Linkage for Jan 23 11pm through Jan 24 8am:
- Return to flight
- Hefty praise for Rose
- Yes way, Jose! Raps snap losing skid
- Raptors back on track
- Underperforming or Performing? An Unforgiving Crowd.
- Game 45: Raps vs. Bulls – Post-game
- Jermaine ONeal Interview
- Calderon continues amazing FT streak as Raptors rout Bulls
- Will win heat up trade talks?
- Bulls can’t get a pick-me-up against Raptors
- Raptors top Bulls, snap skid
- Jose Calderon as 23 points as Raptors beats Bulls 114-94
- No yelling, please
- Calderon back with a flourish, leads Raptors to win
- Calderon leads the way as Raptors snap out of slump
20 Raps
Been reading old Bill Simmons “trade value” column from 2005, just read something crazy…
“20. Chris Bosh – The runaway winner of the 2005 Shareef Abdur-Rahim Award, given annually to a tantalizing young star on a losing team who everyone assumes will keep getting better and better, when the reality is that he’s close to hitting his ceiling already, and his numbers look so good mainly because he was playing 35-40 minutes a game on a bad team. Remember I told you this when Bosh is making $15 million a year on a 22-win Toronto team five years from now, and he’s the subject of 370 trade rumors before the 2009 draft.”
First the dead on O’Kneel prediction and now this…shit…
Ya, good thing you left out the fact that the very next year bosh put up better numbers on a team that won the atlantic division. That argument stops being a good one once the player proves he can be the best player on a good team.
LOL.
The East was complete dog shit. Boston, Atlanta, Orlando were all in the gutter. And injuries crippled the entire atlantic division. I agree with Simmons that he’s a good player on a bad team and is spoon fed all the minutes he wants. Why had Bosh only beat 1 good team this season – Orlando Magic ? And he gets killed against any team out West? I thought so
You forgot to mention the fact that the Atlantic and the East were absolutely shit that year and that we got owned in the first round because Bosh got shut down by a guy named Mikki.
why remind us….arrrggghh.
Guys,enough with the buzz kill
True. Let’s just enjoy this two game win streak. Yeah, we’ll beat the Kings at home.
Obv, there a bad team. Bosh excels at these
Did anyone ask Bosh about the Chicago crowd roundly booing the home team that wasn’t expected to do much this year?
I don’t know, and it’s important for Bargs to get playing time, but was JO moving up and down the floor quite a bit better than before – just wondering?
That Banks contract is another mistake waiting to happen. It’s not really wrong just to give JO fewer or no minutes. And don’t forget, two weeks ago you could not see him coming off the bench, so we are ahead of where we were – don’t panic. If Bargs knows he is the 5, it’s all good in the end.
My sense is O’Neal’s ok with coming off the bench for a little while, not permanently. He wants a trade (to Miami) because he thinks he’ll be in a better spot to start. If Feb. 19th rolls around and he’s still a Raptor expect him to make noise about being a starter.
Some (AltRaps) will say this is a further reason to dislike O’Neal. I’m not sending his name to the Pope for sainthood but most max-deal guys wouldn’t be quite so philosophical about coming off the bench or being traded within months of being acquired. It’s a small plus (so far) but I’d give O’Neal a wee bit of credit for it.
Now I’ll go to a few Heat blogs and sign in under 25 different names to comment about how many more tickets I’d buy if Jermaine O’Neal were a Heat.
Ingenious!
Sober second thought:
Every time people are gung ho about an idea, i start to think that maybe it isn’t such a good idea. Not that the fans get it wrong, but that there tends to be a mob mentality that forms, and everyone just gets a whole train of thought going, and pretty soon, its off the tracks…
…like Calderon sucks and we should trade him for a good point guard…or Bosh should never see the light of another all-star game again…let’s fire Mitchell (which, I believe NEEDED to be done, but really, the timing could not have been worse). It isn’t that the fans are always wrong, but, it should be considered, and viewed from more than one angle.
Is trading JO the best thing for this team right now? It depends, I honestly don’t know.
We pick up Shawn Marion who expires next season, so we can go out and get who at the end of the year? I wouldn’t mind a list of people that are available next season – I don’t want to get stuck with more bad players that will suck up cap room for 2010. This brings me to my next point: Marcus Banks. This guy makes some pretty decent $$$ and really, he is the kind of player you consider just buying out. Not to mention he will be with us past 2010, when we hope the Raps will be in it as big as Cleveland, NY and Miami.
