The Game Thread in the RR Forums

Every year, this team has some sort of built in excuse that stirs debate among us about what to really expect/feel about this team. Taking care of business has been a big problem for the Raptors over the last couple seasons. Had they beaten the Knicks and Kings heading into to this rough stretch of games, they might have been able to come out on the other side much more intact. Instead, they are 1-3 heading into a 6 game stretch where the only winnable games are the Warriors (on the road) and the Bobcats; 2-8 seems about right to me.

Last year, the Raptors were able to stun the Lakers and steal the rug right out from under them; this year, not so much. If you thought the Jazz were badass, the Lakers are the most offensively efficient, as well as being the second best rebounding team in the league; all without Andrew Bynum. They’re also winning games with by an average margin of 13. Needless to say, the goal tonight will be to compete, work hard, build some momentum for when the schedule lightens up a bit…and not lose by 20.

I had a chance to speak with Phillip Barnett of Forum Blue & Gold about the Lakers:

The Lakers added Steve Blake and Matt Barnes (who was almost a raptor) over the summer. Can you talk about the impact that both these players are having on this team? I’m especially interested in Barnes, who I think was a perfect addition on the wing (in the mold of Ariza, but better defensively).
I think the addition of Steve Blake (to shore up the back up point guard spot) and Matt Barnes (adding even depth to the small forward spot) were two very good pick-ups for the Lakers this off-season. Steve Blake came in and picked up the Triangle Offense right away and has already developed some very good on-court chemistry with Lamar Odom. While I didn’t hate Jordan Farmar, I do love that his often push-the-pace, frantic style of basketball was replaced by the steady handed, better-shooting Steve Blake. He’s already knocked down a huge three pointer with 18 seconds left on the road against Phoenix and has helped to keep the bench’s turnover rate down.

As for Matt Barnes, I think his signing was about as underrated a signing there was this off-season. The Lakers spent a lot of last season trying to figure out how to back up the small forward position. Lamar Odom and Kobe got a lot of run at the three spot, increasing their respective minutes. Although he isn’t the full reason, Matt Barnes coming off the bench has reduced the number of Kobe’s minutes, and has made the minutes that he’s played a lot less effortless than what he was accustomed to last season. One of the things about Barnes that often goes unnoticed is the fact that he is a fantastic passer. Playing with so many run-and-gun teams throughout his journeyman career, he’s developed a “make the extra pass” mentality — something that has stood out to me more than anything else in his game. Then, of course, there is his ability to play tough perimeter defense — adding to what the Lakers already had in Ron Artest and Kobe. I think he’s still finding his way on the offensive side of the floor, but you can definitely see the upside of having a guy like Barnes on your side.

How do you see this team matching up against the Thunder come playoff time? I look at the West, and while the teams are still strong, OKC seems to be the only crew who can give the Lakers a real test come the post-season.
It’s hard for me to say at this point because this is a different Lakers team from what we saw last season. I know that we’re only 4-5 games into the season, but the Lakers do look like they’re heads and heels above what the Thunder are going to have to offer. OKC is in the middle of the pack of a lot of statistical categories, most notably offensive and defensive efficiency, hence their .500 record. But then again, we’re looking at such a small sample and completely ignoring all of the things that gave the Lakers problems last season. The Thunder are young, athletic and long. Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison gave the Lakers problems defensively and on the boards, Russell Westbrook is by far the fastest species either team has to offer and Kevin Durant is, well, Kevin Durant. The Lakers no longer have that glaring problem with their bench and now have one more defender they can throw at Durant in Matt Barnes. It’s a tough one to call with the season being so early, but as of right now, I think the Lakers don’t struggle as much this time around. If the playoff started with every team in the West healthy, I think the Lakers would have the most problems with Portland, Dallas and Houston because of their comparable size and veteran presences.

What happens with Bynum? Is it time to trade him before his injury problems totally ruin his value? Let me qualify: the kid has talent, moves well and is a beast; but at what point do you make the decision to not bet the future of the franchise on a guy who’s only played 82 games once in five seasons?
Ahh, the ubiquitous Andrew Bynum question. Here is what I believe the Lakers’ brain trust is thinking on this one: They have been to three straight NBA Finals, won the last two and are the favorites for this current season, even with Bynum’s injury. They’re going to take their time with him simply because they don’t need him right now. He’ll come back late in this calendar year, have some time to play himself back into shape through the second trimester of the season and will be healthy for the last stretch into the playoffs. Last year, they beat the Celtics with ‘Drew AND Kobe limping around on one leg. If they can have both of them healthy for this year’s postseason, it’s hard to imagine any team in the league beating them in a best of seven.

However, that is a huge if. Keeping Bynum is a huge franchise risk, simply because we don’t know what is to happen to his knees — or anything else for that matter — in the future. I think it’s a risk they’re willing to take because this is still a team that will contend with or without Bynum. Having him on the floor only helps their cause, and there aren’t too many other centers in the league capable of putting up the kind of numbers a healthy Andrew Bynum can on a night-to-night basis. Also, he gained a lot of trust from the organization when he went out there and battled through his injury. He didn’t always have the best of nights, but he finally, after five years, showed signs of being a warrior. Everyone had battled through some injury during last season, and seeing Andrew Bynum risk the future of his knee by banging bodies with the likes of Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett really left a lasting impression on the Lakers.

We saw how sad it was for Jordan during the second comeback, and Kobe has that same manic drive. How many more years of elite play does Kobe Bryant have left in him?
Yes, Kobe does have a manic drive, but no, it isn’t the same as Jordan’s during his second comeback. Jordan’s was the manic-est of drives of all time. Not only did he come back, but he came back from running the team in the front office to running the team on the floor. He felt that Wizards team was so pathetic that only his presence could save them. Kobe’s is of the “I want to win, win every time, and win convincingly” variety — and he’s decided that he’s going to win by any means necessary. He’s trusting his teammates, hitting the glass, taking better shots and teaching the younger players. The Lakers are winning, and he seems to be enjoying these victories that what he had in the past. As for your actual question, I still think he has at least two more elite years left in him. I noted earlier that he’s playing fewer minutes, and in those minutes, he isn’t working as hard. This season, he’s using fewer dribbles, making quicker decisions and letting the bigs establish themselves. Considering the core of this team will be intact for the next few years, I think this is a trend we’ll likely see as long as they’re together. Kobe can still go out and get his 25-30 a game, but it’s going to be a relatively easy 25-30 points compared to the effort he had to put into scoring in the past. I’m not saying every night is going to be as easy as the first five games have been for him, but when was the last time he’s had a five game stretch where he averaged fewer than 35 minutes per game? You’d have to go back a long ways for that.

