Around the 7-13 mark I wrote in this blog several entries questioning many of the values and ideas the Raptors organizations operates on. I questioned Chris Bosh’s effectiveness as a leader as things started turning around before the all-star break and the effectiveness of other players such as Calderon, Bargnani and DeRozan on this team. Yes, we all agree that many other players were bad but they had the excuse of being on a new team.
What upsets me most about this team is that they were average then and have proven to be average, or below average at the end of the season. Bryan Colangelo told all of us yesterday that it’s great to be average. He had the guts to point out that during his tenure here this team has averaged 40 win seasons. A cause for celebration I guess since his predecessors has averaged 22 win seasons……
Is Colangelo the one to blame of this mess? Yes, partially. Will he get it right eventually? Yes. I think the Raptors will be very competitive in two years if they can add a major free agent this year and they end up keeping Bosh, Bargnani, DeRozan, Turkoglu and Weems as the core. If I were given 6 years to run the team I would get it right too, eventually. The reason MSL brought him on in the first place was for his ability to produce instant results. For this reason alone they should not renew his contract next year if the Raptors do not make the playoffs.
Three key areas that the Raptors will need to improve on to have multiple 50+ win seasons:
A proven coach – We now know that Triano is not going anywhere next year. This is not going to help this team’s development. They need a proven coach. Who is ideal is hard to tell.
Retaining Chris Bosh. Is Bosh a max player? Absolutely no. Do the Raptors have better options? No. For that reason alone they need to keep him if they want to at least continue to remain competitive.
A Second proven all-star to join the roster. The first area that comes to mind is shooting and/or point guard. I truly do not believe that we can get a quality shooting guard this year through free agency or trade so we should concentrate on acquiring a quality point guard. My opinion here is that the Raptors should go all out to acquire Chris Paul, even if it means giving up Bargnani, Calderon, DeRozan and an expiring contract to acquire him along with the heavy contracts of West and Okafor in the process.
Both West and Okafor are much better defenders, rebounders that Bargnani will ever be and they give you depth on the 4 and 5 positions although neither one of the is a true center.
I just do not want to put up with another average season next year. Had enough of it.
What upsets me most about this team is that they were average then and have proven to be average, or below average at the end of the season. Bryan Colangelo told all of us yesterday that it’s great to be average. He had the guts to point out that during his tenure here this team has averaged 40 win seasons. A cause for celebration I guess since his predecessors has averaged 22 win seasons……
Is Colangelo the one to blame of this mess? Yes, partially. Will he get it right eventually? Yes. I think the Raptors will be very competitive in two years if they can add a major free agent this year and they end up keeping Bosh, Bargnani, DeRozan, Turkoglu and Weems as the core. If I were given 6 years to run the team I would get it right too, eventually. The reason MSL brought him on in the first place was for his ability to produce instant results. For this reason alone they should not renew his contract next year if the Raptors do not make the playoffs.
Three key areas that the Raptors will need to improve on to have multiple 50+ win seasons:
A proven coach – We now know that Triano is not going anywhere next year. This is not going to help this team’s development. They need a proven coach. Who is ideal is hard to tell.
Retaining Chris Bosh. Is Bosh a max player? Absolutely no. Do the Raptors have better options? No. For that reason alone they need to keep him if they want to at least continue to remain competitive.
A Second proven all-star to join the roster. The first area that comes to mind is shooting and/or point guard. I truly do not believe that we can get a quality shooting guard this year through free agency or trade so we should concentrate on acquiring a quality point guard. My opinion here is that the Raptors should go all out to acquire Chris Paul, even if it means giving up Bargnani, Calderon, DeRozan and an expiring contract to acquire him along with the heavy contracts of West and Okafor in the process.
Both West and Okafor are much better defenders, rebounders that Bargnani will ever be and they give you depth on the 4 and 5 positions although neither one of the is a true center.
I just do not want to put up with another average season next year. Had enough of it.
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