Trade Marion for a final playoff run? I think it is hardly worth it. It might be a nice bonus, but really, with or without Marion, I do not think this team will make the playoffs. I hope they do, I really do. But hope isn’t a good reason to make a trade.
If we keep O’Neal and end up pretty much the same next year as we would if we were to pick up Marion and let him go, then we should keep O’Neal. It all depends on what assets BC can convert Marion into. Because Marion, from what I can tell, is not the saviour of this team. His old form was exactly what we need, but not him now. And I doubt he will want to stay in TO next season unless we pay him bigger bucks than he will find elsewhere, and that will further tie us down for 2010.
‘We need to trade him because he is bad for our team personality-wise.’
Is JO some kind of cancer on this team? I’m not in the locker room, so I don’t know. But I haven’t heard any of his teammates complain about him even before there were trade rumours and we were trying to show him in his best possible light. The Raps lost with or without him playing. It is also entirely possible that Bargnani’s upswing in defence that everyone loves is thanks to O’Neal’s help showing how to guard post up.
The only real conflict I can see is O’Neal being displeased coming off the bench. This is a serious reason to trade, because it also gives Toronto a good reputation for trying to please its players by giving them minutes, and if they don’t get them, they are willing to deal.
So, a little sobre second thought is required. If BC does trade O’Neal for Marion and Banks, what are we getting in return? Will we find any players after this year to play here that will make this team better? I think we are all agreed that we need to be substantially better than we are now for us to achieve what we wanted by trading O’Neal.
Trade him? No trade? I honestly don’t know. I can’t think that far ahead as to who we can pick up…in a real sense only GM’s know that. So, I mean, this site is fantastic because we get to voice our opinions. But beware the mentality of ‘jumping on the ship’ so to speak…think it over a bit, or you might get less in return than you bargained for.
List of 2009 free agents: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=09FreeAgents-081113
Ironically, Shawn Marion was rated #1 by Chad Ford. The best names I see would be Trevor Ariza, Brandon Bass, or Grant Hill.
IF trading for Marion is simply a matter of freeing up space to make some moves in the offseason, which I believe is the priority, then I agree with some on this site that trading for Marbury would be a better deal, as long as Jeffries doesn’t get thrown in:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=615~509&teams=18~28&te=&cash=
It’s not like we need Marbury, but he seems like a better way to free up space for next year because we don’t have to take Banks.
Marbury might be willing to play here. I wouldn’t even buy him out – on this team, I am sure he can find some time on the court.
But maybe BC wants Marion so that the team can make final run at the playoffs. Who knows? If I were GM (and there are many good reasons why I am not a GM) I wouldn’t bother with this season.
But seriously – I am more anticipating/dreading the 2010 offseason because of the lower end talent available. Think about it. There could be 20 teams under the cap and a hundred NBA-skilled players and the fact that the race to sign the top tier free agents (2003 draftees, etc) will suck up the majority of that money. The point is that 2nd tier free agents(and proven 2nd options) and borderline allstars like Rip Hamilton and Joe Johnson will likely not see max contracts. So they settle for short term deals or the best they can get in the market. That will be the biggest shuffle of talent and no doubt alot of the vets (Ray Allen, JO, Ginobili, etc) will be chasing rings with whatever team gives them the best chance at a ‘chip. The next question is what happens to the 2006 draftees and other restricted free agents? Well all but the top talent will be put in a Pavlovic/Childress/Delfino situation where they are offered a low-ball extention with the dreaded option of restricted free agency if they decline – which could lead a few of them to european destinations. The potential is limitless but the risk is high as well…
Marcus Banks is a deal breaker.
He has negative trade value, you can’t get rid of him for another contract that expires prior to 2010 without giving up a valuable asset (such as a first round pick). The consequences of having his salary on the books that summer are far too serious to overlook.
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I think Jermaine O’Neal’s poor play off the bench will continue. He doesn’t play well cold, he’s a rhythm player. It’s similar to his slow starts after returning from injuries over the past couple of seasons.
I don’t think he’ll be able to adjust to coming off the bench ….. especially if Triano continues to use him as a go-to scoring option which will only increase the likelihood of bad play.
Sorry for not having a post-game report for the Bulls game. Something got in the way of the writer.
verbatim & dave,
Solid posts by both of you.
verbatim … that 1st paragraph is especially on the money.