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A Rundown, What Not To Do…And My Best Case Scenario
Posted on | July 2, 2010 | 12 Comments
As I figured, none of the big three free agents made any decisions on the first day. There goes the theory that everything was planned weeks ago. Of course, there was some action the first day. The best news for the Raptors is that Amir Johnson re-signed. More on that later.
Joe Johnson was one of the players I thought had the least chance of going back to his home team. Now he’s re-signed with the Hawks, continuing them on their course to high level mediocrity. If anything was apparent during the playoffs, it’s that the Hawks are a team built to compete, not win. The smart thing for them to do would be to make some deals and change the structure of their team. The smart thing is not the likely thing, however. My money is on them thinking a new coach is going to be ails this team.
Memphis, who is apparently hemorrhaging money and didn’t even make the playoffs this past season, gave away the first ridiculous contract of the offseason, signing Rudy Gay to the maximum. Anyone who isn’t sure if Bosh is worth the maximum should agree that Memphis drastically overpaid a guy who has never even made the All-Star team before. Shouldn’t that pretty much be a prerequisite to making the maximum? Sure, I like Gay, but since he was a restricted free agent, couldn’t Memphis simply have waited and seen what he was being offered instead of throwing him everything on the first day of free agency? That probably would have been the smart move. Of course, when has anyone used “smart” and “Chris Wallace” in the same sentence?
Minnesota was also another surprise newsmaker, bidding against no one to offer Darko Milicic a 4 year $20 million contract. Now Darko did a fine job in Minnesota, and they should probably jump on any free agent that actually WANTS to go there, but I would have thought it would have been prudent to wait until after they deal Jefferson to sign Darko. Now it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion the T-Wolves have to make a deal. Not a good position to be in.
Milwaukee re-signed John Salmons, who I figured was on his way out after the acquisitions of Corey Maggette and Chris Douglas-Roberts, and added another jersey to the already full closet of Drew Gooden. Gooden is on his eighth team in 8 years and hasn’t played defense or passed the ball at any of his stops. Is he really worth the full MLE? No wonder Gooden jumped on it. Now I have liked what John Hammonds has been doing in Milwaukee, but neither Maggette nor Gooden have played defense since college, and the Bucks got to where they are on their defense. Adding talent is always nice, but I don’t know if I like where this team is headed.
This brings us back to Amir Johnson. I felt re-signing Amir was very important for the future of the franchise. Before the offseason started, I felt that a 3 year, $15 million contract offer to Amir might be enough to bring him back. Unfortunately, $5 million per season is what the inferior Darko Milicic signed for. Then Milwaukee signed Gooden for nearly $6.5 per season. Now, Gooden certainly is talented, but I think it’s ironic that he signed with the Bucks on the same day Amir re-signed with the Raptors. To me, Amir is exactly the type of player the Bucks need and the type of player that would thrive in their system. Instead, they traded him away and signed Drew Gooden. Personally, I’d much rather have Amir.
So, because of Gooden getting $32 million over 5 years, it was evident that Amir would have to get more than that. Apparently he had interest from Phoenix, Golden State and one other team, so Colangelo had to bid against others. I don’t know if Colangelo had to outbid, or simply match the other teams’ bids, but a 5 year, $34 million contract, while seemingly high for a player who only scores 12.7 ppg in 36 mpg, is probably not bad value. I read one comment that bothered me a little, and that’s that Amir is overpaid because his skills are so easily replaceable. Pat Riley has said that hustle is a skill, and in the NBA, it’s not a common skill. And that’s not even close to all Amir brings. He’s a 23 year old, highly athletic big man who rebounds, defends, hustles and is extremely efficient on the offensive end, despite not being much of a scorer. Basically everything Bargnani is not. Personally, I’d rather pay Amir $34 over 5 years than Bargnani $50 million over 5. While Bargnani is going to get you points, Amir is going to do the little things that actually help a team win.
In other Raptor news, Bosh met with Toronto, but there is apparently little hope among Raptor brass he will re-sign. I’d love to have been in on that meeting. You know what keeps going through my head? The show Entourage. In the middle of season 3 when Vincent Chase has fired his agent, Ari Gold, because of a couple of big screwups. Much like Bosh and the other free agents, Vince goes from agency to agency as they pitch him why he should sign with them. All the pitches end up being the same, including Ari’s, which Vince walks out of. It turns out all Vince wanted Ari to do was apologize. If only that was the case with Bosh. I don’t think a simple apology will be good enough in Colangelo’s.
