Summer 2011: What our beloved Raptors should do. Concretely.

[Balls of Steel]

Trade Bargs.

[j bean]

If the Raptors most urgent need is a center who is a big presence in the paint and Kanter is over 270lbs and 6' 11'' at 18 yrs old shouldn't he be given a lot of consideration by the Raps. Admittedly all I've seen about him is a couple of videos that accentuated his scoring but he has a nice touch under the hoop, from the perimeter and he rebounds well. The only knock I've read is possible knee problems.

[planetmars]

We need to improve our D and continue to develop our youth. That is really the only thing the Raptors should be worried about. Defensive centers are rare. If we cannot get one, then we need to replace Triano with a coach who actually cares about D. Trading Bargs is not the full answer either.

JJ is currently the only wing/guard we have that can play D, and he's really a bench player. Kleiza's okay but he'll be out for the first few months in the new season. Amir, Davis and Reggie are too small to really be effective when protecting the rim. We had the second worst opp FG% and 3FG% in the league. That is not entirely Barg's fault. Sure he doesn't help matters, but he's not the only one to blame.

[Mr.Grinch]

dont trade bargnani. we shouldn't trade him for the sake of trading him.

[Raptors_]

Bayless iis garbage, he only played nice because calderon was out and he was get PT automatically. If we have a shot at drafting Irwing take him ASAP. He's a franchise type PG and Bayless will be nothing more then a rotation player. Kemba Walker and brandon knight do sound tempting but irwing all day !

its irving...

[charlesnba23]

If we get the 3rd pick:
1. Keep Jay Triano and Bryan Colangelo
2. Draft Enes Kanter
3. Trade Bargnani for a starting SF
4. Sign Alexis Ajinça
5. Sign a veteran shooting guard who can shoot the three (Anthony Parker?)
5. Sign a defensive point guard who won't ask for a lot of minutes
6. Sign a veteran power forward who won't ask for a lot of minutes

It would look like this:
C: Kanter/Ajinça/Alabi
PF: Davis/Johnson/?
SF: ?/Johnson/Kleiza
SG: DeRozan/Barbosa/Parker
PG: Bayless/Calderon/?

Head Coach: Jay Triano GM: Bryan Colangelo

[TSN3]

Kanter definitely fits the team's needs, but I'd be wary about drafting a centre who already has shaky knees at 18 especially after having seen what's happened to Greg Oden.

[charlesnba23]

I agree with you, but did you see what happened to Dejuan Blair or even Blake Griffin? And who have a real idea of his condition? He didn't play this year not because of his knees, but because of his inegibility to play in the NCAA. He's been injured once, but who has never been injured? Doesn't mean he's injury prone!

[mcHAPPY]

The summer of 2011 is the set up for the Trade Deadline and Free Agency of 2012

Keep in mind all of this is guesing until new CBA is done. I'm working under the premise a high $60's hardcap is in place

I've been giving this some thought the last day or so before I answer - concretely - on the summer of 2011. Keep in mind, in my opinion, being a GM is like playing chess - good chess players see a few moves in advance, great chess players see the end game.

In a nutshell, for the summer of 2011 shed 'bad' contracts, continue acquiring assets, and continuing developing the players currently here.

How do we do this:

1) Trade Calderon. Trade his contract for anything we can get that has an ending contract after next year. Ideally, I would go to Minnesota with an offer of Martell Webster and Jonny Flynn - throw in a future 1st round pick (top 16 protected initially and declining each year afterwards if necessary - you'll see why). Flynn may still turn out to be a decent player once his hip is 100% and plays in a different system - so call him a young asset. Webster is a possible expiring contract with a player option for 2012-2013 (a financial asset) and also still young at 24 who coming out of high school and dealing with injuries may still put it together yet (hence an asset also as there is no questioning his talent).

2) Draft the best player available who is the MOST NBA ready. Depending on workouts and assuming we draft third and health checks out, I'll go with Kanter (explanation comes soon).

3) Sign one of these three: Afflalo, Chandler, JR Smith. Smith seems to be the most obtainable but Chandler would be most likely of him and Afflalo and more desirable between him and Smith - Chandler it is (if his left ankle checks out!). Chandler's contract is for 4/5 years and $24/30M($6M per year) or if the MLE remains, give him that.

4) Trade for Diaw and #10 for TPE.

5) DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, trade Bargnani - yet.

That is it for this summer. This is the lineup going in to the season with a payroll of around $66M:

PG: Bayless, Flynn
SG: DeRozan, Barbosa, Burks
SF: JJ, Webster, Kleiza*
PF: Davis, Amir, Diaw
C: Bargnani, Kanter, Alabi

*Not available until January.

Now remember kids, this magical fairy tale is not about the summer of 2011, it is about the trade deadline and free agency of 2012. Do not forget, the theme of the last 10 months has been about acquiring assets - and this is why.

