The Raptors have about $5.1-million (U.S.) to use before they tip into the dollar-for-dollar luxury-tax threshold and were considering offering a one-year deal to Delfino for something close to that amount, but the acquisition of Belinelli has changed the equation.
"The likelihood that he’s going to sign here is less," Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said of Delfino. "Not only is he going to be leaving some money on the table in Europe, but one of the things that was attractive about coming here was that he’d have ample opportunity to play and maybe start and that doesn’t appear to be as open now."
Colangelo said there is the possibility of using Delfino in a sign-and-trade if he decides to leave his current team in Russia, but just as likely is that the Raptors won’t make any more significant moves between now and training camp.
"We’ll have a little bit higher intensity, a little bit quicker turnover of players coming in and out of the game," Triano said. "We’ll give everyone a fair chance at camp (in October in Ottawa). Injuries happen throughout the year and you have to be ready to play. I like the fact we have so many diverse players. The biggest thing will be trying to find enough guys the opportunity to stay on the floor."
Belinelli, acquired for forward Devean George and cash, currently is on the Italian national team with Bargnani.
"I won’t read too much into that," Triano said. "I don’t even know if they’re friends. The most important thing is that they’re teammates. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to and show you where restaurants are, but for the most part we’ve got a great team. They’re all friends by the time the games are over."
With the two moves, the Raptors now have 14 players under contract. GM Bryan Colangelo is still working on finding a backup small forward to fill his final roster spot.
"Marco fills a void at the wing position where his shooting and scoring strengths will be needed. Marco’s versatility and playmaking abilities make him a very valuable piece for us,” Bryan Colangelo said in a statement.
Prior to joining the Warriors, the 23 year-old, six-foot-five guard from Bologna played professionally in his native Italy for five seasons. In 33 games during the 2006-07 season with Fortitudo Bologna in Serie A, Belinelli averaged 16.4 points, while shooting .544 (99-for-182) from the field. In 13 Euroleague contests, he averaged 12.9 points on .438 (32-for-73) from the field.
GM Bryan Colangelo pulled off a coup by stealing Turkoglu from the Blazers, but then overpaid Jarrett Jack — something you often have to do in order to lure a restricted free agent. First-round pick DeMar DeRozan excelled in Vegas. If Andrea Bargnani (five-year, $50 million extension) continues to improve, the Raptors could be back in the playoff hunt.
This Raptors team is capable of the best ball movement and unselfish play we have seen for quite some time. The shooting ability of the Italian duo will spread the floor, allowing Chris Bosh and the super-athletic DeMar DeRozan to terrorize the paint.
Calderon has a huge shot, if he stays healthy, of leading the league in assists.
Warrior optimists (do any exist anymore outside the P.R. dept. and the broadcast team?) can point to this trade and say it’s actually just a vote of confidence for Anthony Morrow, who successfully fought Belinelli for minutes last season and is clearly a more valuable (and don’t forget cheaper) alternative. However, if the Raptors have coveted Marco since 2007 — and several reports over the years have said the Raptors have, which makes sense since they covet Euros more than American college girls studying abroad — couldn’t they have done better than George?
The Warriors cleared out some of their backcourt logjam and found an experienced presence to help balance a youth-filled roster, acquiring wing Devean George and money from Toronto on Thursday in exchange for guard Marco Belinelli.
The move acts as a vote of confidence for second-year guard Anthony Morrow, as it should open more minutes for him. The team still has guards Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Stephen Curry, Kelenna Azubuike, Acie Law, Speedy Claxton and possibly restricted free agent C.J. Watson. General manager Larry Riley said he’s not done dealing.
