The fact remains that Wright knows he may get the call — again — that he has been traded.
Another player who falls into the same category is Amir Johnson, who was traded twice within a two-month span last summer.
Like Wright, Johnson’s contract expires this summer.
When one looks at the Raptors roster moving forward beyond this season, neither Wright nor Johnson would seem to be a fit because of an excess of bodies and money.
“I enjoy being in Toronto,’’ Johnson said. “As a player, all you can do is play hard and try to have an impact, no matter where you are.”
Chris Bosh will get on a plane with the rest of the Raptors Thursday afternoon and head to the New York area for a game in New Jersey.
The flight will coincide with the NBA’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, and if Bosh gets to his hotel and his 13 teammates are the same as the ones he left with, he’ll be fine with that.
"I’d be happy if we didn’t make a trade. I think we’re playing well and the different guys we have at each position are doing well, so I don’t know if we need one," Bosh said after his sparkling performance in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.
12. (13)
Toronto Raptors
29-23
It sounds almost absurd, but the Raptors could make a run at the Atlantic Division title and the No. 3 seed in the East. Toronto trails Boston by only four games.
DeRozan said he is trying to forget about the weekend and move on to thinking about the final 30 games of the regular season. For Bosh, surely, that will be an easier task.
The final stretch of the season, which features 15 games on the road and the same number at home, starts tomorrow at the Air Canada Centre against Memphis. The trade deadline comes the next day.
And it is very possible that the 14 players who make up the Raptors roster will be the group that makes this final push.
"I think we’re fine," Bosh said. "Sometimes people don’t recognize that trades don’t always work out for the best. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they don’t. It’s a gamble either way. We’re good with what we have."
After a slow start to the season, the Toronto Raptors look to have turned the corner. The Raptors have won eight of their last 10, including three straight and have crafted a 29-23 record overall, good for fifth in the East standings.
The Raptors sit second in the Atlantic trailing the division-leading Boston Celtics by four-games. Toronto has a shot at home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. But, in order to accomplish that goal the Raptors will need to start winning on the road. Of the 16 teams currently in playoff positions, only one has a more dismal road record than Toronto’s 9-17, the Charlotte Bobcats at 7-19.
Toronto Raptors: B-
The Raptors sure can shoot the ball. And with enough of an inside presence from Chris Bosh, and enough defense from Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson, the Raptors have reared their teeth after a disappointing start. Don’t expect the Raptors to escape the first round though.
At the start of the NBA season, I compiled a list of NBA team rankings based on Twitter followers. It was a big hit, being retweeted by the NBA and several NBA teams. To reiterate, the quantity of followers is nowhere near as important as the quality of conversation, community participation, and influence on the game; With that said, organizations still care about who’s following them on social media outlets because it shows the results of their new age marketing efforts and it can help them to market their brand more effectively in the future.
After the most exciting All-Star weekend ever, it’s time to start the second half of the NBA season and here’s the updated NBA twitter rankings to go along with it:
Wade received nine of 12 available votes from a panel that included nine media members, one of whom was yours truly.
Cleveland’s LeBron James received two votes and Toronto’s Chris Bosh received one.
The panel consists of nine media members and three fan votes Wade wins All-Star MVP by vote of 9-2-1 based on online polling. The player with the highest online vote total gets two votes and one vote goes to the player who finishes second in fan balloting.
So we are down to Belinelli, Rasho, Marcus Banks, Reggie Evans and POB. What can you get with any of them?
I don’t see the Raptors making any big moves. If there is a trade for Marcus Banks (expiring contract), then Colangelo will make a move. But again, with so many teams struggling with finance, not sure a deal like that will happen. And the Raptors have already traded away their first round pick to Miami, so that option is not available either.
So more than likely, the Raptors will be a spectator in his trade deadline, and that’s not necessary a bad thing. The Raptors are playing at a high level right now, so why mess with a good thing?
DeRozan
– What was the craziest part of the weekend?: “The arena.The Cowboys stadium. That was crazy. I ain’t never seen nothing in my life similar like that. It was crazy. 108,000 people, it was crazy.”
– On the dunk contest: “I was kinda mad that I didn’t win it, but hopefully I can get back in it next year at home.”
– What happened with the Michael Jackson tribute?: “I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling it. I might save it for next year.”
– Are you open to going back in the dunk contest again?: “Oh yeah. It’s fun, man. It’s fun. The first time, you get a learning experience for being in it once. Afterward you think of more things you could have done, props, a lot of stuff I possibly could have done, but hopefully I’ll get to do it next year.”
-Talking to Bill Russell on Friday night: “He just talked to me, he knew me from this past summer, the rookie transition camp. He was there, and just talked to me about seeing me in the dunk contest, wishing me luck and everything.”
For the first time in a while, the Raptors are virtually a non-entity on the trade rumour mill. It’s a good sign. Making a deal might end up backfiring for the Raptors, unless it seriously upgrades their talent level. Still, there are a couple of moves they could make that might improve them.
Andre Igoudala for Demar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Marcus Banks
In an earlier post, I proposed including Calderon in a trade for Iguodala, in this one, he’s not included, but Philly gets more salary relief. Banks’ contract isn’t great, but it’s 3 years less than Iguodala’s. Including Amir gives them another young prospect, as well as an expiring contract. Obviously Iguodala would be a great fit for the Raptors, and might be enough to entice Bosh to re-sign.
Where there is smoke there is usually fire and there is reason to believe that Bryan Colangelo is holding out for the Sacramento Kings Kevin Martin.
However, the Boston Celtics have surfaced as a more likely trading partner, especially if the Maloof brothers are looking for salary cap relief. If they are looking for talent and fit, one has to believe the Raptors potential offer trumps the Celtics offer.
