The dawn of a new era? Or something like that

Morning, everyone. How’s things?

Pretty zany night, no?

Some day I’ll tell you about it. Just suffice it to say that when you’re a barbecue guest at the home of good friends (Hi, Sue, Mike, Eric and Nicole!) and you’re fielding calls and e-mails and writing a story on a Blackberry, it takes a bit longer than you’d hope. Got it in about 10:30, which gave me time to at least end a lovely night relaxing.

But I will also say that I’m quite glad we never jumped on the Hedo-to-Portland’s-done on our own. Far better to put it out there on someone else’s hook until you’re absolutely sure. And there was never, ever a time that I was absolutely sure he was going to Portland, which is why prudence is sometimes the best.

Anyway …

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So, Turk, eh?

What’s it mean?

Let’s look at some pros:

Another good ball-handler and initiator on the court.

A guy you can give the ball to at the end of the game and say, ‘make a play’ while you stretch the floor with Jose (a very good three-point shooter) in the corner.

Let’s just say – as Jeff Blair first pointed out on a radio show last night – that Bosh leaves (and no, I don’t have any idea if he will). Do you feel more comfortable going forward with Calderon, Bargnani and Turkoglu or Calderon, Bargnani and Marion? A no-brainer over here.

You can put Hedo and Bargnani in the pick and roll; you could never do that with Shawn.

Can you make this case: Toronto has the same kind of starting lineup now as the defending Eastern Conference champions? To wit: Calderon as Nelson, only better at many things like, oh, shooting and dishing out assists; Bosh in the Howard role, the guy who rolls to the basket on the high screen and roll, a far more accomplished scorer and while not a defensive intimidator, he’s passable; Bargnani does as much offensively as Lewis (check the stats, they are almost exactly the same); Turkoglu’s Turkoglu and, well, maybe DeMar DeRozan becomes Courtney Lee, which I don’t think is a stretch because now he doesn’t have to do anything offensively except make cuts to the basket, get on the boards and use his athleticism.

Let’s look at some cons:

The bench may not be deep. But Ukic this year will be an improvement over Solomon last year; Reggie Evans remains an excellent pickup and, believe me, Bryan’s trying to get something done to get another two and/or three in town. Right now, that’s a concern. There is also a lot of time between now and October.

Too much money. Turk’s deal is big but they’ve projected the numbers out and it won’t hamper them doing something with Bargnani or Bosh when the time comes.

Poor defence. Yes, another concern. But with a full training camp to install a system and the presence of Mark Iavaroni, it might not be as bad as you think. As one guy who’s in the gym with them a lot said to me yesterday: “If we work on defence every day, they have to get better.”

So, there you have some.

Debate away.

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My opinion: What the hell, go for broke.

The league is built on talent and that’s as talented a starting lineup as they’ve had in years and years. Sure, if someone gets hurt they could be screwed which is exactly the same thing they’re saying in Cleveland and Boston. But if one of the starters goes down, I still think the other four can carry the load at least a little bit.

Look, everything’s a gamble.

This one just makes senses and, to me, was worth it. I like those pros far more than I’m worried about those cons.

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Here's how they explained it in the Portland paper this morning.

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Oh, and there’s this.

Here are some names that a guy in the organization gave me yesterday as possible guys who’ll fall through the cracks and be available on minimum salary deals when the economic pinch is truly felt later this summer:

Matt Barnes, Von Wafer, Gerald Green, Ronnie Price, Joey Graham, Jamario Moon (remember those last two?) and maybe even Shannon Brown, although that’s a stretch.

The point is, in these economic times, there will be bargains to be had and the one thing the Raptors can offer is a chance to play minutes, which is just what a guy on a minimum value deal wants more than anything.

Can they get a significant name? I don’t know, but there’s a chance they’ll get someone who’s more than a warm body at the end of the bench.

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In other matters, my regular morning read of Tanya’s story shows Canada lost but still moves on at the Under-19 worlds.

Not a crippling defeat – they’ll still move on to the second round – but they now probably need three wins in their next four games to move to the quarter-finals.

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What’s up with Shawn?

Well, he’s going to feel the squeeze worse than anyone. Unless Portland or Oklahoma City throws big bucks at him (they’re the only teams with money left that are likely to spend it), he’s going to have to settle for a mid-level salary.

That kind of sucks for him but it’s a sign of the times.

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Okay, I see about 50 comments in there calling me all kinds of names. Better go hold my breath and post ‘em.

Back later if something happens.

