He was the GM for the Raptors for 19 months with a W-L Record of 53-85/.384.

You are free to defend Brayn Colangelo, if you wish, considering his W-L Record of 153-156/.495, over a period of 60 months.

2. Actually Dumars, Ainge and Kupchak are all examples of good GM’s, in my book, so it isn’t accurate for you to assert that I expect a high end GM to be perfect.

3. The fact that Pat Riley has multiple NBA championship rings to show for his work in the NBA, one of them acquired with the help of Flash, is most definitely part of the reason D-Wade is even willing to listen when his GM wants to talk about the future success he expects to occur in South Beach, following the trials and tribulations of the past few seasons.

4. Good.

5. You said there was no pundit who picked Toronto to finish as high as 4th this season. I said that you were wrong about that, then showed you proof. Nuff said.

6. I was right about that, and many other things, as well … and, I have the proof to back it up.

If you are right about what you predict 95% of the time, then, that is something which will earn my respect. All you have to do is show me proof, in support of that specific claim.

Making assessments, in advance, is a part of what I happen to do from a professional standpoint. When I’m right, I earn a living. When I’m wrong, then it costs me $$$.

In general, I tend not to snack on chips.

7. Being able to agree to disagree, respectfully, is always a good thing.

Time is what eventually proves whose opinion about something was right or wrong.

In general, time is a terrific arbitrator.

8. The fact is …

I see the world in black, white and grey.

The trick in life is being able to discern one situation from the other with a high degree of accuracy.

9. re: Danny Ainge

Jim O’Brien is a totally different sort of coach compared with Sam Mitchell.

Ainge is responding in a way that’s consistent with being a championship-winning GM.

Championship-winning GM’s are the ones who are prepared to lose with “their guys” still on-board, rather than give up the ship too soon, by looking for a new crew to man the oars.

If they can repeat their victory … all the more power to them.

If they cannot, however … then, there is honour in that type of defeat.

Only those who have never won it all are willing to through their own oarsmen over-board, in an effort not to go down with the ship themselves.

True “Captains”, however, already know that they have the skills required to re-build what they had before, in a different time and place; hence, they have no fear of future failure.

If I’m wrong about something, it is actually quite easy for me to acknowledge that fact … because in my line of work, being wrong from time to time, simply goes with the territory.

See the difference?

2. going from 33 to 47 wins IS an accomplishment, because it’s difficult to do. And it’s easy enough to SAY that Colangelo should have responded to the injuries, but it’s quite another thing to do it. Every GM has had problems recovering from injuries or other problems. It doesn’t make them a bad GM. You seem to want a GM to be perfect. Obviously Joe DUmars is a bad GM in your eyes, as is Pat Riley, because he allowed the team to descend to lottery after winning a Champoonship and did not anticipate the decline of Shaq. Kupchuck mishandled the Shaq and Kobe situation, allowed Phil Jackson to leave, trade Caron Butler for Kwame Brown and nearly let Kobe, a guy who should have been a shoe in to be a life-long Laker, to nearly sign with the Clippers.

3. The US press are, for the most part, ignorant xenophobes who couldn’t imagine an American player choosing to remain in Canada. It was exactly the same thing before Vince re-signed with the Raptors. And a lot of people believe that Wade will re-sign with Miami because a) it’s South Florida, and b) there are no state taxes. Places like Miami and Orlando ALWAYS have advantages over cold weather places. There are many who think that Wade might also sign with Chicago, but a lot don’t think he wants to leave the warm climate of Miami. Also, one of the reasons that people don’t think Wade will leave Miami is that they have enough cap room that he can recruit another max player (Boozer lives there in the offseason!). Most, though, believe that if another star isn’t signed in Miami, he won’t re-sign. None of that has anything to do with him previously winning a Championship there.

4. Okay.

5. I do recall this, but notice he’s certainly not in line with his colleagues or with the majority of others. The fact that he picked Atlanta to finish 7th shows he was way off on many accounts (Bucks being below the Nets, Boston being the best team in the East).

