Have I Missed Much?

Posted on August 12, 2010 | 4 Comments

Beach FeetI’ve been around, just busy, and this seemed like a good time to take a bit of a break. Hope everyone’s been having a good summer so far. So what have I missed?

Well, as far as the Raptors are concerned, I haven’t missed too much. There was far too much hullabaloo over a trade for a deep bench player, giving up a 2nd round pick they probably never would have seen anyway. Sure, they could have given the spot to a young player, with more potential, but with four big men under the age of 24, they aren’t hurting for youth, that’s for sure. It certainly doesn’t mean Colangelo is doing anything different than what I hope he does.

The Raptors also lost an assistant coach (Iavaroni), but got a much better one (Carlesimo) with Championship experience, and another good one (Roth). With Triano’s continued development and the addition of Carlesimo and Roth, the coaching staff should be better than last year.

Of course, I woke up this morning to discover that Marco Belinelli has been traded away to New Orleans for Julian Wright. Regular readers know that I am a big fan of Belinelli and I’m sorry to see him go. At best, he’s an excellent 3 point shooter who can handle the ball, get to the line, pass and defend. There were times last year when we saw all of that on display, especially his one and only start. Unfortunately there were also quite a few times when we saw poor shot selection and forcing the action when it wasn’t needed, which meant his minutes weren’t exactly consistent. I recently saw some highlights of a game he played this summer that showed the same off balance shots that drove Raptor fans nuts. While I still think he’s got the tools and potential to be an All-Star in this league, I wonder whether he’ll ever get it.

Still, I understand the move. DeRozan and Weems have solidified their position with the club and in the hearts of Raptor fans by their play in the summer league and their hard work with each other, as well as with Amir Johnson. The “Young Guns” moniker certainly doesn’t hurt their case either. And with Barbosa really an undersized shooting guard, there was a log jam at that position. Belinelli was the odd man out, although from a basketball standpoint, it would have made more sense to move Weems. Weems and DeRozan have similar games and similar weaknesses. Belinelli has the 3 point shooting and ball handling that both those players lack. It’s hard to fault Colangelo for the move, though. Unless, of course, Belinelli becomes an All-Star in New Orleans.

I have to admit, I know very little about Julian Wright except that he is a former lottery pick who is athletic, plays defense and can’t shoot. He should fit in very well with the Young Guns.

I’ll say this about Colangelo. He certainly isn’t shy about changing direction of he feels the need to. If he is successful unloading Calderon, the only Europeans on the roster will be Bargnani and Kleiza. So much for Euroball.

Speaking of unloading Calderon, apparently Charlotte again tried to grab Calderon by involving themselves in the big four team deal that broke the hearts of many a Raptor fan by sending Nick Darren Collison to the Pacers. Not only did it take Collison off the market, but it killed any chance of Indiana trading for Calderon.

The trade is interesting. I think Indiana gets very good value for the expiring contract of Troy Murphy, and clears up their logjam at power forward. New Orleans gets a legit starting small forward who should thrive playing beside Chris Paul. New Jersey gets a year to try out Troy Murphy and gives them depth in the front court. I’m not entirely sold on what Houston gets. They save money and get a nice you shooting guard, but they’re certainly not any better.

A lot of Raptor fans like Houston’s GM, Darryl Morey, but I find him perplexing more than anything. He’s certainly talented at finding low priced talent that can maximize their worth, but he’s never shown any ability to actually build a contender. To me, he seems like a cheap owner’s dream, but not one a fan would choose because he’s never going to build a Champion.

To me, mediocrity is worth than death if I’m a basketball fan. A while ago, a reader of this site said that he’d be happy with a team that simply made it to the second round of the playoffs, but never went to the Finals. That’s just incredibly depressing. Atlanta is a perfect example of this type of team. With their current roster, they’re never, ever going to be a legitimate contender, but when you’re winning 50 games, it’s hard to argue for blowing the team up, and with their bloated payroll, they’re not going to be making any meaningful additions.

Having Joe Johnson walk away this summer might have been the best thing for the franchise in the long term. It would have given them reason to take a step back and rebuild, but by overpaying Johnson, now they pretty much have to keep the roster intact, which means another 50 win season and ouster in either the first or second round.

Atlanta certainly isn’t alone in their race for mediocrity. My beloved Utah seems to have joined the race to the middle. Wes Matthews was a surprise last year as an undrafted free agent and a testament to the abilities of the scouting department. Unfortunately, their accounting department didn’t feel he was worth matching Portland’s offer and let him go. Then they go out and replace Carlos Boozer with Al Jefferson, a guy who is even worse defensively. Jefferson isn’t a bad player, but they really don’t seem to be trying to build a contender in Salt Lake City.

Phoenix is also a member of this club, which pains me when I realize that Steve Nash will never have a chance to win a Championship. Grabbing Turkoglu made very little sense to a team that doesn’t want to overspend, but is willing to spend just enough to win. That’s probably why Steve Kerr left. He realized that winning a Championship wasn’t a goal of owner Robert Sarver.

Of course, I think there are only about five or six owners in the league that are willing to do anything for a Championship. The rest are just banking on luck.

Bookmark and Share

Join the discussion: 4 Comments

Category: Bobcats, Hawks, Hornets, Jazz, NBA, Nets, Pacers, Raptors, Rockets, Suns, Trades

Comments

4 Responses to “Have I Missed Much?”

  2. anonymoo
    August 12th, 2010 @ 11:40 PM

    Belly has never played alongside a dominant PG either in the NBA (remember, BD was only around for his rookie season) or on the NT. CP3 should help curtail his forcing matters.

    As far as the Young Gunz are concerned, you do realize an uptempo offense is only as effective as its PG… it just seems the team has a number of finishers but hardly an effective creator.

  3. Tim W.
    August 13th, 2010 @ 9:36 AM

    I don’t know if playing beside a dominant PG will help or hinder Belinelli. He’s not really a catch and shoot player, and does have the skills to create himself, so really would be better playing beside a PG who doesn’t need to ball as much. Of course, as you mention, playing beside Paul might curtail him forcing things, so you never know.

    As for the Young Gunz, I completely agree about them playing beside and effective PG, which is why I think Calderon shouldn’t be traded. He’s not a great initiator, but he’s going to get them them ball where they can score.

  4. khandor
    August 14th, 2010 @ 10:36 AM

    Tim,

    Change Nick Collison’s name to Darren, before you get roasted by unkind souls. :-)

  5. Tim W.
    August 14th, 2010 @ 8:49 PM

    Thanks khandor. Hey, at least Nick Collison in an NBA player. Last time I did this I kept calling Daniel Orten “Daniel Ortez”. I have no idea who Daniel Ortez is.

Leave a Reply





  • Help bring back NBA to Vancouver

  • Categories

  • Archives