Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

I Expect More Of The Same From B.C.

DeRozan can’t be the last “new” Raptor this year. Before getting into it, I want to welcome DeMar DeRozan into the mix. I am a big fan of the kid. He instantly becomes a big part of the future. Although he is young and raw, he satisfies the starting SG role. In fact, without having…

DeRozan can’t be the last “new” Raptor this year.

Before getting into it, I want to welcome DeMar DeRozan into the mix. I am a big fan of the kid. He instantly becomes a big part of the future. Although he is young and raw, he satisfies the starting SG role. In fact, without having played an NBA minute.

With so much uncertainty after Blake Griffin going #1, and the economic climate we are in, there was picks to be had. How do I know this? The Knicks bought the Lakers 29th pick;, the Nuggets got help for Billups in the back-court in 1st round and grabbed another kid in the 2nd; Houston seemingly bought almost every single second rounder…and so on.

What did good ‘ol Colangelo do? He plays it safe with takes DeRozan at 9 (the kid is sick, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have him over anyone else at 9) then sat and watched while youngin’s like Sam Young, Dajuan Blair, Chase Buddinger Derrick Brown, AJ Price etc got cheaply snatched up in the 2nd round.

There was chatter that we should have traded down, to pick up Sam Young (or someone else) plus another late 1st rounder or 2nd rounder. I’m not sure a trade like that would be as easy as pie, since the 9th pick wasn’t as valuable as one would think. Getting DeRozan, Henderson or Johnson probably isn’t worth giving up 2 youngins who are just as good and cheaper.

What B.C. should have done was try to pry Minnesota’s 28th pick, Cleveland’s 30th (or any of the 2nd round picks that Houston seemed to be able to buy) and offered up some or all of Tanenbaum’s yacht money that $3mill and snatched Sam Young, giving the Raptors the follow lineup:

PG – Calderon / Ukic / Banks
SG – DeRozan / Young
SF – Young / DeRozan
PF – Bosh / Evans / Humphries
C – Bargnani / Humphries / O’Bryant / Jawai

Young represents the kind of tactical pick that helps you now and later in the sense that by the end of his rookie contract, he will have hit the peak of his development, but would probably not be a very expensive option as a bench player and still be under 30 years old. Many scouts had him ranked as high as DeRozan, but since he is older with with a lower ceiling, he dropped to 36 in the draft. Whatever, the kid is solid and can hit the ground running. Memphis LUCKED out when he fell to them where he did. He isn’t as polished off the bounce and is a bit old for a senior-24 (21 seniors in the draft this year by the way) , but as Chris Denker opined, his wins in the Big East translate to the NBA (as apposed to Joey Graham’s stellar college career and how it translated for us).

Now what? More of the same, that’s what….we look to bring BACK Carlos Delfino (as well as possibly Rasho) and re-upping Shawn Marion.

All three of these guys would be nice additions to the Raptors, but at a price. For Delfino, anything more then a 3yr/$9mil deal and I send letter bombs to MLSE. Rasho…2yr/$5mill. I don’t like throwing anymore then the mid-level at Marion and even then, no longer then 3 years (3yr/$16mill deal), even though he is probably worth a little more. As entertaining as he is Twitter (here, here and here), the guy is older, and if we run the risk of losing Bosh this year, we need to go young and/or be financially flexible (aka solid cap management).

This is who B.C. thinks can help us out?

See, these are the safe, perpetual treadmill moves B.C./MLSE are great at making that will win us 40-45 games (depending on how well we start the season), compete for the 7th/8th playoff spot (depending on how crappy the bottom half of the east is playing), piss off/alienate our franchise players, and jade the fan base. What exactly are treadmill moves you may ask? The whole Carlos Delfino situation for Toronto for starters:

  • We trade two 2nd round picks for the guy
  • He plays a season with the Raptors, then leaves for Russia
  • This year’s second round pick could have landed us either Derrick Brown, Chase Buddinger or Danny Green, all of whom would have been GREAT kids to have at 2/3 spot for years to come
  • We have to bring him back, cause we need him, but we could have had one of the above kids for half the price…smart huh?

I hope I am wrong, and I have a sneaky suspicion that B.C. is trying to make more then the status quo happen, but I wont hold my breath. Come opening day, I am pretty sure the Raptors will be sporting the following lineup:

PG – Calderon / Ukic / Banks
SG – DeRozan / Parker
SF – Marion / Delfino
PF – Bosh / Evans / Humphries
C – Bargnani / Rasho / O’Bryant / Jawai

What would I do if I were B.C.? Given that we have about $14.5million in cap space, and the need for a backup pg and wings, I would:

  • Offer Royal Ivey a 3yr/$9mil contract
  • Offer Von Wafer a 3yr/$12mil contract
  • Offer Trevor Ariza a 4yr/$36mil contract
  • Re-up Carlos Delfino to 3yr/$9mil contract (I could be wrong, but I think the Raptors can go over the cap to sign their own FA’s) TYPO: I originally posted $12mil, but meant $9mil.

Giving us a lineup such as:

PG – Calderon / Ivey / Ukic / Banks
SG – DeRozan / Von Wafer
SF – Ariza / Delfino
PF – Bosh / Evans / Humphries
C – Bargnani / Humphries / O’Bryant / Jawai

I think that is a pretty solid lineup, which would compete hard this coming season for the 7th playoff spot. It would surround Bosh with scorers, slashers, defenders and Bargnani…but you know, watching Delfino/Rasho will bring back fond memories of a mediocre team that got thumped in the 1st round to an Orlando team that an ex-commentator said to bring on…didn’t work then…

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