By all accounts, this is Phil Jackson’s last year on the bench; who takes over, Brian Shaw, or do they bring in an outsider?
I’m a firm believer in keeping the system intact. This Lakers team is a tight knit group with an offense that suits this collection of talent really well. With that said, I’d like to see them give Brian Shaw his first head coaching opportunity. He played for Phil Jackson during the early millennium three-peat team and has been on Phil’s bench for quite a while now. He’s as respected by the Lakers players as much as any assistant coach in the NBA. I think Jerry Buss would like to see more of a Showtime Era style of basketball, but I think he has to take into consideration that the Lakers, during Kobe’s regime, have not won a title running any other system.

Regardless of what happens, you just cannot replace a Phil Jackson. Whoever comes succeeds him as the Lakers head coach will have some Shaq-sized shoes to fill. Guys who we felt might have had a shot at this job in the past (Kurt Rambis now in Minnesota, Byron Scott who is now in Cleveland) are now head coaching for other NBA teams, making the coaching candidates narrowed down to Brian Shaw and everyone else. Shaw definitely has a leg up on the competition, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that anything is set in stone. It’ll be interesting to watch how this plays out, but if I had a vote, it would be Shaw.

Injury Report

Toronto
Niente

Los Angeles
Andrew Bynum – Knee
Luke Walton – Hamstring

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Fisher
This is the only match-up where the Raptors have a legitimate shot at winning. You think Jack and Calderon play bad defense? Fisher just turned 36 and was being blown by off the dribble two years ago. Sadly, the guy is able to think the game, and will make some quality decisions throughout to account for his terrible defense. He doesn’t get into the lane much, so Jack should know that he will be camped out on the 3-point line waiting for the triangle to get him the ball (Hint: don’t leave him to double on someone, it wont help and you will get burned). Needs to be mentioned Blake will get some nice run at point, and he is a guy who’s young, in shape and has killed the Raptors in the past. Jack picked it up against the Jazz, posting 14pts 5ast, but he was doodoo against the Cavs and Kings.

Edge: Jack

SG – DeRozan vs Kobe
DeMar is on his way to being a legit 15-point a night scorer. However, to get to the 20 point plateau, he’ll need to get to the line more, and hit from beyond the arc once or twice a game. That’s how I see it, and I stand by it. Kobe is going to do whatever he feels like, from whatever point on the floor he wants too, and there is nothing DeRozan can do about it, sadly. I’m of the opinion that these sorts of games are good for DeMar since he can learn from Kobe via osmosis, at least I hope he does. Playing in front of a ‘home’ crowd with friends and family in the stands might prove to be distracting.

Edge: Kobe

SF – Kleiza vs Artest
Kleiza had some trouble getting off against Kirilenko; Artest is the bigger stronger version. It will be tough taking it to him head on, so it will be best to keep Ron-Ron on his toes and mix it up some. I really have nothing to say other than Artest is more of a perimeter player on offense; he likes to pop long jumpers. Those are easy to defend, just stay up on him and get him to put it on the floor. I don’t know, I got nothing on this match-up, I think Kleiza will score some, grab a couple boards and dish a few dimes, and I think Artest will do the same.

Edge: Even

PF – Evans vs Odom
Full Disclosure: I have Odom and Evans in my fantasy pool.

While he was grabbing a ridiculous amount of rebounds, the lingering question in my head was always “did something change, or was it a benefit of the match-ups that Evans was able to average 16.3 rebounds during the first 3 games of the year. Not trying to hate, but that rate was ridiculous for a guy who’s never averaged more than 9.3 (which came 7 years ago) a night. Last game against the Jazz, the first game against a real front line, we saw him fall back down to earth with the rebounding. Battling alongside Bargnani against Millsap and Jefferson is daunting for anyone in the league, and the two put in a pretty decent effort all things considered. Tonight it doesn’t get any easier as he gets to check Khloe Odom who is bigger, stronger, faster, longer and more gifted overall. I’e got Evans on the bench tonight, lets just put that way.

Edge: Odom

C – Bargnani vs Gasol
Bargnani’s offensive improvement has been more than incremental this season; figure about a 41% jump early in the season – nothing to shake a stick at. We saw that he stepped up to Jefferson and really delivered a solid performance against a quality opponent; even grabbed a couple rebounds. There was also some improvement on his boxing out, which is all I really want from the guy. Gasol is the best big man in the league, period. The only positive here is that when Gasol gets a breather, Bargnani wont have to contend with Bynum in the low block.

Edge: Gasol

Lakers are 13.5 point favourites…it’s not going to be a pretty outcome, but we should see a nice pace to the game; I’m going with the gamblers, bet the kids trust fund.

For those in the Toronto area, we have our first Raptor Fan Fridays at Sports Center Cafe. For those who aren’t, Live Chat will be bumping.

The next team on Bosh’s wish-list is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the curse of needing to always field a contending team. Their current crop looks to be on path to get to the finals for the third straight year, having won the championship last season.

With their core aging, they need to bring in players who can help compete for championships now, while building a solid core for the future. I checked in with Phillip Barnett of the ESPN TrueHoop Lakers blog Forum Blue and Gold to get his thoughts on the Lakers championship aspirations, Bosh rumours and Phil Jackson. Heeerreeeeeee we gooooooo! (sorry Steve, couldn’t resist):

Sam Holako: Chris Bosh was linked to the Lakers around the trade deadline with Bynums name coming up as possibly coming back to the Raptors. Given that Bosh just gave his wishlist of 5 destinations. the Lakers being one of them, how interested would Kupchak/Buss be in making a deal work?

Phillip Barnett: It would be impossible for the Kupchak/Buss contingent to not take a look at possibly making a move for Bosh, but at this time, I don’t think any deal would happen. I think a lot of it will hinder on how effective Andrew Bynum is against the Celtics in the Finals (this is, of course, assuming that both Conference Finals play out the way they’ve began), but in the end, I see ‘Drew in a Lakers jersey next year. There are just too many factors that lead me to believe that the Lakers are, and will remain, content with their Gasol/Bynum front court, no matter how versatile they’ll look on paper with Bosh on the floor.

SH: Even though they are championship contenders for the next 3-4 years, you have to start looking to the future. Chris Bosh represents the type of player who fills both short and long term needs of a team that needs to be relevant at all times.

