Official Unveiling of J.O.

Let’s see if I can remember how to do this – my last entry was almost a week ago. Obviously, some big things were announced in the past few days. The Raptors made the Hassan Adams signing official, as well as inking second round draft pick Nathan Jawai to a two-year guaranteed-money contract. Roko Ukic also appears to be a lock to come to Toronto from his European team and I’m sure all the specifics are worked out already. However, I think I’m going to put the final nail in the coffin of the “J.O. to T.O.” week. Basically, it’s just my interpretation of Wednesday’s press conference and what I gathered from it.

1. Bryan Colangelo and Sam Mitchell both looked visibly excited about the move even though they’ve known about it for pretty much two weeks before it was made official. B.C. made a good point about it being uncommon to find a 12-year veteran with extensive playoff experience without giving up a lot in return. Sam’s comment about how he jokes with other coaches that his ‘draft pick’ this year can average 20 points and 10 rebounds (a reference to #17 going to Indiana in the form of Roy Hibbert) was pretty funny. However, the important things that were outlined are exactly what we can envision Sam Mitchell being when he was an active player (for those that have seen his playing days): capable of defending, rebounding and being a veteran leader. J.O. obviously has a lot more star power and scoring ability, though. I’m sure Sam and B.C. didn’t mean to say Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal will be equal to the tandem of David Robinson and Tim Duncan but just hearing those two names in the same sentence as a Raptors duo should make Toronto fans excited. It’s only logical to play from the inside out on virtually every play next season when you boast arguably the best frontcourt in the NBA.

2. Jermaine sounded excited about the ‘rebirth’ as well. By the time the season gets going, he’ll be 30 years old so if his knee is indeed healthy, he’s still in the physical prime of his career despite having over a decade of experience under his belt. Also, he’s missed so many games in the past three or four seasons that he may be a bit more ‘fresh’ than other guys entering the season. He sounds dedicated to doing all the right things on the court and maybe more importantly – off of it as well. It’s good to hear him acknowledge the fan support he’s gotten in Las Vegas, Philadelphia and now Toronto because Raptors fans do roll deep. I was taken aback by how composed and eloquently J.O. spoke on Wednesday. I had heard him in interviews and post-game scrums before and I’m not insinuating I thought he was an idiot but he really seems like the type of natural veteran leader this team needs. Chris Bosh is an amazing talent and he’s grown into a leadership role out of necessity but a veteran with Conference Finals experience can’t hurt the cause. J.O. seems like he’s looking for some personal vindication this season, as evidenced by his statement about not being 50 years old, contrary to popular belief. He’ll never admit it, but he’ll be playing with a chip on his shoulder.

3. I found it very interesting that O’Neal kept talking about competing for a Championship, attaining a ring, etc. He was asked about the Boston Celtics’ run and how sacrifice plays into what a team can do when it has a deep talent pool. When I first heard of the trade, I thought it’d immediately make the Raptors a better team and probably a top four seed in the East again but a Championship contender? I thought they’d definitely need a swingman for that and I believe they still do. However, it’s hard to really grasp the impact of this move until October and November when we see the team play. Even then, their chemistry and flow won’t be found until maybe January as they learn each other’s games and places within the offence and defense. That got me thinking: is this just overexcitement and confidence from O’Neal, which is understandable considering the big change in his life? Or can the Raptors really be THAT good to the point where they can compete with Boston and Detroit in 2008-2009? I’m confident that when it comes down to it, the Celtics are still superior but the unknown is exciting. O’Neal also promised Matt Devlin that he’d be able to answer the question of “What are the chances of winning the Championship?” after two weeks of training camp. I guess in mid-October, we’ll know for sure just how confident J.O. is.

4. It was refreshing to hear O’Neal talk about all of his strengths and the things he enjoys doing: blocking and altering shots, taking charges, clogging up the middle and taking up space, crashing the glass for rebounds, etc. This is exactly the type of player the Raptors needed to anchor the inside and while a swingman was also very important, unless you’re talking about acquiring one of the league’s premier talents that can single-handedly go off on any given night, there’s little chance someone at the two or three position could have such a far-reaching impact on the entire team dynamics. The Raps needed rebounding desperately and the seven-footer that was here before J.O. couldn’t even muster five per game. Jamario Moon was the second leading rebounder on the team, which I don’t think will happen again this coming season. He was also the main defensive force because of his length and athleticism, as well as activity around the court. Imagine what he’ll be capable of now that opposing teams have to worry about O’Neal in the middle? It’s scary to picture if you’re an opponent.