So with one of the pieces for the summer in place, there are some questions about what it is that Colangelo is trying to do. One of the more disturbing bits of news I heard was that the Raptors had interest in Amare Stoudemire. Excuse me while I gag. The argument seems to be that Amare would be able to replace Bosh, although I’m at a loss of why you’d want to do that. With Bosh, the team missed the playoffs, were a disaster on the defensive end and proved that you need more than just scoring to win.
And now you want to replace Bosh with Amare, apparently believing that will improve the team.
This is the guy who the Laker big men basically humiliated, highlighting just how bad Amare’s defense is. And I won’t even mention how every single Phoenix player has mysteriously regressed upon leaving Steve Nash’s domain.
Chris Bosh leaving is a disappointment, but as the late Phil Hartman once said on the very funny show, NewsRadio, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then toss it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you asked for in the first place?”
Colangelo needs to realize that retooling is not going to be the way to go. Sure, it will help reassure some of the ticketholders that only see one season ahead, and aren’t worried about the difference between competing and contending. Bringing in Amare, or some other move like it, will certainly make the Raptors more competitive, but it’s not going to make them contenders. They need to rebuild, not retool. One of the reasons I liked the drafting of Ed Davis was because he can be the symbol of the type of team the Raptors need to turn themselves into. He’s a smart, defensive player who does all the little things that you need to do to win. He’s San Antonio, not Phoenix. I don’t know about you, but I want San Antonio. San Antonio won three Championships and was one of the most dominant teams in the last ten years. Phoenix entertained and did well in the regular season, but never made it to the Finals.
Colangelo needs to rid the team of the lazy, underachieving players and focus on getting young, talented and hard working players that don’t mind doing the dirty work.
Speaking of which, I’ve decided to share what I hope are the types of deals I hope go down this summer. They’re certainly best case, but if all the stars align, these are the types of deals I’d like to see happen…
1. Bosh is sign-and-traded to the Nets for Derrick Favors and a $12 million trade exception.
2. Bargnani is traded to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio and Corey Brewer and a trade exception.
3. The Knicks, after striking out on the free agent front, agrees to trade for Turkoglu in exchange for Eddy Curry and his expiring contract. Eddy Curry is then bought out.
4. Trade Corey Brewer and part of the trade exception to Houston for the expiring contracts of Shane Battier and Jared Jeffries.
The Raptors go into the season with…
Jose Calderon (Jarret Jack, Marcus Banks)
DeMar DeRozan (Sonny Weems, Marco Belinelli)
Shane Battier (Jared Jeffries)
Derrick Favors (Ed Davis, Reggie Evans)
Amir Johnson (Solomon Alabi)
The team is most likely not a playoff team, but have the right type of players on the team, a few good, smart veterans, a very young core, the likelihood of a high lottery pick next season and a franchise point guard, in Rubio, on his way. If the team looks even remotely like that next year, I’ll be happy with how the offseason transpired.
The Draft Is Here!!! The Draft Is Here!!!
Posted on | June 23, 2010 | 8 Comments
NBA Draft day is one of my favourite days of the year. It’s the day that separates the optimists and the pessimists. Optimists see this as a a chance to get a future All-Star, pessimists simply see this as another chance for their GM to screw up. I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of pessimists whose favourite team is the Spurs.
Since I consider myself a realistic, I guess I’m somewhere in between.
So as always happens, there are more rumours flying around than at any other time of year. Some is misinformation spread by teams wanting to throw other teams off the scent, some is made up stuff that somehow gets mistaken for real stuff and some is the truth. Unfortunately, it’s virtually impossible to separate the truth from the rumours now, unless you bowl with Chad Ford’s brother-in-law and are in the loop. Unfortunately, I ‘m not, so I have no idea.
A couple of deals have gone down…
- The Thunder have acquired Miami’s 18th pick and Daequan Cook in exchange for their 38th pick. It pays to have cap space around draft time. And for all you Raptor fans that wonder why Colangelo couldn’t pull that off, it’s because the Raptors couldn’t have absorbed Cooks contract.