As already discussed HERE, the Raptors, if players continue to develop positively, might actually be able to offer one of the best packages for Dwight Howard in the league. The lineup above has prospects on rookie deals, lottery picks who will be rookies, and expiring contracts - everything a team would want in dealing a superstar. Refer to the above hyper-linked thread to see what other superstars returned. Howard will not be traded this summer. Ownership will do all they can in hopes of convincing him to stay. Also, Orlando is hosting the All-Star game next year and they still need to sell tickets. Given their current situation, I do not see them trading Dwight before they absolutely have to (keep in mind this is all my opinion).

The Raptors could offer a very competitive offer for Dwight and JJ Redick: Flynn or Bayless, DD or Burks, ED, Kanter, Webster and Diaw to make salaries match, and a future draft pick(s). This is why Kanter was drafted in 2011 - he seems to be the most NBA ready of all big men propsects in the draft and would provide a C to replace Howard with - something that most teams would not be able to offer. This trade would require Howard to sign an extension prior to the trade, of course, because all assets were cashed in for him.

At the trade deadline next year, if this trade happened, the Raps would look like this:

PG: Bayless or Flynn, Barbosa
SG: Chandler, Redick
SF: JJ, Kleiza
PF: Bargnani, Amir
C: Howard, Alabi

People might look at this line up and say, "Why would Howard agree to this?" Well, the reality is it doesn't look like much now. However it would probably still be a brighter future than the 3 more years of Arenas and Turk in ORL. Also come the summer of 2012, if the new CBA gods cooperate, the Raps would be one of the only teams to be able to offer a max contract to a franchise free agent PG (Paul, Williams) who would be able to team with Howard while still having a decent supporting cast. This would be the line up for 2012-2013:

PG: (insert franchise PG here), *minimum vet*
SG: Chandler, Redick, *minimum vet*
SF: JJ, Kleiza, *minimum vet*
PF: Bargnani, Amir, *minimum vet*
C: Howard, *minimum vet*

The line up is strong on three point shooters to surround Howard and strong on defenders to surround Bargnani. It also has guys who can play multiple positions in Chandler (2 and 3) and JJ/Kleiza (3 and 4).

Now, if this fairy tale is impossible (and it most likely is), the Raptors still have this lineup after next season:

PG: Flynn
SG: DeRozan, Burks
SF: Chandler, JJ, Kleiza
PF: Davis, Amir
C: Bargnani, Kanter

heading in to the 2012 draft. At this time (or at the trade deadline a few months earlier) it would most likely be the time to make a final decision on Bargnani.

I would be happy with either scenario. The Howard route make the team championship contenders in 2012-2013, in my opinion, while the other route (developing players) makes the team competitive and a lower tier playoff team in two seasons time (2012-2013).

Sweet dreams everyone. Story time is over.

[blackjitsu]

The problem is, where is the pick you are going to trade for going to end up? Unless it's Minnesota, you just don't know if the pick you think is going to be in the top 5 or 10 ends up in the middle of the first round. And is maybe the 15th pick next year going to be better than the 3rd pick this year? That's a HUGE gamble. And not a very big payoff, in my mind.

Sorry for the late response Tim. If we all agree that next year's draft is FAR better than this year's and we still have next year's pick I would assume that using multiple picks to move up would be easier. Also, if by some miracle we could get a pick in the Bargs trade that would make three first rounders that could be moved to get a higher pick, or throw in a trade for a good vet, or whatever other opportunities arise. We all know what GMs believe a mid first rounder for this year is worth...James Johnson. To me that's a sign that I want to stay as far away from this draft as I can if I can't get one of the two coveted players. MAYBE I take a flier and buy a 2nd rounder - a mature college grad or a kid I can stash in Europe, but no way I burn guaranteed cash.

[TSN3]

I agree with you, but did you see what happened to Dejuan Blair or even Blake Griffin? And who have a real idea of his condition? He didn't play this year not because of his knees, but because of his inegibility to play in the NCAA. He's been injured once, but who has never been injured? Doesn't mean he's injury prone!

Yeah both of those guys have definitely come back strong so far in their young careers, but I still think Kanter would be a bigger risk than a guy like Kemba (who I think is the most realistic option for the Raps at the third pick). Right now this team doesn't need a risky draft pick, they need a guy who's going to come in and be a difference-maker right away. With Kanter, the year off won't help his transition to the NBA and the fact that he's a big makes him a definite long-term project. Sure he might end up being a good player, but he's also not very athletic and more likely to be a bust than anyone else on the Raps draft board. So I think the centre's going to have to come from either free agency or via trade.

[charlesnba23]

Do you think that Kemba would really be a better option than Bayless?

[ceez]

keep in mind Blair is going to be out of the league in a couple years

[Hassan]

draft kyrie irving, trade jose for a center. trade bargs for a middle pick in this years draft and a young talented small forward

[charlesnba23]

keep in mind Blair is going to be out of the league in a couple years

Why?