Ed Davis' Future in Toronto (Tim Chisolm)

[Maleko]

Another very important factor to consider is that Amir loves it here and chose to be in Toronto, but we do not know that about ED.

[mcHAPPY]

Another very important factor to consider is that Amir loves it here and chose to be in Toronto, but we do not know that about ED.

I can think of $30M reasons why he loves the city!

[Balls of Steel]

Either way, I'm just glad I'm not Colangelo.

He's got a lot of tough decisions to make this summer. It wouldn't surprise me to see half the roster gone.

BC does not have a habit of giving up on his own picks. His problems will get bigger if we land the first overall pick. I have a pit in my stomach that says it may happen (if we finish 7th from the bottom). Of course, the NBA could rig the ballot and hand Anthony Davis to New Orleans in an effort to sell the team easier

My take is that ED stays and Amir may be the one to go. I love Amir but ED's upside intrigues me. He is also getting better defensively but has a LOOOONG way to go to be Casey's mainstay. They'll evaluate him more next year IMO.

[Balls of Steel]

Amir gives you heart, hustle and impact plays on both ends of the floor.

Ed has a good ceiling, and has a good nose for the ball, rebounding and a very good shot blocker. I just want him to have the intangibles that Amir bring every night.

Ed hasn't had a proper training camp, and two different coaches in two different seasons, he production is solid. He's the only Raptor to play in every game, saying his health is good. But no training and practice time with another coaching change. I mean I could go on and on about what Ed Davis hasn't received which all NBA players get, and he continues to really do a nice job for the team.

Add muscle and give him a full training camp, and all that other facility/coaching stuff, and he'll be good to go. Finally feeling the same vibe that I felt last season, which he lacked during the start of the season.

+ 1000. I think he stays for a long time. I really believe that.

[NoPropsneeded]

Ed is better right now than Amir. If we gave him Amir's minutes he'd be producing much better

[Nilanka]

Amir's Injury Woes...

Looks like Amir has many excuses for his play this season:

“The ankle’s been fine. It’s actually starting to look like a regular ankle,” Johnson says in a way that makes you know that “regular” is huge progress. “It was swollen before. I know it takes time to get it to where it is now.”

So, is all well in the world of the Raptors’ amiable power forward?

“Then the other injuries began, and I had to worry about that,” said Johnson, who is now dealing with a bad back.

“I don’t think I was as 100% as I could be, just because my surgery I had, playing with that, I had to build my confidence back up,” Johnson said. He had surgery on his ankle in June, and was only rounding back into shape as the lockout ended and the season began in late December. He also dealt with a personal issue in the middle of the season.

“I didn’t feel like I had my full jumping ability, just because in my mind, I knew I had surgery. I knew it was hurt. It feels good now. This summer I’m definitely going to do work.”

Casey seems to have plans for Amir next season, which might seal Ed's fate in Toronto.

And Casey also said that he expects Johnson to play a lot for the Raptors next year, if only because going into his eighth year, he will be one of the Raptors’ most experienced players. Johnson, Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza are the only veteran players the Raptors are committed to past next season, although that is before considering the unused amnesty buyout offered as part of the collective bargaining agreement.

But if he is to be the third big man for the Raptors of the future — behind Bargnani and Valanciunas — he is going to have to come into training camp healthy next year. The back, the foot, and many ailments in between, are going to have to be healed.

Beyond that, Casey sees a future of greater production from Johnson.

“No revelations. He is who I thought he was,” Casey said. “I told him his future is going to be getting that jump shot where it’s knock-down, where you make teams respect you and guard you and not just zone up. That’s what’s been inconsistent. Some nights he can knock it down, other nights not. I want to work with him this summer to get his jumper to where it’s automatic. As he gets older and more experience in the league, he can increase it to the three-point line. I think that’s his next growth.”

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/...inconsistency/

[NoPropsneeded]

you never know. Ed could tear it up and kick out amir for the 3rd spot as a big.

[mcHAPPY]

Bargs is going to be traded, no wait Amir, actually, Ed will be.... no wait.....

Looks like Amir has many excuses for his play this season:





Casey seems to have plans for Amir next season, which might seal Ed's fate in Toronto.



http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/...inconsistency/

Looks like Casey is much more media savvy than many Raptor fans gave him credit for initially.

He started the new year talking no trades were coming - then Barbosa was traded.

In the above National Post link he talks about Amir coming back.

In the Star he talks about Bargnani coming back.

In the Sun below he talks about Ed Davis coming back.

Ed Davis’ season may have started with a whimper but it’s going out with a bang.

The second-year power forward who has yet to take part in a full-length NBA training camp, is looking more and more like the player the Raptors hoped he would become when they drafted him 13th over-all in 2010.

“Just his aggressiveness,” head coach Dwane Casey says of where he has noticed the biggest improvement in Davis’ offensive game. “He’s making quick, decisive moves offensively.”

But it’s defensively where Davis has really endeared himself to his coach over the past month or so.

“Defensively he’s in the places he needs to be,” Casey said. “That’s a big jump for him. It’s almost like a light switch coming on for him. Everything is just kind of clicking for him right now.”

It should come as no surprise to anyone that with that progress, Davis’ stock with his new coach has taken a dramatic jump.

But that’s not to suggest the work is done for the 6-foot-10 Raptor, who turns 23 early next month.

“It’s growing (his stock) because Ed is a young man and a lot of times those guys need time to grow,” Casey said.

The Raptors coach is well aware that Davis missed all his rookie training camp because of injury. His second year camp lasted two weeks thanks to the lockout. Any progress he would normally make in his second year was further stalled by the lack of practice time.

