Kyle Lowry in. A future first round pick gone.

While Lowry was young-ish at 26, the sacrificing of a first round pick that was only top-three protected was a clear statement that the team expected to make the playoffs. Otherwise, why sacrifice a cost-controlled rookie asset (or potential trade chip) for what would then amount to one ‘meaningful’ year of Lowry, whose deal had just two seasons left at the time.

It also signaled the end of Jose Calderon’s tenure as the franchise’s sometimes-starter, sometimes-challenged, never-defeated point guard. Calderon would later be moved as part of the three-team trade that brought Rudy Gay to Toronto, a move that seems unlikely without the Lowry acquisition.

The Lowry deal also paved the way for another major move, as the Houston Rockets packaged that Raptor draft pick with other assets to pry James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Nearly a year late, we now know that the pick dealt for Lowry will be the 12th overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft. That pick, depending on where you look, is pegged to be Kelly Olynyk, Dennis Schroeder or Steven Adams. Plenty will change between now and the draft at the end of June, but we at least know what the compensation was in these deals.

So roughly 10 months later, I asked a Rockets and Thunder blogger to each update their take on the trade(s). My Raptors perspective follows.

–

The Deals
Trade 1
Raptors trade Gary Forbes and 2013 #12 pick for Kyle Lowry.

Trade 2
Rockets trade 2013 #12 pick (from TOR), 2013 #32 pick (from Cha, from OKC, from Bos), future top-20 protected 1st round pick (from Dal), Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb for James Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward.

The Rockets
Michael Pina, of Red 94, TrueHoop’s Houston Rockets blog:

Trade 1: It’s understated how important this trade was for Houston. If the Rockets never acquire that lottery pick from Toronto (which looked a lot more appetizing when the deal was made), they aren’t able to compile a package juicy enough to pry James Harden from the comforts of Oklahoma City.

Trade 2: Armchair quarterbacking a trade that occurred amidst so many questions, after many of those questions have been answered, can be obnoxious. But it’s just so tough to imagine the Thunder going through with this trade if they knew James Harden had top-10 talent, Serge Ibaka had a disappointing ceiling, the “lottery pick” from Toronto would actually be outside the top 10 in a shallow talent pool, and, getting extra snarky, Russell Westbrook would hurt his knee in the first round of the playoffs (which NEVER HAPPENS if the Thunder kept Harden, since it occurred against the very team Harden led to the playoffs).

The Thunder
Royce Young, of Daily Thunder, TrueHoop’s Oklahoma City Thunder blog.

Obviously the Thunder were hoping for better than No. 12 when they dealt Harden. And while it certainly diminishes OKC’s return for a true star even more, it’s far too early to judge the trade completely. We don’t know what Jeremy Lamb will be, and we don’t know what the player OKC picks will be. Right now it doesn’t look like the Thunder got enough for Harden. But we all might feel differently about that three years from now. Fans and media aren’t normally that patient, but the Thunder organization is.

–

The Raptors
The Raptors ended up dealing Gary Forbes and the 12th overall pick this year for Kyle Lowry. That is, unquestionably, a deal I’d make over and over again. Lowry had an up-and-down year and was quite polarizing for the fanbase, in part because of his tumultuous play and in part because he took the reigns from a man that would be sainted if Toronto were the Vatican.

Calling Lowry’s season anything but a bit disappointing would be too cheery. He certainly wasn’t terrible, but his per-36 scoring was down, as were his shooting percentages across the board. His rebounding and playmaking made small gains and his turnovers decreased, but his defense also didn’t match the reputation he came in with.

In fact, offensively I wasn’t too disappointed with the man formerly known as KLOE – he didn’t hit the expectations that were based on priced-in improvement, and he still exhibits an inability to score and facilitate at the same time. But his role changed dramatically twice during the season, once when he came off the bench after injury and again when Rudy Gay was acquired. You can understand inconsistency with changing parameters of play, and the final numbers were just fine. That consistency issue won’t be forgiven next year though with a (hopefully) more stable situation

Defensively, however, I was more disappointed. This article isn’t meant as a full evaluation of Lowry, but it warrants mentioning that the “bulldog” seemed far more often to be chasing cars than protecting the yard. That is, he’s a risk-taker, which is fine when you have strong help defenders behind you (only Amir Johnson probably counts in this regard) but can be harmful when teammates have to help beyond their comfort zone to account for your cheating. At times, Lowry’s defense was suffocating and created turnovers. Other times, his gambles left the Raptors without numbers or scrambling to recover. Like with his offense, finding consistency will be the key moving forward.

