BlueDevil Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 The revolving door that is the Toronto Raptors' off-season keeps on spinning. We all knew Chris Bosh was on his way out of town. Who knew that both Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon would be following him? It is a new beginning for many Raptors fans who have accepted that next season should be a sombre one. With the trading of these two, Raptors management has put themselves in a position to spend in upcoming free agency classes (Chris Paul/Deron Williams, anyone?). The Raptors opened with trading Hedo Turkoglu, last year’s prize acquisition turned disappointment extraordinaire, for a serviceable backup in Leandro Barbosa, along with a trade chip in Dwayne Jones. This will allow Barbosa to either become a starter for the first time in his career, or give the Raptors a former 6th man of the year who provides explosive scoring and savvy perimeter defence. This alone would be a fantastic trade for Raptor fans. Toronto would ultimately be shedding away two years off Hedo’s contract. Both players make roughly the same amount per year. On top of that, Barbosa is one of the quickest players in the league, and able to defend multiple positions. While I won’t disagree with Turkoglu being the better player of the two, having Barbosa on the team will allow the Raptors to run a very up-tempo system. They already have one of the most athletic back-courts in the league with the likes of Demar DeRozan and Sonny Weems in the fold. The pairing of Jarrett Jack and Barbosa would also be one of the best defensive back-courts the Raptors have put together in quite some time. What the Raptors lose is one of the premier point-forwards in the league. Turkoglu has the ability to stretch the floor, create mismatches, and make plays better than anyone standing at 6’10. The only problem is that he didn’t fit in with the Raptors, and was not worth the money they paid. Now for the second aspect of this trade: Sending Jose Calderon and Reggie Evans, along with the newly acquired Dwayne Jones, to the Charlotte Bobcats for Boris Diaw and Tyson Chandler. This trade may have ensured Brian Colangelo’s extension with the team. By turning Calderon’s three-year, $30 million deal into Chandler’s one year, $12.8 million and Diaw’s two year, $18 million contracts, the Raptors are now in position to make a big splash in free agency as soon as next year. Worst case scenario: Both players are unable to play to their potential, and become bargaining chips in possible trades for teams looking for expiring contracts. Best case, both play to their potential, and give the Raptors fans some hope this upcoming season. If Chandler can have the same chemistry with Jarrett Jack as he did with Chris Paul, he could very well turn back into a legitimate double-double threat. Especially with the lack of rebounding from the Raptors front-court to begin with. A better, and more realistic hope is for him to simply be healthy, play defence, and rebound. If he can do that, he will fit in nicely with the Raptors. As for Diaw, he could be the wild card in the deal. With a potential logjam of power forwards on the Raptors roster, it is definitely a possibility he gets flipped to some other team. Rumors have the Raps looking for one more trade this off-season. With as many as six power forwards on the roster, look for one of them to be moved. Considering how bleak (and expensive) the Raptors future looked last week, these two trades are no doubt a success. These were not made in hopes of building a championship contender (even playoffs still seem a lofty goal), but simply to shed salary in order to prepare for life without Bosh. We in Raptorland have grown used to Colangelo’s flipping of players, and until he commits to rebuilding, we will still remain pessimistic towards our future. For today, though, I must congratulate Raptors management. You made the right decision. And these Toronto Raptors will be fun to watch. Just hope they don’t pull a New Jersey. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/419347-gm-turned-miracle-worker-how-bryan-colangelo-saved-the-raptors-future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Considering he was responsible for all the contracts that were flipped I don't want to give him too much credit. It was pretty cool how he turned a 3 year and a 4 year deal into 2 year deals, but at the same time this wouldn't have happened if he didn't overpay to begin with... Brian has always been a pretty outstanding GM in terms of trading so deals like this shouldn't come as a surprise to us anymore, at least in my opinion. His weakness is, and probably will continue to be, is his incompetence financially, he has never signed a player here, or acquired one for that matter on a bargain deal, besides maybe Jarret Jack. Bargs (debatable), Jose, Hedo, Amir, all got overpaid. Is obtaining cap flexibility such as this that great of a thing with BC as our GM? With 20M in cap will we just wind up signing the next Hedo? Trade for another Rasho? Sign another Kapono? I love these moves as much as the next guy, but let's not call him a miracle worked quite yet, since the mess he is currently getting himself out of, is the same one he put himself in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueDevil Posted July 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 very good point, but considering the state we were in last week, these two trades really make up for iti really wish he would just swallow his pride and commit to rebuilding though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabbylion Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Even with huge cap room in the summer of '11, what prolific free agents do you think would want to go to a cold weather market? Canada at that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammin Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) 1) No way in hell would Paul, Melo, Deron or ANY top 15 free agents next year ever consider going to Toronto. This place is a dead-zone. The only possible way that they will ever get another big name, VC/Bosh type player is through the draft, once again. Toronto is where good players go to die, then leave and become good again. 