Actually, as an expiring contract, George may have slightly more appeal in that do he doesn’t cost anything. As a chip in a future trade, George might have slightly more value to any team acquiring him as he’s free, his salary paid by the Raptors for the rest of the year. Ok, that’s probably not enough to entice a reluctant team thinking about moving a star for salary relief, but it can’t hurt. He also has slightly more value in that any team holding his expiring deal can sign him to another contract with fewer cap restrictions than they would for Belinelli. Why would this matter? A sign and trade (yes, I wrote it — sign and trade — I’m not proud of it and this is not license for everyone else to jump in with their favorite sign-and-trade Davidson, Watson and change for Dwight Howard) with George could be that tiny bit that makes a deal work. At this point in his career, George might agree for sake of a guaranteed contract for another year, something he might not easily find. It’s unlikely, but it’s not impossible. So relative to Belinelli’s deal, George’s expiring deal is a slightly larger asset, likely inconsequentially so, but, still it exists.
No matter how it added up, Belinelli was on his way out.
"I feel like Marco wasn’t going to play too much because we’re making the commitment to play Morrow," Warriors General Manager Larry Riley said. "We’re ready to commit to him. … Having known that we were not going to (pick up Belinelli’s option by the Oct. 31 deadline), we decided to take the opportunity to get a player back who maybe can contribute. We thought that was a reasonable way to go."
The Raptors? All six white players on the roster were born outside the US. Is this something we should be concerned with? Do you have to be American-tough to win in the NBA? I used to think that foreign-born players just didn’t have that from the cradle desire to win an NBA championship. I thought that a world championship or Olympic medal was the real prize. I took a closer look at championships of the past decade and winning rosters included names like, Parker, Gasol, Ginoblli, Okur, Oberto and Ukraine’s own Slava Medvedenko. Even the teams that lost in the finals featured guys like, Big Z, Dirk Nowitzki, Varajeo, Vujajic, Turkoglu, Gortat, Pietrus.
Toronto had been trying to land Belinelli for the last year, as Colangelo sought to improve his guard play.
That Belinelli was his chief target was, no doubt, down in large part to the influence of Raptors vice-president Maurizio Gherardini, the former Benetton Treviso general manager who is familar with Belinelli’s game from the period when both men were in Lega A. Belinelli spent five years in Italy’s top domestic league with Fortitudo Bologna prior to joining the Warriors.
Belinelli will have to wait to meet his new team-mates – with the exception of Bargnani – as he is with Italy at a training camp preparing for the Additional Qualifying Round to EuroBasket 2009 that kicks off on August 5th.
So, with the excitement of the offseason all but done for Raptor fans it’s time we move on to something different, something like an in-depth look at all of the Raptor players. I mean what is more fun that completely over analyzing a player well before he actually does anything? Not much! So today we will start our review of the Raptors roster with a look at our starting point guard, Jose Calderon.
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36 Raps
2 marcos in T.O baby
“I used to think that foreign-born players just didn’t have that from the cradle desire to win an NBA championship.”
I still believe this and will until I see a European player with the heart and desire to actually lead a team. European’s may have won the championship trophy in the past few years but they haven’t led their team there, they aren’t leaders and I think it’s partly due to the fact that they start playing professional ball at such a young age.
When you’re 16 and playing with grown men you aren’t put out there as a leader and you’re asked to simply fall in line until over the years and through experience you are the head of that line in your late 20′s, early 30′s. In the North American game, great players play as leaders of their teams on every level, from high school to AAU to College before they land in the NBA. It produces a lot of selfish players who go bust but it’s the only way you’re going to get players who are G (they have the heart, hustle and soul of the game). Dirk was the closest I’ve ever seen a non NA come to refuting that and not just because he led his team to the finals, but because when you watch him play he needs to win, at the end of the game he’ll take the ball away from his teammates and make his own shot because he knows he has to, and he goes out there to prove he’s better than the best guy on the other team. I don’t think any other European does that.
Thankfully our leader is Bosh (for now), because I just don’t see any championship success in handing the keys to the franchise to any European in the league right now (prove me wrong Rubio).
Hakeem Olajuwon lead the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in the mid 1990′s.
