So Dwyane, for all the renewed speculation about a Wade-LeBron free-agent pairing in 2010, what should be made of the Bosh-Wade bond under Thomas?
"The only thing about that is Henry is a big player in 2010 because he has two of the players that people are talking about and wanting," Wade said. "Besides that, it really has no other indication of anything."
But with the NBA’s pre-draft combine in Chicago last week, it did afford Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo face time with Thomas.
"I think more emphasis has been put on us meeting than is necessary," Colangelo told the Canada-based Globe and Mail. "It’s very routine. It’s not like I’m going to be coming out of the weekend with plans to trade or start drawing up an agreement for a contract extension."
Yet nothing is routine when a single agent holds the key to two teams’ futures. It is why Heat President Pat Riley acknowledged "other business" in Chicago last week beyond the combine, while declining to go into specifics.
The Raptors must decide whether or not to offer a no doubt huge contract to an unsettled Shawn Marion.
If they decide to abandon Marion to pursue his quest for respect/money/star status elsewhere, they simply must look to sign another superstar. Why? If they don’t Chris Bosh is leaving in 2010.
Another losing season like the one that Toronto has just experienced will all but secure his departure to greener pastures.
In all likelihood the Raptors will need to sign more than one ‘big’ player to help assuage Bosh‘s feelings. Luckily they do have options, if the money is available.
They could make a run at Carlos Boozer whose time as a member of the Utah Jazz could well be over. A Boozer/Bosh front court? Ummm. The Jazz, who also have Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap to re-sign, will struggle to make an offer to Boozer which will satisfy his $100 million contract rumours.
The following is a listing of ten prospects the Raptors should give a very good look at, and where they’ll likely be drafted.
Some of these players will be drafted ahead of the ninth spot and the Raptors would have to trade up a few spots to nab them.
Others will be available later in the first round and could be had by utilizing the money acquired in the Jermaine O’Neal trade to buy a draft pick as team’s prepare for a declining economy.
9. Toronto Raptors – DeMar Derozan (SG/SF – USC)
With both Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion likely to leave the team, a swingman makes sense for the Raptors. So would a point guard, to provide insurance for Jose Calderon.
9. Toronto
• Tyreke Evans, 6-6, 215, point guard, Memphis
• The skinny: Evans bolted from Memphis just time to join a Raptors team trying to retool in time to keep Chris Bosh.
Remember to follow @raptorsrepublic for updated news throughout your busy day.
55 Raps
Will Marion even demand enough money for a sign and trade to make sense? Either we overpay or we lose him for nothing is how I see it.
Don’t see Marion being a priority in Detroit, Memphis or OKC and they are the only ones who potentially have cap room to sign him outright. If Marion is to be paid big bucks he can only get that through a S&T so the Raps will probabaly not loose him for nothing. The quality they get back in a S&T is another matter.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2009/05/30/2009-05-30_these_lakers_ready_for_knockout.html?page=0#ixzz0H5nA5vM4&B
• Although Carlos Boozer could be headed to Detroit in a free-agent deal in July, there’s a chance he’ll end up going to Toronto in a package for Chris Bosh. The Bulls remain interested in Bosh, but Luol Deng would have to be part of a package going to the Raptors. The Raptors, privately, are acknowledging for the first time that they might need to trade Bosh, rather than risk losing him to free agency in 2010.
Apparently, rising free agent-of-choice Carlos Boozer is telling confidants he’s either going to Detroit or New Jersey — only way the capsized Nets pull that off is by doing a sign-and-trade. Word has it Jersey will have but three assistants next season and all must take pay cuts.
This from the Post. Guess Carlos has the New York papers all abuzz.
C0ongratulation to Dwight Howard and the Magic. The real MVP of the NBA. The real franchise player, the real leader, the real team player.
Beats the world champions in their building in a game 7? Check
Beats the best team in the L with the best player in the game today all while dealing with the Lebron driven media? Check
Orlando’s backcourt is Pietrus and Rafer Alston too LOL
Funny how a certain franchise Powerforward around here had a backcourt of Rafer Alston and Vince Carter ( At his prime ) a few years back and we finished 15th in the east.
