Jermaine O'Neal even if he can stay healthy I don't see being the player he was. He is way over-priced. You expect a player that gets paid what he is getting paid to be a contender for MVP. He was a scorer but I don't think you want him to be a 2nd scorer behind Bosh. So you going to pay him huge money to play defense, block shots and rebound? The 2nd scorer they need is a wing guy. Also remember that they are hoping Bargnani develops into a 2nd scorer. I'd rather get Granger or Dunlevy although Granger is probably a guy they rather keep since he is younger of the two.
Nene I think could be a diamond in the rough. But if a big man ie. centre is coming in they have to get rid of Rasho since they are still hoping to develop Bargnani. Can't have all 3 on the team especially if 2 of the 3 are getting paid big coin.
Crawford although does not shoot the highest % he does get to the line and in the lane so he is just not a chucker and he has shown he can make big shots when the clock is winding down. Defensively? Don't know.
It is difficult to get everything you need in one guy. They need a scorer but a guy who can also defend the perimeter. Tough to get both. Perhaps is why Parker has not taken more initative to be a better scorer.
As for relying on the draft I don't know if you can expect a player to come in and become a 2nd scorer on the team. I don't know alot about Chase Budinger but I would not expect him to be a 2nd scorer any time in his career. OJ Mayo. Maybe I don't watch enough college basketball but I think he is over hyped.
If the Raptors want to get better in a hurry I don't know if the draft is the way to do it because regardless you don't know how some of these guys will perform unless they get the number one pick which means trading Bosh. Perhaps a trade for a more known commodity is best.
What about Atlanta? Do they want both Josh Smith and Marvin Williams long-term? Both not good 3pt shooters but both get to the line; Smith a bit more. Smith is a rebounder and shot blocker. Looking at Williams' stats; decent rebounder and better FT% than Smith. Smith I believe plays with more an edge though. I don't know these players' total games especailly their perimeter defense. Of course they have a PG in Bibby unless they think Ford would be an ungrade or on par and get rid of Bibby's higher contract to a team like Cleveland.
Good points. In terms of JO making big money, to me people focus way too much on that (money a guy makes). TJ and Rasho combined make the same so it's a wash. It's all realative to the cap. JO is also expiring in a yr if things don't work out. I would have no problem taking on his deal and I like him as a compliment to Bosh as JO is a back to the basket scorer, rebounder and great shot blocker. Bosh is a face up scorer, ok rebounder and not much of a defender. JO will also be motivated to stay healthy to earn a new deal next year.
Problem I see is that for Indy, Rasho's deal isn't a huge benefit as JO's deal expires the same time for more money off the cap. They'd need to get Beasley in my opinion to make this work. TJ, Dunleavy, Granger and Beasley.....with Rasho off the books next summer.
Jermaine O'Neal would be one hell of a fit but if healthy and that hasn't been the case for a while. He hasn't played anything close to a full season since 03-04 (although one of those years was the brawl suspension year). I don't think he's an option right now unless the Raptors get him for just contracts without giving away any main pieces. Getting O'Neal would mean the Raptors are in desperation mode to appease Bosh after all the recent screw ups. I don't think they are in that mode yet.
I like Mike Dunleavy and would love to have him on the Raptors. I personally don't think last year was a fluke. He just was a horrible fit on GS with the up and down system and the chuckers around him. Since it looks like the Raptors will be keeping Calderon at PG, they'll be playing at one of the slowest paces in the league so Dunleavy would be a good fit in our half-court game. While he may not be an athletic defensive player who will rack up weak side blocks, he's a very smart defensive player similar to Garbajosa but obviously more athletic than him.
As for the draft? I don't really care. I'd rather just packaged the pick in some kind of a trade than add ANOTHER mediocre wing player. The only exception is if Chase Budinger falls down to #17. I really like his game and think he'll be a good player in the NBA. That Batum guy is also intriguing just based on his athleticism but I don't know much else about his game.
I think Atl's recent playoff success is gonna probably convince them to stay the course for the next little while. Don't think we have anything to offer them anyway. If we can get Crawford for a steal, go ahead but we still need enough assets to improve our rebounding.
Probably not getting any big men this offseason while we wait for Bargnani.
Basically Ford plus parts for a swingman/scorer and Rasho and maybe parts for a banger who has several years on his contract or vice versa. Unless you trade them together to get a scorer who has a big contract. But then you have to find a guy to replace Rasho.
