A quiet night in Raptorland; hope the day turns out to be eventful

Well, I wish I had some huge news for you but, as expected, there was hardly a flurry of activity over night.

Especially in Toronto.

A few phone calls, more exploratory than anything, greeted the start of the free agency negotiation period and they’re keeping a tight lid on even who they might be interested in down at that Bay Street Ivory Tower.

About the only nugget I got yesterday was this, from someone who’s tuned in:

“Bryan’s really trying to be creative”

I take that to mean if he’s not getting the right vibes for Marion and his people about the money or length of a new deal, he’s out trying to find some good fit for all concerned.

And I know Hedo Turkoglu seems destined to go to Portland but I also know the Raptors are giving it their best to see what they can do, either using Marion as a chip or in some other “creative” way.

Other than that, though, I don’t hear a lot of rumblings, which means we’ll all be surprised when something goes down, I just hope we get surprised by reading about it here first.

I have no doubt that things might move a bit more slowly this year than in previous years, money’s tight and I bet teams are waiting to see what kind of bargains are out there.

What I presume is going to happen – because it’s happened in the past here – is that we’ll get a call from someone who knows what’s going on telling us to call this or that agent and we’ll find out the Raptors have come to some agreement with some free agent.

What that’ll be is the big question.

And, sadly, I don’t have a list of names at the moment.

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I did run this by someone who’s in touch with the goings on in Toronto: With the dearth of small forwards on the roster, I figured a three would be a prime target, either through Marion’s departure or a mid-level signing.

The response I got:

“Don’t rule anything out.”

So, could they move one of their bigs (Hi, Hump!) in some package for another big? Or would they be looking this route to get a backup for Jose?

One name I keep hearing, and have heard for months, is Marco Bellinelli in Golden State.

He’s got a really cheap contract, $1.5 million this coming season, $2.3 million the year after, and he’s been in Bryan’s mind for a while.

They can’t just sign him, this would be outside the free agency period, but if there’s a bigger deal to be made with the Warriors, he’d be in it for sure. And seeing how the Phoenix-Golden State Amare Stoudemire deal seems as good as dead, I bet Toronto’s made another call to Nellie and Larry Riley.

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Oh yeah, all you fans of Giorgos Printezis – and by that I mean all you who think he’d be a great fit here without, you know, having seen him play in person or more than once or twice – have another year to wait to see if he’s got any game at all.

I don’t know if he does or not but I do know there are those in the Raptors camp who don’t think he’s quite good enough right now to even make a team, let alone make a contribution.

Reports out of Greece say the small forward has signed a three-year deal with Malaga of the Spanish League (and we all know the greatest export Malaga ever made, right?) and that kind of seals Printezis’s fate for at least one more season, perhaps longer when we find out what the buyout might be.

The Raptors? I’ve got a feeling they’re quite all right with this.

Printezis is raw, he had an okay season in Greece last year – hardly the kind that would make you believe he’s a can’t-miss NBA prospect – and another year of seasoning can’t hurt.

There is no doubt that he and his agent used the supposed “offer” from the Raptors as some kind of leverage to get a European deal because, and I have this on pretty high authority, Toronto really didn’t want to bring him over this season.

And now they won’t.

And I bet as his season progresses, he becomes even better in the eyes of fans over here.

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Big goings on in New Zealand starting tomorrow. And it might mean some late nights or early mornings over here.

The world Under-19 championships begin – Canada’s in a first-round group with Australia, Spain and Syria – and the team Canada Basketball sent over isn’t too shabby at all.

Names you’ll come to know: Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, who figure to be the team’s leading scorers, and Kelly Olynyk, who was the MVP: of a tournament the team won in France last month.

Because of the goofy time change – and I renew my suggestion that the whole world operate on the time zone in which I live – this is where you’ll find out best who won and why.

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You know, I have a lot of respect for Doc Rivers and I presume this was done over his head but for the Celtics to not make a qualifying offer to Leon Powe just sucks. Huge.

Powe, as you recall, blew out his knee in the playoffs last year, after being so valuable to Boston when KG was out.

Powe made a paltry $797,581 last season and to qualify him would have cost just over $1 million, which truly is chump change. It would have sent a message that the team he’d given his all to cared a little bit about the health of one of their key players.

I know pro sports can be a ruthless business and teams can spend money any way they like but not giving Powe one season worth of piece of mind was a classless, boorish move by an organization that should be better than that.

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Well, Mike Curry sure didn’t last long in Detroit, did he?

A one and done year for the guy who was supposedly one of the good young coaches in the league?

Didn’t see that coming and few did. The timing? Odd, given that they could have whacked him right after the season but I wonder if the availability of a replacement might not have had something to do with when Curry got fired.

I’m hearing all over the place that the job is Doug Collins’s to turn down and it’s quite possible it took Collins until this week to decide whether or not he really wanted to coach again.