PB: It would be impossible for the Kupchak/Buss contingent to not take a look at possibly making a move for Bosh, but at this time, I don’t think any deal would happen. I think a lot of it will hinder on how effective Andrew Bynum is against the Celtics in the Finals (this is, of course, assuming that both Conference Finals play out the way they’ve began), but in the end, I see ‘Drew in a Lakers jersey next year. There are just too many factors that lead me to believe that the Lakers are, and will remain, content with their Gasol/Bynum front court, no matter how versatile they’ll look on paper with Bosh on the floor. Andrew Bynum has shown flashes of becoming a better center than Dwight Howard, he just hasn’t really had a chance to prove that he can be consistent because of injuries. If a deal is done that sends Bosh to Los Angeles, Bynum’s propensity to be injured for long stretches of the year.

Chris Bosh would open up the Lakers offense tremendously as he is a better face up player than Pau Gasol is. I think he could fit in great in the triangle offense playing at the pinch post and with Gasol on the low block. He wouldn’t have to shoulder so much of a scoring load with Gasol and Kobe on the floor with him and would immediately give the Lakers the most athletic front court in basketball. The Odom/Gasol/Bynum lineup hasn’t worked out as well as some thought it would, but I think it could work a whole lot better if Bynum is substituted for Bosh. But then again, with the economy not as solid as it once was, having three of the top 20 contracts on your payroll wouldn’t be such a great idea (Kobe, Gasol and Bosh). Also, ‘Drew has been a great anchor for the Lakers defense when he’s been able to stay on the floor. Although Bosh isn’t terrible defensively, I don’t think he can replicate what Bynum has been able to do for the Lakers this season.

Lastly, Jim Buss, Jerry Buss’ son, does not want to give up Bynum. ‘Drew was his personal project, his first draft pick and has been very stubborn when talks of moving him have come up. Jim is the future of the Lakers organization, or better or for worse, and when it comes down to it, I have a tough time seeing him giving up Bynum right now. Not when he’s seen flashes of Bynum’s potential.

Do you think Bosh showing up at the Lakers/Jazz playoff game has anything to do with him adding the Lakers to his list of teams?

SH: I don’t know how much of being at the game has to do with it as opposed to everyone wanting to play with Kobe for a first rate organization. If a trade was in the works, how much interest would there be in taking Calderon as well? With Fisher on his last legs, Jose’s ability to hit threes, and his connection with Gasol, there could be a great fit.

PB: I’m actually a big fan of Jose Calderon. I think he has great vision and is a much better shooter than Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. Calderon didn’t have his greatest season last year and I think he could get back on track with a simple change in scenery. It wouldn’t take too long for him to fit in playing with the likes of Bosh and Gasol, both of whom he’s played with for years. Derek Fisher is, as he’s done in the previous two years, showing his worth in the post season. Just a month and a half ago, it was hard to imagine Fish coming back in a Lakers jersey next season, but if the Lakers put up another banner in the rafters, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers brought him back for one more year. If he’s gone, there will be a definite need for a point guard. Both Farmar and Brown’s contracts are up, with Brown having a player option and the Lakers able to offer Farmar a qualifying offer, it is very realistic that all three of the Lakers point guards could be gone next season. So to answer your question, if the Lakers make a move for Bosh, I do think they’ll have to find a way to work Calderon in the deal.

SH: So what are your thoughts on the playoffs? This years playoffs have been very interesting to me, sweep after sweep, with both the Lakers and Celtics being able to turn “it” on when people said it’s not possible. How do you like your chances against the Celtics in the finals?

PB: I know it’s been discussed around the blogosphere ad nausium, but I really think the Lakers needed to be waken up and that’s exactly what the Thunder did. Now the Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season, finding their opposition’s weaknesses and taking advantage of them. Pau Gasol has raised his game, Kobe has found his shooting touch and the bench is contributing. During the Lakers previous seven games, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown have shot over 50 percent from three point range. What were Lakers’ weaknesses during the regular season have been strengths after their first four post season games.

As far as the Finals, I still can’t really bring myself to look too far ahead. I’m a bit superstitious about those kind of things. But I will say this: The advantages that the Celtics had in 2008 aren’t as prevalent now as they were two years ago. I think Garnett isn’t as mobile, James Posey is one less defender they can throw at Kobe and the Lakers have home court. I am excited about the possibility of another Lakers/Celtics Finals, but I really want the Lakers to close out this Phoenix playing well. They were up 2-0 in 2006 to the Suns and ended up losing in seven. Anything can happen, I don’t think the Suns coming back is likely, but I’m not going to count them out until it’s actually over.

SH: Unless Gentry can make big adjustments, it looks good for you guys. By some accounts, this could be Phil Jacksons last season as the Lakers coach. I’ve read that Buss doesn’t wants to cut his salary to less than half the levels they are at now. I’m wondering why he wouldn’t want to keep this core together and compete for as many championships as possible while Kobe is the best player on the planet. What are your thoughts on the coaching situation, who could be lined up to take his spot if Jackson doesn’t return?

PB: This is one of the tougher questions to answer because we’ve heard about the Phil Jackson situation from so many angles. Is his salary going to be cut in half? Is he coming back for the same amount of money? Have Jackson and Buss even discussed his contract yet? Jeanie Buss said she wasn’t sure that PJax would be back with the Lakers next season. There are ridiculous rumors that Jackson is going to leave to go coach Lebron. The thing is, there hasn’t been any definite answer yet. I’ve heard that Buss would love to have Jackson back and I know that Kobe certainly would love to have him back. If I had to guess, I’d say that Jackson would be back next season with a contract paying him less, but not significantly less, than what he’s making now — especially if they go on to win another ring.

As far as his replacement, it seemed like they were grooming Kurt Rambis to take over, but he’s now in Minnesota. Knowing the Lakers history, they usually get what they want, and if they want Rambis to replace Jackson, they’ll have him. I’ve always been a fan of Brian Shaw. I don’t know if he’s ready to move into a head coaching position yet, but from what I’ve heard, the players (sans Vujacic), all respond really well to him. Fish and Kobe played with him back in the 3-peat years and both respect him. We saw what happened the last time they brought in an outsider (Rudy T in ’05). He didn’t last the full season. So with this Lakers group, I think they should stay within the organization with a guy who knows the system and can command the respect from a group of very strong personalities.

SH: Are Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw really able to coach a championship calibre team though? I don’t know enough about them to make a judgement, but it would seem that to manage personalities like Kobe, Artest, Gasol and Odom, you would need someone like Jackson if your intention is to win championships.