Dwight leads his team to playoff runs.
The other guy leads us to the worst team in the eastern Conference year in and out.
Vince Carter at his prime? While Bosh was here?
Wow. People were mocking you before, young fella, well, now you lost all credibility. At least you are consistent.
yes. A prime Vince carter.
You know, 2002-2004. Were you in a coma at the time? Can you stop kissing Bosh’s ass for one moment. That’s all you do around here.
What has Bosh ever done to put the Raptors on the Map? Absolutely 0. Getting shut down every night by every team and power forward in the league? Prove me otherwise.
Dwight took Hedo turkoglu and Rashard Lewis and absolute garbage to the Finals this year.
Bosh has had Vince Carter, Mike James, Rafer Alston, Jalen Rose, Ford/Calderon tandem, Garbajosa, Marion, Oneil and can’t even lead us to the second round. That is not a leader, that’s a glorified stat padder who gets his points at the expense of our team.
The ENTIRE league is making fun of Bosh and challenging him . He does nothing. TJ Ford gets killed, he does nothing, KG shuts him down, he does nothing. Shaq calls him a transexual, he does nothing.
Your buddy Bosh is a loser and will remain a loser.. Face it
Bosh was in his second year when Vince Carter left. I’m not sure I know any second year players who are expected to carry their teams. Especially when their team has an All-Star like VC. If anything, Vince was the leader of that team and Chris was HIS help, not the other way around, so you should probably be bashing Vince as opposed to Bosh for those years. You list Jalen Rose (who was 32 at the time), and Mike James (who sucks), as Chris’s help. Terrible, sir…Just terrible….
O’Neal was a mistake (everyone knows this), and we’ve only had Marion for half a season. The only time you could shit on Bosh is for the 06-07 season, but even then, refering to Jorge and TJ like they’re All-Stars is moronic.
And you also seem to gloss over the fact that, with the Magic, Rashard and Hedo are both All-Stars, match-up nightmares for any team, and have shown they can be clutch. And the “absolute garbage” you refer to with the Magic’s bench is considered a pretty solid bench in this year’s playoffs.
I’m 100% postitive that in a couple of days I’ll be on this website and I’ll see a post by you that is EXACTLY the same as this one. Same arguements, same wording, same everything. You never, ever learn. At this point, you must be a troll, or simply know nothing about basketball. I would right more about how wrong you are, but I don’t really see the point, since you’ll be back soon enough with the same material. It’s fine to state your opinions about a player, but please KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT before posting, you troll.
Thank you
So, lets just look at PPG, since, for many, that is all Vince was worth to us:
98-99 18
99-00 26
00-01 28
01-02 25
02-03 21
03-04 22
04-05 16
Bosh, who joined the Raptors in 03-04, it could be argued using the above, did not play with Vince in his prime days in Toronto. Matter of fact, he played with Vince in about 90 games, one full season and 20 games in 04-05.
Dwight didn’t take his garbage to the finals last year, that I recall.
Get a new schtick, boy…this one is getting old and all you are doing now is presenting to all of us what little you know and how poor your researching skills are.
Run along now…
I seem to recall that Bosh had two other all stars playing with him and one of the bet sixth men in the league, as well as a solid backcourt (Courtney Lee is so much better than Anthony Parker). I wonder, does belittling Bosh make all these people feel good about themselves. Why do they comment about him on stories and articles that have nothing to do with him?
Lack of friends.
I keep owning you though. I’m stating what is the truth
WOW you are a joke.
Boozer wants 100 million? LOL. A career loser over there. He’s not worth more then 4-5 million per year.
shut it, clown.
In all honesty I see Bosh having a Mo Williams or Jermaine Oneil like impact if he bolts. An overpaid second option to a real star and then choke when faced against a top team. Let him go to Miami if he thinks he’ll have it really easy..
How will Bosh defend the Magic, Cavs, Pistons, Hawks, Celtics frontcourt in the future? He has no post up game, no defense, poor passing. Dwayne Wade will only get you so far.
Is Bosh good enough to be a second option? Time will tell.
All this speculation about “building around Bosh” is so silly and stupid too!!
