Why I Don't Expect A Raptors Trade of Significance Between Now and Opening Night

[Buddahfan]

1. From the Triano interview it is clear that the Raptors management is working with Bargnani to become a better defender against the opposing centers. At this point it seems to me that they are not looking to move him to PF and sit Davis on the bench gathering splinters in the butt while he sits behind Johnson and Bargnani at PF. Johnson can not guard anyone over 250-255 very well. He just does not have a big enough body nor is he that good a defender to compensate for this lack of weight. So in effect Johnson can only guard a limited number of centers in the league. So there is no plan to move Johnson to center and Bargnani to PF.

2. The Raptors already have their backup center for 10-11 despite what some posters think of his ability to play in the NBA.

3. Calderon is not going anywhere between now and opening night or maybe even for all of 10-11..

4. Davis injury definitely will negatively affect his performance in 10-11 especially before the all-star game. However to my knowledge Davis has no history of knee problems and this injury is not a career threatening injury. So the Raptors at this point are not going to trade for a body that is better that is better than Davis.

5. The Raptors just invested $30 million in Johnson to say nothing of all the off-season time that the coaches have spent with him especially sending English to Los Angeles to work with Johnson

6. Barganani, Johnson and Davis are not going to get traded in 10-11.

7. When Davis finally puts on a Raptors uniform during the regular season he is not going to sit at the end of the bench for 48 minutes a game.

If the Raptors do make a trade or between now and opening night it will be an insignificant one.

Just my opinion

[mcHAPPY]

1. From the Triano interview it is clear that the Raptors management is working with Bargnani to become a better defender against the opposing centers. At this point it seems to me that they are not looking to move him to PF and sit Davis on the bench gathering splinters in the butt while he sits behind Johnson and Bargnani at PF. Johnson can not guard anyone over 250-255 very well. He just does not have a big enough body nor is he that good a defender to compensate for this lack of weight. So in effect Johnson can only guard a limited number of centers in the league. So there is no plan to move Johnson to center and Bargnani to PF.

2. The Raptors already have their backup center for 10-11 despite what some posters think of his ability to play in the NBA.

3. Calderon is not going anywhere between now and opening night or maybe even for all of 10-11..

4. Davis injury definitely will negatively affect his performance in 10-11 especially before the all-star game. However to my knowledge Davis has no history of knee problems and this injury is not a career threatening injury. So the Raptors at this point are not going to trade for a body that is better that is better than Davis.

5. The Raptors just invested $30 million in Johnson to say nothing of all the off-season time that the coaches have spent with him especially sending English to Los Angeles to work with Johnson

6. Barganani, Johnson and Davis are not going to get traded in 10-11.

7. When Davis finally puts on a Raptors uniform during the regular season he is not going to sit at the end of the bench for 48 minutes a game.

If the Raptors do make a trade or between now and opening night it will be an insignificant one.

Just my opinion

The quote that stuck out in my mind regarding Bargnani is "he will play PF on O and C on D." (BTW I think someone made that comment on one of these threads before - might have been you Buddah - when I was talking about getting a true C to play with him).

In reality this would be the greatest thing to happen, here is why:

Bargs plays solid 1 on 1 D i.e. man up and body up. Personally I think he is a good 1on1 defender.
On offense he is a PF with guard shooting ability.
Get a PF (cough*DAVIS*cough) who is athletic and a great weak side help shot blocker who doesn't have much outside game but a developing post and mid range game, rebounds hard, and has a soft touch when he is not trying to rip off the rim (cough*DAVIS*cough) who is ideally left-handed. While waiting for this player to develop or emerge, Johnson does a great job of filling in or taking this position himself and leaving the Raps with a league envious first big off the bench.

If the 4-team Melo trade rumour is true, I don't see Calderon getting moved until the trade deadline at earliest and possibly not at all this season.

[Bouncepass]

If the 4-team Melo trade rumour is true, I don't see Calderon getting moved until the trade deadline at earliest and possibly not at all this season.

If the rumoured 4-way Melo trade goes through, the Nets will have at PG Jordan Farmar and... well, just Jordan Farmar. How do Raptors fans feel about a Calderon (with or without Banks or Evans) for Troy Murphy trade? Murphy is a $12 million expiring this year. Would add a bit of toughness and rebounding on defence, but probably couldn't play alongside Bargnani much. The big asset would be the expiring contract, which would clear all of Calderon's cap space off next summer.

[mcHAPPY]

If the rumoured 4-way Melo trade goes through, the Nets will have at PG Jordan Farmar and... well, just Jordan Farmar. How do Raptors fans feel about a Calderon (with or without Banks or Evans) for Troy Murphy trade? Murphy is a $12 million expiring this year. Would add a bit of toughness and rebounding on defence, but probably couldn't play alongside Bargnani much. The big asset would be the expiring contract, which would clear all of Calderon's cap space off next summer.

Unless Augustine ended up in NJ.

As for Calderon (remember it is his contract, not the person/player) I would take anything that returns and expiring contract and clears his contract off the books for next year.

*Actually on second thought, in sending Favours to Denver, NJ would not have a legit PF left if Murphy was gone. So while I would trade Calderon for Murphy, I highly doubt NJ would.