PB: That’s really a question that can’t really be answered until they’re given the opportunity. Kurt Rambis is in his first head coaching job in Minnesota, a team that didn’t have a particularly good record, but they also don’t have particularly good talent. He’s over there trying to run the triangle with a relatively young core who are taking a while to figure it out. With the Lakers, he’ll have a veteran core that already understands the offense, and it would just be on him to make game-to-game adjustments. With the Xs and Os aspect of the game, I have no doubt that both Rambis and Brian Shaw have very good basketball minds, but when it comes with dealing with a group of such high profile players, you need to command the respect of your top rotations guys.

I don’t think the Lakers would have been grooming Rambis to take over the job if he didn’t command that respect nor would Brian Shaw have been added to Phil Jackson’s staff after playing with some of the very guys he’d be coaching. Besides, I don’t think any of the available coaches would fit within the Lakers system. Kobe is a very detail oriented basketball player who finally started meshing with Jackson when they both realized that they have the same attention to detail for the game. I don’t think guys like Mark Jackson, Mike Brown and Byron Scott share that same attention to detail. If you’re not going to find another Phil Jackson, why not keep someone who is at least going to keep the same system in place to keep this team on the same page going into another season where they’ll be in a position to contend again?

We have about a month until the NBA Draft and free agency kicks in, so I decided to talk to some of the teams around the NBA that have been linked to Chris Bosh and the Raptors in one way or another to get a feel for their franchise, and what we could expect back in a sign and trade.

While the early offers for CB4 have not been very exciting (you’ll see when we get to them), they do paint a picture of why trades are so difficult, especially when you have your back to the wall. While I don’t think the picture is so bleak in regards to Bosh (I still think he resigns; there is no sane reason why he would either), I concede that we wont even get 40 cents on the dollar for our franchise player.

First stop, I check in with Rahat Huq from The Houston Rockets TrueHoop blog Red94. Overall, he’s a good guy, a bit delusional, but he knows his stuff (I can’t wait till we resign Bosh so I get my face on his website banner for a week or so):

Sam Holako: Are you guys regretting replacing Artest with Ariza? Maybe I’m just being biased, but Artest took pretty much the same team to game 7 against the Lakers last year, and Ariza couldn’t even get them into the playoffs.

Rahat Huq: Not at all. I fully appreciate the contributions Ron made to this team last season, and it was definitely a surreal ride. But let’s be clear – he didn’t take this team anywhere against the Lakers and in fact, was a complete liability offensively.

For the series, Ron shot just 38% from the floor (28% from 3) in averaging his 15.6 points per game and was even more dreadful when we needed him most upon the injury to Yao, averaging just 9.5ppg in the last 4 games, on 28% shooting (and a terrifying 15% on his 26 3-point attempts.)

Ariza wasn’t brought here to get the team anywhere; Trevor was signed to be a complementary piece. He struggled early due to being forced into a high usage role out of necessity, but settled in very nicely after the arrival of Kevin Martin.

SH: Let’s not beat around the bush; make me an offer for Chris Bosh.

RH: These are my two offers:

1) Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Jared Jeffries, Dave Andersen, Jermaine Taylor, one Knick draft pick
2) Jordan Hill, Shane Battier, Dave Andersen, Jermaine Taylor, one Knick draft pick.

Andersen and Taylor included to make the numbers match – I could be slightly off on the figures.

SH: That offer makes me sad…very very sad. While Hill and the Knicks pick could have big value, I think I can speak for the rest of The Republic when I say that we expected more of an offer. I honestly haven’t even heard of Dave Andersen and Jermaine Taylor. The problem with your offer is that you think the Raptors have no leverage in this, but they do. Everyone knows that Chris Bosh wont leave the franchise high-and-dry for no other reason than if he does, he’s out 1 year and $30mill. Just for being insolent, Colangelo can use this S&T as a means to get rid of some dead weight in the form of either Calderon or Turkoglu. Let’s figure Jose since Brooks isn’t really a point guard, and you guys will need someone who knows how a pick-n-roll works.

RH: The inclusion of Andersen and Taylor would simply be for salary matching purposes. As far as our offer, I think you are coming in with unrealistic expectations. Look at the history of sign&trades for max players. From Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace (when he was a nobody), to draft picks for Rashard Lewis and Kenyon Martin, you won’t find a package even approaching the attractiveness of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and a lightly protected probable lottery pick.

SH: I have a feeling we might get into a fist-fight…so lets talk about Yao. The guy misses a whole season, is largely forgotten around the league, but should make a full recovery and be Über effective next season. The prospect of playing against a Bosh/Yao front court is scary; what are the plans for him going forward?

RH: He’s resumed workouts and is on schedule with his recovery.

I think the organization plans to limit his minutes and usage next season, and that shouldn’t be too great a concern considering some of the other parts that are in place. Still, Yao’s greatest value to the team is on the defensive end where, while he is not the best of shotblockers, he is as good as just about anyone at protecting the paint.

Yao/Bosh would indeed be scary simply because their skillsets mesh so perfectly. I’ve long felt that Yao was a finisher rather than an initiator. With Bosh’s high post abilities, he would provide the team a focal point from which to start its offense.

SH: Suppose in a bizzarro NBA world the Raptors sign-and-trade Bosh for Jordan Hill and spare parts, how do the Rockets matchup against the rest of the Western Conference? What can we expect from them?

RH: They won 42 games without Yao and Bosh and with a major personnel change midway through the season. If they can add what would have to be the best power forward – center duo in basketball in Yao – Bosh to the quintet of Scola-Lowry-Brooks-Martin-Ariza, along with a lottery pick, you would have to expect a significant increase in wins. Will they contend immediately? The talent is certainly there, but I think it could take a while and at least some growing pains to reach that level.

Based on your indignation over my proposal, I think you’re really suffering from delusions of grandeur. If a package of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and a future lottery pick would not suffice, in light of what has been bartered in past sign & trades of this type (Atkins/Wallace, only picks), I must ask, what exactly are you hoping for? It’s true that the Raptors hold leverage, but to a certain degree. They’ll pick the destination, but they won’t exactly be able to extract a king’s ransom, nor will they be able to offload their garbage (Calderon, Turkoglu.)

What infuriates me about this Raptors team is that if they somehow pull out a win tonight against the Lakers, I wouldn’t be surprised, but a loss to the 76ers blows my mind. It’s not so much that they lost, well it is, but mostly how they lost. You get your franchise player back after he goes down for two weeks with an ankle injury, and you come out flat. Everyone was flat, even Jay wasn’t arguing calls with the zeal he normally does.

The Sixers are an athletic team, and the Raptors aren’t. Frankly, I would have picked them to be doing better than they are, at least be fighting for a playoff spot. As things happen, they are out of the playoff picture, and the Raptors are two games out of the lottery.

