About Me
Basketball Links
Have I Missed Much?
Posted on | August 12, 2010 | 4 Comments
I’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.
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.
Sucks To Be You!
Posted on | May 14, 2010 | 4 Comments
After watching LeBron James walk off the floor after a humiliating loss to the Celtics and an early ouster from the playoffs, it occurred to me that possibly the top four free agents couldn’t have finished the season on a worse note. And, most likely, each of their teams is going to end up paying for it.
Perennial pessimistic Raptor fans were not surprised when, with Chris Bosh out for the rest of the regular season, the team basically gave up and gave away the last playoff seed to Chicago. Many felt this was the last nail in the coffin for Bosh in Toronto and he would leave to go somewhere he had a chance of winning. Most wouldn’t blame him if he did, quite frankly.
Bosh ended the season on the outside looking in as the rest of his free agent class got ready for the second season. Something Bosh had only experienced twice in his seven years in the league. But it wasn’t long before Bosh had to realize that making the playoffs wasn’t the magic elixir it seemed to be. Ask Dwayne Wade, for starters.
Wade’s Heat ended up as the 5th seed, and there were many that felt that they could upset the 4th seeded Celtics. The Celtics were old and played uninspired basketball for the majority of the season. Garnett was a shadow of himself and Rasheed Wallace, their big offseason acquisition, looked almost as disinterested as he did in his last playoff game in Detroit, last season, when he failed to score a point and allowed Detroit to be swept in the first round.
It was Wade’s supporting cast, however, that looked like they didn’t belong, and barely put up any fight on the way to a 4-1 outer in the first round. Never before had Wade’s supporting cast looked as pathetic as in those 5 games against Boston. And never before had there been more of a reason for Wade not to return to Miami.
Wade would not be the first big name free agent to be given a reason to leave his team due to underperforming in the playoffs. Next was Joe Johnson and Atlanta.
Atlanta was coming off their best season in 13 years, winning 53 games, and began the playoffs as a 3rd seed. They barely made it past the feisty Milwaukee Bucks, only to get easily swept in the second round against the Orlando Magic. It was such a bad defeat that the Hawks were not even competitive in one single game against the Magic. It was a humiliating end to a promising season. If there was any doubt whether Johnson would leave the Hawks before, it’s gone now.
At least the Hawks were not expected to really get past the second round of the playoffs. The feeling is that Cleveland and Orlando pretty much had the Conference Finals locked up. Many felt that no matter what LeBron did in the offseason, Cleveland could, at least, live in the now as favourites to win the title.
Not so fast.
That same Boston team that some predicted would lose against the Heat, ended up shocking the Cavs and sending them home in 6 games.
Four of the top free agents, all in different situations, but all with disappointing ends.
The thing is, though, this all could have been predicted.
Bryan Colangelo, Pat Riley, Rick Sund and Danny Ferry all took very different approaches to trying to keep their future free agents. And all had flawed plans.
Colangelo’s Raptors were coming off a disappointing season, and some felt that Colangelo might end up trading Bosh in the summer or before the trade deadline in order to get back what he could for him before he left. Colangelo took a different approach and tried to quickly surround Bosh with enough talent to make him want to stay. It was risky approach, and one that ultimately failed, at least in the sense that the team was not successful.
Colangelo had cap room to spend, and when his first choice of free agent, Trevor Ariza, declined his offer, Colangelo decided that he needed to make a splash in the free agent market in order to give Bosh a reason to stay. Instead of being choosy and realizing that there simply was a free agent available that was worth signing, Colangelo overpaid Turkoglu, ignoring the fact that his lack of defence and rebounding would hurt the team. In essence, Colangelo had a poorer hand than he had hoped, and bluffed. And then lost.