6. Again, you were right. Great. I have found myself to be right about my predictions about 95% of the time, too. That and a bag of chips will give us a snack when we’re hungry.

7. Well, the difference between you and I is that, despite the fact I have, as previously mentioned, rarely been wrong on my predictions about players and teams over the years, one thing I have learned is never to pretend that I’m 100% positive. I don’t have a crystal ball, and I understand I’m not infallible. You may end up being right, but I don’t think you will.

8. Another place where you and I differ. You seem to look at everything as black and white. It’s not. You say Colangelo SHOULD have fired Mitchell at this point. Well, it’s an opinion. You have no idea what a “good” GM would have done. It’s a guess. Personally, I think a good GM would have done what Colangelo did. Give Mitchell a chance to prove himself.

According to you, Championship is some sort of magical elixir that wipes away every mistake a GM ever had. And the only good GM is one who has either made no mistakes (there are none), or has won a Championship. In other words, the only measure of a GM is whether or not he has won a title.

Personally, I think Ainge is incredibly overrated and one title doesn’t diminish the fact that he screwed up countless times and only made a few good trades, one of the being a trade that got him the Championship. I think how he responded to that one Championship was a big indicator, and I don’t like how he’s responded. Giving Rasheed Wallace a 3 year, $19 million deal was incredibly stupid, especially after giving up in Detroit in the playoffs last year. Then shopping Rondo and then allowing to feel alienated was perplexing, to say the least. And I didn’t like the trade for Robinson. I don’t think the Celtics have a legitimate shot at a title this year, but instead of using Ray Allen’s expiring contract to improve the team and get younger, he stood pat.

And if you criticize Colangelo for not firing Mitchell right away, or not during the summer, then you have to do the same to Ainge for not firing Jim O’Brien when he took over, and then for firing mid-season. Or does Ainge get a free pass on everything now?

And if Colangelo is able to re-sign Bosh, put together a trade that makes them contenders and they win a Championship, does it make you wrong about Colangelo and does it make him a first-class GM?

And did you believe Ainge was a good GM during the first four years of his tenure when they won 36, 45, 33 and 24 games?

1. I brought Mr. Babcock’s namue up to show, by comparison, just what a mediocre-to-poor GM Bryan Colangelo has been in his 4-yr tenure.

In contrast, you keep bringing his name up to show what a good GM you think Bryan Colangelo has been, thus far.

Do you see the difference there?

2. Building the team up from 33 to 47 wins in one season is an almost worthless accomplishment, if that type of improvement proves to be unsustainable.

Better to have gone more slowly, perhaps, by laying the groundwork better, and then ensure a steady upward climb in the standings over a broad period of years.

IMO, changing the culture of a losing team is actually one of the easiest things for a solid GM to be be able to do in the NBA.

The 47 win team wasn’t derailed by injuries. It was derailed by Bryan Colangelo’s inability to cope successfully in the aftermath of those injures, as a top notch GM SHOULD have been prepared to do, in the first place.

3. Winning a championship with the Heat has most definitely helped Pat Riley’s cause with being able to resign Dwyane Wade this coming summer.

e.g. Have you read even 1 report from any type of reputable source that reads like this,

“D-Wade is definitely going to leave Miami in the summer of 2010,”

because I have not.

Now compare that to what has been written, thus far, about Chris Bosh’s “supposed” intentions.

It isn’t even close.

Micky Arison, Miami’s owner, has even come out and said that he is almost 90% sure that Flash will be re-signing with the Heat.

4. In the past, Mr. Carefoot has had an issue with me and I, likewise, have had an issue with him. I do not read his blog.

5. Does the name Chris Sheridan resonate with you?

6. The bigger “payoff” was, in fact, to be found with Roy and Gay, as dynamic wing players … not in a perimeter-based Center like Bargnani.

Those who under-valued players like Roy and Gay, coming into the 2006 NBA Draft, were flat-out wrong.

7. With the passage of time, you are going to be proven so wrong on that account, my friend.

You won’t be alone, however, in that regard, as there were quite a number of NBA pundits who shared your same opinion, at the time of the draft.