But this is about the trade, and it’d be tough to argue Lowry wasn’t and isn’t still worth a 12th overall pick. Based on Win Shares, he was worth roughly $10M this season. Win Shares are a sketchy stat to take at face value, but the fact that this “value” far outstrips his $5.75M salary confirms that he was a bargain. He’s only on the books for $6.2M this coming season, another discounted year in financial terms. As a refernce point, only four rookies in the past three years have ‘earned’ that dollar amount based on win shares.

The 12th overall pick might end up being a usable rotation piece. That’s entirely possible, and as Royce pointed out above, you can never fully evaluate a trade until much later. But it’s difficult to think of a scenario in which two discounted years of Lowry plus the opportunity to sign him to a longer deal (assuming he settles and the new GM likes him) wasn’t worth a maybe-a-rotation-guy pick. And if it turns out to be a stud in five years, you can’t really fault the team for not seeing it coming, otherwise that player would have went earlier, anyway.

It’s unfortunate that Lowry didn’t make the jump to elite point guard as some where hoping. He was 23rd among “guards” in win shares, eighth in assists per 36 minutes, fifth in rebounds per 36 minutes, 17th in PER and 35th in true shooting percentage. Those are strong rankings but not “irreplaceable,” making the incoming GM’s decision about the long-term point guard position a tough one, although not one he has to make immediately.

Kyle Lowry was a mild disappointment this year, sure. But if you take the positive signs he shows, price in some maturity and consistency with a more stable environment, and look at the names in the late lottery, it’s a very tough argument that the Raptors didn’t make out well here. The Rockets used that asset well, and credit to them for that, but this is one move Bryan Colangelo can’t be criticized for on his way out the door.

Andrew Thompson, Raptors Republic
John Lucas the third will go down in memory for me. Not because of the way he played, which was to shoot a lot in a little bit of time and then sit down again, but because he played. My memory is full of the names of ex-Raptor role players whose names pop in to my mind on random occasion for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Acie Earl, Mike James, Tracey Murray, Chris Childs, Rafer Alston, Keon Clark, Joey Graham, Carlos Rogers, Eric Montross and Walt “The Wizard” Williams. John Lucas III joins this illustrious list as his name too will now pass through my brain on an idle Tuesday drive home, as random synapses fire and remind me just how much time I’ve spent watching and thinking about the Raptors instead of doing other things.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
I realize this whole thing is a terribly weak post, but everything I have to say about JL3 can be summed up with this graphic:

He shoots too much and he’s not particularly good at it. If he was just a three-baller, fine, but he doesn’t play that way. The other holes in his game (passing, ruining basketballs by over-dribbling them, defense) make it so that it’s tough to accept him as a backup point guard. It’s likely the team will look to upgrade that spot this summer, as they should.

Eric Koreen, The National Post
Dresses well.

Garrett Hinchey, Raptors Republic
I’ve always had a soft spot for this little guy – yes, he’s a 3rd point guard who was given the backup role. Yes, he’s EXTREMELY undersized for the position. And, yes, his NBA-calibre skills basically consist of 3-point shooting and a reasonable handle. But, when he heats up, there’s nothing like watching a 5 foot 10 point guard take over your team’s offense, even for a couple minutes. And there’s certainly nobody questioning the man’s compete level. So yes, John Lucas the Third, you are an extremely flawed basketball player. But you’re our extremely flawed basketball player. And I’ll take 10 hard-fought minutes of subpar floor generalship followed by a mini heat check over watching Alan Anderson go 2 for 18 any day.

PhD Steve, Raptors Republic
John Lucas 3, a haiku
I don’t know this guy
Since he never gets to play
Jerome Moiso?