- The Bucks traded their 2012 second round pick to the Nets for Chris Douglas-Roberts. Between trading for Maggette and getting Douglas-Roberts, it’s appearing that they aren’t banking on bringing Salmons back.
Some of the more interesting rumours flying around include…
- Toronto trading their 13th pick to Portland for Rudy Fernandez and the 22nd pick. My take? If Paul George, Ed Davis or another surprise player doesn’t drop to 13, I’d take this deal. I’m not excited about who else is available and Fernandez is probably better than anyone available there. Of course they’d have to figure out how to play four SGs, but they did that last season with Wright. Well, not very well, I guess. Still, if Turkoglu is traded, DeRozan and Weems could play the 3 and Fernandez and Belinelli man the 2.
- Orlando trading Vince to Washington for Gilbert Arenas. My take? Wow, is this how far Vince has fallen, and is this how desperate the Magic are? What exactly does this mean for Jameer Nelson, who was easily the second best player for the Magic during the playoffs.
- The Clippers trading the 8th pick to the Bulls for Deng. Well, the Clippers would have to actually select for the Bulls, since the Clippers aren’t under the cap until July 1st. This would take them out of the LeBron sweepstakes, but Deng would be a nice piece for them.
- The Nets may surprise everyone and take Wesley Johnson instead of Derrick Favors at the 3rd spot. The thinking, apparently, is that the Nets could simply sign an All-Star free agent (Boozer) and pair him with Johnson. I like Favors a lot more than Johnson, but the rumour does make sense. This summer there are a plethora of All-Star PFs available (Bosh, Stoudamire, Boozer, Dirk and David Lee) so they could pick up an All Star PF and then draft a potential All Star at SF. Still, it’s always best to draft the best player and in my opinion, it’s Favors.
- The Thunder may trade Eric Maynor and their 18th and 21st picks to Indiana for their 10th pick. That would give the Thunder to draft a legit big man, like Udoh, Ed Davis or Cole Aldrich, basically exactly what they need to take the next step. Presti might very well be best GM in the NBA right now.
We’ll see how many of those rumours come to fruition, and how many more start flying around tomorrow.
As for the draft itself, I’m not going to do a mock draft since everyone does that and it’s all basically guesswork. I’m going to take a quick look at some of the players, including which ones I like and which one’s I don’t like.
THE SURE-FIRE ALL-STARS:
John Wall: No explanation needed.
Evan Turner: I think he’s going to be a special player in the NBA.
Derrick Favors: The last player I think is a can’t miss prospect. If he doesn’t go third, the Nets are going to regret it, in my opinion.
POTENTIAL ALL-STARS:
Wesley Johnson: He doesn’t excite me, but he’ll probably end up being a good pick.
Ed Davis: It wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up winning a Championship one day. He’s got a very high basketball IQ and an underrated game.
Paul George: He’s got some bust potential, but I read an article that said he might end up being the best player from this draft 5 years from now. That’s saying something. If he falls to the Raptors, I’ll be thrilled.
PLAYERS I’M UNSURE ABOUT:
DeMarcus Cousins: He’s got the talent to be the best player in the draft, but might have motivational issues and be a knucklehead. These are the types of players that get coaches and GMs fired, get traded around as teams get enticed by his potential, and usually end up disappointing everyone. Yes, he scares me.
Greg Munroe: I was tempted to put him in the previous category, but there’s just something about him that makes me hesitate. He’s certainly got the talent, but is the desire and heart there?
Al-Farouq Aminu: Like the players above, he’s got loads of talent, but he seems so painfully shy and quiet, I wonder how he’ll do in the NBA.
SAFE PICKS:
Cole Aldrich: He’s never going to be an All-Star, but I can see him as a ten year starter and a guy who is going to be a solid defender and rebounder.
Xavier Henry: There’s little spectacular about him, but he’s a very good shooter who also players defense. I wouldn’t be upset in the least if the Raptors take him at 13.
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE:
Eric Bledsoe: He had to play off guard beside Wall, but he’s apparently a true PG with blazing speed, good defensive and half decent scoring ability. He’s one of my sleepers.
I’LL GET BACK TO YOU:
Luke Babbitt: He’s a 6′7 small forward whose game might be better suited for power forward, but not his body. Guys like this never seem to work out.
