I've seen a lot of talk about the players getting this player and that player, and I'm astounded at some of them. I've been saying it on other individual threads, but I thought I'd put it all in one place. Keep in mind that I'm not necessarily saying these players aren't good (sometimes I am), but simply are not right for the Raptors.
Players the Raptors should never, ever get:
David Lee - Would be an absolutely horrible fit in a sign and trade for Bosh. Would give the Raptors not only the worst defensive frontcourt in the league, but possibly the worst of all time. If Bosh gives the Raptors 40 wins (45 if healthy), then a player who is a worse defender, scorer and passer than Bosh would most definitely send the Raptors back to the lottery, but with yet another long term contracted player who doesn't make the team better. As the best player on the Knicks, he led them to 29 wins. And he actually had better defensive players around him.
Devin Harris - David Harris isn't a bad player, but he is extremely overrated. He does one thing well, and that's score. He's not a good shooter, defender or passer, and he's been injury prone his entire career. His teammates in New Jersey have constantly complained about his unwillingness to pass the ball and penchant for forcing shots. The fact that he had an All-Star calibre center, and a few half decent players on his team and still was able to lead his team to 12 wins tells you something. If the Raptors had no half decent PGs, then I can see it, but they already have two pretty good ones. Harris would not be an upgrade.
Rodney Stuckey - Why Raptor fans have such an obsession with shoot first PG's who don't pass much, I will never understand. Again, he's not a bad player and would be pretty good in the right situation. That situation is not the Raptors. Again, he's really not an upgrade over what they have now. He's extremely similar to Devin Harris. He's a high volume scorer who shoots a low percentage, especially from beynod the arc.
Baron Davis - (cut and pasted from another thread, because I"m lazy) Davis is a 30 year old, generally overweight player who relies mostly on athleticism, has missed at least 15 games 5 of the last 7 years, is often unmotivated, has a CAREER .409 FG% and has never been a very good defender. The Clippers biggest mistake in the last ten years (and there's been a lot of them), was overpaying Baron Davis. He's basically only had two good years in his ten years in the NBA, and that was on a Golden State team where he was given completely free reign. There's probably a reason he's not in the Clippers future plans. Nor should he be. In anyone's.
Corey Maggette - (cut and pasted from another thread, because I"m still lazy) Maggette came into the league with a lot of potential, but continually playing for lottery teams has made him into an extremely selfish player who stopped playing defense years ago and has picked up so many bad habits playing for bad teams he will never be able to contribute on a contending team. He needs the ball all the time to be effective because he's a volume scorer, but he doesn't do anything else. He's the anti-Shane Battier.
Michael Beasley - A very talented offensive player who is extremely inconsistent and doesn't play very good defense (notice the theme, here?). Pairing him with either Bargnani or Turkoglu would be bad. Pairing him with both would be disastrous.
Charlie Villenueva - He's a better rebounding, worse defensive, Andrea Bargnani, who avoids the paint at all costs and might actually make Bargnani look consistent. Enough said?
Jeff Green - Bear in mind, I like Jeff Green, but as a PF, he's not very good. He's a poor rebounder and defender at that position. Bosh would be a perfect fit in Oklahoma, but unless the Raptors are able to move Turkoglu and play Green at SF, they should NOT get him in return.
Ben Gordon - Gordon would be a fantastic third guard who could give 20 mpg of instant offense, making $5 million a season. As it is, he's a 6'1 SG who scores, but does absolutely nothing else, and he's making more than $45 million over the next four years. And just to keep this theme going, he doesn't play defense.
If a player is not above average defensively, the Raptors should not even look in their direction. I don't care what else they do well, the Raptors were the worst defensive team in the league. Adding mediocre to poor defensive players is not going to improve the team. It's going to make them a perennial lottery team. If that is your goal, great. If it's not, then why take on players who are not going to improve your team?
And considering the Raptors were at their best when they moved the ball well, getting a shoot first PG who dominates the ball, probably isn't the smartest thing to do, is it?
Players the Raptors should never, ever get:
David Lee - Would be an absolutely horrible fit in a sign and trade for Bosh. Would give the Raptors not only the worst defensive frontcourt in the league, but possibly the worst of all time. If Bosh gives the Raptors 40 wins (45 if healthy), then a player who is a worse defender, scorer and passer than Bosh would most definitely send the Raptors back to the lottery, but with yet another long term contracted player who doesn't make the team better. As the best player on the Knicks, he led them to 29 wins. And he actually had better defensive players around him.
Devin Harris - David Harris isn't a bad player, but he is extremely overrated. He does one thing well, and that's score. He's not a good shooter, defender or passer, and he's been injury prone his entire career. His teammates in New Jersey have constantly complained about his unwillingness to pass the ball and penchant for forcing shots. The fact that he had an All-Star calibre center, and a few half decent players on his team and still was able to lead his team to 12 wins tells you something. If the Raptors had no half decent PGs, then I can see it, but they already have two pretty good ones. Harris would not be an upgrade.
Rodney Stuckey - Why Raptor fans have such an obsession with shoot first PG's who don't pass much, I will never understand. Again, he's not a bad player and would be pretty good in the right situation. That situation is not the Raptors. Again, he's really not an upgrade over what they have now. He's extremely similar to Devin Harris. He's a high volume scorer who shoots a low percentage, especially from beynod the arc.
Baron Davis - (cut and pasted from another thread, because I"m lazy) Davis is a 30 year old, generally overweight player who relies mostly on athleticism, has missed at least 15 games 5 of the last 7 years, is often unmotivated, has a CAREER .409 FG% and has never been a very good defender. The Clippers biggest mistake in the last ten years (and there's been a lot of them), was overpaying Baron Davis. He's basically only had two good years in his ten years in the NBA, and that was on a Golden State team where he was given completely free reign. There's probably a reason he's not in the Clippers future plans. Nor should he be. In anyone's.
Corey Maggette - (cut and pasted from another thread, because I"m still lazy) Maggette came into the league with a lot of potential, but continually playing for lottery teams has made him into an extremely selfish player who stopped playing defense years ago and has picked up so many bad habits playing for bad teams he will never be able to contribute on a contending team. He needs the ball all the time to be effective because he's a volume scorer, but he doesn't do anything else. He's the anti-Shane Battier.
Michael Beasley - A very talented offensive player who is extremely inconsistent and doesn't play very good defense (notice the theme, here?). Pairing him with either Bargnani or Turkoglu would be bad. Pairing him with both would be disastrous.
Charlie Villenueva - He's a better rebounding, worse defensive, Andrea Bargnani, who avoids the paint at all costs and might actually make Bargnani look consistent. Enough said?
Jeff Green - Bear in mind, I like Jeff Green, but as a PF, he's not very good. He's a poor rebounder and defender at that position. Bosh would be a perfect fit in Oklahoma, but unless the Raptors are able to move Turkoglu and play Green at SF, they should NOT get him in return.
Ben Gordon - Gordon would be a fantastic third guard who could give 20 mpg of instant offense, making $5 million a season. As it is, he's a 6'1 SG who scores, but does absolutely nothing else, and he's making more than $45 million over the next four years. And just to keep this theme going, he doesn't play defense.
If a player is not above average defensively, the Raptors should not even look in their direction. I don't care what else they do well, the Raptors were the worst defensive team in the league. Adding mediocre to poor defensive players is not going to improve the team. It's going to make them a perennial lottery team. If that is your goal, great. If it's not, then why take on players who are not going to improve your team?
And considering the Raptors were at their best when they moved the ball well, getting a shoot first PG who dominates the ball, probably isn't the smartest thing to do, is it?
Comment