The Ratpors must be rebuilt from the ground up with new, young player … and developed into a contender over the next 3 – 4 seasons.
Bosh should be traded because max money players are useless for long term planning … just look at the Cav’s collapse with Lebron. “Franchise” players are not only useless, they are dangerous to team development.
Of course the tribal honking fans will vehemently disagree because they need a hero so they can buy his jersey, shoes, socks, whatever … to satisfy their fantacizing in their corpulent bodies filling the seats in the ACC … you can see these fat turds gobbling concession shit and yelling like terrorists … so pathetic.
If Colangelo for some stupid reason decides to sign Bosh for the full max, I will shoot myself. You’re defintely right about how crippling one of those contracts can be, and Bosh is not worth the full max. I personally think we could build around Bosh, Bargs, and Calderon, but without the right pieces that can be pretty futile. A trade would be nice, but not for a player in my opinion. We should trade for picks and cap space and rebuild a la Portland or OKC. And hire a new GM, since I don’t want Colangelo anywhere near a totally rebuilding team. He would probably just sign all of CKSA Moscow and think “Yep, we’re contenders now!!”
“you can see these fat turds gobbling concession shit and yelling like terrorists … so pathetic.”
You saw me and RapsFan at a game??? Why didn’t you come say hi??
Lebron can’t get help because they’re paying Wall Sczcerbiak and Ben Wallace $30 million collectively
Thats exactly what worries me…Bosh max…Bargs,Jose….
Banks and Kaponos contracts…what will we have left to offer anybody?
Word is Big Ben is considering retiring. Kind of surprises me. Sure, he doesn’t look like he did in his (wait for it) “prime”, but just size alone would make him attractive to some teams.
I mean, hell, if Rasho and Jake are still around….
He’s not going to walk away from $14 million, he’ll just play 5 minutes a night
I Just want Bosh to beat an elite level team in their building once in his career. So far he’s won exactly 0 games against tough competition.
Not 1 really good, healthy team he has beaten.
Orlando this year, in Orlando.
You’re welcome.
owned, LOL
How is that owning someone you fucking faggot
What about the other 81 games?
So Bosh can only beat one 500 team a season.
Rose , a rookie this year beat 18 or 19 500 teams
News flash, there aren;t 18 or 19 500 teams in the league. Chicago has a better roster than Toronto, We also beat Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston and San Antonio, thats more than 1 for you. Alternatively, you can ignore this fact and continue to think in you little world of make believe that your a better player than Chris Bosh
Hmmm Last season I can only think of Houston towards the end but an injured Mc Grady had the worst game in years and lost the game for his team at the ACC so that doesn’t count. Houston beat themselves. Bosh is still at 0 I guess.
They beat San Antonio last year in their building.
Guess they aren’t elite.
Beat New Orleans last year in their building.
But, they suck I guess.
They beat Boston in Beantown.
But they had a horrible year.
New Orleans on new years Eve right? I guess every team shows up that night to play hard and not think about the nights events after wards.
San Antonio with no Parker and an injured Ginobli. Still doesn’t count.
J I agree 100%. Nice to have another member who isn’t brainwashed. Our Franchise player can, literally only beat really bad teams and disappear against good teams. I have never seen anything like it in any sport in modern day history.
this guy can only beat Sacremento, Memphis,Charlotte and Milwaukee. This has been going on for 4 years as well. WE havn’t beat Detroit, Lakers, Phoenix, Utah, in 4 years+ with Bosh at the helm. We let Kobe get 80 points with him at the helm. We go on 7 game losing streaks with him. It’s embarassing.
I agree again. Beat 1 good tea and I’ll be happy. Just one Bosh. Its not hard. One 500 team. Please man. Just 1
A bunch of us answered your posts a few weeks ago, you just choose to ignore them like the RealGM-type troll that you are.
You like when people mock you…that’s cool with me. I like ‘em crispy.
n : “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.” Just call me Nostrasimbo.”
Bill Simmons on Bosh. 2005
again, old and tired.
I know…from now on, I’ll just post clips from that Orlando game that Bosh too Dwight to the woodshed. You know, the game you refuse to acknowledge?