I think the swingman/scorer is the most important to get because he will swift the defense on the offensive end opening up more possible offensive rebounds and more open 3s. And if he is a good perimeter defender that reduces the offensive rebounds given up. And Bargnani has one more year to develop and improve his rebounding and hopefully find some toughness.
Basically Ford plus parts for a swingman/scorer and Rasho plus parts for a banger who has several years on his contract or vice versa. Unless you trade them together to get a scorer making something close to $15mil. But then you have to find a guy to replace Rasho.
I think the swingman/scorer is the most important to get because he will swift the defense on the offensive end opening up more possible offensive rebounds. And if he is a good perimeter defender that reduces the offensive rebounds given up. And Bargnani has one more year to develop.
I disagree with the second paragraph. I think having no rebounders besides Bosh and a weak interior defense are bigger problems than scoring.
With our current roster, I think we can score fine. But our defense is not strong enough to compensate for giving up a boat load of offensive boards. Unfortunatly, it looks as if Bargnani's gonna be given another shot so that this area may not be adressed as agressively.
1. trade delfino and ap
2. get a good pick in draft
3. trade a one pg
trade three players over the course of the offseason and get a draft pick and possibly a solid player?
its a start, but raps need to mix it up in the free agent market. The time is now, we need to start being serious as a team, and stop with this Bargnani garbage, and needing to develop. It's not like we were expecting him to be a primary option, he started this season as 3rd option and if that much is too much to handle for him, then im sorry, Andrea, you need to grow a pair!
How about Josh Howard? He seems like the perfect three player for our system. He can score, slash, defend, rebound, and smokes a few grams of weed per day.
I don't think it's that unlikely for the Raps and Mavs to work out some sort of Ford/Calderon for Howard deal. The Jason Kidd experiance has been a complete bust, and he's nearing the end of his career.
The Mavericks were a much better team with Devin Harris starting at the point (no I'm not saying that Devin Harris is better than Jason Kidd, shut up) and it might be smart for them to get the same type of point guard back into the mix, although neither point guard possesses the defensive ability of Harris or Kidd.
Anywho, not saying that this will even be considered, but it's definetly something to think about.
How About Jamal crawford hes a pretty good player but put on a bad ny knicks team so i think we could get him for like t.j ford and then we got Roko Ukic for the backup pg spot next year
most of these suggestions are actually intelligent... i am surprised :)
Crawford is just OK. from a purely offensive efficiency standpoint when you look at his points per field goal attempt, he isn't that productive (I was doing some stats todaY). PPFGA is a good measure of productivity, I think. I had crawford at 1.18. By comparison, Bosh was very good at 1.46. Howard was a ridiculous 1.79, and Amara was at 1.64. My best friend Bargnani was the lowest of all of the players I tried the calculation on: 1.09. what a surprise.
But based on this stat, I don't think crawford is that great. His low fg% is not offset by trips to the line, or 3pt%. That he avged 20 ppg is a testament to him being a 'chucker'. Take a guy like Maggette, though - this guys has a studllike 1.55 ppfga last year, high for a wing player, for his career 1.47. PLus he's good for about 6 boards a game, which is 6 more than bargnani.
i've barely seen nene play, but he looks like he could be very good addition. 1.52 ppfga. in 06-07, he averaged 7 boards, 12 points, 0.9 blks in 27 minutes! For T.O., he'd likely average 35 minutes a game (assuming he could handle the load...) that would make him ~15-10 guy. I'd take it.
camby is a defensive stud, but just a dream, although he is not that efficient as a scorer.
maggette's got an option to opt out of his contract this year? raps would need to sign and trade, I guess, because I don't think they have any space clearing, do they, to sign him? What about nene's?
Referring to my Josh Howard for Ford/Calderon post:
The same package might work for the Clippers in getting Corey Maggette. Sam Cassell is gone, Brevin Knight is holding down the fort for now, and who knows when Shaun Livingston will be back/healthy? Their most glaring need is at Point Guard in my opinion (a current lineup of Kaman, Brand, Thornton, Mobley, and Knight).
Crawford cant play defense.. I think these are the players Raps should pick up, that need a 2nd scorer:
Magette
Redd
Biedrens
O'neal
I wouldn't exactly call Maggette and Redd lock down defenders either though.
Ford for Maggette would work for both teams. Injury issues big time for Cory. He played great this year and stayed healthy because he can opt out...so that wasn't a coincident.
Re: Season done, Offseason Thread!