Adam Francis, Raptors HQ
My expectation for Jonas Valanciunas this past season was as follows; about six points and six rebounds a night, some solid defence, and some signs of improvement on O by season’s end. Interestingly, the inverse happened with Jonas’ offensive game being a step ahead of what most expected, with his defence and rebounding taking the bulk of the season to begin to shine through. But he averaged about 9 points, 6 boards and a block a game as a rookie, and seemed to get better with each game, a great sign for a player expected to be a major building block for the franchise going forward.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
I need more than 100 words to get into Valanciunas appropriately, so look for a longer form piece sometime soon. In the meantime, here are some cool/rare/unique things The Lethaluanian did this year:

*Second-team All-Rookie
*15.6 PER, 61.8 TS%, 14.9 Rb%, 5.0 Ast%, 4.2 Blk%
*Among all rookies with 1200 minutes (Jonas played 1482), there have been just 80 players to post a PER of 15, Rb% of 14, Ast% of 4 and Blk% of 4.
*Among those 80, Jonas ranks 5th in TS% and is younger than all but four (Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis, Uncle Cliffy and Andre Drummond).
*He also has one of the highest turnover rates on this list (11th at 17.3%), the key area in which he needs to improve.

Perhaps most importantly, his best months came in March and April – he showed growth and development, and really put some lipstick on this pig of a season. I’m looking forward to watching him grow up in a Raptors uniform. More to come.

Eric Koreen, The National Post
Does anybody else see a world where Bryan Colangelo and the Raptors part ways, Valanciunas absolutely blows up next season (well, becomes a very solid starter), and every basketball writer and blogger worth his or her salt types a piece that re-assesses the Colangelo era? It happened with J.P. Ricciardi, and it just happened with Brian Burke. If Colangelo leaves, Valanciunas is the best candidate to make revisionist historians forget about the general manager’s flaws. At least in part, he will succeed. Next year, Valanciunas scratches “cult” from “cult favourite.”

Garrett Hinchey, Raptors Republic
For all of Brian Colangelo’s missteps as Raptors GM, and there have been many, let the record show that when it came to the 2011 draft, he got it so, so right. It seems crazier by the day to think that there were fans pining for Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker in his place, yet BC – incredibly, ironically, and one-time-only, as it turns out – stood pat, choosing to sacrifice wins now for a smart, sustainable pick: drafting a potential future All-Star, and a cornerstone of the franchise.
Shockingly, it worked out for him. Funny how that happens, hey Brian?

PhD Steve, Raptors Republic
Jonas is the great hope for Raptor fans right now, in that, if he turns out to be what he projects to be then all will be fine with the franchise. Unfortunately since so much hinges on him succeeding, there is little room for error. While I suspect he has what it takes to be successful the fans are now placing so much pressure on him becoming an all-star right away that if he doesnt -the fans will turn very quickly on him (remember raps fans are fickle) . That’s a lot to ask from a 2nd year center. Let’s hope he’s got big shoulders.

Patience Raps fans, patience.

RapsFan/Sam, Raptors Republic
You never trade big for short; that’s what they say (Milwaukee might have words about that), but I admit it stung when we learned that Harden was offered to Toronto for Jonas this summer, until I realized that:

a) Presti can pick talent; trading for Jonas is a serious validation of his worth
b) He finished the season on a very high note, dominating the paint on both ends of the floor, where other rookies in his class started to fade out *couch* Ross *cough*
c) Three letters: CBA … the kid has three more years on his rookie scale contract; a Godsend when you consider some of the albatross contracts on this roster

If he spends the summer working on his strength and conditioning, and developing a polished low-post game (either send him to Olajuwon or force him to watch tapes of Kevin McHale), than there’s no reason not to expect very big things from him starting next season…no pressure but this franchise is depending on you more than it should.

Tim W., Raptors Republic
What can I say about Jonas Valanciunas that I haven’t already said? He didn’t make the All Rookie first team, which doesn’t really matter, but I still disagree with. Personally, I would have put him ahead of Waiters, who’s a low efficiency chucker, and Barnes, who was solid, but unspectacular during the regular season. And I think every team in the league would trade both of them for Valanciunas.

In fact, on Bill Simmons’ annual NBA Trade Value list, the only rookies who were higher than Valanciunas were Anthony Davis (definitely agree), Bradley Beal (don’ t know if I agree, but I see the argument) and Damian Lillard (who reminds me too much of Damon Stoudamire- great numbers when he can dominate on a bad team). I think next year only Davis will be higher.
Although I’m getting this number out of thin air, I’d say there is a 75% chance Valanciunas will be an All Star within 5 years.