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Comments

[Christian]

I know that the only option to get Delfino is to have him sign a veteran's minimum. Would this also be the case if we still want Parker or Marion back?

I am still intrigued on what can happen with the bench, any other way that we can get someone else better than the namesnames you mentioned (ie Matt Barnes, Von Wafer, Gerald Green, Ronnie Price, Joey Graham, Jamario Moon).

[Rick]

WOW we got the Turk! Do you see a possabilty of roko and jose being on the court together? Will roko be big enuff to cover most 2 guards in the nba? i hope we never have to go back to Moon jacken up threes,i think we could use a von wafer type who takes it to the hole.... i hope this whole thing works out better than the J.O. experment....THANKS for all your hard work Mr Beat Grunt

[Brian Sherman]

Doug, Kleiza is next at the full MLE, right?

[dallas]

Doug, any word on any S&T possibilities? What happened to the Delfino and Kleiza signings - are they off the table?

Blogger's note: No sign and trade talks alive any more; Delfino and Kleiza could sign minimum value contracts if they want but that's it. Not sure if they'd want to and I haven't talked to anyone close to them to find out

Can team enter into under the table deals, were they sign for teh min for one year, with a handshake deal to be compensated in the next year with a new contract? Also, a deal like that, if possible, relies on the rep of the gm. I know BC had "promised-ished" Shawn if we couldn't get a deal done, we'd help him get one elsewhere. Do you know if Fegan and Marion have grounds to feel slighted? Or is it on them for not being workable?

[Dave]

Doug, stop me if I'm wrong but after we sign Turk we WILL be over the cap, right? Which means at that point we'll have the MLE to split up with one very nice piece or a couple of complementary pieces. If Marion takes the MLE it will probably be somewhere with warm weather, but is it possible we could grab him for it after the ink's on the paper?

Then we can flesh out with guys like Flip Murray/von Wafer/Joey/Jamario/Barnes/AP or whoever may be willing to play for minimum money.

Blogger's note: No, wrong. If they sign Turkoglu, they will be able to make that offer only because they are under the cap and therefore won't have the mid-level

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
Love the blog. It's the first thing I read every morning. Quick question. With this signing does it mean that Douby, O'Bryant, Parker , Marion, Delfino, Voskhul and Graham are off the roster?
Thanks.

Blogger's note: Yes. I believe all of them. The only ones that could possibly keep would be the cheapest, which is Douby but I don't even think that will be possible.

[Vince]

I thought a team was permitted to go over the salary cap when re-signing their players. Can you explain why the Raptors cannot sign Turkoglu on July 7th and then pursue Parker/Delfino on the 8th? Is it because they have now renounced their rights to those players and so the players are no loner seen as a re-sign?

Blogger's note: Yes, renouncing eliminates a team's Bird rights, which are used to sign your own free agents with no regard for the cap

[doug]

in free agent signing stories or potential signings, players, G.M's, agents, best fits etc get talked about endlessly.... but their is always one person never mentioned that probably has the most impact...their wives and spouses, the reason Hedo never signed in Portland is his wife who wanted to be on the east coast and in a Turkish community that Toronto has a large one of....

excellent trade for Toronto, as like you said a team to move forward with sans Bosh also teams need stars, not stars in their minds but legit players...Lakers have 3, Celts have 3, Magic have 2-3 depending on how you slice it....we now have 2-3 as well.....bench strength can be acquired easily legit starters can't be...

[Rob]

Doug,

Would you assume that there is now a "better than 50/50" chance that Hump has played his last day in a Raptor uniform?
I can imagine that with the acquisition of Evans, Hump is really the only trade fodder we have (perhaps S&T for Kleiza?).
I can't think of anyone else on our roster that would be available:
- Bargnani, Bosh, Calderon, DeRozan = untouchable
- Evans = just acquired, not going anywhere
- Bryant, Douby, Roko, Jawai, Banks = no takers
- Hump = only realistic trade bait

Finally, given the Turk signing, what does this mean for Pops? Do we retract our offer-sheet?

Blogger's note: Renounce the offer sheet and I've been saying they've been looking at perhaps moving Hump for weeks

[DJ]

Doug, it's my impression that the Raps will have about $7M to spend after Turk is signed... here's my $ breakdown.

Current roster is about $49M.
Turkoglu at $11M is $60M.

Now let's say the Luxury drops around $4M to $67M

Just doing the math, doesn't that leave $7M?

