Still time to be prudent and an interesting worlds awaits

So, what now?

(Seems that’s been a rather common question surrounding the Heroes Of The Hardcourt this summer, hasn’t it?)

Well, I’m sure you all saw Bryan’s quote in today’s missive about the sure-to-be-failed Matt Barnes acquisition and he’s saying he’s got some other things on the go.

I hope, though, that they don’t make moves just for the sake of making moves and that anyone they decide to trade for is someone who can play a significant role in filling the holes they have left.

I know there’s a palpable feeling of disappointment that the Chandler-Diaw thing didn’t get done, and the Barnes thing seems destined to fail but that doesn’t mean going out and doing something just to do something.

I still think it might be prudent to hang on to a lot, if not all of the trade exception money to see how things shake out here and around the league; although that prudence is tempered by the fact there’s a glaring hole at small forward now.

Still, rushing doesn’t seem to me to make a lot of sense.

-

How come all yesterday the one thought that sat in my mind was:

Is this a job for Steve Fruitman?

After all, wasn’t he the guy who rescued the Hedo four-team, double sign-and-trade thing about a year ago? And then I thought, well, the Magic helped in that by taking on a big trade exception they never used and, this time around, they have no room to even start the proceedings with Barnes.

So, I guess it’s left to others to figure out what to do and how to do it.

-

I’m really wondering now just how good – or bad, depending o your perspective – the world championships will end up being next month.

Not sure if you’ve been reading the daily dispatches from Old Friend C. Sheridan over at epsn.com but the Americans are hardly putting together a juggernaut and the tourney may, as a result, be far more competitive that we thought.

Not only won’t the USA have any of its top eight players from Beijing, they lost Amar’e Stoudemire to insurance issues earlier this week and David Lee banged up a finger pretty badly on Tuesday and no one knows whether he’ll be available.

As you well know, I generally applaud players for playing for their countries and I know most of the recognizable names from around the world will be there.

No Dirk, I see; and no Pau Gasol or Tony Parker but, for the most part, countries other than the USA will have their top players.

And that’s really good for the tournament. There really is nothing like a world basketball championships to bring out the passion in fans – think World Cup on a smaller scale – and having a few teams like Spain, Greece, maybe Argentina, able to challenge the Americans is a good thing.

And while that American team may still be full of recognizable NBA games to think it’s a heavy favourite is not the wisest thing to do.

One thing I find quite comical about the whole thing is how they are suggesting that toll of free agency may be part of the reason for guys like LeBron, Wade and Bosh – three mainstays from the Olympics – sitting out.

Yeah, that dog and pony show that ended July 8 must have been a killer on the body. The wear and tear had to be incredible and they have to rest their 20-something bodies for months because of it.

Yeah, right.

-

Since I am no officially Golf Boy for the rest of the week, figures to be some downtime in the day since, you know, golf takes freaking forever.

So, to pass that idle time, how about we start the mailbag thingy by telling you to click here and send in the cards, letters and offers of untold riches and fun. Fun being the preferred option, that is.

-

I presume you all saw this about Wayne Parrish and his future as a honcho at Canada Basketball, right?

Well, let me say the fact they’re going to find some way to keep him involved in some significant senior position – Chairman of the board? Head of an advisory panel? General overseer? Czar? – is the only thing that makes sense.

The organization may not have been on death’s door when he arrived but the Grim Reaper was coming up the front porch and the turnaround since then has been shocking.

He’s built bridges that had been burned, particularly between the provinces and the national organization and he’s somehow brought back hugely important people from the past who had been shunted aside and given them a real role in developing players and the game.

He got MLSEL to become almost a full partner, making training facilities available to national teams, providing money and manpower and getting Maurizio Gherardini on board gave Canada Basketball immeasurable respect around the world.

The financial picture is better – still some debt but an annual operating profit of late – and the sense of optimism is unbridled.

The woman who comes in to replace him – or man, I guess – as the CEO will have some tough shoes to fill, it’s of the utmost importance that Parrish be around to help show the way.

-

You know what’s really great? And by really great I mean a huge pain in the tush?

The dudes putting in new gas lines on the Casa Doug Crescent and their willingness to bring out the heavy machinery and fire it up just after 7 a.m.

Super Dog loves it. Me? Not so much.

-

Okay, off to the golfing course, where I hope it doesn’t rain because you don’t know boredom until you’ve sat through interminable rain delays at a golf event.

But maybe Bryan energizes my day with some huge complex deal; and I see Turk’s in Phoenix to chat with the folks there and I’ll be interested in hearing what he has to say.

Comments

[Steph]

Doug, would most team know what the other teams cap space is like? Are player contracts available to other teams? Would a team "capologist" also work out where other teams stand, or does the league provide this information to teams? There would appear to have a disconnect in the Barnes transaction, no blame needs to be laid, but an understanding of what took place should come out of it.

As always, thanks

Blogger's note: If they didn't know, they should; and trying to figure out precisely what happened and why is proving difficult.