These moments are rare and sometimes seem insignificant, but we can’t possibly claim we understand quantum hoops, yet – they may seem insignificant, but maybe they are the most significant.

This NBA season had one such moment. This NBA season, we all enrolled in Remedial Chaos Theory. Since many are unversed in travelling between alternate basketball realities, allow me to be your guide.

November 21, 2012
The Charlotte Bobcats lead the Toronto Raptors 98-97 in what is almost unanimously considered a meaningless, throw-away game.

As Andrea Bargnani receives the ball on the right side of the floor, he rises for a jump shot that could win the game.

At this exact point in time, the basketball universe is at a fork in its multiverse.

Bargnani lets it fly…

The possible results from this sequence will split the NBA into three different timelines, all existing parallel to each other from here on out.

Scenario 1: The Darkest Timeline
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist fouls Bargnani but the ref does not make the call. Bargnani air balls the shot and basically falls apart from there. The Raptors struggle, trade for Rudy Gay, and are where they are now. Yes, sadly, the Raptors entered The Darkest Timeline in this instance. All around the NBA, stars are injured, the playoffs are excellent but have an injury cloud hanging over them, and Bryan Colangelo appears to survive another year until Tim Leiweke can find a suitable replacement for 2014.

But, it didn’t have to be this way. Luckier fans in a parallel universe (likely with goatees) got a different result and have went down different paths.

Scenario 2: Il Mago-verse
Michael-Kidd Gilchrist fouls Bargnani and the ref makes the call. Bargnani hits both free throws, giving the Raptors the victory. This invigorates the mercurial franchise players, finally giving him a confident swagger to be “the closer.” While his numbers don’t soar to career highs, he is far more efficient and plays a full slate from then on, adding a few wins to the Raptors total.

Perhaps more importantly, the Raptors don’t pull the trigger on a Rudy Gay deal. Instead, with Bargnani’s value high and the Lakers sputtering, the Raptors send Bargnani and Jose Calderon to the Lakers for Pau Gasol.

Changes
Raptors: They still hire Tim Leiweke in the offseason but the fan-base is less upset with allowing Colangelo to stick around a year. After all, Gasol was a great partner in crime with Jonas Valanciunas, allowing Amir Johnson to continue to thrive in a bench role and narrowly miss the Sixth Man of the Year award. The Raptors still have a hole at the three, as Terrence Ross didn’t come along quite as hoped with extra playing time later in the season. With little cap space and no draft pick, the Raptors have a healthy core in the paint but need DeMar DeRozan to continue to evolve and hope Landry Fields has a better season in order to complements the bigs and Kyle Lowry, who was up-and-down all year but found a nice chemistry with Gasol late in the season. The Raptors finished ninth in the East, just two games back of the playoffs.

Grizzlies: With the Raptors unwilling to take on Gay’s contract, the Grizzlies dealt a few lesser pieces to try and trim their luxury tax bill rather than get under the line. Jerryd Bayless and Tony Wroten were jettisoned for picks, leaving the backcourt a bit thin. Still, the Grizzlies handled the Clippers in the first round, but ran into a solid Thunder team in the second round.

Rockets: Picked up Bayless for a second round pick, which meant Patrick Beverley wasn’t on the floor in the first round playoff series.

Thunder: With Bayless a less active defender than Beverley, Russell Westbrook goes un-injured in the first round of the playoffs, leaving the Thunder a strong Finals favorite.

Lakers: The addition of Bargnani and Calderon helped stem the tide while other injuries hurt the team. That added manpower was enough that the Lakers clinched a playoff spot with three games to go, finishing with 47 wins (Golden State, coincidentally, won 48 in this scenario due to the butterfly effect, so the seeding didn’t change). Without a playoff spot to fight for, Kobe Bryant was rested down the stretch, leaving him healthy for the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Lakers still came up short against the Spurs.

Pistons: Don’t get Calderon, nobody notices.

Scenario 3: The Wiggins Huskies
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist fouls Bargnani, the refs call it, and Bargnani splits a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Bargnani gets in a shouting match with Lowry, who had chastised Bargnani for poor help defense as Kemba Walker drove the lane for a late bucket.

