Bargnani averages 5 rebounds a game in over 30 minutes a night. he’s a center, he guards the post, maybe he could grab a rebound. 30 ppg might compensate for such lowsy rebounding

If he can’t even make the playoffs with marginal talent around him then what makes you assume we will win with even better players? What happened with better players in 2007? He got shut down by Mikki Moore and Trenton Hassell. That series was all on Bosh no one else and he blew it.

Your new look Raps:

PG Paul, Ukic
SG re-signed AP + acquired 1st pick (one of Budinger, Terrance Williams, Sam Young or Gerald Henderson would slip)
SF Marion + Kapono
PF Bosh + Hump
C Chandler + McDyess (platoon to keep both alive)
Bench: Jawai or POB, Pops, Banks

Assumptions: Putting Chris Paul and Chris Bosh along with a skilled MLE player (in this case it’s Marion, but it could be a Ben Gordon) together brings the cheap vets in who say they want to win – AP re-signs, McDyess as well…

your 9 man rotation is:
Paul, Parker, Marion, Bosh, Chandler, McDyess, Ukic, Rookie, Kapono

I’d roll the dice with that team. Much like Utah, it would never be the best team in the conference but would be dangerous enough if the match ups aligned to win a title.

I think Colangelo figured all along when he took Bargnani, that AB was the eventual successor to Bosh at the #4….Bosh had just signed for three years, and not even the biggest optimist thought the Raps would win 47 games in 2006-2007 and BC probably figured he’d be gone in 2010 either way.

Not saying I agree, but Colangelo simply won’t move Bargnani….I don’t think he’s a fit with Bosh, but it is hard to argue with not wanting to give up on a 7 footer in his early 20s, who has improved on offense and defense and has potential to get better.

I agree with you. The Cavs have nothing in their way … with a player like Lebron in the fold … except their own incompetence, when it comes to making basketball-related decisions to improve their team.

As I said publicly when they made the deal this past summer for Mo Williams … while most so-called NBA experts were heaping praise on Danny Ferry … the Cavs actually went BACKWARDS by making that specific move, relative to the other top teams in the EC this season, like Boston, Orlando and Detroit [until Joe D. decided to re-tool his team early-on this season].

Now, this summer, it’s going to be interesting again to see whether or not the Cavs will actually take a step forward with the moves they make, stay the same, or go in reverse like l2 months ago.

Sorry. I thought you were extending your answer to include how the traded for Lebron team could be re-worked to actually become a title contender with the King surrounded by the Rosters’ present roster, minus Chris Bosh. Mis-communication on my part.

No cop out. It assigns the blame where it belongs … i.e. at the feet of the team’s GM, who is getting paid BIG bucks to succeed in this precise environment.

Although I usually have only marginal interest in dicussing trade proposals, I will put this one out there for you [and others who might think that they are absolutely no alternatives which just might be of some interest to another solid GM in the NBA, concerning Jason Kapono] to consider.

It’s something which I’ve spoken with Scott G. about on my blog.

How do you think Larry Legend would feel about a deal like THIS?

Not ideal for either team but, with certain benefits to both teams, perhaps not a totally outlandish option to consider.

This is FAQ’s scenario, yes? I answered his question in comment #38.

My other comments go back to the Cavs 2010 strategy (#28).

Kind of a cop out, if you don’t mind. Why must the problem exist “elsewhere in its organization”? The cap (and the idea of a max salary)
is essentially a way of handicapping teams, to ensure fairness and more importantly to give owners control over ballooning salaries. If a team cannot accomplish the goal of fielding a “top notch” team, it is at least in part because the league is setup in a way to limit a team’s ability to do so.

Understand this doesn’t mean that a max player has any personal culpability (or inherent villainy) but it does mean that he is limiting his teams ability to surround him with top notch free agents. Rashard Lewis’ salary will inhibit the Magic’s ability to offer Turkoglu an adequate salary this summer – this isn’t a question of an organizational problem (unless you think they already had a problem by overpaying Lewis – but you’ve said it is not the problem of the one player earning that salary). Max salaries represent a big enough percentage of the cap that they absolutely bind a teams ability to surround that person with top notch teammates. There is a reason ($) that the Cavs didn’t take Shaq off of Phoenix’s hands this year, despite asking for so little in return. Washington was dead last in the East because they paid a guy max money, who was too busy misusing the word factorial to play a game this season.

1) What effect did Smitch have? Although AB didn’t make his big change until later, I have to wonder how much the coaching affected Andrea’s confidence level. Sam was master of the Hook (see Joey G), to figure that might’ve played a role in his slower development. And from what Andrea stated in a recent interview, he didn’t like Smitch. We often accuse AB of not having a bad ass attitude, so maybe that’s a sign. I know it caught me off guard that he’d say something like that.

2) How much did O’Neil play in Andrea’s progression? Did he provide “inspiration” or whatever? Or did O’Neil’s injury provide that opportunity, with Bargnani finally “getting it” once the starter role came his way. God knows how much he got jerked around. One day a 3, the next day a back-up, the following day .. whatever. Great way to build confidence.

I don’t define AB as our franchise player — although, who knows. I do see him as a vital component to a good team. Same way I view Jose. Or a player with Bosh’s capabilities. I see CB as our best, something like Lebron is to the Cavs. I just don’t see him in the same stratosphere. And I don’t see a salary at the same level. He’s great …. but not Lebron great. That guy deserves max. Bosh does not. And if we can’t keep CB because of his “I have to take advantage [and maximize my potential]” beliefs, then so be it. To do otherwise means the word “team” gets taken out of this picture, and we become a star without parts … or at least cheaper parts because we tied up too much into one player. I just don’t think that’s healthy for the Raptors to move forward.

As far as I’m concerned, if AB was put out onto the market, teams would be knocking pretty hard at the door. If the Cavs had Andrea, Howard might not have been so dominating — at least that’s my opinion.

Teams would also be more inclined to believe you can improve Andrea’s rebound numbers, and certainly they’d believe defense could be taught to the guy.

HE IS THE FUTURE!!!!!!

ok, i’ve gotta get out of here…what a long week.

Anyway, the chief point is that, that type of bench is easily achievable with $3 or so extra million — Posey was a bargain at $3.2mil — a team like Cleveland who’s spending that type of money on their top four players, can build a bench good enough to win an NBA Title.

It’s a selfish move in a different way, and I hate when players do it (it strikes me as the opposite of true sportsmanship), but the precedent is there.

That said, I don’t blame Bosh for wanting to get paid the max contract. If Toronto won’t give him the money, some other team will.

Put me firmly in the camp of those who think Bosh should get the max deal, wherever it is. I don’t buy the argument that he’s not Kobe, LeBron or Wade. That would only make sense if players were paid on a sliding relative scale. The fact is, he’s one of the top 20 players in the league, and at any given time, there are more than 3 making top dollars.

It’s true that paying 30% of a team’s resources to one guy makes it hard to assemble a team of high-paid talent, but that’s the boat every team is in. It just takes good talent evaluation, shrewd drafting, and some dumb luck to fill out the rest of the roster with a strong supporting cast. Whether Colangelo can do that or not, remains to be seen.