Bosh may be American born and an all-star PF, but I question both his leadership and desire. He doesn’t have that killer instinct and lets his emotions get the better of him when the game and/or calls don’t go his way. Just being American (or North American) doesn’t automatically make you a good leader, certainly not a better, more passionate leader than all non-North American born players.
On the Raps current lineup, I would much rather have a Dirk in his prime or even a Vlade Divac in his prime, than Bosh in his prime. Vlade never won a championship, but there are few players who played with the passion and desire that he did, regardless of their background… he lead by example and inspired his teammates and the fans, instilling in all of them a will to win that transcended his actual playing ability.
For the record, I am as Canadian as they come, yet I still defend the non-North American born players (so don’t assume any bias on my part). Your argument isn’t valid in basketball or hockey or any other sport… if you’re going to judge at all, judge the individual, not their background/ethnicity/gender/etc…
Bosh hasn’t hit his prime
I agree about Bosh not being a good centerpiece, but this part “lets his emotions get the better of him when the game and/or calls don’t go his way”, ironically, describes Divac’s demeanor to a tee.
Totally agree about having Dirk in his prime over Bosh – yes it’s true Bosh hasn’t hit his prime yet, but I don’t think Bosh will ever be as great as Nowitzki at his peak. I’m not one of those Bosh haters by the way, I love the guy as a player and as a Raptor. However, I certainly would not choose Vlade Divac in his prime over Bosh. Vlade was a wicked centre don’t get me wrong, but no way he gets picked over Bosh.
Hakeem played his college ball in the states, where he was the LEADER of that team and LED them to two consecutive championship games and won the player of the year award, all before he turned 22, name me 5 Europeans who have done that. That’s not at all a retort to my statement that European players are not put in the position to be leaders in their European clubs. In fact if anything it proves my point.
secondly, I stated Nowitzki was the closest the league has had to a true team leader who was also not from North America. And yes, I would take him over Bosh too, but he is an exception to the rule. The fact is the great North American players are taught how to win first, and be flashy second and all the other stuff that comes with being a good player third. In Europe that is flipped (and the flashiness is all but taken away).
You can sit there and pretend I’m pulling a Don Cherry but the fact is when you’re not taught to lead it’s hard to be thrown into the fire and take the reigns, especially when you have 22 year olds walking around with much more confidence and swagger than you could ever fake.
Tony Parker vs. cleveland; takes home the mvp final award
I think it’s implausible to generalise about all the athletes from a continent.
I would love to see BC make 3/4 more moves:
1. trade Douby somewhere for a 2nd round pick
2. trade Ukic to Denver for Kleiza (will likely need to include Delfino’s rights or a 2nd round pick or a trade exception or cash)
3. resign Mensah-Bonsu
4. possibly sign a veteran for minimum salary to be 3rd PG
These moves would leave us with a very deep lineup:
STARTERS
C: Bargnani
PF: Bosh
SF: Turkoglu
SG: Wright
PG: Calderon
BENCH
C: Nesterovic
PF: Evans
PF: Mensah-Bonsu
SF: Kleiza
SG: DeRozan
SG: Belinelli
PG: Jack
EXTRAS
C: O’Bryant
PG: Banks
PG: veteran for 1 yr @ league minimum
You can’t “include Delfino’s rights”. You can trade a player and have his Bird rights follow him, but since he’s no longer a Raptor, that’s moot. Only way Delfino is going to Denver is via a S&T, and no way Denver is going to take Delfino at $5 mil per year for 3 years. They’re already balking at re-signing Kleiza for $2-3 mil and you think this will work how?
We will see if Bosh flourishes with the Euro-Raptors … or he tanks and heads back to the USA to perhaps play with the NY Knicks and Lebron.
Perhaps by mid-season, Bosh will be traded for Lee/Gallinari/picks … for a more ‘team-play’ oriented Raptor team …. no all-star, max money, franchise player needed in Toronto … just solid team bball and great entertainment.
It’s the Euro-Raptors now … so obvious ..!!!!!