[JR]

re previous post by CA1:

I'm not sure if anyone's put this up yet, but if you're interested, here's a review of Matt Bonner's party with The Hold Steady. Looks like it was a good time.....

http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/2010/jul/19/the-hold-steady-prove-rock-n-roll-isnt-dead

Thanks for the plug-my buddy's review and my photo credit.
The gang at Chartattack do a great job covering big and small acts in Toronto and THS is one of my favorites.

Your blog is daily reading for me-thanks

[GM]

I don't see the need to play the blame game here. Did either team announce the trade? I thought it was just a report based on a tweet by the player involved. If the teams were trying to work something out, and the agent informed the player, and the player then tweeted it to the world prematurely, you can't blame the teams' GMs. No doubt there are all sorts of these trades trying to happen that never do happen and we don't hear about them.

I know there are some publications that have a policy against e-mail interviews, one of the reasons being you don't know exactly who is doing the writing. With all the hangers-on around an NBA player, do we even know for sure it's them tweeting and not one of their lackeys?

[CA1]

@JR
Very much agreed about chartattack, I was devastated when they stopped printing the magazine. It's a must visit website for any Canadian Indie news. And since this seems to be my day for posting links, I saw this interesting article over at the ESPN website, about "The Decision".

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=ohlmeyer_don&id=5397113

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

I took the initiative this morning and tweeted that I was going to the Raptors. But I think it's all fallen through. Drats! I blame social media...

AG, Toronto

[AE]

I don't think the Raptors should be doing anything. Why even sign anyone else? They have a full roster, by adding another player you are taking away from developing someone else. I think BC is looking to do something because of the failed Calderon thing. Looking to make a splash, when in reality it will be hardly a ripple. If they are to trade they should be looking to get someone with future potential or draft picks. Matt Barnes? Really? If he was that good would he be looking for his 8th team. Getting Matt Barnes wont get them into the playoffs. Why not sign a veteran for cheap money to try and keep the team together, make them work harder, teach them a lesson or two.

[bobby]

Doug,

Is BC in toronto or los vagas still?

[brent]

Okay folks, let's see if I've got this right . . . You're saying that BC looks foolish/incompetent/whatever because:
i)Michael Jordan pulled the plug on a deal he had already made with the Bobcats gm; and
ii)he was working on a deal with Orlando to get Matt Barnes, only the player Tweets that he's heading to Toronto even though nothing had been finalizeD yet.

If you want to criticize BC for moves he's made or hasn't made, be my guest. Lots of ammo there. BUT PLEASE, STOP MAKING THOSE OF US WHO ARE INTELLIGENT RAPTORS FANS LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS BY CRITICIZING THE GM FOR WHAT'S HAPPENED THE PAST FEW DAYS.

[Matthew]

I know he can't shoot Free throws and is injury prone but how about trading the Trade exception to Golden State for Andris Biedrins? He is a true centre and makes about $10 mill so we would still have 4 left over. He has a bad year last year but was playing injured and if you look at the year before, uh, after he came back from another injury, he ave 13 pts and 13 Rebs with a couple of Blocks

[DH]

Doug, while Barnes brings toughness it doesn't address this teams biggest weakness. A proven scorer 18-20ppg is ideal (I know they don't grow on trees but you need someone to score most of Bosh's points), preferably on the wing. A veteran big man off the bench to mentor the young guys would be nice. I might be in the minority but the real question is Johnson or Davis your starter at 4. I see Bargnani as a centre, his strengths (advantages) there are potential weaknesses at the 4.

[Johnn19]

There is a probability that Barnes 2 yr contract for $3.2 mil @ 120% $3.8mil was used by Orlando in first determining that they coud accomadate a S&T for the higher amount, and then had to consider the reduction when they took into consideration that Barnes was opting out of the 2nd year.

The whole mess was due to the release of info to the media by Barnes and the famous SOURCES who feed the "hungry media machine" at ESPN/Yahoo, before the details (which was to happen on Tuesday) were worked out by Rap's and Magic.

[Boko]

Jimmy, Banks is not a true PG. He, Belinelli & Evans will all be traded by the trading deadline this season because of the value of expiring contracts. Davis can play C with Alabi, if necessary. Maybe 24 minutes each. I can live with a rotation of Bargnani & Johnson at PF. I can also live with a rotation of Kleiza, DeRozan, Weems & Barbosa at swing. In fact, I don't want a Barnes deal to work out unless one of Barbosa or Kleiza is traded away. I want DeRozan & Weems to stay & develop. The one glaring weakness to me is at starting PG. Neither Jack, nor Calderon are playoff-level PGs that can lead a team to multiple series wins. We need to get a better one, and a young gun to be the 3rd stringer, because one of JJ & JC needs to be traded away.

[Johnn19]

There will not be any details on the rumouerd trade for Barnes as there is still a chance he may decide to accept the Raptors current revised offer, as his only other option seems to be Cleveland with the ability to offer more money and time, if they wish, with Miami and Boston only with a minimum deal, and LA with someting less than 2 mil to offer.

[Mike S]

Doug,

This idea is purely conjecture and I know its the kind of thing that you can never respond accurately to, but doesn't it make way too much sense for all involved to bring TMac back to Toronto? Is there some barrier to this idea? At worst, Tracy could put some butts in the seats for a few weeks. All the best.