Ekpe Udoh: He’s a fairly raw 23 year old athletic big man who is best at the defensive end. If he was 3 years younger, I’d be more enthusiastic, but at 23, you have to wonder why he hasn’t polished his game more.
Patrick Patterson: He’s a tough, undersized PF who isn’t a great rebounder or defender. So if he isn’t a great rebounder or defender, who cares how tough he is?
Gordon Hayward: If he didn’t surprise everyone and lead his team to the final game of the NCAA’s, would he be rated as high as he is? Why can’t I get Luke Jackson out of my head?
NO THANKS:
Avery Bradley: The fact that his name is so often connected with the Raptors scares the hell out of me. He’s got no PG skills, is undersized at the 2 and doesn’t finish well or draw contact when he drives. People love his defense, but Marcus Banks plays great defense, too. And he barely got off the bench. Oh, and they’re about the same size.
Hassan Whiteside: He’s extremely long, blocked 5.4 shots per game last season and is pretty mobile. Of course, i’ve heard he couldn’t even get really motivated during workouts. How do you think he’s going to do once he’s paid?
INTRIGUING PROSPECTS:
Damion Jones: A tough, excellent rebounding, athletic SF who plays very good defense. He’s not great on the offensive end, but he brings some talent to the table.
Larry Sanders: He’s got great length and athleticism, but he’s painfully thin. And you have to wonder if Hank Kinglsey is going to be part of his entourage.
Solomon Alabi: Again, great length but very raw. Apparently he’s a great teammate and might motivate his teammates.
Kevin Seraphin: See Alabi, but he’s shorter but stronger.
Willie Warren: You think he kicks himself for not coming out last season? I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being one of the top 15 players in the draft….or craps out after his rookie contract is done.
FINAL PREDICTIONS?
Well, I really have no clue who the Raptors are going to end up with. This draft seems to be far to difficult to gauge. I would be surprised if a big name falls in their laps, or if they end up trading the pick. If nothing else, I think the night will be more full of surprises than usual. And in the end, it’s all about entertainment, isn’t it?
A Look Back
Posted on | April 21, 2010 | 4 Comments
Well, it’s over. Sorry for not writing anything before this, but I’ve been busy with more important things. If I don’t sound heartbroken over the way the season ended, it’s because there are far more important things than basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I love it or I wouldn’t be doing this, but in the end, it’s not really all that important.
There are always questions when the season ends. I’m going to attempt to answer some of them here.
Was the season a failure?
Well, I’m not even sure what that means. It certainly wasn’t a success, so if you want to measure it that way, then you can probably say it was a failure. The Raptors failure to make the playoffs is not the only measuring stick, though…
Will Bosh leave the Raptors?
Not even Bosh knows, I don’t think. Missing the playoffs and finishing the season like they did certainly isn’t going to help, that’s for sure. I certainly wouldn’t begrudge him leaving, that’s for sure. He’s given seven years of his life to the Raptors, and they have not been able to surround him with enough talent to be able to get out of the first round, and it’s certainly not a good sign that they haven’t made the playoffs the last two. If he’s lost confidence in the organization, it’s understandable.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he did end up re-signing, though. While there are a lot of choices for him, there is a question of how many are willing to pay the max for him, and there is also a question of whether other situations are better than Toronto.
Bosh is adamant that he doesn’t want to be anyone’s second banana, and with his experience with the Raptors, is he going to want to go to a new team that is rebuilding? I don’t think so. In my next post, I’m going to layout who I think has the best shot at getting Bosh, who Bosh should choose and who would benefit the most from him.
Should the Raptors pay him the max to stay?
This question has been bouncing around the Raptor boards a lot lately. Is Bosh a max player? It’s a good question and it’s a silly question. I mean, is any basketball player worth $20 million a season? There IS a reason it costs an arm and a leg to watch a game in person, and it’s not the cost of the person tearing your ticket. But in reality, NBA stars make what they do, so there’s no point in arguing the point.
Now, the biggest complaint about Bosh is that he can’t carry a team, so shouldn’t make max money. Dwayne Wade carried a less talented team to 47 wins and the 5th seed. Of course, the Raptors were more talented OFFENSIVELY, but on defense, I’d much rather have a frontcourt of Jermaine O’Neal and Adonis Haslem protecting the paint. And Mario Chalmers is better defensively than of the of the Raptor PGs.
