You don't like the extension? Is that what you think? With $40 million in the bank, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!

A little bit lost in the excitement of opening night Wednesday were the morning rumours that the Raptors and DeMar DeRozan were getting close to signing an extension, followed by the eventual confirmation just before game time. The specifics: four years, $40 million, with incentives built in that could push the total value over $46 million during the course of the deal.

Those numbers are staggering. DeMar is now making more money than Tim Duncan. Let that sink in for a second. The Republic made their views on a potential extension clear on Tuesday, and although I understand (and, to some extent, agree with) the sentiment behind the “wait and see” approach with DeMar no matter the contract terms, I wasn’t opposed to offering an extension as long as the numbers were reasonable for a player of his caliber.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. Brian Colangelo and the rest of the Raptors brass have made a bold statement with this deal – that they consider DeMar to be a cornerstone of this franchise, one that will be here for the foreseeable future, for better or worse, and while I do admire the loyalty they’re showing their core players with this signing, from an economic standpoint this one is more than a little perplexing.

Before I get into that, though, let me offer this disclaimer. I’m a big fan of DeMar. He’s proven to be a very useful scorer over his 3 years in the league and has shown enough flashes of dynamic athleticism that it can be argued he hasn’t quite reached his potential. On top of that, he’s been a great Raptor from an intangibles standpoint – someone who’s been great with fans and media, who seems committed to and invested in being part of the Raptors rebuilding process, and who’s clearly worked very hard to improve his game in the off-season. After the Vince/T-Mac sagas, it’s hard not to appreciate a guy like that.

That said, I really don’t like this extension. The upside of signing a young player to a deal like this is to essentially lock in an asset at a fixed price, with the hope that during the course of the contract the player outperforms its value. With DeMar, it was simple – the Raptors had the choice of extending him now, or letting him play out the year and negotiating in the offseason, when he would have been a restricted free agent and potentially sign a costly offer sheet.

If the Raptors were committed to matching DeMar’s offer sheet in the offseason, they were essentially rolling the dice that what they could negotiate now would be less than said deal. Basically, the economic argument for the extension is that Colangelo and the Raptors brass believe that signing a deal with DeMar now will end up saving them money if he has a breakout season this year.

That argument kind of goes out the window when you sign him to an extension of this value, though. By most accounts, DeMar’s best comparables in the league (in terms of production, not playing style) are scoring wings like OJ Mayo and Nick Young, and though it can be argued that he has more upside at this point in his career than both of them, this extension has him making as much as both of them combined annually.

Basically, let’s put it this way – the Raptors brass must think DeMar is going to have a hell of a year to justify $10 million per as a “discount.” I just find it hard to believe that he would command much more than that on the open market, even with plenty of teams with cap space throwing around offer sheets, and so it seems like the Raps have thrown away a year of hedging their bets with DeMar, waiting and seeing what kind of player they have, for potential savings of a couple of million dollars a year at most. For a team touting its cap flexibility going forward, this isn’t exactly the kind of move that inspires confidence in our management’s financial decisions. If any player on this team screamed “wait and see,” it was DeMar.

Colangelo explained in this interview with Eric Koreen that the market for these extensions was set earlier in the day, and that DeMar’s number is reasonable given the amount the other players in his class were making, but this argument doesn’t hold sway for me – it’s not like they were bidding against another organization, and using other team’s signings to justify your own is a bit of a sign of uncertainty in your own decision making, in my opinion. To use a parenting cliché, if the other GMs jumped of a cliff, Bryan, would you do that too?

On the bigger picture side, it also removes an asset from the Raptor’s trade toolbox that could have been used to bring in a more established wing player this season. Those Jose/DeMar/etc. for Gay or Iguodala rumours this summer feel like they were broken years ago. This contract certainly doesn’t make DeMar untradeable, by any stretch (again, someone was going to offer him $10 million this summer), but it does show that management feels like he’s a big part of the future and substantially lowers his value on the open market for a contender looking for a young, cheap scoring option this season. Basically, don’t expect any big trades from the Raptors this season besides a possible Jose move, as the team seems committed to this core group for the foreseeable future.

The bright side in all of this is that we do have a reasonably effective, young wing scorer locked up for the next four years, and that DeMar’s extension does still leave the Raptors with plenty of room under the cap after next summer. On its face though, it does seem like we could have signed a player who gives us a reasonable facsimile of what DeMar does on a nightly basis for a fraction of the cost (even with the “Canadian premium” that the Raptors pay to lure free agents), especially if T-Ross develops the way the team is hoping he does.

In many ways, though, this year just became an even bigger one than it was for DeMar pre-extension: if he’s really as committed to the team as it seems like he is, he’s going to have to raise his game a notch to not only increase his stature around the league, but also to protect the reputations of management, because early returns seem to suggest that this one might not have been Colangelo’s finest hour.

Thoughts? Post in the comments or tweet at me @garretthinchey.

Think of this move one part Colangelo taking care of a veteran friend on an expiring, and one part getting something for the guy before he signs with another team in the off-season. We can argue all we want about his value, but a 2nd round pick sounds about right; would have been nice to get a pick in the low-to-mid 30s, but I can live with this.