Furthermore …. Max contract playing with the Euro-Raptors should be $10 Mil tops …!!!!
Better to have two $10 Mil players than one $20 Mil max money player.
I really hate so-called ‘all-star’ players that tribal honking fans slobber over … jerseys, shoes, posters … jerk offs all.
Yah I agree 100%
I would much rather have both Millsap, and Odom then Bosh
HE IS A GREAT PLAYER BUT IS HE WORTH TAKING UP A 1/4 OF THE TEAMS SALARY? HELL NAW… Bargnani was even better then him defensively for the last 3 months of last season. if he decides to play some god dam defence maybe he would be worth it
this is the first time i’ve ever agreed with you(re bosh for gallinari lee and picks for exciting euro ball)i would love that!!!
so, faq mazel tov.
Since you keep assuming Bosh will join the Knicks next season, which of Lebron and Bosh do you think will agree to a hefty paycut to join a skeleton crew?
Here is my trade proposal
Sign Delfino and trade him to the Knicks for Wilson Chandler… they clear a littler more cap space for 2010 and get a starting SG who will average 15ppg in D’antoni’s system.. Raps get a great backup to Hedo who is tough as hell
Great Idea but why would Knicks Do that ??
Dumb idea actually. You said their motivation is to clear more cap space for 2010? They can do that simply by not picking up Chandler’s option. If they take Delfino in a sign and trade, it’ll end up costing them even more.
btw, they love chandler in nyc they would never do that!
in my opinion Jose Calderon is one of the most underrated players in the NBA… try finding another PG who shoots 50% from the field gets about 10 Assist per game 40% from the 3 and perfect from the FT line… oh right! you can’t because he is the only one. oh yah and he did it basically on one leg. if he could just be a little more selfish looking for his shot. he would put up #’s like Nash was doing when he was winning MVP.
not trying to discredit Jose here because I agree that he is severely underrated both in the NBA and by us Rap fans…. but Steve Nash and Chris Paul do fit that same category you were talking about (%, assists etc.).. so he is not the ONLY pg to do that. It just happens to be only the elite pgs that do what he does.
I have a question to ask all of you:
Since when Bosh is a good leader? He is a leader on our team (yuck) just because there is no one else good enough or with a strong character enough to lead. I would say Bosh is a leader on our team simply because he is the best player on our team not because of his mentality.
And to say Europeans can not lead because they are “white” is out of line. European born players can not lead because they are put in a new environment. They don’t know the NBA as well, they can’t speak English properly, and simply put it is not their “own” place. When you are new to a place, you just want to fit in. You don’t want to stand out as much, which is the primary role of a leader.
Seriously, can you ever imagine Calderon a leader of an NBA team? I consider Calderon a leader in heart, but come on, who is going to listen to a guy that when he speaks you start laughing because of his accent?
Just ask yourself this: Have you ever seen/let a fob in your sports team be a leader of the team?
Wow… just when i thought discrimination was dieing. Its people like you that make eliminating freedom of speech a viable option.
first you say: -to say Europeans can not lead because they are “white” is out of line-
then you go on to say: – but come on, who is going to listen to a guy that when he speaks you start laughing because of his accent-
hypocracy is just an amazing thing. You try to speak out of one side of you mouth, and it ends up coming out your ass.
Rapman – I agree completely. If we give Bosh the Max money and commit to building around him, we’ll never leave the second round of the playoffs for the duration of that contract. Building around a maxed out Bosh is a strategic error due to the salary cap era. You simply cannot compete straight up with a team that is able to sign the Lebron’s of the world for the same money. You’ll put yourself in too big of a hole to dig out of.
100% Agree. I would only offer a max contract to a wing (SF/SG) who can put the rock in his hands, control the game from inside or outside and can contribute on the defensive end – guys like Kobe, Lebron, Wade (or some PG like Paul who aren’t really true pass-first PG)… PG/C/PF players are too one-dimesional in their game to demand max money, as they don’t have the all-around, controlling, game-changing ability that athletic wings do.