After the game, the team announces Bargnani hurt his elbow and will miss a substantial amount of time. When beat writer Eric Koreen asks too many pointed questions of Bryan Colangelo following the alleged “phantom” injury announcement, Colangelo loses it and tries to choke Koreen out.

MLSE, now owned by media powerhouses Bell and Rogers, act swiftly to deny the option year on Colangelo’s deal due to this public relations fiasco, later bringing in Leiweke to clean it up.

Changes
Raptors: With Colangelo handcuffed by his lame duck status, the board freezes on adding any salary to the roster. Instead, the board elects to keep Calderon as an expiring contract and further mentor Lowry for the season. Bargnani does not play a game the rest of the way, and the team’s first announcement of the offseason is that they will use the Amnesty Provision on Bargnani with the aim of “starting fresh” with a new management group, ownership and team identity. This is followed shortly by the announcement that the team will revert to the Toronto Huskies name starting in the 2014-15 season, a move to once again aimed at reseting the brand image while also making the colors of the Toronto-based teams streamlines (#BlackAndYellow -> #BlueAndWhite).

With Calderon off the books and a Bargnani amnesty, the Raptors have ample cap space. Leiweke indicates the team is hoping to build flexibility in its roster construction and won’t spend just to spend, instead accepting another down year or two to add a “major piece through the draft” to accompany the Valanciunas-Lowry-Johnson-Davis-DeRozan core that, Leiweke indicates, the organization feels can make up five of a contender’s top seven or eight players. The Raptors may be bad, he suggests, but there is a giant, Maple-flavored, Jordan-esque prize if the ping pong balls bounce right. (Meanwhile, Raptors Republic kidnap Adam Silver in hopes of getting an “envelope freeze” in the 2014 draft lottery).

Grizzlies: With the Raptors unwilling to take on Gay’s contract, the Grizzlies dealt a few lesser pieces to try and trim their luxury tax bill rather than get under the line. Jerryd Bayless and Tony Wroten were jettisoned for picks, leaving the backcourt a bit thin. Still, the Grizzlies handled the Clippers in the first round, but ran into a solid Thunder team in the second round.

Rockets: Picked up Bayless for a second round pick, which meant Patrick Beverly wasn’t on the floor in the first round playoff series.

Thunder: With Bayless a less active defender than Beverly, Russell Westbrook goes un-injured in the first round of the playoffs, leaving the Thunder a strong Finals favorite.

Lakers: Are unable to make a move, and their fate plays out more or less the same.

Pistons: Don’t get Calderon, nobody notices.

But here we are
The basketball multiverse didn’t give us any more desirable a timeline. In fact, you could argue that none of these timelines were great for Raptor fans, although there are certainly varying levels of hope attached to each. Maybe there was no way for the Raptors’ season to “break right” and give us a clearly more desirable outcome. We might not know for years which of these universes is the “best one” and which is truly the “Darkest Timeline.”

This is also, of course, just an exercise in Remedial Chaos Theory, and is completely a work of fiction. But it’s fun to play what-if, and it’s fun to create a scenario where Kobe and Westbrook are healthy in the playoffs (sorry, Derrick Rose, couldn’t help you). After all, one of the benefits of cheering for a perpetually inept franchise is the “right” to second guess.

What are your “what ifs” for the season, moments that you feel might have created parallel basketball universes? Be elaborate…we need content.

Adam Francis, Raptors HQ
There’s not much left to say here with Bargs. This is a player who should never have been extended at his current price, who should have been dealt at least two years ago, and who now, instead of serving as a potentially intriguing “upside” player to teams in trades, looms as the club’s biggest neck-anvil.

What’s left now is an “addition by subtraction” scenario and even then, who knows if we see it come to fruition if Bryan Colangelo is still in charge.

Part of getting the Raptors back on the right path absolutely means resolving the Bargnani situation this off-season.

But considering I can’t recall another top pick in any sport being held onto for as long as he has, with hopes that his upside eventually shines through, I’m not holding my breath.