5. I was interested in hearing about the entire chronology of Jermaine’s knee injury. Two and a half years ago, he suffered a meniscus tear and didn’t want to have surgery at the time. Because he was playing on it, the tear became worse and compromised the health of the knee. J.O. then had surgery last summer and came back from the operation too soon in order to be back for the start of training camp because the Pacers were starting off with their new head coach, Jim O’Brien. Even though the surgery was a complete success, the knee had some bruising on it, as well as swelling that almost immobilized the entire leg from the ankle to the thigh when it got very bad. This caused O’Neal to sit out for 43 straight games in 2007-2008 before returning for the final ten. He called it a ‘career move’ in order to help the knee recover properly so he wouldn’t jeopardize the rest of his playing career, which is totally understandable from his perspective. He’s been at his home in Las Vegas at the basketball academy since then, working out and getting back to the form he was in that got him six straight All-Star appearances. Knowing that he took the necessary time off and the Raptors’ doctors cleared him after rigorous tests should ease everyone’s minds. I’m sure B.C. wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on the deal if there was any more structural damage, since $44 million was riding on the acquisition. 6. When O’Neal talked to Paul Jones, he noted that defense is what the Raps need to focus on the most. High-scoring teams that don’t put an emphasis on D don’t really walk out of the Finals with a ring. Hell, how many of the high-scoring teams even make it to the Finals? We’ve seen the Phoenix Suns knocked out of the playoffs without one Finals appearance for four straight seasons now. It’s clear Jermaine sees something special on this team if everything can fall into place and he talked about the potential for a ‘special year’, where statistics and numbers wouldn’t gauge success – the only number that would matter would be wins. He talked about being viewed as a Champion when his career is over so here’s to hoping he’s viewed as one in the Raptors’ red and white. 7. As for his other teammates, it was good to hear him say in a very clear way that this is Chris Bosh’s team. I didn’t expect him to say anything different but it was just nice for him to answer the question in a straightforward way when he could have said, “This is an entire team effort” or something. In the end, we all know it comes back to CB4. He’s the guy who’s played a significant part in helping to build this franchise back up and he deserves to be the face of it. With that said, O’Neal also seems intrigued by Andrea Bargnani. They’ll be working out together at the academy in Vegas for a while over the summer so I hope J.O. can knock some physicality and toughness into him. O’Neal seems to realize the importance of what Andrea can bring off the bench with his shooting abilities and versatility. If he goes back to his rookie season production or even builds on that, the Raptors will have themselves a solid sixth man. Coming off the bench will be good for him now – there is no uncertainty about his role.

All in all, it was an exciting unveiling by management. We all knew about it since June 25^th or so and the wait was agonizingly long due to the league’s ridiculous moratorium on player movement but it was worth it. Things are definitely looking as good for the Raptors as they ever have heading into a season. Is this a ‘complete’ team? No, it’s probably not. Can it compete for a Conference Championship? I think Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia (possibly) might have something to say about that but we won’t know until next May and I think that’s the exciting part of this whole thing. Everyone’s got a shot in July and the sky’s the limit. I really need to see how every roster in the league shakes down at the end of August before I make any win projections but like people have noted, finishing .500 would probably be viewed as a failure next season. I’m actually looking at a franchise record in wins, which would mean 48 or more. We’ll see.

Jose Re-Ups

This is by no means ‘minor’ news but it’s a little anticlimactic. Even though we knew of the J.O. move more than two weeks ago, it was still exciting to welcome a new player with so much to talk about. On the other hand, we knew there was an extremely high probability that Jose Calderon would be back with the Raptors this coming season. It was virtually confirmed when T.J. Ford was moved to Indiana. The official figures haven’t been leaked yet but everyone has been saying something in the neighbourhood of a $40 million contract over five years. I think that’s extremely fair for the Raptors and it’s actually a bargain compared to what Calderon might’ve gotten if he actually allowed the free agent market to decide his value. He could’ve gotten something like $10 million if Corey Maggette can get that much from the Warriors. Either way, it’s good to have Jose back, he deserves it and he carries himself with class. If there’s one thing Raptor fans can be proud of, it’s the fact the team is filled with quality people. From the very top, you really won’t be able to find a ‘bad apple’, so to speak.

Free Agent Tidbits

1. Elton Brand, that move was not cool. No one can blame Brand for taking the money but he really should not have let the Los Angeles Clippers on, which it appears he did. He sent out text messages to teammates after the Baron Davis signing and seemed exciting about starting something special. He also appeared to have been having illegal discussions with the Clippers management about a deal, which goes against the collective bargaining agreement since Brand has a registered agent. Basically, it was almost as if two deals were on the table. Brand’s agent accuses the Clippers of not following the system correctly, as well as not putting forth their best offer from the very beginning. The Philadelphia 76ers offered considerably more money and Brand took it. If Andre Iguodala stays in Philly, that team could make some noise. They still have holes and questionable depth, as well as the fact they might have to change their fast-paced system but getting Brand is huge for them in the East. I think with Iggy, they’re an automatic lock for a playoff spot again this year.