2) If you think Barbosa will be a 'serviceable backup' or a starting guard, you're in for a horrible, horrible surprise. He is not anywhere near his 6MOTH form. He has been troubled in injuries pretty much every season since 2007. He also has the WORST confidence you'll ever see in a player. If he misses a shot, from anywhere in any situation, he'll either hang his head and be demoralized the rest of the game, or run back and commit a frustration foul. He will provide the Raptors with nothing more then 10-15 games where he's the spark. The rest of the season everyone will be wishing for Hedo's old contract back. I love the guy, but he's not anywhere near the $8M he's getting paid. 3) Happy birthday Dannie, hope it's a good one. Good article, but I had to point some things out from a Suns fan point of view. Edited July 13, 2010 by Jammin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poe Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) Wow. Look at all that work Toronto has done to repair themselves from the loss of Bosh. So... what's Cleveland up to? Edited July 13, 2010 by Poe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorilla Dog Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 What's the point of having cap space when nobody wants to play in Toronto especially for a team like the Raptors? I don't see any of the top guys moving their families to go play in Toronto unless Toronto really overpays for their services. No way CP3, Melo, and other free agents sign to play for the Raptors. The Raptors should've really pushed for a Bosh for Bynum deal at the deadline when everyone knew they were going to lose Bosh to FA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Why take someone who will prolly sit out the whole season? With this we are able to try to bring someone in. With Davis and Demar, the raps have a nice little future ahead of them. For now its just a waiting game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 What's the point of having cap space when nobody wants to play in Toronto especially for a team like the Raptors? I don't see any of the top guys moving their families to go play in Toronto unless Toronto really overpays for their services. No way CP3, Melo, and other free agents sign to play for the Raptors. The Raptors should've really pushed for a Bosh for Bynum deal at the deadline when everyone knew they were going to lose Bosh to FA. I think if we can eventually prove to be a team that can win basketball games (I know, we are far away from this) we will be able to attract FA's. I don't think it is the weather as much as people think it is, but we are kind of a joke of a franchise. We have 3 playoff wins in 8 years, no top player is going to want to come here... But if we can string together some good seasons in the future, and put consistent winners out there, and put a good core of players in place (adding a top 3 pick this year would do wonders) I think we could eventually become a place attractive to potential FA's. People act like we are the great white north, Toronto hardly sees snow and is as hot as hell right now. I doubt we can ever sign top 10 players, but I think for most good players it comes down to winning, and if we can one day prove we can be a winning club consistently, we can convince good NBA players to come here, maybe not great players, but really solid ones. We will probably always be forced to get our franchise player through the draft though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutch Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 give it time, toronto will eventually find a homegrown star.....and i mean superstar...not a joel anthony or jamaal magloire, there is a lot of raw talent in this city with a global flavor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 That Joseph kid is alright and so is Tristan Thompson I think, neither are stars but it would be cool if we could nab one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueDevil Posted July 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 That Joseph kid is alright and so is Tristan Thompson I think, neither are stars but it would be cool if we could nab one of them.played against thompson and Josephs bro Devohpretty excited to see how thompson has developed, he wasnt sensational last i saw him, but he was a gr 10 at that point and has since moved on to the states and with the buzz hes been getting i expect hes improved dramatically Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Universe Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 Don't forget to put "By Dannie Haynes" on the top to create more google buzz to your name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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