Over the last 6 games, the Raptors are a dismal 1-5. They haven’t been playing with any sense of urgency, energy, determination, heart, grit, honour, pride….they’ve been playing like the Nets, but with better players. I’m not sure what’s worse.

The Lakers are on a three game losing streak of their own; but there’s no remedy better than going home after a tough loss to the Magic on the road. A game where Kobe took 30 shots to score 34, Gasol put up 20/15 and Odom & Artest combined for 16pts 12rebs 5ast. Needless to say, the highlight of the game was Artest’s hair.

I bet the Lakers had this game circled on their calender after Turkoglu won the game at the line, with 1.2 seconds left in the game back in Toronto. Kobe had plenty of time to take the winning shot, but Antoine Wright played him perfectly defensively, only allowing an aggressively-contested shot that rimmed out.

What’s exciting is the game the Raptors played put themselves into a position where they could win the game at the line in the dying moments. Defense was solid, even though the Lakers dropped 105 points. Their tight man defense and crisp rotations in the 4th quarter forced bad shots/turnovers, then they capitalized on the other end with big shot making. Jack kept Farmar in check, Bosh and Bargnani would collapse on Gasol, even Calderon forced a couple turnovers.

The other key for the Raptors was getting to the line, and hitting their free throws. The Raptors need to replicate both of these efforts to even have a shot at a win here. Sadly, I’m hardpressed to think of this as anything but a spectacular loss to a team out for blood. Almost like Tom Liston furiously refreshing his browser until Amir Johnson’s adjusted +/- for the last three years is updated online.

Remember this?

Lightning wont be striking twice.

UPDATE

Better late than never, but I had checked in with Andy Kamenetzky from Land O’ Lakers, the ESPN Los Angeles Laker blog he runs with his brother Brian (you can also catch them on Twitter) and asked him a few questions about the Lakers heading into tonights game:

Q. I thought that replacing Ariza with Artest was an upgrade for the Lakers. Was it really? How has Artest worked out? Living up to expectations? Comment about his latest hairdo?
A. All in all, I do consider Artest an upgrade. Offensively, he’s been inconsistent, but so has the team in general for reasons varying from injuries creating a lack of continuity to a pure lack of focus. The issues aren’t Ron’s alone and he’s hardly the cause. These problems would exist if Ariza were still around, so you have to ask how much would Trevor be able to help. Judging by how he’s performed in an increased offensive role in Houston, my guess is not much.

In the meantime, the Lakers defense has become, rather under the radar, among the league’s best, which I think has a lot to do with Artest. He plays EXTREMELY hard and the team often feeds off his energy. Not to mention his pure skills. While Ariza was capable of disrupting teams with his length and is certainly a solid defender, Artest often wrecks guys one-on-one. He hounds the likes of ‘Melo, Pierce, Joe Johnson, and Granger relentlessly, leans on them, pokes away balls and often prevents them from even taking shots, much less forcing a miss. The Lakers undoubtedly miss Ariza’s speed at times and the flexibility of putting him on someone like Tony Parker, but TA also can’t cover guys without help for as long of durations. I’d rather have Artest, because that ability to go solo allows everyone else to better concentrate on their man.

Ron Ron’s “Demolition Man” ‘do was both interesting and short-lived. He’s now chrome dome, although the dye remains seeped into the skin. Always something there to remind me.

Q. I recently read that Lamar Odom eats excessive amounts of chocolate, and passes out in bed. Does it concern you that a major cog for a team with championship aspirations has this problem? How is his conditioning otherwise?
A. Considering Lamar ate plenty of candy last season when they won a title, no. He’s also been eating more oranges this season (another reason Artest has been a positive addition), if that eases anybody’s concerns. But unless he quite literally overdosed from a chocolate excess (as opposed to simply falling drifting off and the treats happened to be part of the equation) I consider this a non-story.

Q. Does Cleveland adding Antawn Jamison worry you guys come the finals?
A. In theory, yes, although Cleveland now has injury issues of their own and it remains to be seen how they’ll perform once Z returns and the entire roster is available. But to the original question, yes, he does concern me. I think Jamison was a better fit for Cleveland and easier to work into their system than Amar’e Stoudemire, their other debated acquisition. Particularly on the fly, which became even more of the case than originally expected. But assuming everyone is presented and accounted for, Jamison makes the Cavs better. He’s a tough cover and, by all accounts, a very good teammate. You can never have enough of the latter during the pressure cooker that is a playoff run.

Q. What is Phil Jackson’s status going forward?
A. Nobody knows for sure, but it’s certainly been a point of local gossip and rumors. Speculation Dr. Buss will ask PJ to take a pay cut next season, particularly if the Lakers don’t win it all. Speculation the team is tempted to bring in Byron Scott and start writing the franchise’s next chapter. Speculation old family wounds and divides have resurfaced to complicate the issue. Speculation PJ’s unresolved status could somehow jeopardize Kobe staying on board. And as the team plays below expectations, even while winning, even more speculation results.

Having said that, let’s be honest, isn’t that what we do in Laker Land even when everything is peachy? The Lakers and drama go hand in hand even during the brightest of times.

Personally, I think Jackson will return next season, assuming he remains in good health. But I guess you never know until ink and paper meet.

Q. Thoughts on the cause for your 3 game losing streak?
A. It’s still odd at times for me to type this, but the Lakers have been increasingly struggling on offense, which was certainly case during the three-loss roadie. Beyond not scoring with ease, they’re not doing much of anything efficiently. The ball doesn’t move and when it does, it’s often in the process of creating a turnover. They’re missing free throws. Players (Pau Gasol in particular) are having trouble hanging onto the rock. Too much iso play around the arc. Too much iso period. Ironically, the defense has often been very good, but when you’re both unable to score and constantly giving the ball away, there’s only so long the D will hold. According to research provided by Elias, the Lakers surrender 15.2 ppg off turnovers this season. During March, it’s hit nearly 19. For obvious reasons, that can’t continue.

I actually wrote about the streak ending on the Land O’ Lakers blog. To me, it felt emblematic of issues rising throughout the season and finally catching up to them over three consecutive games. This is still obviously a very good team, but there pressing issues in need of fine-tuning and they’re running out of time to hit stride before the playoffs.

Toronto Sun

The Raptors have lost their way, not knowing who to turn to when times get tough, when a play needs to be made at either end and no one seems capable of stepping up.

They’ve gotten whacked by the Thunder and Rockets because the Raptors are out of whack, completely out of sync and at a loss to explain their plunge.