Just to recap for the tankcity theorists:

• Calderon is day-to-day, and with the Balyesstricity rhetoric in high gear, sounds like he wont be rushed back. This weakens the 2nd unit significantly since Forbes gets thrust into a larger role
• Barbosa gets traded to the Pacers for a 2nd rounder, also diluting the talent on the bench; could see a larger role for Butler (kill us all) for the remainder of the season
• Bargnani’s being eased back into the rotation, but isn’t back to his early season form; could have his minutes slashed or shelved in an effort to keep him healthy for next season and maintain a maximum lottery balls

Update
As 2damkule pointed out in the comments, the Raptors will be getting back a $7.9million trade exception since the Pacers were already under the cap. Historically, these TPE’s have never been used and just expired, so don’t hold out hope they might be used to bring someone else back; however, it is possible.

Update 2
Anthony Carter was apparently part of the deal, so the Raptors are sans 2 players in the rotation, and minus some salar; they will need to remedy this before the end of the season.

Update 3
Hollinger has given the Raptors a ‘B’ on the trade (need Insider); can’t say I disagree.

You have to love that he was making omelets in the morning, and putting the final touches on a big contract in the afternoon. This will probably mean the end of Rasho Nesterovic and Patrick O’Bryant in Toronto, since we also grabbed Davis and Alabi in the draft.

This deal also provides a bit of insurance in the event that Bosh lands elsewhere (you do have to take the fact that the Miami rumours weren’t such a slam-dunk since nothing happened on the first day of free agency); although Amir will have to show that he can consistently play 30+ minutes a night without being hindered by foul trouble. I like this move a lot since you can never have enough young/long/athletic bigs who are aggressive in and around the basket, congrats kid, make us proud.

The Raptors just signed Joey Dorsey for the remainder of the season. The first thing that came to mind was if I’m going to explain Joey Dorsey to the Raptors fans who aren’t familiar with him, it’s going to feel like one of those overly friendly, happy and annoying training videos you have to watch when you start working retail in a clothing store or some kind of restaurant. Here goes:

Hey, there! So you’ve decided to sign Joey Dorsey to be a part of your professional basketball team; that’s awesome! Joey’s a monster of a man and he’s sure to kill it on the boards. You should be super-psyched to have him as a part of your organization. He’s a huge guy – 6’8” and around 270 pounds (sorry but like most Americans, your metric system confuses me and I can’t do the math to tell you how many meters and grams he is).

Just how big is 6’8” and 270 pounds? That’s big enough to fit three and a half Earl Boykins inside and still have room for a reading lamp. Joey Dorsey has been somewhat of a D-league champion, getting groomed for the smaller stage with competition that he can learn against. But you’re probably asking yourself, “Just what is Joey Dorsey going to bring to MY Raptors?”

Super question and thanks for asking!

Here’s what you need to know about Joey Dorsey:

• He’s already your second best post defender behind Reggie Evans. He’s a big, quick and agile big man who can’t be bullied inside.
• He’s a very apt rebounder. He won’t ever play big minutes for your team nor should he. But when he’s in, you’re unlikely to lose the rebounding battle for those few minutes. He rebounded around 12 per 36 minutes with the Kings. Before that he was close to 17 per 36 minutes with the Rockets.
• He’s a very likable person. He’ll talk to you and be quite engaging. He just seems to like to have a good time.

But here are some things to remember with Joey that you’ll want to put in the back of your brain in case it ever comes up.

• Don’t ever let him make a basketball decision outside of rebound and outlet pass.
• Make sure the clocks in his apartment and vehicles are set to the correct time. The Kings released him with just a couple of weeks left in the season because they were worried about his character. It’s not that he’s a bad guy at all. But apparently, rumors are that he didn’t show up to some practices and workouts on time. The Kings were worried about this kind of laissez-faire attitude rubbing off on the young Kings core so they decided to release him. I’m guessing a non-playoff team releasing a young, defensive-minded big man with not much time remaining in the regular season when it isn’t an attempt to save money or open up a roster spot can be a little alarming for some people.
• Because of this issue with not taking things seriously (like showing up on time), you probably shouldn’t let him near guys like Sonny Weems or DeMar DeRozan.
• He’s going to foul and foul a lot. If you thought Greg Oden had fouling issues, just wait until you get a hold of Joey Dorsey.
• Be sure not to feed him after midnight.

And that’s about it! Now you should be armed with the knowledge and tools for rooting for Joey Dorsey. You’re going to love the way he jokes around with guys on the bench. If you have any further questions or concerns about this or any of your team rooting needs, please feel free to ask your local general manager.

Doug Smith just reported that the Raptors have placed Pops Mensah-Bonsu on waivers. They apparently will try to sign him back to a 10-day contract if he clears waivers, but that doesn’t look like it will happen.

You have to figure with Evans coming back at some point, and the need for another point guard, or a real backup shooting guard or some sort of trade where we take back one more player, that this was inevitable. I like this as it gives Amir Johnson those minutes that he should have been getting anyways. Thanks for the effort dude, hope it works out for ya.