Tag: Toronto Raptors (Page 4 of 13)

      What is really going on with Chris Bosh?

      June 30, 2010 /

      He’s been saying all along that he doesn’t want to be a sidekick and thinks that a team should build around him. Yet there’s this feeling around the league that he’s going to go wherever LeBron goes. Some execs have even said that he’s attaching himself to LeBron, instead of LeBron attaching himself to Bosh. I’m sorry, but that’s not being ‘the man.’

      He recently told ESPN that winning is the most important thing:

      “My only priority,” Bosh said, “is winning.”

      If that’s the case, why is there this sense that Bosh will only sign a six-year deal (meaning that he’s going to force a sign-and-trade with the Raptors and his new team)? If he’s going to mess around with a sign-and-trade, his new team is going to have to give up something, and there’s no way around it — it’s going to hurt the team. Whether the Knicks trade David Lee, the Nets trade Derrick Favors, the Bulls trade Luol Deng or the Heat trade Michael Beasley, along with a draft pick or two, his new team will be a little worse off than it would have been if he had signed with the team outright.

      In other words, if he forces a sign-and-trade, then winning is most definitely not his “only priority.” One of his priorities might be winning, but the top priority would be the extra cash and the extra year that only the Raptors can offer.

      In fact, ‘winning’ and being ‘the man’ don’t fit together in this situation. How is a team that is built around Bosh better than a team (with Bosh) that is built around a better player, like LeBron? Wouldn’t a combination of LeBron/Wade/Bosh in Miami have a better shot to win more titles than a Knicks team built around Bosh?

      Chris Bosh (or the Chris Bosh Situation) is really starting to confuse me. I’m glad free agency is only a few hours away.


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      Report: Chris Bosh traded to Miami

      June 30, 2010 /

      Miami Herald sports columnist Dan LeBartard is reporting that Bosh-to-Miami is pretty much a done deal.

      I hear bosh-miami is done ..bosh-wade shared agent avoids tampering…its why beasley, chalmers, anthony still here…raptors get them

      This is unconfirmed and can’t become ‘official’ until midnight. He mentions Bosh’s agent, Henry Thomas. Thomas is also Wade’s agent, so it’s possible that this deal was worked out through him. But the Heat had to be involved at some point to know which players to hold on to.

      If the report is true, it lends credence to the rumor that LeBron, Bosh and Wade are going to hook up in Miami. At the very least, Wade and Bosh would form a nice duo in South Florida.

      It’s funny, when I suggested a Beasley-for-Bosh trade late last year, Raptor fans thought I was nuts. Now what do they think?

      Of course, LeBatard could have the story wrong. Rumors are flying fast and furious right now.


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      Colangelo expects Bosh to sign elsewhere

      June 29, 2010 /

      I took a lot of heat (pun intended) over my assertion that the Raptors should have thought about trading Chris Bosh at the trade deadline instead of waiting for the summer.

      Now the franchise is coming to the realization that Bosh is very likely on the way out, but they still hope to work out a sign-and-trade with his new team so that he can get a max contract and they can get something in return.

      [GM Bryan] Colangelo told radio station Fan590 in Toronto that the Raptors still hope to keep the All-Star forward, but if Bosh does want to leave, he will try to work a sign-and-trade arrangement that could help both sides.

      “As we look at Chris as a potential free agent, our own free agent, wanting to re-sign him, I still have that intention and desire,” Colangelo said. “But it’s becoming more and more clear that that’s not going to happen. Now we need to decide what the best way is to come out of this.”

      A sign-and-trade would allow Bosh to get an extra year on his contract while enabling the Raptors to receive something in return for losing him. If Bosh simply signs with another team, it could cost him about $30 million.

      I still think the chances of a sign-and-trade are relatively slim. That $30 million number is always thrown around, but it doesn’t take into account the money earned in the first year of the player’s next contract, so really the difference is about $10-$12 million. It’s still a consideration, but when a player says his #1 goal is winning titles, it doesn’t make much sense for him to force a sign-and-trade and effectively fleece his new team of its young prospects and draft picks.

      The only type of sign-and-trade that make sense for Bosh and the Raptors this summer is one that brings back a player that plays the same position that Bosh does. For example, if Bosh decides to sign with the Knicks, the Raptors could work out a sign-and-trade that would include David Lee. This is about the best case scenario for Toronto, as the other players in the Bosh sweepstakes simply don’t have players of Lee’s caliber.

      The Bulls have Luol Deng, but he’s more of a small forward and his salary is pretty steep — I’m not even sure the Raptors would want to take it on. Miami’s Michael Beasley makes sense, but his stock is awfully low right now and the Raptors don’t seem all that interested. Besides, if Bosh leaves, they’d like to move Bargnani to power forward, which seems to be Beasley’s natural position.

      Predictably, Colangelo tries to spin the current situation:

      “It’s the perfect storm for Chris Bosh to leave and unfortunately we’re possibly going to be on the short end of that, but we will evolve,” Colangelo said. “We will have to evolve and move forward.”

      This didn’t happen overnight. If I could see the writing on the wall late last year, then surely Colangelo did too. The sign-and-trade strategy makes sense when there aren’t very many teams under the cap, but with this much cap space floating around, Bosh has plenty of options to sign with another team free and clear, and that may very well leave the Raptors out in the cold.

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      Should the Lakers trade Bynum for Bosh?

      June 11, 2010 /

      To me, the first question is…can they?

