Take on Okafor or Ariza's contract and get the 10th picK

[Matt52]

This would be counter to all rumors about Colangelo. Colangelo is looking to trade his pick and use the cap space to land a star. I don't see him instead going 180 and using the cap space to add another lotto pick... Not that I would necessarily be against doing it. Colangelo needs results this year though. He's not as likely to get results with two or three rookies in prominent roles.

Unless it came after a trade for the elusive elite wing where #8 went out.

The TPE could absorb Ariza's contract and #10 comes along with it.

The Raptors might be able to get the guy they want at #8 at #10 (Lamb, Lillard, Waiters) AND get Gay. Talk about win-win.

[Apollo]

Ariza has poor shot selection. I'm not hot on him. Couldn't they just use the TPE to land a guy who fits?

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

there's our defensize specialist

Isnt JJ our defensive specialist?

Isnt JJ a cheaper and younger version of ariza?

just curious ceez, why do you do one line per post?

[BallaBalla]

Why I like this idea is because the guy who the raptors are looking draft may very well still be there at 10. Waiters or Lamb aren't locks for the top 9, so they could do this and still get the guy they want....Now that I look up, I see Matt already wrote that...

Anyway, I like the Gay pickup in its own right, so if we have to "concede" taking the 10th pick for cap space it seems like a no brainer to me

[ceez]

im a jj fan but i wouldn't put "jj" and "specialist" in the same sentence

[Hugmenot]

Pass.

A 10th pick is not enough to counterbalance a very unfavorable contract. I am also against the idea of having three rookies playing significant minutes.

[Rainman]

Pass.

A 10th pick is not enough to counterbalance a very unfavorable contract. I am also against the idea of having three rookies playing significant minutes.

That probably wouldn't be the case. According to Truehoop (and of course this is nothing new) http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ck-for-forward
We would theoretically lose our #8 but gain a #10 thus staying in the lottery.
We would then only have the two rookies.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I would be willing to use the TPE to take on Ariza & #10.
I like it much more if it happens after a trade for Gay.
I would like it much much more if the Raptors could do something similar with Amir & #25 pick.
The Raps would only be adding 1 rookie from the draft, depending on whether or not they use the #37/#56 picks.

[slaw]

A move like this doesn't really make sense for a team trying to win right away. Let's assume they can land Gay and Nash. Adding another rookie makes little sense. More sensible to go out and land a sharpshooter at the SG or a quality 3rd big.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

A move like this doesn't really make sense for a team trying to win right away. Let's assume they can land Gay and Nash. Adding another rookie makes little sense. More sensible to go out and land a sharpshooter at the SG or a quality 3rd big.

I assume they would use the #10 pick to land a backup PG, but it would be pretty sweet if Beal or Lamb were available @ #10! Doubtful yes, but you never know who might drop. They would still have the MLE as well, to potentially go after a sharpshooter.

[RAPresenting]

If the rumors are true about NO dangling the #10 with a team taking on Ariza I hope BC is on the phone seeing what it would take to swing a deal. If it's just a salary dump I'd love to see a move for Ariza and #10 for Forbes and #37 and or #57.

Then trade #8, #10, JJ and Ed or Amir for Gay and #25.

Would leave a line up of:

Jose/Bayless/Wroten
Demar/Ariza
Gay/Kleiza
Dre/Ed or Amir
JV/Gray

Use 25 on Marquis Teague or Tony Wroten, resign Gray and Bayless and I think they would be fine filing out the roster on 1 year deals. Would be an athletic team with plenty of players still with upside and room to improve.

[Bendit]

Did Ariza not spurn the Raps in his FA year and sign with the Rockets? Wonder if he'd be a happy camper here. His salary is somewhat manageable approx. 7.3, 7.7 for the next 2 years. Wonder if we could coax one of their younger players (Thomas or Henry) to be added. $15 mil for the 10th seems a bit steep.

[jimmie]

Wow, people complain about how much we're paying Amir, and then want to take on Ariza?

Trevor Ariza at his salary should only be an option if Toronto has filled the rest of the big holes and is competing for a title. Now, if taking him on also brings the #10 pick, that's something to consider, but again only IF the other pieces are already in place (eg. Gay is here, the #8 is gone along with Davis or Derozan and they need to backfill through the draft at a vacated position).

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Did Ariza not spurn the Raps in his FA year and sign with the Rockets? Wonder if he'd be a happy camper here. His salary is somewhat manageable approx. 7.3, 7.7 for the next 2 years. Wonder if we could coax one of their younger players (Thomas or Henry) to be added. $15 mil for the 10th seems a bit steep.

Or maybe he is so unhappy he doesn't use his player option after next season, meaning Toronto would only be paying him for a single season!

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Wow, people complain about how much we're paying Amir, and then want to take on Ariza?

Trevor Ariza at his salary should only be an option if Toronto has filled the rest of the big holes and is competing for a title. Now, if taking him on also brings the #10 pick, that's something to consider, but again only IF the other pieces are already in place (eg. Gay is here, the #8 is gone along with Davis or Derozan and they need to backfill through the draft at a vacated position).

If a trade for Gay goes down and Toronto gets the #25 pick in return, the Raps could try to do the same thing as NO is doing, but with Amir & #25... Ariza's salary is much better than Amir's in the long-term. I think Amir could be a quality backup PF for a lot of teams, especially with the #25 pick as a 'thank you'.

[LBF]

Isnt JJ our defensive specialist?

Isnt JJ a cheaper and younger version of ariza?

just curious ceez, why do you do one line per post?

Two reasons I can think of

1. He is mobile

2. He doesn't need to say much more to get his point across or he's very generic.

[Nilanka]

Or he's a minimalist by nature.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Two reasons I can think of

1. He is mobile

2. He doesn't need to say much more to get his point across or he's very generic.

hehehe makes sense.

[Apollo]

If a trade for Gay goes down and Toronto gets the #25 pick in return, the Raps could try to do the same thing as NO is doing, but with Amir & #25... Ariza's salary is much better than Amir's in the long-term. I think Amir could be a quality backup PF for a lot of teams, especially with the #25 pick as a 'thank you'.

I disagree. Amir Johnson is a smart hardworking player who would still be happy if he rarely saw the rock. Ariza is not that. Amir is a better player than Ariza in my opinion.

The Rockets got sick of him really fast after giving him a lot of money. Now another team wants to be rid of him bad enough to cough up a top ten lotto pick. This isn't raising alarms?

[MangoKid]

I disagree. Amir Johnson is a smart hardworking player who would still be happy if he rarely saw the rock. Ariza is not that. Amir is a better player than Ariza in my opinion.

The Rockets got sick of him really fast after giving him a lot of money. Now another team wants to be rid of him bad enough to cough up a top ten lotto pick. This isn't raising alarms?

Very good point.