesterovic, but I thought that was a good deal. Whatever his faults, he was still a legit 7 footer with loads of playoff experience who can hold his own in the post and hit the jumper. What I didn’t like is the fact that he ended up being the starting center. This time around, I’m much happier because he will only have to play 10-15 mpg, as opposed to the 20+ he played the first time around.

By: J

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:23:19 +0000

I completely forgot the Eric Williams + Bonner trade for Nesterovic. It may not have been the flashiest deal, and I’m sure a lot of people were fixated on how overpaid Nesterovic was, but honestly, that was one very astute deal.