Then I’ll do it every few days to prove my boring old point, just like you did in special ed….err…here every few days.
Look!! Traffic’s comin’….go play son!
Difference is that Costa Nostra can point to dozens of big games Bosh hasn’t showed up for (including playoffs) and you can only drum up one where he did.
Your defense of Bosh is equally fucked up as the those who mercilessly attack him. As somebody once said, “you need to be nunya’d”.
I point out one because it easily shows that the argument he is using is incorrect.
Provide me with a better argument and I’ll lift more than one finger. This one is just old and, like his life, is on repeat.
hey, and whatever happened to Nunya? He take his whippings like a good schoolboy and went for a dip?
Some thought it was you using an alter-ego. Interesting premise.
I state real facts though. Evident from watching games for the last 6+ seasons. I only state from what I have seen.
Bosh in the playoffs against New jersey got shut down by Trenton Hassell. Fact. Bosh did not show up in game 3 and 4 in that series as well as his teammates until game 5 which was too late. Fact.
Derrick Rose has done more in his rookie season then Bosh in 6 seasons. It’s all true.
Pretty sure that Nunya just changed his name to Cosa Nostra
nah…no use of ‘cunt.’
Or cretin
the ‘argument’ being made was that bosh has NEVER led the raps to a W over a good team. not one. ever.
that’s just a dumb statement.
if you want to argue that he hasn’t led them to MANY W’s over quality opponents, then fine.
I am somebody now Arse? Geez. *collects credit on “you need to be nunya’d”
nunya fucking ruled, this one is for all the cunty’s out there, snitches
24-12-3-3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1g3pIgG79I
That’s one game though. They always beat the Magic for some reason. Bosh is extra motivated too beat his friend.
That’s only 1 good team last season then. We in agreement? New Orleans on New Years Eve was Obviously not going to play hard as they are preparing for a night of partying and the raptors got a fluke win.
Answer my question Altraps. I won’t be a dick I’ll be more diplomatic:
Why has Bosh disappeared against Detroit, Phoenix, Utah, Denver, Lakers for the last 3 years?
Couldn’t even steal a single win against those teams, ever? His teammates are that attrocious that he cannot fathom beating them. You call that a Franchise player.
Ok, provide proof that for ALL of those games Bosh had a shocker, I think you’ll be surprised. Also, good teams know that all they neeed to do is load up on Bosh and no-one else can put up a winning score. I’ll agree that Bosh does have crap games against good teams, but not every single time
AltRaps says:
May 31, 2009 at 9:47 pm
They beat San Antonio last year in their building.
Guess they aren’t elite.
Beat New Orleans last year in their building.
But, they suck I guess.
They beat Boston in Beantown.
But they had a horrible year.
————————————-
With all respect Altraps:
Bosh did not play that game I remember. Nor did calderon. Roko Ukic went off for 20 points in the 4th quarter and had a career night. Roko beat that team, not Bosh bro.
New Orelans was a new years Eve game which Chris Paul and West didn’t show up.
That was the year before we beat Boston not last season. We lost all 3 to Boston last season. Worst game was Bosh getting shutdown by Garnette all game and Bosh having no answer. ( Decoy by Sam Mitchell) He was benched for the whole 4th quarter
Seriously though, going up against the best post defender in the league (man-to-man), you can’t expect a thirty point game against Garnett
so, the games this year vs. a chicago team featuring the amazing, incredible D.rose (who, in his rookie year, led his team to, what was it, 19-20 Ws against good teams) in which TO completely owned them? so, were those games simply flukes, or does rose get a pass for losing a couple against a shite team?
Then we have a misunderstanding of the term “last season”. To me, that references not this one but last season = 07/08. My way of thinking is that 08/09 is “this season” since we haven’t started a new one.
In any event, if you are zeroing in on one player for all the teams problems, it’s the same player in either season.
Box Score for the game vs the Boston Celtics during the 2007-2008 season.
There are plenty of these isolated events over the course of Bosh’s career with the Raptors, to this point.
The main problems with the Raptors are NOT Chris Bosh or Jose Calderon.