Andrew Thompson, Raptors Republic
The Andrea Bargnani experience has felt like being in one long fail video. But it hasn’t been without it’s high points, treasured memories and occasional moments when, if you completely ignored the larger sample size, really squinted your eyes and believed hard enough, it seemed like it just might maybe be something special. So let’s give the man his proper tribute with a couple of those special highlights, as I remember them.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
I googled “how many curse words are there,” thinking I could just post 100 of them for my 100 words. Google doesn’t seem to know, so I’m left with actually writing. In an alternate universe, things have gone differently for Bargnani – he’s developed what was a promising shooting stroke, found a more competitive edge, grown to embrace the leadership role instead of wilting from it. And in that universe, the Raptors are better, but probably still not all that great. I think he’ll be gone, but if he remains he’ll remain in his current form – a low-efficiency scorer who hasn’t learned the Italian translations for help defense terms.

Eric Koreen, The National Post
When Bryan Colangelo made his ill-advised (but meaningless!) decision to announce he was looking to trade Andrea Bargnani, I heard it immediately: When Bargnani comes back in a different uniform, he will slay the Raptors. It was vintage Raptors fatalism. Anything that could go wrong will. To that I state, “Who cares?” Sure, the Raptors will not be able to get anything of value for him, given his contract. But he’s been failing in Toronto for too long now. The future might involve Bargnani hurting the Raptors, but the recent past has given us the same.

Tim W., Raptors Republic
He’s gotten more chances to be a star than Ryan Reynolds, but with him you can understand the reasoning behind it. I can’t tell you how many people took my criticism of him over the years personally, and I don’t understand why. If you’re going to align yourself with a player, should it really be a soft, underachieving big man who doesn’t play defense and is one of the worst rebounding seven-footers of all time? I mean, you’d think Bryan Colangelo would have better things to do than insult me. Hopefully he’ll have lots of time starting this summer.

Zarar Siddiqi, Raptors Republic
Invoking the amnesty alone doesn’t buy much in terms of flexibility, and his trade value is nil and declining. As much as we want to turn a new leaf, the stark reality is that a Bargnani resurgence is the only way the current roster improves significantly. On the other hand, it’s madness to give him another chance to let you down. Final Verdict: There’s no option but to keep him here in a limited role and hope he finds his three. He’s like the modern day Jim McIlvaine. Another scenario: Colangelo gets fired, hired somewhere else, and trades for Bargnani.

Arsenalist, Raptors Republic
I like Aaron Gray and think he should return as a third-string center (not second, as he was at times last year). He plays defense, is surprisingly productive on offense at times, and is a matchup-player that any team needs when going up against the bigger bigs of the league. At the same time, nobody’s exactly banging on his agent’s door. Let that not stop Colangelo from keeping a $2.6M player option on his deal. I love this guy.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
The amount of time I spent defending my jokes about Aaron Gray to people probably exceeds the amount of time opposing teams thought about the guy this year. For some reason, some people freakin’ love him. To me, he’s an end of the bench big being paid like a back-up, which isn’t really a backbreaker for the franchise. He’s also goofy and good for a laugh, plus he looks like Garrett, so all in all he’s worth the money.

Garrett Hinchey, Raptors Republic
He goes by many names: AIRon Gray, the White Panther, a Garrett Hinchey doppleganger – but none of these really do justice to my favourite third center in the Association. Sure, he’s a punchline more often than not around these parts, and he leads the team in turnovers more than any backup forward should, but what he really is is the Raptors’ lunchpail guy, a man who accepts his role without hesitation, and one of the few good-value contracts in the organization right now. Oh, and he’s my younger brother’s favourite player in the league, inexplicably. Well, maybe semi-explicably…

Tim W., Raptors Republic
Aaron Gray is the greatest 270 pound, lumbering white center with a beard in the NBA today. And it’s not even close.

Andrew Thompson, Raptors Republic
Alan Anderson was a cartoon this season. When he caught fire and single-handedly won games the Raps had no business winning with impossible shot after impossible shot, the laws of physics did not seem to apply. When he came off the bench, quickly missed six completely unnecessary shots and then went away, it was equally without reason. But I’ll always remember AA for something special we shared. After a mid-season win, I accidentally walked into an abnormally tall man at a local establishment. I looked up and saw Alan Anderson. I nodded knowingly. He nodded back. It was a moment. Goodbye Alan, we’ll always have Real Sports.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
If this were the Raptors’ offense, Alan Anderson would get more than 100 words, just like he hoisted more than his share of shots. He’s a chucker. There’s a place for that, but it’s deeper on the bench than Anderson was positioned and at a price less than Anderson will probably command. I like Anderson and accounts are he’s a chill bro. However, inefficient volume scoring is the most readily available commodity in basketball and there’s no reason to give Anderson guaranteed dollars to do something a waiver guy could do, albeit possibly with less defensive versatility. Also: Vince Face.