      Honestly, I thought this trade rumor was well behind us after Andrew Bynum suffered yet another knee injury. Yet, here are two Los Angeles Times writers arguing about whether or not the Lakers should trade him for Chris Bosh.

      T.J. Simers takes a few shots at Bill Plaschke…

      It’s been several days since I have had the chance to remind everyone how clueless Plaschke can be, and since this was a wasted game, I certainly don’t want to waste such an opportunity.

      Plaschke continues to make the case that the Lakers have to unload Andrew Bynum, insisting they replace him with free agent Chris Bosh. And by Sunday, I believe.

      Plaschke maintains that the Lakers will never be able to depend on Bynum’s body, and while he’s presently got that right, it doesn’t speak to what we’ve learned about the young man.

      The kid has been determined, tough and tough-minded as he has pushed himself, obviously the kind of competitor a team needs to win a championship.

      That last sentence summarizes Simers’ argument — since Bynum has played through a knee injury, and since he has potential, the Lakers should forgo Chris Bosh in order to keep him.

      I don’t think that the ball is in the Lakers’ court. While the Bynum-for-Bosh swap made a lot of sense earlier in the season, it doesn’t make much sense for the Raptors now, unless they are willing to risk the two years and $28.6 million remaining on Bynum’s contract even though he has missed an average of 32 games over the last three seasons. A team option for the third year does make the trade a bit more palatable, but it all depends on what other sign-and-trade deals are out there for Bosh. In other words, is a gimpy Bynum the best Toronto can do?

      He is just 22 years old and could very well bounce back from the knee problems that have plagued him over the past three years. But how common is it for a seven footer to suffer major injuries in his first few years and then suddenly become durable? While it’s true that he’d be a good fit alongside Andrea Bargnani, who is more of a power forward than a center, it’s not going to do the Raptors much good to trade for a guy who can’t seem to stay healthy.

      As for the Lakers, of course they should do this deal. Chris Bosh is a 26-year-old who will be a top 15 player in the league for the next five to six years. This coincides nicely with the remainder of Kobe’s prime, and he’d give the Lakers a fighting chance when Kobe finally hangs ’em up. He’d be a better fit than Bynum alongside Pau Gasol, who is arguably the league’s best post player, at least offensively. Bosh’s ability to hit long jumpers would create more space for Gasol and Kobe to do their thing.

      I just don’t think the Lakers are going to be the ones that have to make the decision. That’s Bryan Colangelo’s call now.


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      Hedo Turkoglu wants out of Toronto?

      May 29, 2010 /

      The answer is a resounding yes, assuming this translation of an interview he did with a Turkish sports program is accurate.

      The disconnect stems from a midseason incident where Turkoglu was accused of being out at a bar after he was too sick to play against the Denver Nuggets. Here is his side of the story:

      After a sleepless Thursday night and not having eaten much, they asked me how I felt. I explained the situation and said, “I didn’t sleep. I’m not feeling good.” Their answer was, ‘We shouldn’t put you on the court without practicing.”

      Our Italian physiologists said, “You are not starting today. After training on Sunday you’ll give it a go against Miami and Charlotte.” I nodded and did some weight work on game day.

      Although they allowed me to go home, I wanted to watch the game with my teammates. After the game, I went back home. Some European teammates called me and said, “Hedo, are you sleeping?” Then they told me where they were hanging out, which is actually 100 meters away from my home. I said, “OK” and when I arrived, all the guys were here. And if you check the camera records, you will see that I left there in 15-20 minutes with Andrea Bargnani. I guarantee it. And if they prove me wrong, I will give back my contract!

      So Turkoglu admits to being at the bar, but says he was only there for 15-20 minutes and that it was not his decision that he wouldn’t play against Denver.

      Obviously, it wasn’t a good decision to go out after not playing in a home loss, but if he was really told by the training staff that he couldn’t play because he hadn’t practiced and if he was really only in the bar for 15-20 minutes, then the incident was really blown out of proportion. The reaction had more to do with the frustration in the perceived falloff in Turkoglu’s game than it does with any single incident.

      This raises the question — just how far did Turkoglu’s production fall? Raptor fans will have more insight into the subjective nature of this, but his points per shot (PPS) fell from 1.26 last season in Orlando to 1.24 in Toronto, which isn’t much. Moreover, his rebound rate actually increased while his assist rate stayed about the same. His averages fell because he was playing six fewer minutes and took four fewer shots per game. His FG% and 3PT% were comparable to his previous season in Orlando.

      So this looks like a case of a team with high hopes having a very disappointing year (compounded by the probable loss of Chris Bosh) and the newcomer they had hoped would be the missing piece getting all or most of the blame when things don’t go as expected. Throw in a controversial trip to a bar and suddenly Turkoglu is the target of Toronto’s frustration.

      Later in the interview, Turkoglu basically asked for a trade:

      When the circumstances turned against me, I lost my enthusiasm for this city. My lawyers have talked to the front office recently. Honestly, I do not want to go back to Toronto. My lawyers talked to Mr. Colangelo and I hope that they will come up with a solution soon.

      I understand that he feels betrayed, but I’d like to see Turkoglu try to put the incident behind him since nothing would have transpired had he not made the decision to go to that bar after not playing in a home loss. Even if it was only for 15-20 minutes, he created this situation. He may not like the organization’s response, but his poor decision put them in the position where they had to respond.


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