Now, I know Curry didn’t really distinguish himself in his first year, he had issues with Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton and the Pistons were a mess at times but at what point do we start casting glances at Joe Dumars.

He made the disastrous Iverson for Billups trade, he’s the guy who put so much stock in Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson, he’s the guy who constructed what’s really only a so-so roster at the moment.

Mike Curry was the fall guy.

Comments

[pete]

Hey Doug, did you see Nate's stat-line last night? 28 points (11-12) 11 boards, do you think he could contribute next year?

Blogger's note: If the Chinese national team joins the Atlantic Division, he's got a chance to be good

[Mike]

Surely Joe D had a terrible year as a GM in '09 but I mean come on ..... if we're sending GM's to the guillotine shouldn't Colangelo be the one to take one for the team and go first?

It's as if we forget the 6 straight ECF's and NBA title Detroit won, in spite of the 2003 draft debacle.

Was their year last year any worse than our 33 win disaster?

[Patrick]

Hi Doug. As a Raptors fan and star subscriber, I've really enjoyed your articles and posts. While Feschuk is amusing, you deliver the real stories. Big fan of their latest move to get Evans - hope he pans out as Oak did.

I can't wait to see what the Raps are going to do in the next couple of days. Would be great to see Turkoglu and Varajao in Toronto. I just can't stand Matrix's jump shot - my three year old has better form.

[Wes]

Call me crazy, but I think the sleeper of this free agency might be Trevor Ariza. Well he may not be a sleeper, but if he doesnt stay in LA, the team he does land with will be vastly improved. Watching him in the playoffs was impressive. More impressive was seeing him play and rarely (if never) whined to the refs about not getting calls. I would love to see this guy in the red and black. If the raps could get AP back at a reasonable price and figure out the hump/pops/o'bryant/graham log jam, i think paying Ariza a nice contract would work out well. Maybe im building this guy up too much, but I'll take him over Ben Gordon or Hedu T. Oh, and lets toss an offer sheet at Anderson Verajo too,

[Kevin]

I don't know why people are so surprised about the the classless, boorish move by Boston, it keeps perfectly in tune with their play.

As for Dumars, I don't think the Iverson trade was (is?) the problem. The extensions and contracts he gave to Rip Hamilton and Billups are the problem. Certainly Iverson wasn't a good fit on the team but that team wasn't winning anything even with Chauncey. They were going to flame out in the playoffs, yet again, so why not free up a LOT of cap space in the most economically depressed part of the country during what is, essentially, a depression.

Dumars has made a lot of mistakes (and a few smart moves but the only one I can think of is getting Rasheed Wallace in 2004). It seems that a lot of the moves he's been praised for end up being failures later.

[SteveG]

If the Blazers are successful in their pursuit of Hedo, does that then make Outlaw expendable?
(not necessarily to the Raps because all we really have to offer is Marion, but they already have a SF and PF)

[Mike P.]

wouldn't mind belinelli, would be a much better player than graham in a raptor uniform. takes alot of risks and can be careless at times, but you could see the talent and excitement he brings when he gets minutes.

[Dre from Btown]

Hey Doug do you think the Raps wining in the weak east stopped BC from building the team properly? It seems like they got lucky because the east was really bad (titanic division)and instead of building a solid team he just tried a hail mary(JO).Is he willing to break up the Mid three to plug the holes of this sinking ship.

[LeeZ]

That's it??? And you call yourself a beat grunt? Come on, Smitty, get that nose to the grindstone, ear to the ground, feet on the pavement...hell, cobble together some dixie cups if need be, but GET US SOME NEWS! And if there's no news to be had, MAKE SOME UP!

[Sean]

I think the Raps had a guy in a similar situation as Powe and they decided to let him go just a few years ago did they not? Mamadou N'Diaye i believe. (obviously he wasn't as good & i think he is still trying to get back in the league) but if i remember right it was the same sorta thing.

[Sean]

hey Doug just a follow up to my last post i just remebered it was actually Pape Sow i was thinkin of

[Mike Kovacs]

Doug are all of these players exercising the options on the final year of their contracts because of the uncertainty of the new market?

Blogger's note: Exactly. There's not a lot of money out there this year; there should be more next summer, the Summer of LeBron

[T i]

@LeeZ: Yah that sounds refreshing, reading some made up news. I take it you were against ESPN letting go of Stephen A. Smith??? I also figure you love those tabloids. lol

Blogger's note: I'm thinking -- and hoping and pretty sure -- that it was sarcasm.

[Tabber]

Eric alert! Now posting as LeeZ. Gotta try the second and third and ... screen names!

Blogger's note: I'm thinking -- and hoping -- that was sarcasm in the original post

[chris]

Didn't BC (or babcock?) give Pape Sow a one year contract (or, picking up an option on him) when he injured himself in summer league playing for us??? I remember thinking that was a really classy move.