There’s also the point that the Raptors fell apart without Bosh in the starting lineup. The record with and without Bosh in the lineup isn’t much different (35-35 with, 5-7 without) but they also struggled mightily after he came back from his ankle injury and wasn’t at full strength. When Bosh was playing like he did most of the season, the Raptors were simply one of the better teams in the league. No, he didn’t carry them to the playoffs, but if Bosh doesn’t get hurt (twice), it’s a pretty safe bet that the Raptors would still be playing. His value to the team should not be questioned. If he leaves, they will be a lottery team, and a poor one at that. If they win 30 games next season without Bosh, I’d be surprised. With him they could try for 45 again. Not many players are worth 15 games.
If you’re looking to only pay guys that can literally carry their teams to success, you’re looking at 3 guys. LeBron, Kobe and Wade. If you’re only going to pay those three guys the max, then you’re going to have a heck of time building a contender. You’ve got to pay to play, and players like those come to a team very rarely. If you’re worried about overpaying, every single contender is vastly overpaying at least one player on their team. You think Rashard Lewis is worth $18 million? Or Ray Allen nearly $20 million?
There’s the argument that the Raptors could get someone like David Lee at half the price. Great, but he’s not going to help you win. New York won 29 games with him as their best player and are so happy, it’s unlikely he’ll be back with them. In the NBA, the teams with the best players win. Bosh isn’t a top 5 player, but top 5 players are a little difficult to get. The Raptors have never, in their history, had one. Bosh is certainly a top 10 player, and if you don’t pay him the max, you’re setting yourself up for a future of losing.
Is Colangelo to blame?
Yes and no. I’ve read a lot of criticism of what he said in the press conference. Quite frankly, I don’t give a crap. What a person says means absolutely nothing to me. Especially in public. It’s the same reason I don’t pay attention to post game press conferences. I mean, who cares what a coach or player says? What matters is what they do. Colangelo, for all his weaknesses, is willing to correct his mistakes and learn from them. Colangelo isn’t an idiot. He knows that a team needs to be good defensively and rebound the basketball to win. This isn’t a secret recipe to success.
If Bosh doesn’t go down to injury, and people don’t come back from the All-Star break with “personal agendas”, then the Raptors end up winning around 45 games and make the playoffs. Fantastic? No. But pretty much what I expected of them. And there’d certainly be a lot fewer angry Raptor fans.
Colangelo did some things well and some things poorly. The team won 7 fewer games from his first year with the Raptors to now. That’s not exactly a good sign. Colangelo failed to capitalize on the number one pick and cap room he inherited when he took over. Some of that had to do with luck, some had to do with some poor decisions. The initial team he built that won 47 games simply did not have a very high ceiling. And injuries to key players derailed any success they did have.
Last summer, he made some great moves, and one not so great move, but it’s what he didn’t do that should haunt him. A team’s defense is anchored by it’s front line, and Colangelo failed to get the right players around Bosh. Bargnani is a nice offensive talent, but he is woefully miscast as a pairing with Bosh. For all of Bosh’s strengths, he’s not a stopper on defense, and more than anything, he needs a center who can bear the brunt of the defensive load and anchor the defense. Bargnani is not that person. Ironically, someone like Jermaine O’Neal is. I’ve argued in the past that Jermaine O’Neal was not a failure with Toronto. What was a failure was the rest of the team.
Was it a mistake to sign Turkoglu?
Well, I don’t think you need me to answer that question. Obviously it was. Turkoglu is simply not a good match for a team that lacks defense and rebounding. His playmaking was great when he used it, but any criticism of his disappointing season should be aimed solely at him. Sure, the coaches didn’t use him like he was used in Orlando, but this is a different roster. A new player needs to adjust to his new teammates, and Turkoglu not playing in preseason was the first indication that there was going to be a problem. He came to Toronto with not exactly a sterling reputation as a hard worker. Rick Adelman and Greg Popovich both struggled to get the most out of Turkgolu, and I’m sure most Raptor fans would take those coaches in a heartbeat.