PhD Steve, Raptors Republic
Alan Anderson- A Haiku
hard to tell the truth
cause should not swear in haiku
but he makes me #$$%@

Sam Holako, Raptors Republic
I’m okay with giving him a two-year $4.5M to $5M contract with the second year partially guaranteed. There is not much else to say really; he’s the ninth guy off the bench at best… I refuse to say anything else about the guy… I mean come on, the guy is one-dimensional and not really a great scorer in bursts like a Jamal Crawford or even a JJ Reddick…. at least Jamario Moon had freakish hops… look, I’m not saying he’s a terrible player, but if he’s an important part of the summer, this team has very big issues heading into next season.

Zarar Siddiqi, Raptors Republic
Getting playing time due to lack of team depth, and performing sporadically and selfishly, Alan Anderson has deservedly gotten some good flak around these parts. Let that not deter us from giving him his due, which is that of a serviceable ninth man. It’s when his class of player bubbles up the rotation, like Jamario Moon and Sonny Weems, is when this franchise starts looking like a joke. The salary cap constraints are such that it’s the Raptors who need Anderson more than vice-versa. The question is whether the capacity of his involvement will be as a filler or not.

Source

Adam Francis, Raptors HQ
I wanted to like Rudy Gay. I did. He’s a nice guy, a potential fan-favourite because of his explosive style of play, and is as close to an elite wing as this club’s had since Mr. Carter went to Jersey.

But unfortunately, he also stands for everything I despise about the Bryan Colangelo era, from the cap-killing contract, to the “hollow” statistical production. In isolation I could probably be a Rudy Gay backer, but taking Colangelo’s past moves into consideration, it’s hard for me to look at Gay as much more than Hedo Part Deux.

Andrew Thompson, Raptors Republic
These one-hundred words have evolved over the last three months. When the Raptors made the trade, they would have been ‘Thirty-seven million, two-hundred and six thousand, two-hundred and fifty six million over the next two years?’ and then repeated that six times. By season’s end, they were ‘shot selection!’ repeated fifty times. And then just last week, they changed again to ‘glasses?!’ repeated a hundred times. In all seriousness, I can make peace with the price of the contract if he takes better shots, which he may hit a better percentage of now that he can, you know, actually see.

Blake Murphy, Raptors Republic
From 19 Feet, a poem
New hope springs
A star within our grasp
But when is a star not a star

A meteor across hardwood
Human flight, collects and deposits
Excitement in Great Flight North

A hero, vanquishing at the last moment
The buzzer sounds, his arms raised
Clutch is thy name

Sisyphus for a day, a month
42 percent but oh, the totals
Efficiency is for the rich
We wretched lust for volume

Separation
A quick step, a rise
Space created, room to fire
Perfection at 19 feet

Summer is long and dark
The hero works
Correct vision, correct decisions
Attack or step back

PhD Steve, Raptors Republic
Rudy Gay- A Haiku
Haters point to stats
to say he’s not franchise guy
but Gay = wins

Sam Holako, Raptors Republic
(In the spirit of Ayn Rand)
The noble Raptor par excellence. The player as player should be. The self-sufficient, self-confident, the end of ends, the reason unto himself, the joy of shooting personified. Above all-the small forward who balls for himself, as balling for oneself should be understood. And who triumphs completely. A player who is what he should be.

Tim W., Raptors Republic
Rudy Gay is a fine player. He’s an elite athlete who has the ability to be one of the top players in the game. But he’s been an underachiever for most of his basketball life, which is why he was drafted eighth in a weak draft and not first. He was given a max contract in the hopes he would one day live up to it. He has not.

Considering teams tend to take on the personality of the best player, how smart is it to build the team around an underachiever who score inefficiently and defends inconsistently?