You could make a strong case that no Raptor has been as adversely affected by that lack of practice time as Davis. With Jonas Valanciunas yet to make his NBA debut after fulfilling his contract obligations in Lithuania this past season, Davis is still the young pup on the roster.

Casey sees an opportunity for him to make bigger strides this summer.

He says he is going to insist Davis not only play on the Raptors summer league team in Las Vegas but expects he will be the focal point of it with Valanciunas likely tied up with his national team duties for Lithuania.

“This summer is doing to be big for him,” Casey said. “He has to get his body where it’s stronger, physically mature because a lot of his (trouble) right now is strength-based and getting knocked off his mark. If he can get a good base and get his strength, he can make a move. The problem he has right now is when he goes up against a strong guy like a (Kevin) Garnett who knows how to push and shove and get him off his leverage point. That’s where he has to learn, and the only way to learn that is to get strong enough so you can take those blows and still make your move.”

Casey has no doubt that the requisite toughness is already there.

“He’s tough and he shows it a different way than a lot of guys but he would be able to show it more if he were stronger,” he said. “He knows what to do and how to do it but physically he’s just not there yet.”

Casey also believes the summer league experience can make up for what Davis has missed out on his first two years.

“He’s only had two weeks of a training camp (in two seasons) and he’s only really had two seasons of not big, but limited minutes of playing time. So in summer league I’d like to get him in there, get him playing a whole game, learn how to play fatigued. That will be big for him.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/14...vis-stock-rise

Best way to get maximum trade value for a player is to talk him up and make him seem like he is part of what you're building - even if he is not.

I'm not advocating trading one or the other or two of three but clearly the Raptors are going to have to do something sooner than later:

"It's a stacking principle. You want to have guys that are there at various positions, and even if there is duplication, you can decide which one fits best and move on and possibly move a piece and convert that to something else. Talent acquisition is what this is all about. As much as this is about, ‘Let's get the perfect piece,' we always say, Let's get the best player.' . . . We'll make due with what we get (in the draft). I think you worry less about position and more about what those players can actually do. Then we'll decide how to maximize the value of our current roster if there is more duplication." - Toronto Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo, before the season

Read more: http://www.canada.com/sports/Raptors...#ixzz1s6xYNpr2

[LBF]

That's a shitload to read mobily.

I maintain that Bargnani is the starting pf, Amir has more of what you look for in a bench player.

Ed is more of a Chandler type, where I think the feeling of when he develops he's going to be better at D than O.

[Ion66]

I'm not much of a stats guy. At the start of the year it looked to me like when Ed was passed the ball, he reacted like it was a live handgrenade. Lately he's realized that it's Ok to do something other than play hot potato with it. I like the confidence he's showing in himself of late. Beyond that observation, I know nothing in terms of what that means going forward. I've thought that he'd turned the corner in the past and been proven wrong. Some time to mature physically is as important as time in the weight room. A few years to put on that muscle he needs to stand his ground will make a huge difference in his game..here or elsewhere.

[Miekenstien]

I'm not much of a stats guy. At the start of the year it looked to me like when Ed was passed the ball, he reacted like it was a live handgrenade. Lately he's realized that it's Ok to do something other than play hot potato with it. I like the confidence he's showing in himself of late. Beyond that observation, I know nothing in terms of what that means going forward. I've thought that he'd turned the corner in the past and been proven wrong. Some time to mature physically is as important as time in the weight room. A few years to put on that muscle he needs to stand his ground will make a huge difference in his game..here or elsewhere.

agreed. +1. he was very nervous and scared to make mistakes early in the year and as a result made mistakes. i am more on board with ed as back up over amir due to costs and potential. i really think that the off season with strength coaches and working on his game with coaches instead of on his own is going to bring out the best in ed next year.

[charlz]

This is what sometimes happens when you draft the best player available. It's a good problem to have, he was an excellent pick considering where they got him. When Casey first got here he mentioned multiple players but not Davis. I commented on it then and said it wasn't a good sign for Ed Davis. Now that the season has played out there is buzz that he might be an odd man out. They should be increasing his minutes greatly right now if he's going to be on the block. Market this asset Casey. Market this asset.

In this day and age of PF's-a-plenty I think you have to revise the draft mantra from

draft the best player available to-> draft the best non-PF player available.

[hateslosing]

In this day and age of PF's-a-plenty I think you have to revise the draft mantra from

draft the best player available to-> draft the best non-PF player available.

The thing is there will not be a glut of power forwards forever. We've have good point guard years, good swing man years, really the only thing you don't see much is a year with a bunch of good centres. I think that if you have the opportunity to take a a great player, the best available at your position you do it. Whether it's a power forward, point or anything else.

I also think that Ed Davis is likely going to be here to stay if we don't draft a 4. Casey likes him and Bargs is likely going to be too old by the time this team is ready to make a title run to be of much value. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bargnani traded toward the end of next season, assuming Davis steps up.

[Balls of Steel]

Looks like Casey is much more media savvy than many Raptor fans gave him credit for initially.

He started the new year talking no trades were coming - then Barbosa was traded.

In the above National Post link he talks about Amir coming back.

In the Star he talks about Bargnani coming back.

In the Sun below he talks about Ed Davis coming back.



Best way to get maximum trade value for a player is to talk him up and make him seem like he is part of what you're building - even if he is not.

I'm not advocating trading one or the other or two of three but clearly the Raptors are going to have to do something sooner than later:

You just wait and see what we do when we end up picking first and then they'll have to clear the decks for Anthony Davis

[jbml]

Leo Rautins has made the point more than once as saying that Ed showed up to camp out of shape. Certainly not good for a player his age. This may account for his difficult time getting game action early. I hope it is a lesson learned. I am in favour of keeping him