2. Corey Maggette going to the Warriors makes total sense to me. He won’t be winning there as much as he could have in Boston or San Antonio but he’ll make more money, which should be a priority for him. He’s been in the league for a while now and he’s in his prime so he should be getting a raise from the $8.4 million he made this past season. The 5-year, $50 million contract he’s getting from Golden State may be a bit inflated but I think he deserves it and playing for the mid-level exception would’ve been unfair to him financially.

There are some other smaller signings like the Nets getting Eduardo Najera and Jarvis Hayes – both of whom are decent players – but I don’t think it’ll help Jersey escape the bottom few spots of the East this year. Mickael Pietrus ended up signing with Orlando, which I think makes them slightly better when it comes to defense on the wing but he’s not going to be a huge upgrade over anyone they had.

That’s it for this entry. It’s sort of in between short and long so it should please everyone. Enjoy. Until next time..

-Mark R.

[The Raptor Core]

B.C.’s Epiphany: Slow & Steady Wins The Race

I’ve been away from TRC for a few days after hitting you guys with daily entries for pretty much an entire week. This isn’t going to be a very long or in-depth piece of writing but I thought it’d be interesting to take a look at how Bryan Colangelo has transformed the team this offseason. He seems to have changed his vision with regards to how he wants the team to play. He came to Toronto in early 2006 and from the jump, it was evident he wanted to play the same fast-paced, up-tempo style he chose for the Phoenix Suns. He traded promising rookie Charlie Villanueva for a breakneck-quick point guard in T.J. Ford. He brought in European stars like Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa to fit right into the system, and then traded old scraps to acquire Rasho Nesterovic. Sam Mitchell’s initial ‘100 shots per game’ idea didn’t work out and now the team has a very different look. Here are the storylines and possible reasons for the change:

1. T.J. Ford Is Traded

If you’re looking to run, you should probably get a fast point guard that can force the tempo, control the game and have good court vision. Regardless of what T.J.’s detractors say, he is a player capable of doing all of these things. Unfortunately, his time ran out in Toronto and Jose Calderon is the new sheriff in town. The reason his exit is so telling is Ford was the free-wheeling guard that got into the lane, fought through traffic and took a lot of shots – good or bad. He was the flashier of the two point guards. On the other hand, Jose Calderon thrives in the half court game where he and Chris Bosh have perfected the pick-and-roll due to Bosh’s versatility and Calderon’s shot-making ability, as well as being able to get to the basket. You’re cutting down on the risk factor in so many ways by trading T.J. while calming things down by keeping Jose as the floor general.

2. Sam Mitchell Played Tough

I’m not sure exactly when B.C.’s point of realization occurred but at some juncture, he came to the conclusion that Sam Mitchell was the right guy to coach this team. However, as much as Sam loves to see his team score, it’s not the type of game you immediately associated with Mitchell from his playing days. Obviously, the NBA has changed a lot in the years since Sam’s been retired but there is still room for toughness and hard-nosed basketball in today’s game. We all know he likes guys that can score but how many players have been on this team in his four years that we can say are truly “Sam” guys? How many scrappers are there? How many players are willing to do the dirty work? Where are the Antonio Davis’ and Jerome Williams’ of the world? They haven’t been here. Maybe B.C. finally realized that you can get the most out of a coach when you give him the type of personnel that matches his vision and temperament.

3. The Blueprint: Fast-Paced Basketball Wins Nothing

Do you want to be entertaining or do you want to be good? Is it possible to do both? Sure it is. When you look at the recent NBA Champions, how many were high-octane scoring machines? Michael Jordan’s Bulls were very sound defensively. Tim Duncan’s Spurs have always hung their hat on defense. The Detroit Pistons have always been a hard-nosed, gritty basketball team that played in the half court. The Los Angeles Lakers put up a lot of points in the Shaq and Kobe era but with the Diesel in the middle, their defense wasn’t too shoddy. Again, the Miami Heat got stops when they needed to in 2006 to become the Champions. The Boston Celtics had one of the all-time great defensive seasons in the history of the NBA and labored on the other end at times. When you look at teams like the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets and the like, it’s easy to notice a trend of flaming out due to a lack of defense. If you can’t stop people when the pace slows down in the playoffs and you can’t just hope to outscore your opponent, there’s little hope for a Championship. B.C. must’ve noticed this.

