Reggie Evans' Role With The Raptors

[Apollo]

So for the past month now I've assumed Reggie Evans is done in Toronto. They re-signed Johnson to a big deal(for his talents), drafted Ed Davis who is like Reggie in many ways only more talented and they also signed Kleiza who is a tough guy in his own right but again, more talented than Evans. That's three guys I'm counting who can deliver a similar service at PF and then some to the Raptors. The recent rumor of their interest in Amundson only would add more redundancy. All this along with the fact that he is in the final year of his contract had led me to believe his days were numbered. However, he's still here and there are zero rumors circulating about him as we speak. We are entering the dog days of summer. A time when little action occurs in the NBA, sort of management's summer holidays. Right now it seems more and more likely that Reggie is still in Toronto for camp and maybe beyond. So what's the plan? Well, a quick scan of the current forwards shows us that Johnson and Davis are probably going to spend more of their time at the 4. Ed is not yet big enough to hang with the centers and Amir probably never will be. Neither are offensively skilled enough to handle much time at the 3. We already know Linus is visioned to be a SF for the Raptors and as it stands right now probably a starter. There are questions about the center spot. After Bargnani all that's there is Solomon Alabi, a kid who doesn't seem ready to play in the NBA just yet. Dwayne Jones is a wild card who the Raptors admitted they knew little about but he's working out with Ed Davis now and Raptors brass were going to check him out. I've only seen him play once and that was limited. I'm writing him off for now until I hear or see some good things. Oh and Dorsey may not make the team so scratch that. All this suggests that maybe, just maybe Reggie sticks around and is used at center backing up Andrea from time to time. Reggie is big and stong enough even if he's on the short side for center. He's also got a toughness and badness in him that no one else on the team can come close to matching as of right now. The bench rotation looks to be Barbosa, Jack(or Calderon), Weems, Davis and the rest of the time is up for grabs. Alabi will probably spend time in D-league. I think Banks and Belinelli will both be moved sometime between now and the deadline as they're redundant and have expiring contracts; neither is in line for PT. The weakness on the bench seems to be size, rebounding and toughness. Enter Reggie Evans. What do you all think?

[MangoKid]

Reggie will be gone sooner rather than later. He should probably be dealt in the next couple of weeks. If Amundson is signed, that greases the wheels even more. I'd love to keep Reggie because he's a vet and he's a crafty and scrappy guy - he'd be someone I'd want my young bigs to be learning from.

[Arsenalist]

Colangelo already tried to trade him once and on his interview on the Fan 590, he said there are lots of deals to be talked about. I'd be shocked if Evans is on the roster come October.

[Hassan]

ya same I think reggie's role is going to go to either amundsons( if he comes) or joey dorsey

[Bendit]

Here's one for the "I hope that..." file:

Here's hoping that Dwayne Jones turns out to be this year's version of Sonny Weems....a throw in, afterthought who noone knew too much about. And look what happened!

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dwayne-Jones-438/

[Get High Monkey]

Reggie will be gone sooner rather than later. He should probably be dealt in the next couple of weeks. If Amundson is signed, that greases the wheels even more. I'd love to keep Reggie because he's a vet and he's a crafty and scrappy guy - he'd be someone I'd want my young bigs to be learning from.

Last year Reggie was our designated "tough guy" the guy who - like in hockey - is signed to "drop the gloves" and protect the skill players. Unfortunately after a tenacious pre-season campaign, Evans was sidelined with an injury.

In his new role as cheerleader and hype man, Evans shined. He hardly sat down (perhaps that contributed to the lengthy recovery of his ankle -type injury) and he was the first to holler at the young players and dish out high fives like perfectly placed passes. When he did finally return to action it was clear that Reggie was laboring to get up and down the court - his legs weren't there and it showed. As a testament to his heart and determination Evans was able to body and clear space around the painted area but as far as getting that lift, it wasn't there.

Evans struggles around the basket and he doesn't have the skill or finesse to collect himself and go up strong. To his credit, he often draws fouls - but his free thrown shooting was inconsistent. If you’re a player like Reggie, who is more likely to get to the charity stripe then make a layup, you must be able to hit your free throws at a high percentage.