They’ve been down this road before and recovered. The physical discomforts will heal, but it’s the team’s collective psyche that needs mending.

The Raptors arrived back in Toronto on Tuesday and will regroup on Wednesday in preparation for Friday’s visit by the New York Knicks.

“We need to get back on track,’’ Jose Calderon began in stating the obvious. “We just need to forget the last two losses and get ready for Friday.

“You go through ups and downs and right now we’re down.”

Toronto Star

And there’s no reason for one of those soul-cleansing team meetings that helped turn around the 7-13 start.

“If we have a meeting now, it’ll be with Scott,” Triano joked, referring to trainer Scott McCullough. “When we were 7-13, we had no injuries. Now we have three-quarters of our top four who can’t play. I don’t see any reason to panic right now.”

There does need to be some sense of urgency, though, because the Raptors are about to embark on a difficult month full of road games.

After facing the Knicks and Sixers at home this weekend, they take off for a stretch of four games in six nights on the west coast.

Before the end of March, they will play 15 more games including eight on the road and four sets of back-to-backs. And the home games are no walk in the park with Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Denver and Utah headed to the Air Canada Centre.

That led Triano to suggest he needs to see more “urgency” and less selfishness from his players.

“We’re going to be in a fight for a playoff spot right down to the very end,” he said. “Our schedule is no picnic now.”

National Post

Four spots, five teams. It is as simple as that. A week ago, the Toronto Raptors had some separation on the pack. But heading into last night’s action, 2½ games separated the Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and Charlotte Bobcats. One of those teams will miss the playoffs. With marquee free agents, the Raptors and Heat have the most to lose by failing to play into late April.

Basketball Prospectus

Riding the league’s top offence (and its worst defence), Toronto looks likely to reach the postseason. Nonetheless, these numbers suggest that a .500-type record might be the Raptors’ high-water mark. Turkoglu figures to decline in a hurry (his statistical profile is similar to Joe Johnson’s, which troubles SCHOENE, and Turkoglu is more than two years older). DeRozan can pick up some of the slack, but it’s hard to see anyone else stepping up. In particular, Bargnani’s per-game stats have always been better than his advanced ratings because of his poor defense and rebounding. Toronto also won’t have a first-round pick unless it slips into the lottery and would likely have to go into the luxury tax to use its mid-level exception if Bosh re-signs.

Toronto Star

Reggie Evans picked up a rather dubious honour Tuesday. In an informal poll of 173 of the NBA’s almost 450 players conducted by Sports Illustrated, the Raptors power forward was named "the dirtiest player" by 21 per cent of the respondents. Evans hadn’t played a game this season when the poll was conducted because of injury but still beat out Ron Artest of the L.A. Lakers, who was second at 13 per cent.

RaptorTalk

That said, the Raptors need to finish the month of March with a 9-6 record if they want to be assured of holding on to the 5th seed. That will be a tough task, which is achievable – based on three keys:
1. Chris Bosh Remains Healthy 
    2. "Orlando" Hedo Turkuglo Steps Up
    3. The Raptor Team Regains a Defensive Focus

Numbers 1 and 3 are most important, but an improved Hedo would provide a massive boost to the team’s chances. If Hedo can play like he did with Orlando down the stretch last season, then Raptors have a good chance to go on a mini-run.

Brothersteve’s Green & Red Raptor Blog

And whether David Stern wants to admit it or not, the NBA is refereed with an obvious “star” and team expectations bias.

The Raptors without Chris Bosh do not have an established star player to attract foul calls for them.  And the Raptors are not one of the “favored” teams when it comes to promoting the league.

One only has to watch NBA-TV to see where the league places the Raptors in terms of importance.  Sometimes it really looks like the league actually forgets about the team north of the border.  Okay, they seem to forget about a few other teams as well, but I’ll admit to not paying that much attention to them either.

Based on the NBA’s coverage, one might think the Grizzlies and Rockets were in the playoffs and Heat was still a dark horse contender.  The Raptors could be in 29th spot based on the NBA’s hi-light coverage.

Slow and steady doesn’t win the race, but at least it gives you time NOT to f*ck up. Two days into the second most important free agency period this team has ever gone through (the most important being the summer we re-upped AD, JYD and Boogie), and I’m glad Colangelo didn’t jump the gun to sign a free agent Shawn Marion. What would you say the contract he was going to be offered would be worth, 3yr/$21mil? Now, two days in and I bet not many of you would offer him more then a 3yr/$18mil deal, I know I wouldn’t.

Top 3 wing on the FA market sound about right? There a few teams around the league who are expected to compete for the championship, who could use the defense and rebounding that Marion brings to the table, but the funny thing is, there is zero chatter. Who wants Shawn Marion I know the Raptors do, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone else out there who will drive his asking price up, which should end up well for the Raptors. I can only speculate the reason Marion is taking his sweet time is that he hopes someone else will come in, and offer him a contract that will force BC to up the ante. I like the guy a lot, but he is 31, and any deal with him has to be 3 years and under $7mil/year.

I have to admit, the David Lee rumours make me nervous…really nervous. It makes no sense to sign Lee if the plan is to keep Chris Bosh. Argue all you want about what Chris’ natural position is (4 or 5), but as long as Bargnani is a Raptor, Bosh is a 4 (and Bargnani will be a Raptor unless we can get Wade or LeBron for him aka he will be here for ever). Does signing Lee give us options? It gives us a great deal of options, but the question is whether the Raptors would be a better team by signing Lee and trading Bosh for pieces, or keeping Bosh and signing/trading for pieces? Put me in the camp that supports the latter.

$60mil for Hedu? Seriously? I floated a 5yr/$50mil as my threshold of pain for the guy, but $60mil? I can only imagine that number was floated by his agent, in hopes of it working out for Hedu. Regardless, the Raptors seem to be out of hunting for the guy, which is fine with me, because…

ARTEST IS A LAKER!!!!

I love what he says about playing against Kobe in the finals, about not being friends and helping folks off the floor – I LOVE THAT ATTITUDE (we could have used Artest desperately). With the Lakers committing to Artest, Ariza is as good as gone, and the number of teams that could drive the value of his contract higher just decreased by one. I feel like Ariza is a younger Marion (not as talented mind you, but a younger-raw’er? version), and would be a nice fit lining up with Bosh and Bargnani in the front court. The rumour is that whoever, between Portland and Toronto, didn’t land Turkoglu would target Ariza. For once, here’s hoping the Blazers “win” the Hedu sweepstakes and we get the “consolation” prize.