4. A ‘True’ Big Man Is Brought In

There were other deals on the table for the Raptors to mull over a couple weeks ago. Rumours had it that Richard Hamilton, Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw were all offered to the Raptors in various packages involving T.J. Ford. Those players probably would’ve made the offense better and even improved the defense a little but nothing can replace the presence of a big man in the middle. Is Jermaine O’Neal the biggest or most imposing physical force in the NBA? No, of course he isn’t. However, he plays like a guy with a lot more weight on his frame and unlike Rasho Nesterovic, he can make plays on the defensive end by getting blocks for his size. A 7-footer should be able to get blocks – case closed. I think we can all appreciate what Rasho was able to do with his great positional defense but he wasn’t what you could call a playmaker on that end of the court. With a true big that can play on both ends of the floor, you’re placing more emphasis on the frontcourt. Now, everything will be done by playing off of Chris Bosh and O’Neal. The shots and open looks perimeter guys get will be off what the big men create. This is a problem the Raptors have never been able to cause for other teams.. at least not for any considerable length of time in the past.

5. D Wins The East

This sort of builds on my third point: the Eastern Conference is constantly won by teams that can play phenomenal defense. When you look at some of the teams in the conference that score a lot of points like Indiana and Orlando, they didn’t see much success when it comes to being close to a ring. On the other hand, Boston, Cleveland and Detroit have remained atop the East because of D. Cleveland was able to get all the way to the Finals in 2007 with their defense. The Raptors were in the middle of the pack in most major defensive categories and that had to change in order for them to compete with the powerhouses. I’m not saying the Raps are now on that level because their perimeter defense will likely still be horrendous this coming season but at least they have a proven big man waiting in the background to clean up some of those breakdowns. This isn’t the Western Conference where you can get into shootouts with teams and most of them don’t care about defending – it matters in the East. It’s time the Raptors stop building for regular season success and look to earn a ring in the next couple seasons.

This is just something that came to me a little while ago and I thought about it so I wanted to see what people noticed about the changes as well. It’s definitely a short entry – about a third of what you’re used to seeing in here – but it’s a welcome change, I’m sure. Until next time..

-Mark R.

[The Raptor Core]

The First Signings of Free Agency

It’s been a little over a day since free agency officially began. As you all know, negotiations have begun but no deals will be official according to the NBA’s head office until July 9^th when they lift the moratorium on player movement. A lot of exciting news is going around the league right now but I’m going to start right here at home with the Toronto Raptors, who had some news of their own today.

Raptors Roster Reaches A Dozen

There are a few things to cover regarding Raptor personnel but I’ll just start out by explaining where I get the dozen from. The initial eight guys are Chris Bosh, Jermaine O’Neal, Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon, Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries, Joey Graham and Anthony Parker. It’s also assumed that 2008 second round draft pick Nathan Jawai will be joining the team this coming season. Now, let’s talk about the ‘new’ guys:

Jose Calderon:

This is no surprise. Everyone saw the move coming from miles away. It was obvious during the regular season, the playoffs and then definitely after the season ended. T.J. Ford is now gone and Jose’s own web site reported that he has reached an agreement with the Raptors. There appear to be some questions about the terms of the contract – namely the length of term – but I’m sure it was a multi-year deal and the information will become available in the coming days. I’ve gone on record saying my guess would be a 5-year contract worth $42 million but we’ll see how it all ends up.

Roko Ukic:

According to beat writers like Doug Smith and Michael Grange, the 2005 second round draft pick finally wants to come to the NBA and show his stuff. It’s been rumoured for months now that Bryan Colangelo was working on a buyout of his European contract and it seems to be done at this point. Ukic will play the back-up role to Jose at the point guard spot. I think they would be wise to find one more guard because an injury to either guy could be deadly but I don’t know if that’s in the cards right now.

Hassan Adams:

This was the surprising pick-up. I don’t know why B.C. thinks Adams can help this team when he couldn’t even get onto an NBA team and stick with them this past season. He was a very late second round draft pick in 2006 and had a less-than-stellar run with the New Jersey Nets before he was let go. He’s very athletic but I don’t recall him being able to do anything particularly well on the court. He’s just been signed to a minimum scale contract, so it doesn’t affect the mid-level exception but I’m really scratching my head about this one.