My one consolation is that Turkoglu was not Colangelo’s first choice. He was not even his second. Call this one buyer’s remorse. Colangelo went to an auction, got outbid on everything he wanted, but didn’t want to come home empty handed. In the end, he got home and realized that the painting he bought didn’t go with any of his furniture and was painted by a guy who had just been charged with child molestation, meaning it’s going to be next to impossible to unload that painting now.
What’s next for Bargnani?
He had the best season of his four year career, and every year it’s become more and more apparently he is what he is: A jump shooting big man who avoids the paint, can’t rebound and is a weak link on defense. And he’s the absolutely wrong player for the Raptors. He’s not going to improve his rebounding, because it hasn’t happened in his first four years, and he’s not going to suddenly start playing inside and drawing fouls, so if Bosh goes, he’s not a replacement, no matter what he says.
He needs to be traded. Period.
I know that he has been Colangelo’s pet project but the Raptors will never be able to be a contender with him on the team, not without some drastic and complete rebuilding. Plus, I’m sick and tired of criticizing him.
I don’t know who would take him, but I’ve been assured by a number of fans that he’s got a lot of value. I hope that’s true. And now would be the time to take advantage. Another year of pretty much the same thing will only cement in other’s minds what most Raptor fans have realized. Bargnani has just about reached his potential.
Golden State is crazy enough, and Don Nelson loves guys like Bargnani. You think they’d trade Andris Biedrins for him? Maybe Chicago would like his scoring and could make up for his defensive and rebounding woes with Noah and Deng. Who would the Raptors get in return? I’d take Hinrich and a draft pick and call it a day. Sometimes the best way to improve is to subtract. Ask Phoenix.
Which point guard?
I like Jack, but surrounded by better defensive players, Calderon is going to help you win more. And Jack is eminently more tradable because of his manageable contract and all around play. It would be nice to keep both, but having two starter-quality point guards is a luxury that a 40 win team cannot really afford. if they can upgrade the roster and keep both, all the better, but chances are they are going to have to part with one to get the player(s) they need.
Who’s the shooting guard of the future?
Sonny Weems was definitely the Raptor surprise of the year, and he seemed to get better as the season wore on. Back at the beginning of January, I remarked how Weems seemed to have the whole package to become a very good NBA player. For a guy who was literally a throw in in a trade, Weems finishing the season as the Raptors starting SG was impressive. Does that mean he’s the SG of the future for the Raptors? Well, not quite. Weems has the makings of a very good player. He hits a high percentage of his shots, has a great mid range game and has all-world athleticism. He’s a good defender and rebounder, and actually is a pretty good passer. Best of all, he usually plays under control. It’s easy to get carried away and say that he might be a better prospect than the Raptors more high profile young SG, DeMar DeRozan. You’d be wrong.
Weems does have his weaknesses. His ball handling is not exactly a thing of beauty, but neither is DeRozan’s. While he has a very efficient offensive game, he rarely gets to the line. Let’s be clear here, Weems gets to the line at an absolutely horribly low rate. Less than Bargnani. In fact, his FTA/FGA ratio is the lowest on the team. For a guy with that kind athleticism and explosiveness, that’s unacceptable.
While Weems certainly hits for a higher percentage from the field and is a better defensive player, at this point, DeRozan has more offensive potential. The reason? DeRozan is excellent at getting to the line. It shows an aggressiveness that Weems seems to lack and why DeRozan, despite not shooting as high a percentage as Weems from the field, is actually a more efficient offensive player.
So while Weems seemed to have the better season, the future is still DeRozan’s. The Raptors are fortunate that both DeRozan and Weems look to have a bright future ahead of them, although at some point, one has to wonder if this is going to turn into a similar situation they the Raptors have had a PG. Two starting quality SG’s.
Of course, readers of this blog will not be surprised that I bring up Belinelli, here. He didn’t have a great season, and at one point seemed fall out of the rotation, but I’m still convinced that he also has a bright future ahead of him. He can shoot, drive, create for others, play good defense and can actually play PG and run an offense in a pinch. And he showed an aggressiveness that seemed to be lacking previously, getting to the line at a rate only a little less than DeRozan. For such a good shooter, though, he shot horribly from the field, and that’s because his shot selection often left something to be desired. It’s not that he shot at the wrong time (although he sometimes did that), but that fadeaway three is not something the coaches probably enjoyed watching. I know I didn’t.