Doug -- if Shawn walks and we can't work a (good) sign and trade....was that whole series of trades a giant failure?

Blogger's note: If he walks, it'll be interesting to see what, or who, they spend money on. Then we'll talk

[Rob.V]

1 Million less to Leon Powe = 1 Million more for Rasheed Wallace...entirely makes sense. When you're in the business of winning championships, which the C's are at the moment... that's good business!. BTW - Dude (meaning Doug), when did you develop feelings?. I must have missed that blog. Don't tell me all those whiny bloggers are getting to you i.e. "I'm gonna tell my mommy on you Doug, cause you told me to go look up what the "luxury tax" is for the umpteenth time... and you werent as polite as the first 14 times you explained it". Don't go losing your edge on us Doug.

Charlie V. and Ben Gordon in Detroit's starting rotation would be GREAT!!!!... for the other teams in the Eastern Conference. If this happens, there is some definite "slippage" happening in Detroit. If Dumars doesnt bring in a big who can play in the paint i.e (Millsap)... I'd be shocked!!!

With all the talk of Marion, Hedo, and Ariza there are still some good vets out there that could help the Raps on the wing. I'd have no problem with a Grant Hill on a short deal ... maybe a Bruce Bowen or Matt Harpring off the bench.

Is Allen Iverson DONE?... not one word about this guy since the Pistons virtually told him to go home for the remainder of the season.

[aditya]

i still think leon powe will get signed by boston celtics for the minimum as soon as he is healed

Blogger's note: Then they would have screwed him out of about $1 million. Nice guys

[Patrick]

Pape Sow was a stiff. Started with promise and against weak competition in D league.

[Wilber]

Dumars picked Darko, no?

[Adam G]

"I know pro sports can be a ruthless business and teams can spend money any way they like but not giving Powe one season worth of piece of mind was a classless, boorish move by an organization that should be better than that."

Doug, I didn't enjoy the feeling of the Raptors paying Garbo, what, $6 million dollars so that he would never play for the team again. Given a choice, they shouldn't have, and in a similar situation, the Celtics aren't.

Blogger's note: Apples and oranges.

[doug]

from the inside of a organization its easy or necessary to pin teams failings on either the coach or g.m. as one will be the fall guy, but from the outside looking in both can be blamed.....thats the case with the Pistons I believe, Dumars had a bad year but has earned some rope, leverage in that he has proven himself to be a competent G.M. so deserves a chance to right the ship....Curry on the other hand made a classic mistake a lot of first year coaches do, he tried to do to much....to needlessly get into this power struggle (with the same players he needs to count on) in order to prove he was the coach....the Pistons are veterans, let them have their locker room and just concentrate on coaching, like all good businessman people have to learn and have trust in delegating authority...Curry never grasped this, so he had issues with Prince, Hamilton etc...coaches gain respect over time, they earn it, don't demand it or try to force it , it ultimately fails especially with a veteran team....Curry is to blame and he got his just desserts...people like Avery Johnson, Curry, Sam to a degree, and Porter all learned this the hard way....Phil jackson is a master of this, he coaches lets the players police themselves, have their locker room....and in Jay I see the same philosophy it works...

[Mike P.]

Hey doug, i was looking at the lakers salary situation. how are they possibly going to sign either odom or ariza being locked in for 75 million; already 4 million over the tax. holy smoke and a pancake. that is going to be a hit if they get either one back.

unless you are the spurs, the willingness to spend is vital.

[Tim W.]

I think it's interesting to see how GM's seem to rise and fall in and out of the good graces of fans. There was a time when Geoff Petrie was considered one of the best GM"S in the NBA. Now, especially after passing on Rubio in the draft, no one's saying that anymore.

I've always felt Dumars was always a little overrated as a GM. And if it's true that Detroit is going after Villanueva and Gordon, it strengthens that opinion. Detroit, where defense was a cornerstone of all their Championships, going after two of the worst defenders in the free agent class? And is it just me, or is Gordon WAY too similar to Iverson to work on the Pistons? Where's he going to play? He likes coming off the bench about as much as Iverson does.

Rob V.: "1 Million less to Leon Powe = 1 Million more for Rasheed Wallace...entirely makes sense. When you're in the business of winning championships, which the C's are at the moment... that's good business!"

Well, that's not actually true. Boston can spend the $1 million on Powe AND sign Wallace. They're not under the cap, or anything. And good business means being a good corporate citizen. Besides, if you had a chance to sign with the Celtics, who just did that, or the Lakers, who signed draft pick Ronny Turiaf AFTER he was diagnosed with a heart problem so he would be able to pay for his operation because it was the right thing to do, which would you do? Teams that conduct themselves with class and respect get rewarded.