Assuming Nathan Jawai signs for the league minimum, the roster would have 12 players. I believe the league minimum is 13 and the only player the team will be using to sign with a portion of the MLE is Ukic. I don’t know what the luxury tax number has been set at so it’s hard to tell how much wiggle room the Raps have to spend with the rest of that MLE but I’m guessing it’s almost nothing so we may see another minimum salary player on the team to finish off the roster. We definitely have a nice rotation and decent depth if everyone is on their game. How often do those last two guys on the bench actually get into games anyway? They just get to show off their suits every night from the bench because they’re on the inactive list. Staying healthy will be imperative to the Raps – more so than other teams. Check Part 2 of my 2008 Free Agent Report to see some other names the Raps might have a chance of getting to round out the team. You can find it here: http://raptorcore.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/2008-free-agent-2-destinations/

Day 1: The Baron Heads To L.A.

Baron Davis:

B-Diddy has agreed to a 5-year, $65 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers according to various sources. It’s almost guaranteed that Elton Brand will be returning to L.A. now since he’s been talking about forming a ‘super-team’ (my words, not his) with some other superstars in the league after seeing Boston up close in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers. I’m not surprised Baron is leaving – the shock was that he opted out in the first place. He’s definitely making a good career move because the Warriors aren’t composed of the pieces to compete for a Championship, while the Clippers have some good ones like Brand, Al Thornton and Chris Kaman. This is an excellent signing and he gave them a bit of a discount since he was going to make $17 million with the Warriors next year if he stayed with them. The important key to this is the Clippers renounced their rights to Corey Maggette in order to have the room to sign Davis, meaning they cannot sign him for less than he was making before. Of course, they are now over the salary cap (once they re-sign Brand) and all they’ll have left to spend is the mid-level exception, which is below the amount Maggette was making before he opted out. Looks like the starting five will be composed of these four guys and incumbent shooting guard, Cuttino Mobley. The Clips also have newly-drafted Eric Gordon to add to the mix, as well as Tim Thomas, Brevin Knight and others. The Clippers are a team to watch moving up the standings while the Warriors will be moving down for sure, even if and when they bring back Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins.

Antawn Jamison:

This is kind of old news because I touched on it in the last entry but Jamison signed a 4-year, $50 million extension with the Wizards. Their management made it clear they wanted Antawn back and he reciprocated the interest. He’s a good fit for the team and I’m not sure what else would’ve been out there for him on this current market, considering what other teams had to spend. I suppose the clubs with major room like Memphis and Philadelphia could’ve used what he brings to the table but neither of them will be competing for rings any time soon. It’s not like Washington will be, either, but at least they’ll be winning more games. Jamison just turned 32 so it’s definitely time to make a move on a Championship because the window of opportunity will be closed by the time this new contract expires. He’ll be 36 years old and a 14-year veteran of the league.

Gilbert Arenas:

Agent Zero hasn’t signed a deal at the time of this writing but he has gotten two maximum offers. I’m guessing the Warriors knew Baron Davis was headed to L.A. because they gave Arenas a 5-year offer worth $95 million, which works out to an average of $19 million per year. That’s insane money but then Washington’s owner signed off on an offer that would see the Wizards pay Gilbert $125 million over 6 years, which works out to almost $21 million per year. Now, if I’m a major player coming off a pretty serious knee problem, I think I’d be a lot more interested in that extra year of security, as well as the additional $30 million that the Wizards can offer me. They can give him the bigger raises and the extra year and from his standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to join the weaker team in the tougher conference when Washington could do some things in the East with a healthy roster. I’m sure Arenas will be happy that he got what he asked for and he’ll be right back in Washington with Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison for the start of the 2008-2009 season, which is what he claimed he wanted.

Chris Paul:

CP3 isn’t a free agent but he is closing in on signing an extension. According to Yahoo! Sports, Paul was offered a 5-year deal worth $87 million. However, he’s leaning toward a shorter term contract worth $67 million over 4 years. I’m not quite sure why he’d give up the extra year and $20 million but he probably likes the flexibility of being able to reassess his situation when the deal is about to expire. He can weigh his options and go another direction if he chooses to at that time. It makes sense for him and the Hornets may not like it since he is their franchise player but it’s not something they need to worry about for the foreseeable future. They can start to give it some thought when the 2011-2012 season is over.

None of the other major guys like Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng or Monta Ellis have been mentioned just yet but news on those guys should become available within the next 24 hours or so for sure. Also, Corey Maggette is rumoured to be headed to the San Antonio Spurs for the full mid-level exception, which would really help their wing scoring and athleticism. Their team looked a lot like an old age home for the last week of their season and other times during the year.

That’s it for this entry. I’ve kept it very short because there’s not a lot else going on right now. No reason to stretch it. Keep up with the headlines and maybe I’ll have another one of these tomorrow if it’s a busy day. Until next time..

-Mark R.

[The Raptor Core]