Blogger's note: Probably close and since they are over the cap they cannot sign free agents so any of that money has to be used on minimum salary guys, barring any other transactions.

[TJL]

Add one more to the "pro" side of the ledger: his wife actually wants to be here!

Blogger's note: Ding! Ding! Ding! (Had to break one out for old time's sake)

[dom]

How do we go over the cap...we save with Evans for JK... over 2m for DeRozan, $10m for Turk puts us at $58M including Joey at 3.4m. If we intended on giving Shawn nearly $8m ..how can we be that far over

[DJ]

Or here's another # breakdown to consider.

The plan all along from everything I read was...
Marion ~$8M
Delfino ~$4M
Kleiza ~$4M
Parker ~$3M

So ~$19M + current 49M = $68M

Pretty close no?

[jc]

quoting you
"And since I’ve got a radio gig to do this evening, I can be pretty sure if something’s going to happen, it’ll happen during the 5-7 time period when I’m talking about something else."
....watch out Kreskin

[yahweh]

Hey Doug,

Now that we may have to fill out the bench with min. salary guys, any chance we might get our first canadian born player to play for the raptors...AKA Carl English?

Blogger's note: I would be shocked.

[brad mayweather]

Backpeddle much Doug?

When Doug Smith says something with utmost confidence about basketball, you can be certain the opposite will happen! Hilarious!

At least Doug's got a new picture this year...

[James]

Doug,

I think you described it best a being a big gamble.

I think my biggest concern is the very weak bench who's big names will be ukic, Evans and Hump!! The thin bench concerns me even more with the transition to more of a running attack offence, hoping the conditioning of the starters is top notch, as there won't be much support behind them.

I am not totally sold that CB4 is best suited for a running style. Sure he is quick, but I see his quickness as more lateral quickness and on his first step to the basket. I don't see him translating to what BC wants this team to do. Just thinking what CB4 would look like on a team like Phoenix, and I don't think that style works for him.

I think the thing a like about this deal the most is the insurance if CB4 does leave next year. I agree with you that a line without Bosh that includes Turk and not Marion is exceptionally better.

On a side note, where would you think the Raptors training staff would rank in the league? How about when it comes to preventative medicine? Because keeping this starting 5 as healthy as possible should be priority #1.

Cheers.

J
Blogger's note: I don't have nearly enough knowledge of other training staffs to even hazard a guess

[CARLoS M.]

wow. this is exciting stuff. I only worry about the thin bench, but, WOW!!

[James]

I think this might become more ironic as the season progresses, but when you type out C-B-4, and forget to lift your finger of the SHIFT button, it types out C-B-$.

[Steve Hallman]

Doug would this move (hedo) be something they'd run by Bosh before doing?

Blogger's note: No, I don't think so

[Anthony MacKay]

Wow, BC got it done. So would Shawn sign a mid-level contract AND play a 6th man roll off the bench? I don't see him going for that, do you think this kills the David Lee deal or are they still talking to the Knicks?

Go RAPS!!!

Blogger's note: Not here and yes

[brad]

What a crazy couple of days...thanks for staying on top of it Doug! Just can't wait until the dust settles and we see what is reality. The starting line-up looks great, but really disappointed that Delfino won't be back. I'm not someone who thinks he's better than he is, he's a guy who takes bad shots sometimes, but his defense and slashing off the bench would have been welcomed back. And losing AP hurts, big time when you consider how valuable he would have been as a mentor for Derozan. I'm sure there is more things bound to happen, guess we'll wait to see!

A Jose-Hedo-Bosh-Andrea-SG? lineup will at least have some very fluent passing on offense, something we haven't seen in a long time.

[Will]

Any chance BC and Turk might have arranged so that Turk takes a cut to keep a Delfino or a Parker? I mean, if they wanted to win a ring bad enough, it seems like a reasomable move, money notwithstanding. Would it be a significant cut to Turk's salary?

[Dart]

Is it fair to say that perhaps we should hold off with excitment untill Hedo OFFICIALLY signs with the Raptors, before declaring it truth?

Moreover, to clear up this MLE jigsaw, does a said team only gain the MLE if they are over the cap over a certain date? Say July 1st or 8th?

Blogger's note: When the moratorium is lifted and the cap is announced

[sean]

hi doug, i love the signing, & nice work on PTS with Mccown the other day. you didn't sound out of place at all talking a little puck. When do u think BC will address everything that has gone on? do we have to wait til the 8th to hear anything from the team?

Blogger's note: He can't, without risking a huge fine, say a word until the 8th.