Is Sonny Weems Making Antoine Wright Expendable?

[Dr. James Naismith]

Considering everyone who will remain under contract this summer, one would believe we've seen the last of Wright after this season.

I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather retain someone like Antoine who's stepped it up as the season has progressed not to mention has clearly been the vocal leader for this team throughout the year. Assuming we're signing & trading Bosh this summer, I might be one of the few but I wouldn't mind if they were able to package Belinelli along with Chris too. I've been very disappointed with him this season. Showed glimpses of flash, but faded over time. I value Wright's veteran experience and leadership more than Marco's potential talent. JMO

Here’s something to chew on.

Is Sonny Weems making Antoine Wright expendable?

When it comes time to make the summer roster moves – and I sure hope it’s not as a crazy as last summer – do you think Bryan Colangelo’s going to look at the progress Weems has made this season and think, ‘hey, I’ve got Weems and DeRozan and Turkoglu and Belinelli all under contract; do I have room to bring Antoine back at any price?”

I bet he does ask that of himself and, to me, it’s going to be hard decision to make because I quite like what Wright’s been bringing to the table for most of the season. Weems, however, has been one of the best surprises of the season and the Raptors really like what he brings and the promise that he shows.

So the harsh reality is there may not be room for Wright here next season unless Bryan finds a way to divest himself of one of those other four and even then, the GM may want to seek someone he thinks is better as a free agent rather than re-sign Antoine.

What would I do?

As much as I wouldn’t want to, I’d probably roll the dice and let Wright walk barring any other transactions.

Tough call, though. A very tough one

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[dn66]

He's been a vocal leader for himself! I like people who let there game speak for them,
not someone who shoots 1 for 7 and runs his mouth.

[Dave]

Wait, Antoine Wright wasn't expendable to begin with?

[Dr. James Naismith]

He's been a vocal leader for himself! I like people who let there game speak for them,
not someone who shoots 1 for 7 and runs his mouth.

Regardless of his stats, I'd rather have someone who has balls to say something then a team full of mutes. Something that this team is all too familiar with from a player point of view.

[LBF]

if bosh goes to new york i'd be fine with antoine and maybe marco in a package for dave lee, t-mac(reasonable contract) and maybe will chandler.

to be honest i'd rather have t-mac right now than hedon't. i say we try to bring in t-mac and get rid of hedo. but, i'm probably in the minority of bringing back t-mac.

wings: Weems, Derozan,T-Mac, Chandler, maybe marco.

that would give us some extra sparks on offense and derozan, weems, and Chandler? can play decent to good defense.

[Bendit]

Regardless of his stats, I'd rather have someone who has balls to say something then a team full of mutes. Something that this team is all too familiar with from a player point of view.

I agree. I believe by now we should all agree that what this team is/was lacking is defense and leadership. AW provides this. Yes his shooting has been deficient but we must remember that for the most part he was coming in with the second team where there was some pressure to score. No question some ill advised shooting but I am willing to give him benefit because of unfamiliarity with all the new blokes. Now that he is in the starting group hopefully he has a much more defined role (which would be 5th option! or fastbreak layups mostly on offense) which is defense on the opposing sg.

[DonCarlos]

He'll likely be in the group of FAs looking to sign on for the veteran's minimum or slightly higher. I could see him being a last minute signing for the minimum if he's still available around the start of training camp, but I bet BC is going to see how other things shake out first.

[Dave]

He'll likely be in the group of FAs looking to sign on for the veteran's minimum or slightly higher. I could see him being a last minute signing for the minimum if he's still available around the start of training camp, but I bet BC is going to see how other things shake out first.

Yeah, veteran minimum ... it's all Wright is worth anyway.

If Wright gets really lucky some dumb team will overpay him, and, offer him $1.5 million per annum.

[brothersteve]

Wright has turned into a very useful player to have on a team. It's easy to see DD, SW, and AW back next season. Marco Belinelli looks to be the odd man out.

Whether one of DD, SW, or AW is traded/gone in the off-season will depend a lot on what else happens.

Like with the CB4 speculation, isn't this discussion just about a month ahead of itself?

[MattyG-Ray]

Antoine Wright is making Antoine Wright expendable. He doesn't really do much. He is a decent defender, but an incredibly streaky offensive player who has some really poor shot selection at times. There is no way Wright comes back unless Hedo, Demar, or Sonny are move. There is simply is no room since Demar and Sonny should likely see their minutes increase next year. You have to figure Hedo will get 30 minutes a game, and both Weems and Derozan will be getting 25+ minutes each night. That doesn't leave enough to justify signing Wright. Especially when he isn't really an upgrade over Marco, who is already under contract. I think Colangelo would be happy to go into next year with Hedo, Weems, DeRozan, and Marco as the 4 wing players in the rotation, with a second round pick as the 5th player or perhaps a veteran at the league minimum.

As a Raps fan you have to be really excited about getting to watch Demar and Sonny next year. It will be nice to finally have some solid two way wing players on this team. Those two have the potential to be very good NBA players, and very exciting players.