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Normally, RuPaul would respond to being called Bosh “sashay shante“, but he’s in Bush country and you can’t blame him for looking over his shoulder. We know how dem rednecks like dem der colored transvestites…they don’t. The Mavs rolled out the welcome wagon with a 109-98 spanking. Bosh put up a lady-like 28pts and 10rebs, all from the out-side, best part – he didn’t break a nail.

Normally, when a cornerstone of your franchise goes down for the year, the team packs it up. This season, we have seen the Bucks and Rockets play arguably better. I have watched a few Rockets games over the last couple seasons, and always found that they play a better brand of ball with T-Mac out of the lineup. Call it Iverson-syndrome, or the fact that karma is a b*tch, but since McGrady shafted the Raptors, his career has been nothing but cashing pay-checks ever two weeks.

This Rockets team is loads better without McGrady IMHO. If I were Daryl Morey, I would be trying to move McGrady for a couple pieces that would solidify the bench. Over the last 10 games, the Rockets are 8-2, with their two losses coming against the Bucks (what I tell you?) and the Bulls (a furious rally in the 4th). Their most recent game came at the hands of the Timberwolves, which doesn’t really count seeing as Jefferson is out for the season.

Backshot girl.

The Raptors on the other hand is 4-6, in the  middle of a 2 game losing streak that could stretch to 7. Marion is out with a flu, Bosh is the laughing stock of the league and each day we realize that this team is damned if they do, and damned if they don’t with their current management team in place. The last time these guys met earlier in the season, the Raptors managed to spank these guys 94-73.You might remember that game, the Rockets played some of the ugliest basketball, going 7-27 from the 3pt line.

They aren’t as well endowed as the Mavs cheerleaders, but we have ourselves a winner (and not by default). Her name is Julie, she takes pride in how far she has cum, and lists ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ as the greatest movie ever. There’s no accounting for taste, but she’s damn hot.

Injury Report

Raptors
Kris Humphries
Shawn Marion – questionable

Rockets
Tracy McGrady

Match-ups

Calderon vs Brooks
The Edge: Brooks - Calderon sucks. Brooks was a non-factor the first time they played this season, but with Rafers exile to Orlando, and Head being waved, he has been thrust into the starting role: 22pts 10asts? Raise of hands, who thought Calderon would put those numbers up this year? LOL

Parker vs Artest
The Edge: Artest - Ron-Ron will be having a big night for the Rockets, unless Marion is healthy enough to go, which wont change the outcome, but could keep Artest in check…to a degree. There is a possibility that Parker will cover Battier and Graham on Artest, that would a better match-up for the Raptors, still don’t like for either of them though.

Graham vs Battier
The Edge: Battier - How big a contract will Joey Graham get this off-season? I suspect a 3yr/$10mill type deal. I say this because we really don’t know what we have in this guy. Is he playing for a contract, or did Smitch really have it in for the guy? I’m leaning to the former, but who knows. Battier is easily the best player in the match-up, and easily will win this match-up for one reason: he does what he needs too. If he needs to play defense for the Rockets to win, he will and they will. If he needs to hit treys for the Rockets to win, he will and they will. The guy is a pro, he can play for my team any day.

Bosh vs Scola
The Edge: Scola - Does dropping 28pts 10rebs while losing mean you won the match-up? Statistically yes, but not where it matters, in the W column. I suspect RuPaul will put up solid numbers, but Scola will do 15pts 10rebs and the Rockets will win. He gets the nod.

Bargnani vs Yao
The Edge: Yao - It’s a sweep. Yao will dominate in the block, Bargnani should dominate on the perimeter. Yao will win the battle on the boards, Bargnani will hit more treys. Yao will win the game, Bargnani wont.

Note - Von Wafer is someone to watch out for. He lit us up for 18pts the last time around, and is averaging 17 a game over the last 5 games (since McGrady has gone down I believe, I wonder how he feels that every time he goes down, the team plays better?).

The Line

VegasInsider.com has the line at Rockets -8.5

Prediction

Go with the line, Raptor suck and the Rockets are jockeying for 2nd round home court advantage.

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Free Ukic .

And resign Bosh to a max deal or this team is in dire straits (or just ship RuPaul out for a few young QUALITY pieces).

It’s times like this where I wished I could smite BC for his idiotic abuse of this franchise and its fans. The latest obscenity happens to potentially be the most expensive.

When this team was in desperate need of a wing player who could create his own scoring options and defend on the perimeter, he broke the bank by shipping out our three most marketable assets for a player who was past his prime and injury ridden for the last two seasons. Good job. Don’t be fooled, this trade isn’t a good one for the Raptors. It’s sexy, but it that’s it, no good will come of it.

The lone saving grace of having O’Neal in a Raptors uniform was the cap space he brought in the most anticipated free agent period in the history of the NBA. Not so much anymore, since we get to be a player the year before, did I F*&#(*$ miss something? Why wouldn’t the Raptors want to be players in the 2010 FA? Imagine they were able to somehow lure Lebron, Wade or Joe Johnson here. Ok, there must be some gems in this seasons free agent list, lets take a look at the cream of the crop:

• Mike Bibby
• Ben Gordon
• Brandon Bass
• Allen Iverson
• Rasheed Wallace
• Ron Artest
• Trevor Ariza
• Lamar Odom
• Shawn Marion
• Andre Miller

Anyone there you think would make this team an EC power, keeping Bosh happy so he doesn’t force a move next season where we will surely get sodomized in yet another trade? A show of hands…yea, me neither. How bad is this Marion trade? In essence, this is what happened:

Outgoing

• TJ Ford
• Rasho Nesterovic
• 2008 1st Round Pick – Roy Hibbert
• Maceo Baston
• Jamario Moon
• Conditional 1st Round Pick 2010-2015
• $4mill trade exception
• Fan Pride

Incoming

• Shawn Marion
• Nathan Jawai
• Marcus Banks
• $3mill cash
• Increased Raptered Fan Syndrome

About the 1st round conditional pick:

The Heat will receive a first-round pick from Toronto in 2010, unless that pick is among the first 14 (lottery) selections. Should Toronto be in the draft lottery in 2010, in essence not make next season’s playoffs, the Heat then would receive a 2010 second-round pick from the Raptors. The first-round pick then would be sent to the Heat in any year, from 2011 through 2014 that it is not among the first 14 selections (the next year Toronto makes the playoffs). Should the Heat not get the first-round pick by 2014, it then would receive a 2015 first-round pick from the Raptors.

So the kicker is if the Raptors are a lottery team next season, they lose a 2nd round pick in 2010, and a 1st rounder down the line somewhere, genius.