Now, it seems Brian Colangelo understands that simply having one bully type player on your team does not make it tough. So, he has been proactive signing long, athletic, tough, rebounding, defensive minded players (at least it seems that way - I am weary of making this statement to early).

With the addition of these types of players, it seems that Evans has been left out of the loop. In saying that I think the best move for Evans would be to reprise his cheerleader role - but this time dressed in a Raptors uniform as apposed to street clothes. Let him joke around with our two young high flyers (Derozan and Weems), let him holler at Ed Davis when Davis swats a ball into the third row. AND if and only AND we are winning by a considerable margin, throw the dog a bone (shout out JYD) and let Evans enter the game to an already hyped ACC and throw some elbows, grab a board, go for tip ins and make 1 of 2 free throws!

And, if nothing else, we need a tough guy to sit beside and protect scary ass Jay Triano!

[Apollo]

Colangelo already tried to trade him once and on his interview on the Fan 590, he said there are lots of deals to be talked about. I'd be shocked if Evans is on the roster come October.

Hope you're right.

[Balls of Steel]

Funny how last year, everyone was waiting on Reggie. You know, as soon as he comes in, all will be better. I even remember Colangelo being praised for trading Kapono for him. Lately, everyone wants to trade him for ankle tape. It's sad how fickle we are as fans (media included). If he sticks, he can be serviceable. Just pair him with a big who will score. I dunno, personally, his best days were in Seattle back in the day. If he's here he gets used, if not so what? And for Amundson, no. We have Dorsey in Limbo. We need to stop signing players that warm the bench. If we need to sign some more players to meet league minimum, perhaps we can look at filling the SF position.

[Pizzaman]

He's a tough big man that plays bad defense, is slow and lead footed, and the worst problem is he's as dumb as a sackfull of hammers!! When he did play he quickly got Raptoritis and thought of himself as an offensive weapon. He needs to go and I hope very strongly he's gone before the season starts. If he's still here he should be very very deep on the bench and rarely ever see the floor.

[insight_tor]

Is the Dance Pack tryout still open for sign up? That's where Reggie should go ... the dance pack. He is all heart but no brain.

[Bendit]

Funny how last year, everyone was waiting on Reggie. You know, as soon as he comes in, all will be better. I even remember Colangelo being praised for trading Kapono for him. Lately, everyone wants to trade him for ankle tape. It's sad how fickle we are as fans (media included). If he sticks, he can be serviceable. Just pair him with a big who will score. I dunno, personally, his best days were in Seattle back in the day. If he's here he gets used, if not so what? And for Amundson, no. We have Dorsey in Limbo. We need to stop signing players that warm the bench. If we need to sign some more players to meet league minimum, perhaps we can look at filling the SF position.

I think there were at least a couple of reasons for this...a) Kapono was a noodle and couldnt even make his 3s that he was brought in so it became a salary dump and Reg had a history of grabbing player's nuts... b) most fans have just a rudimentary idea of another ballplayer and seen him just a few times if at all.

Of course once the player is exposed during showtime game-in and out all the warts show up...and tada!
But 6 mill. as a salary for Reggie?!.. and probably the same people complain about Amir's contract (in today's dollars).

[dn66]

We should use him as a chearleader until opportunity presents itself to turn
his expiring contract into a draft pick. Dorsey/Alabi should play behind Bargs.

[MangoKid]

Both Dorsey and Alabi are raw and haven't proved anything except for kicking some arse in some summer league games against scrubs and journeymen. We gotta stop bigging up Dorsey. I'm all for giving the guy a shot, but I don't think he's backup NBA material.

[SirChillyMost]

If he's on the roster come November- mabey. As long as he doesn't post up- just rebound and defend, Evans is a good role player off the bench. I don't know why folks want to trade him or Banks as both a solid bench players who actually play defense and add veteran depth to TO's roster.

[Apollo]

I think it's because their expiring contracts have lots of value to teams looking to cut cap. There is a good chance to get back much better talent in such a trade.