Fan editorial by Killa Bee #1

The Finals are just about over, the summer is just around the corner...no more basketball for 3 months, right? wrong. This is just the beginning. The summer is the time when us hardnosed basketball fans dream up ways to revamp our team's roster. Let's start with the biggest rumour I've heard regarding My Toronto Raptors to date.

Rumour has it that Clippers are willing to give up Lamar Odom for the 4th pick. Now this is a dream come true in so many ways. First of all, Odom adds another 3 dimensions to our team. A very versatile player that can score, pass, rebound, defend and run the fast break. Is he worth the 4th pick is the ultimate question. So lets see, who we may be able to acquire at #4. If Carmelo Anthony is still available at #4, then the trade can stay on the shelf and we wouldn't need to make it. I definitely do not believe any other guards will make an impact for our team, so let's look at the big picture. Would Darko, Chris, or Pavel be of help? I think size is a huge boost in the smaller and slower paced East. Unless scouts are super confident that any of those 3 mentioned above can get us 10 points and 10 rebounds a game in their first season, I would rather move to trade our pick. We need the playoffs, and we need it now.

So back to the Clippers trade offer. If they can sweeten the deal by taking JYD and/or Alvin Williams off our hands along with maybe even Mo Pete and the 4th Pick and in return give us Odom, Wang ZhiZhi, and maybe Marco Jaric to balance pay loads or something, this trade can not be passed up. How would this benefit the Clippers though. They won't have to sign Mo Pete the following summer, they get a point guard in AW which will cost them less compared to re-signing Andre Miller, and they don't have to sign Odom. They receive a fan favourite in JYD, which should boost their attendance, and with the left-over money, they can use to sign Elton Brand (a must sign), Corey Maggette (another must sign) and they can also keep Quentin (had a bad year), Keyon for a cheap price. So all-in-all, this is a trade that is good for both teams, and is not indictive of my Bias for the Raptors.

The Raptors will benefit with a second scorer/playmaker in Odom and a center in Wang, allowing AD to play his natural position at PF. I believe Wang is a great potential that is put to waste on Clippers' deep bench who we can pry away. Getting Marco, would be a perfect fit, in that we would have back a starting point guard in return. A starting line-up of Marco, Carter, Odom, Davis, and Wang is pretty solid. The Clippers would have Miller (or Alvin), Quentin, Maggette, Brand, and whoever else they use to fill this role while Olowakandi was injured. Wang only averaged like 10 mins anyways.

Make this trade happen.