[GameBreaker]

Bargnani's problem is his HELP D. He sucks at it. His positioning of his arms and his stance shows lethargic (hope I spelled it right). His lateral movement in practice is different in the game because it's a different opponent most every night. He hasn't stepped up in that department because he's had Bosh and others doing his defense most nights. He's offensive oriented, in my opinion. He almost looks like he LETS bigs beat him off the bounce because someone else was there helping him. When it's his turn to return the favor, he's lazy on it. He CAN block, he can change shots, sometimes, but his overall D sucks. If he actually JUMPED when a player shot, he'd block a lot more shots. He has no lift.

[Buddahfan]

Its going to be full speed ahead for the AA line; Amir and Andrea

CNR Mountain Class Steam Locomotive 6060

http://www.michaeltaylor.ca/CNR/cn6060.shtml

[Hassan]

calderon wont be going anywhere i think, I agree with the writer i think BC is just getting cover for davis

[Introcollapse]

I agree with you, Buddah. However, if this NJ-DEN-CHA-UTA trade goes down...NJ *might* want a better point guard.

I can dream, can't I?

[Rapsrebuild13]

Now would be the perfect opportunity for Toronto to get a little payback on Charlotte. If the Nets are willing to move Devin Harris then BC should try to bump Charlotte right out of the trade picture. Its rumored that the Nets want a replacement PG if they move Harris so why not send them Calderon and try to appease the Jazz with a package of picks and expiring contracts instead of a Fat Diaw. This would give the Raps a young speedy PG perfectly suited to run their uptempo offense. Also it would be a little bit of Karma biting MJ in the arse.

Thoughts????

[Introcollapse]

Now would be the perfect opportunity for Toronto to get a little payback on Charlotte. If the Nets are willing to move Devin Harris then BC should try to bump Charlotte right out of the trade picture. Its rumored that the Nets want a replacement PG if they move Harris so why not send them Calderon and try to appease the Jazz with a package of picks and expiring contracts instead of a Fat Diaw. This would give the Raps a young speedy PG perfectly suited to run their uptempo offense. Also it would be a little bit of Karma biting MJ in the arse.

Thoughts????

I wish. But Calderon's contract is still ridiculous. No team wants to touch that unless we throw in our 2011 pick...which isn't happening under any circumstances.

[JoePanini]

The quote that stuck out in my mind regarding Bargnani is "he will play PF on O and C on D." (BTW I think someone made that comment on one of these threads before - might have been you Buddah - when I was talking about getting a true C to play with him).

I think that was one of my first posts

[Balls of Steel]

According to ESPN reports, NJ is trying hard to include Augustine in any deal. Charlotte is obviously hesitant to include him in any deal. The recent developments in the Anthony trade is interesting. That, and the fact that New Orleans doesn't seem to be doing much to appease their disgruntled star in Paul. The fact that we still own a massive TPE and a looming new CBA in the horizon makes things interesting.

For this one, I don't understand why BC insists that they need a true center. I mean, there's no plan to move Bargs to the 4 as they have Johnson and Davis there. There's also not much out there by way of a true center as well. It simply is confusing.

As for Calderon, ya, I agree, he's not going anywhere. I just don't want him to be the second coming of Turk in the locker room.

[mcHAPPY]

According to ESPN reports, NJ is trying hard to include Augustine in any deal. Charlotte is obviously hesitant to include him in any deal. The recent developments in the Anthony trade is interesting. That, and the fact that New Orleans doesn't seem to be doing much to appease their disgruntled star in Paul. The fact that we still own a massive TPE and a looming new CBA in the horizon makes things interesting.

For this one, I don't understand why BC insists that they need a true center. I mean, there's no plan to move Bargs to the 4 as they have Johnson and Davis there. There's also not much out there by way of a true center as well. It simply is confusing.

As for Calderon, ya, I agree, he's not going anywhere. I just don't want him to be the second coming of Turk in the locker room.

NO added Pargo, I think they are done with the backup PG now. He played well there a couple of seasons ago.

I'm with you on the true C but the more I think about Triano's and JoePanini's comment about Bargnani play the 4 of O and the 5 on D it makes sense. Someone wrote about Barg's defense 1on1 in the post not being good but I think Buddah put up some stats showing he did better than Bosh and Amir last season. Bargs problem is the help D. Hopefully Davis develops and in the interim Johnson fills in with being an explosive weak side shot blocker, aggressive rebounder, and good hands around the basket. I think that will work. Plus that theory works even better when you consider the smaller and more athletic PF's in the league who Bargnani would have no chance in defending - Josh Smith, Tyrus Thomas, etc.

I would be shocked in Calderon became the second coming of Turk. At the core I think Jose is a good person with honour and pride and Turk, well, is not.

[Buddahfan]

Calderon's game last season was negatively impacted by

1. The presence of Turk
2. Injuries


It would not surprise me if Calderon in 10-11 returned close to the level of play on offense that he exhibited four seasons ago in 2007-08

In 2007-08 Calderon's ranking among all NBA point guards

Category-----------Number----Rank
---------------------------------------
Win Shares---------10.2--------6
Offensive Rating ----127--------1 tied

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...l=&order_by=ws