8. Restricted to just 3 items:

I. If Bryan Colangelo really knew what he was doing, Sam Mitchell would have had his contract terminated at the end of the 2005-2006 season … i.e. before he had a chance to coach the 47 win team the following year.

If Bryan Colangelo really knew what he was doing, Sam Mitchell would not have had his contract terminated in December 2008 but would have:

i. Been fired in the summer of 2008; or,
ii. Been fired in the summer of 2009; or,
iii. Been fired in the summer of 2006; or,
iv. Never been fired at all by the Raptors.

II. Ainge’s and Buford’s and Kupchak’s mistakes have all been mitigated by the FACT that teams which they have put together have gone on to win the NBA title.

Bryan Colangelo’s mistakes have yet to be diminished by any type of FACT like that.

IMO, it’s a waste of time for you to try and compare their achievements, in this league, to theirs.

2. Colangelo immediately built a team that went from 33 wins to 47 and immediately changed the culture of the franchise. I very difficult thing to do considering where the Raptors were when he took over. I give him a lot of credit for that. That first team was built far more on defense and rebounding than this present team. But this present team is much younger and has more potential than the earlier team. Unfortunately injuries (Garbajosa and Ford) really derailed that team. Jermaine O’Neal was a gamble that didn’t pay off, unfortunately. Still, I appreciated him trying for it.

3. I mentioned Bosh’s name with Wade and LeBron because they are all free agents this year. And a Championship doesn’t seem to have helped Riley’s cause, as has building a contender helped Ferry’s cause. That’s my point. I’m not saying I wouldn’t be more comfortable about this summer if the Raptors were a contender. Colangelo would be too.

4. I’m not asking you to subscribe to Mr. Carefoot’s blog. Just read the one post which I think is a very good one.

5. I don’t recall any non-Raptor fan picking the Raptors as a possible 4th seed. And considering who are the first four teams, only an idiot would pick them as one.

6. SAYING you would, and actually doing it are to different things. Besides, there’s a big difference between ROy and Gay. I’m still not sold on Gay. And Roy was considered a good player, but with a low ceiling. First-class GMs usually make the bet with the bigger payoff, not go with the safe bet.

7. I think DeRozan is going to end up being better than any of the players picked below him. And trading down usually just results in less talented players.

8. Colangelo has made some decisions I’ve disagreed with (to say they were mistakes is overstating).

- Trading for Ford, I thought, was a good trade. He got a young, talented PG for an incredibly soft and one dimensional forward.
- I’m not sure how re-upping Sam after he won the Coach of the Year award was a mistake. Sam was a fine coach for the circumstances.
- I’ll agree with that one, but it wasn’t nearly as bad a decision as it’s made out to be. Bargnani is valuable, but will never be the player Colangelo hoped when drafting him.
- I hated the Kapono signing.
- I don’t know what Colangelo tried to do, and what was available. He was able to find Moon, though, who looked like he could replace him.
- I don’t think signing them was mistake. I think the fact that they had to play a larger role than they should have was a problem.
- If re-upping Sam was a mistake, how was firing him one?
- The trade for O’Neal wasn’t a mistake. It was a gamble that unfortunately didn’t pay off. Ford had to go, and his behaviour and injury earlier in the season caused his trade value to go down. The Raptors desperately needed a legitimate big man and O’Neal was who Colangelo got. Personally, I was hoping for Nene, but apparently Denver didn’t want Ford.
- I didn’t like the trade for Marion, but it turned out better than I anticipated. And that is due to Colangelo. Again, his first choice (and mine), Trevor Ariza, had agreed to the deal that was bigger than the one he eventually signed in Houston, then the Raptors would be in a much better position. And again, if Colangelo was the GM for the Lakers, do you think he would have free agents turning down less money to play elsewhere? Jeryy West never had that problem.
- I liked the selection of DeRozan. I don’t understand how you can say it was a mistake.
- I thought the deal that Colangelo pulled off was genius, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled with paying Turkoglu $50 million over 5 years.