Bosh is a top-5 PF and a legit all-star, but he’ll never be ‘the guy’ on any team. Bosh is a perfect #2 guy, like Gasol is to Kobe, like Pippen was to Jordan, like Olajuwon was to Drexler, etc… if Bosh were ever paired up with Lebron or Wade, that team would instantly become an NBA champion contender.
If the Raps can turn Bosh into a good, younger, less proven PF (ie: Lee, Aldridge), as well as another rotation player and a 1st round pick (especially if in doing so they can dump Banks!), then I think it would be a good move for BC to make. I don’t want to just give him away, but letting him walk after this season and getting nothing in return is even worse!
I’d be happy with a trade of Bosh to Portlnd for Aldridge/Fernandez/Blake/1st Round Pick (this trade works on the ESPN trade machine)
Aldridge would replace Bosh as our starting PF, Fernandez would become our starting SG and Blake would be a throw-in to match salaries. Plus the Raps would get a mid/low 1st round draft pick.
This trade would also open the door to additional trades, as we’d have several valuable expiring contracts – Blake ($4M), Wright ($1.8M), Ukic ($1.35M).
C: Bargnani / Nesterovic
PF: Aldridge / Evans
SF: Turkoglu / DeRozan
SG: Fernandez / Belinelli
PG: Calderon / Jack
I have no idea if it would have a chance of going through, but it’s the type of trade scenario that would make the thought of trading Bosh a much more palatable one, even for big time Bosh lovers.
Horrible deal (for the Raptors, great for the Blazers), and I’m not even a crazy Bosh fan. So you give up a bonafide all-star for what? Another player who admittedly isn’t as good as Bosh. Unless you can immediately make a trade for another near all-star (unlikely), all you’ve done is reduce the talent level of the product on the floor. And since we’d still be over the cap, we’re still stuck with adding players via the MLE.
um, u mean a max bosh doesn’t win anything
Has anybody seen anywhere any comment from Marco Belinelli on his trade to the Raptors? From what I’ve read about his time in GS and the fact he’s coming to Toronto where he’s a) coveted and b) surrounded by much more Italian influence, wouldn’t he be turning cartwheels with excitement?
I realize he’s in Italy, but it seems odd that not a single news source has contacted him for a comment. Long distance calling is practically free now, so what’s the problem? Unless there’s a league policy preventing players from commenting on trades, which I’m not aware of?
I read somewhere that he was going to wear number “0″ because he was getting a new start. I think it was in the comments on Doug Smith’s article. I think Doug confirmed it
that’s at least something
The biggest problem with the Raps right now is that our supposed leader does not even know if he is going to be here next year.
This is a lot more significant to team chemistry than most think.
Who’s team is this anyway? Who can step up and pound on his uniform/chest and say this is my team and I care!
This is the sort of accountability that the Smitch always wanted from his players, but never got.
Defering to team-mates might be great for the team game, but when it comes down to heart, responsibility and leadership, that quality comes up short.
You can say what you want about Artest being bat crazy, but we know the guy wears his uniform on his heart, when he is focused he will not budge for anyone.
Bosh claims that he is Max player and this year is his chanse to prove it. As a max player you are suppose to be leader and take ur team deep into the play offs. He has plenty of supporting cast and it is all on his shoulder. I think everyone in the league knows what guys like Kobe, Howard, Lebron, wade are capable of doing. But not everyone is sold on the idea of Bosh being a Max guy. So I am expecting him to come out and try to be aggresive and …
Bruce Bowen just got waved by the Bucks, am I the only one that thinks he would be a great fit as a backup SF? I mean his defense has been at the top of the NBA for the SF position and he’d be an Oakley-esque veteran for the young kids on the team. Grit? Hard-nosed? This guy could really help the team.
Enjoy, Toronto!
Warriors want title of Most Incompetent NBA franchise all to themselves.