Blogger's note: It makes no sense to me at any level. He's not a draw, he's an aging, injury-riddled veteran on the downside of his career who would only eat minutes from kids who need them. He wouldn't want to play here and there's no way in the world I think they should even give him a second's thought.

[Mo]

Boko,

The glaring weakness in that lineup is Calderon and Jack???
You put the two ROOKIES (including Alabi who probably will not SEE the NBA this year) at C! and put the two best bigs splitting time at PF!

If you want your team to develop, stop bashing your PGs (both of which are proven NBA guards, and a strength for the Raptors right now) and talking about multiple series wins. You can't have it both ways.

Doug - does a media leak turn off GM's in a deal? In other words, do you think the fact that this became public stopped the GM's from working something out after the fact?

[d]

It stuns me, that so called intelligent Raptor fans defend BC.

You can keep praising him, but offer some proof of why we should? At least those of us who complain, back it up with his mistakes. The defenders only state that the haters are idiots, but don't offer any examples of what he has done that is utterly fantastic????

I do think however, he should stop swinging for the fences this summer and let this team play. Get the young guys more court time, let them take their lumps, and IF an opportunity during the season to add a legit scoring option, then use the TPE. If not, wait till the offseason and see who's out there. At worst we are a lottery team with two picks next summer, the full TPE and a few expiring contracts that allow for some flexibility. We ALL know this team is not a contender, so why try to do too much now??

The best part about all of our arguing is that there is PASSION for this team and that will ensure that this team will STAY here for the long long term. As long as us fans, whether we like our GM or not, still support those young men on the court, fill the seats, and buy our gear we can ensure that the Raps will be around for a long time, and some time to regroup is what this team depserately needs.

[Michel G]

@Derek S : Why does there have to be somebody to blame? In a perfect world, we would never have found out about the attempt to acquire Barnes.

[richard fletcher]

do you see the raptors still making a push for diaw? is there any traction with the iggy from phiily rumours?

[R.Hopkins]

Doug I am having a hard time taking this organization seriously. I have followed them since day one. Unlike a casual fan, I also take interest in the business side of the organization.

I am dumbfounded by how badly managed this franchise is. As manager of people and resources, I must entertain all sorts of scenarios and have a course of action ready in the event that even the most unrealistic events come to fruition.

What is going on with the Raptors? Wayne Embry handed the keys to Bryan Colangelo 4 years ago with a clean slate and ample room for the EOY to make a mark on this organization. It seems to me that we are in a much worse position than when Bryan initially took over.

As a fan its difficult to make sense of this chaos, I don’t know which position players are staying and which ones are going . The vision is chaotic at best, and often so plastic that it gets remolded at first sign of pressure. Notice that Riley was in the same position as us, he too was not sure if Wade would stay. He did not panic and rent players for Wade to show him how much the organization was behind him. He took his time and stood strong by a vision that gave him contingency options.

That seems to be the main problem with Bryan. All these moves, and subsequent reactions remind me of a manager who has no contingency options but instead is changing his game plan last minute, only to dig a deeper hole.

The Barnes situation, and the Jose trade show incredible lack of foresight and planning.

I know the kids like Bryan, but as long time Raptor supporter I am starting to get fed up with the constant change in direction. This is very frustrating for me as a fan, I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for the players. Is Bryan really so untouchable and uncountable for this clubs obvious missteps?

[chris]

MLE is average salary, and if you remove the max players from the equation it is substantially more than average.

Besides, i assume part of Kleiza's draw here is playing time. Why recruit him to sit on the bench, and/or take time away from Weems...?

[mike]

does anyone agree with me that iggy would also help the young gunz..i say we get him

[Lorie]

Hi Doug,
So, if the rigours of this post season's activities were enough to sideline some of those young NBA stars, we should seriously applaud - if not flat-out marvel at - the fortitude you must have summoned daily, not only to survive this year's FA stuff, but also to make some sense of it, and report on it, too. And now, golf! And probably without a cart. Outside. In the heat. And without a gopher to fetch you food, beverages and wipe your sweaty brow. Are you quite certain YOU will have the energy to cover the games in Turkey???

[Boko]

Mo, you're absolutely right. In fact, about 5 days ago, I wrote somewhere that we needed 3 new starters: at C, SF & PG. However, when I looked at the per minute stats, our C production & SF production didn't look so bad because of the new guys. However, at PG, our best PG had fewer total steals than 3 players on the average NBA team! Granted, I need to make the same comparison with all the other stats I looked at ... blocks, rebounds, FT made, FG made, 3-pointers made, & assists. Maybe tonight at work ...

[SY]

I just don't understand the logic of BC trying to acquire Barnes - Don't we have like 5 wing guys already? Shouldn't we either go with a star (say Iggy and move some of our existing wing guys) or let the young guys (DeRozan, Weems etc.) develop? If we do acquire Barnes, what's the point of having 6 guys complaining about playing time?

-SY

[Mark]

Hey Doug

Yesterday BC made mention of looking for the "one player" to make things come together. Any idea what type of player he is looking for (versatile swing man, combo guard, big man?)

Blogger's note: Probably an athletic, defensive-minded wing.