Implications of the trade:

• Another 1st round pick gone…
• The wing position is still thin
• Marion will be forced to play 3, what about Joey?
• Overall depth is even more suspect
• Marcus F*&#(*$ Banks, are you F*&#(*$ kidding me? F*&#(*$!!
• We have cap space in the summer of 2009, not 2010 – which is like playing in the NBDL instead of the NBA…
• There is $14,200,000 of salary tied up between Kapono, Humphries and Banks…

Idiot. Fool’s Gold this BC is. If you think otherwise, I know this Nigerian businessman who has a proposition for you.

Respect to Cuzzy from Cuzoogle.com for the graphic.

Free Ukic!

The point guards struggled again with John Lucas unable to find the stroke going 3-12 FG. Daniel Ewing was glued to the bench along with Rod Benson and Chris Bosh’s little brother managed to get in for four minutes and clanged a couple jumpers. Jaycee Carroll came back to earth and C.J Giles racked up 8 turnovers to go along with his 8 points. Check the box score for more excitement but it doesn’t look like there’s anything good coming out of this year’s summer league crop. Nathan Jawai’s 2 points in 20 minutes is analyzed in detail by a RealGM poster. FYI, Donte Greene (who many an expert had us picking) exploded for 40 and the game-winning assist against Phoenix.

A quote-heavy article in the USA Today has Hubie Brown analyzing the trade and Sam Mitchell mentioning that Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon are the three starters for the team and that “everything else is wide open”. Nothing we didn’t already know but it assures that Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon’s jobs aren’t guarantees. Bryan Colangelo’s picking O’Neal to have a “breakout year” and Brown wisely cautions that the trade is entirely dependent on O’Neal’s health to which Colangelo counters by praising his medical team.

It’s been said before but it warrants mention again: balancing the two front-court powers so that they’re complementing each other rather than coming in each others’ way will be Sam Mitchell’s greatest challenge as a coach. This situation can go south very quickly if the Raptors offense becomes as simple as O’Neal and Bosh alternating PNR and post-up situations. Mitchell has to balance O’Neal’s desire to revive his career and channel that motivation into the team functioning better, not individual glory. As he pointed out in his presser, its hardly going to matter what the stats are if we don’t see playoff success. At least early on O’Neal and Bosh share a clear understanding of what they need to do “to lead this team to the next level.” We’ll see how they’ll execute their ideas.

Ron Artest is still out there and looking to be traded to a team that’s more “committed than Sacramento”. Get him here and half of our defensive and toughness problems will go away. The problem is we don’t have anything to barter with. If nothing else, it would be very much appreciated if he’d stay in the West and not join an up and coming Eastern conference team like the Sixers, Nets, Bulls, Hawks or Magic.

Jose Calderon’s giving his thoughts on Greece while Leo Rautins is hoping that his Canadian team is finally mature enough and ready to take center stage. Canada plays Slovenia at 6AM today.

The men from RaptorsTalk have an Eastern Conference preview already out and they’re picking the Raptors to finish above the Sixers and Magic. A very optimistic article that’s worth a read but only exists because the summer is so damn long.

Scott Foster was at the receiving ends of 150 phone calls from Tim Donaghy while he was busy supplying Vegas with future NBA boxscores. So far Foster’s not under any investigation. I’m still waiting for the NBA to get into Hue Hollins’ grill for calling that foul on Scottie Pippen the year Jordan was playing baseball.

In other news, Ex-Raptor Rasho Nesterovic will be retiring from international basketball after the Olympic run. He was one of the better Raptors last year and produced whenever called upon, even if I think hard I still won’t be able to come up with any complaints about his play.

That’s about it for this morning. Thanks for reading. If you’re looking for some extra-curricular activities Cuzoogle will help you out.

[audio http://mvn.com/hoopsaddict/podpress_trac/web/84/0/mattdevlin.mp3]

Nathan Jawai’s getting a guaranteed 2-year deal which will allow the Raptors to retain his early Bird rights, in other words they can exceed the salary cap when offering him a future contract. Multi-year contracts are rare for second round picks so the Raptors must be high on him, next step is to get him over to training camp and see if he can ball. It’ll be a tough road for him but he’s in good company with a chance to learn from Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal. Worst comes to worst he’ll play in our NBDL squad and see some fierce toughness, hone his skills and ultimately get better and hopefully develop into Shaq! It does look like the Raptors have a real plan him but then again it looked like they had a plan for PJ Tucker and Uros Slokar.

Jay Triano talks about the trinity that is O’Neal, Bosh and Bargnani. Basically the Raptors hope to have at least two of the three on the floor at all times and all three will play two-thirds of the game. Triano alluded to Bargnani’s SF defense against the Magic in the playoff and assessed only too kindly that he had “trouble guarding” the position. It would be a pleasant surprise if Bargnani came back and held his own as a SF but given his background, lateral movement and natural weaknesses it’s asking a lot of him. The athletes at that position are too good to be held in check by anything remotely resembling a stiff. Check out that pic they used in the article, its 50′s technology.

The Clippers chose not to extend a qualifying offer to Shaun Livingston which is a little surprising given the talent the young man has shown over the years. This makes him an unrestricted free agent. He hasn’t played in more than a year due to his knee injury but is recuperating and should be good to play at the start of next season. As Colangelo pointed out on Wednesday, the Raptors are in the market for a combo-guard and Livingston, if healthy, can be a heck of a player.

The Nets just signed a guy I wanted the Raptors to get – Jarvis Hayes. Hayes is a player, put him at 2 or 3 and he’ll produce for you by playing hard defense, hitting threes and occasional slashing. He’s been part of a winning environment in Detroit and will bring leadership to the table along with a solid veteran presence. He had interest from Phoenix and I’m surprised he chose the Nets. Either way, great signing by Kiki Vandeweghe.

Andres Nocioni is a guy that gets a few Raptors fans wet for some reason and Vandeweghe might be able to snag him by only giving up Marcus Williams. From the Bulls perspective, this trade makes no sense since they’ve already got Rose, Hinrich and Gordon but if the Nets pull this one off, it’ll be a steal and make the tough Atlantic even tougher.

The Lakers are said to have offered Lamar Odom for Ron Artest and Golden State has signed Ronny Turiaf to an offersheet.

The Dave Feshcuk article from a couple days ago spawned a huge thread on RealGM talking about the Raptors potential for a championship, all horseshit really. I had my two cents.

Not much going on this morning, help settle this one for me: Anne Hathaway or Megan Fox. Take it easy.