Pat Riley took a very different approach. Unlike Bosh, who needed a reason to stay in Toronto, Riley felt Wade wanted to stay in Miami, and that he had more wiggle room. Instead of spending their free agent money on a lesser player, in the hopes of doing what Colangelo tried to do, Riley played the waiting game. If Riley didn’t spend any money, he’d have enough money to re-sign Wade AND another max free agent (perhaps Bosh) this summer. This was also a gamble, but one that didn’t include paying out big, long term contracts that he would end up regret giving out.
Unfortunately, Riley may not have noticed just how little talent he had accrued since the Heat last won their Championship, and a summer of doing nothing didn’t do anything to help that. Having enough money for Wade and another max player is great, but when there’s virtually no one else on the team with any talent, that’s shooting the team’s chances of re-signing in the foot. Of all the big name free agents, Wade was probably the one most felt was going to re-sign with his team. After seeing what little talent he will return to if he does, no one will be surprised if he signs somewhere else.
Sund and the Atlanta Hawks did have talent. Young talent, too. Sund had just taken over from Billy Knight and took the safe and steady approach. Atlanta had made progress every year and were growing as a team. Sund added Jamaal Crawford, but other than that, simply made sure the rest of the rotation players would return. No reason to mess with success, right?
Well, not quite.
For all the talent Atlanta had, they were not a team anyone expected to be a legitimate contender. A perimeter oriented team without much of an inside scoring threat is not one that generally lasts long in the playoffs. And Joe Johnson, for all his talent, is not someone who you’d want to be the best player on your team. And against Orlando, we discovered why.
While it’s tempting to not stir the pot, Sund should have realized that the current Hawks roster, while good, needed to be altered in order to contend. They are the perfect example that having 6 good players is not better than having 2 great ones. In the NBA, it’s not quantity, it’s quality. Teams are measured by their top two or three players, and while Atlanta has some good ones, none are going to appear on any All NBA team.
When talking quality, it doesn’t get any better than LeBron James. Nearly every GM in the league would give up their entire roster for one LeBron James. He’s that valuable. Danny Ferry decided early on in his career as the Cavs GM that he was going to try and surround LeBron with as many veterans as he could, knowing it’s veteran teams that have the most success. What this meant, though, was that he would be forever retooling and adding. Veterans came, declined and then left, only to be followed by new ones. While most contenders see a slow rise of success, LeBron and the Cavs have seen hills and valleys.
Five years ago, they won 50 games and lost in the Conference semi-finals. The next season, they won 50 games again, but went all the way to the Finals. It looked like this might be the turning point for the team, but they saw a decline in their win total the next season, 45 wins, and lost in the semis once again. The next year they won a Cleveland record 66 games, but were ousted in the Conference Finals by an Orlando team they simply did not match up well against.
With one year left until LeBron would become a free agent, Ferry decided to roll the dice. He traded for an aging Shaquille O’Neal, who had not gotten along well with his Phoenix teammates the year before and ended up not even making the playoffs. Ferry felt, however, that getting Shaq was what Cleveland needed to get by Orlando, the team they felt would be their biggest obstacle to the Finals.
Then they were able to pick up another veteran, Antawn Jamison, the stretch four that Ferry felt the team was missing to compete against Orlando. Ironic, since they didn’t even face Orlando in the playoffs before being ousted. And now, most of the best players on the Cavs are in decline. Shaq might have trouble finding a home next season. Ilgauskus might also, unless he wants to sign somewhere for the minimum. And Jamison, who was supposed to be the guy who put the Cavs over the top, has two more years and nearly $30 million coming to him after doing absolutely nothing in the playoffs but giving LeBron another reason to leave town. Suddenly, that lopsided deal to get Jamison doesn’t look so lopsided anymore.
So before Raptor fans start calling Colangelo a failure for not giving Bosh a reason to stay, remember that he’s not the only GM to fail at the worst time.
keep looking »Blog Particulars
- Subscribe
- About This Blog
-
Latest Comments
- Tim W.
on Have I Missed Much? - khandor
on Have I Missed Much? - Tim W. on Have I Missed Much?
- anonymoo
on Have I Missed Much? - Al
on The “R” Word
- Tim W.