Besides, I could run down a similar list with other so-call first-class GMs.

Danny Ainge:
- Trading Darius Songolia for two 2nd round picks that ended up being nothing
- Trading for Ricky Davis and Michael Stewart
- Drafting Tony Allen (instead of Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao, or Chris Duhon)
- Trading away, among other players, a first round draft pick for Antoine Walker, who he had traded away a couple of seasons before.
- Drafting Gerald Green (instead of Hakim Warrick, Nate Robinson, Jarrett Jack or David Lee)
- Trading for Qyntel Woods and Curtis Borchardt
- Signing Brian Scalabrine to the contract he did
- Trading away their 7th pick in the 2006 draft (Rudy Gay was available).
- Trading for Ray Allen before he was able to trade for Garnett.
- Drafting J.R Giddens (instead of Mario Chalmers, Deandre Jordan or Luc Mbah a Moute)
- Not replacing James Posey
- Signing Stephon Marbury
- Signing Rasheed Wallace.
- Trading for Nate Robinson
- Not trading Ray Allen and his expiring contract

I could do the same for every GM you think is a first-class one, INCLUDING R.C. Buford (giving away Scola for instance), who I also think is a first-class one.

Every GM makes mistakes. Even the really good ones.

If Ainge was not able to trade for Garnett, would he still be a first-class GM?

If R.C. Buford didn’t get Tim Duncan would he still be a first-class GM?

1. Rob Babcock was a bad GM.

What’s the reason you keep comparing Bryan Colangelo to a bad GM?

I only mentioned Babcock’s name so that you might see just how “bad” Bryan Colangelo has actually been … i.e. he’s done almost as little in his 4 years as even a bad GM, like Babcock, would have been able to do, given the advantageous circumstances which’ve existed over the last 4 years.

- Rob Babcock was GM of this team for all of 19 months [Jun 2004 to Jan 2006]

- by contrast, Bryan Colangelo has been the Vice-President/GM of this team for 60 months [Feb 2006 to Mar 2010]

IMO, it’s silly to compare these 2 individuals, except to sugggest just how bad the last 4+ years have actually been.

2. re: putting 32-31 this year in the proper perspective

2006-2007, 47-35
2007-2008, 41-41
2008-2009, 33-49
2009-2010, 32-31

What’s aberration in your opinion?

3. Why mention Bosh’s name with LeBron’s and Wade’s?

Wade has already won a championship with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.

James has already been to the NBA Finals with Dan Ferry and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Their circumstances are not the same as CB4′s with the Raptors.

Are you trying to suggest that they are?

IMO, if Bryan Colangelo would have done a better job during the 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons then the Raptors wouldn’t be in the situation they are right now, regarding the uncertain status of their best player.

4. I do not read Mr. Carefoot’s blog. [nuff said]

5. On the contrary, several/many NBA pundits actually had the Raptors as their darkhorse pick for the “sleeper team” of the year in the Eastern Conference and, in fact, had them as becoming a legitimate challenger for the #4 or #5 playoff seed.

6. I, personally, would have traded down, and then selected either Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay, and said just that prior to the 2006 NBA Draft.

It matters not whether other talent evaluators could tell, in advance, that these 2 players were eventually going to become the biggest impact players from that specific draft class.

7. I, personally, would not have drafted DeRozan this past off season and, instead, would have traded down to secure additional players and picks … and I said exactly that prior to the 2009 NBA Draft.

8. Has Bryan Colangelo made some good decisions along the way?

Yes he has.

But he has also made plenty of major mistakes since taking over this team, including:

- trading for TJ Ford
- re-upping Sam Mitchell
- selecting Bargnani, 1st overall
- signing Jason Kapono
- failing to replace Jorge Garbajosa
- signing Hassan Adams and Will Solomon
- firing Sam Mitchell Dec/2008
- trading for Jermaine O’Neal
- trading for Shawn Marion
- selecting DeMar DeRozan, 9th overall
- trading for Hedo Turkoglu/$50.0 M for 5yrs

Let’s just leave it at that.