There are some that feel that picking up Belinelli’s option was a mistake. I think, in the end, it’s going to be seen as a very good deal.
Do you still think Triano is a good coach?
I’ve defended Triano on many occasions here and on other sites. Mostly, because I felt the criticism was ether unjustified or simply just done out of ignorance. Claiming he was hired simply because he was Canadian is beyond stupid. In fact, it’s such a stupid statement, I’m not sure where to even begin to debate it, so I won’t.
Now, I don’t feel that Triano has done a great job. He’s a young, relatively inexperienced coach and he was bound to make his share of mistakes. I think he’s shown enough to continue to stay on, but also, I think that it’s incredibly difficult for fans to intelligently judge a coach. Most of his work is done behind closed doors, and since most of us are not privy to it, it’s impossible to know whether he simply not sending the right message, or the players aren’t capable of carrying it out.
It’s also hard to criticize Triano too much because, quite frankly, he was given a team that had almost no hope of being a good defensive or rebounding team. Blaming Triano for the inabilities of of guys like Bargnani and Turkoglu is a bit like blaming the builder of a house after it was hit by a meteorite. There are simply some things that are out of the coaches control. The team won 40 games and probably would have won at least 45 without the injuries to Bosh. Red Auerbach himself couldn’t have coaxed many more wins out of this club, and Triano will improve. Some fans seem to think that unlike players, coaches always stay the same. They don’t develop and can’t get better.
If I have one beef with Triano, however, it’s that he didn’t play Bosh enough with Amir Johnson. When they played together, the team excelled. Johnson didn’t pull his man out of the paint like Bargnani did, but Johnson’s man couldn’t double because he was a) so active so leaving him often meant him cutting for the basket for a dunk and b) his offensive rebounding ability made him incredibly dangerous to leave. And Bosh and Johnson were also the best defensive and rebounding frontcourt the team had. Which brings us to…
Do the Raptors overpay Amir Johnson to stay?
Well, first of all, I don’t see him being offered much more than $5 million per season on the open market, and that’s definitely a good price for Amir. Whether Bosh stays or goes, Johnson is incredibly important. If Bosh goes, he’s the starting PF. If Bosh stays, his rebounding, hustle and defense are great antidotes to Bargnani’s game should Colangelo fail to do the right thing, and find a new home for him.
Do you try and keep Wright?
If the Raptors didn’t have so many young shooting guards, keeping Wright would make sense. As it is, he’s simply in the way of the development of them.
What should Colangelo do in the offseason to improve the team?
That’s coming…
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How about those Spurs? Are they the last team Dallas wanted to face in the first round? They underachieved in the regular season, but now have home court advantage over the 2nd seeded Mavericks after their win. And Richard Jefferson had one of his better games all season and looked like the player the Spurs hoped he would be when they traded for him. They are all healthy and are the most experienced playoff team in the league. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up getting to the Finals.
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Is it possible to not give out an Executive of the Year award this year? San Antonio’s R.C Buford was a preseason favourite, but they won fewer games than the previous season. Colangelo was also though to be in the running, but the Raptors didn’t even make the playoffs. Sam Presti’s Oklahoma City Thunder made the biggest improvement, but that was after Presti passed on much better players in the draft and did relatively nothing else in the offseason. Phoenix’s Steve Kerr ended up trading away his failure, in Shaq, for Ben Wallace and then paying Ben Wallace not to play for them. And he passed on four good PG’s, always an area of need for the Suns, with the aging Nash not going to last forever, to grab an enigmatic underachiever.
I’ve heard Jeff Bower’s name mentioned, which I don’t understand. Yes, he drafted and acquired to of the better rookies in the draft without a pick above 21, but he also traded away Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor, an extremely ill fit for the Hornets. And he allowed the Hornets to go from a 56 win team two years ago, to the 37 win team it is today. Yes, Chris Paul was injured, but they were still pretty bad even with Paul in the lineup.
I think if I was forced to choose, I’d go with John Hammond. He realized Charlie Villanueva was simply not worth keeping around, and renounced his rights. Maybe Joe Dumars should have talked to him before spending all that money on him. Hammond then signed a much cheaper, and probably better, Hakim Warrick. Then he traded HIM away for John Salmons, who helped lead the Bucks back to the playoffs. Plus he drafted possible Rookie of the Year, Brandon Jennings.
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