4/9/09

Raptors In and Out

O.K how awful was that last night. I listened on the radio and had planned to watch the rebroadcast and perhaps to a Raptor Rewind or game notes. However there was really no need. Raptors sucked. Simple as that. Andrea Bargnani did not play do to his sore heel and honestly if anyone has a chipped nail at this point sit them down. So for today's blog I thought I a would play a new game. It has a real Price is Right Feel to it. So this is a Bob Barker special edition of the Dino Nation Blog. The rules are simple. I say a player and say if he is in or out next season. I will over a slight reason for why I think this. That is how we play the game so let's go.

Jake Voskhul is OUT- Nothing personal it is just I can find another 5 fouls from someone younger and may have some upside.

Patrick O'Bryant is OUT- Thanks for coming out. One of least effective deadline moves in Raptor history? Granted he was dealt for a player that was one of the least effective in Raptor history so it makes sense.

Nathan Jawai is In- He is under contract and I think he will be ready next season to contribute. He has had a rough year and a first season to forget. Year 2 is his last shot at proving he can be an NBA.

Quincy Douby might be In- I am sitting on the fence a bit here but the guy has barely played. He will get an invite for summer league at worst. Maybe it is the name and all the off colour remarks it can create but I know bloggers and media folks for that fact would not mind having the douby stick around to spark up another year.

Marcus Banks is Out if you can get him out- I am not convinced Marcus Banks showed us anything at all. He likely will stick around only because I can not imagine Bryan Colangelo will be able to move him. If there is a big deal you can be sure that Bryan will try to attach Banks and his bad contract to it.

Joey Graham is OUT...YES!!!!- I admit that I am bias a bit on this one. However I do honestly not think Joey Graham is going to be back. I am not convinced the Raptors want him back. I am convinced that some team in the NBA has seen enough good Joey to get fooled into thinking he is worth a look. Which perhaps he is. However the one thing I find a little odd is that everyone just thinks if the Raptors were to offer Joey a contract he would take it and return. Yet Chris Bosh would walk. Joey could have some of the same reasons to walk that Bosh would.

Kris Humphries is In- Back from the witness protection program the Hump will be back again. I am not sure what is role will be but I can not imagine he gets moved. A possible add in for a trade. But I think his contract is to high for his actual value. It also does not expire in the right year to be a help for anyone.

Roko Ukic is In- The question with Roko is not if he is in or out but where he will be in. Meaning that will he be good enough to be a true back-up point guard. That will be the big question.

Anthony Parker is Out- I like A.P but I am not convinced he remains. That being said he has said he is willing to come back. I just think someone offers him more than Raptors will and he will take it. There were rumours in the last off-season that Euro clubs had interest in A.P. There also might be a few NBA clubs that see him as a quality depth piece.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu is SO IN- In a season of complete disappointment Pops has become the people's Champ. He looks nothing like THE ROCK. But it is clear that fans love what Pops brings to the table. I am thinking Bryan Colangelo does as well. He would be a restricted free agent and the Raptors will have the option to match any offers that come his way.

Jason Kapono is OUT- I think if it is possible JK will be moved this off-season. It may be hard to move him though. A very high contract and it is clear now that Bryan Colangelo over paid for him. But if possible I think Colangelo would look to move him and his contract. However coming off the season he had that will be extremely tough to do.

Andrea Bargnani is In- If you don't trade Andrea Bargnani when he sucks. No way you trade him when he finally starts to turn the corner right? I think so. No way no how we do not see Bargnani back. I think it is a lock to say that. If anyone is UNTOUCHABLE on this roster he may be it.

Jose Calderon is In (With a Nash exception)- Jose is back UNLESS there is a deal for Steve Nash on the table. If that deal is there I say Jose will be on the Suns. It all depends on if you truly believe in Roko or not. Only Bryan Colangelo has the answer to that one.

Shawn Marion is Out (With A Nash exception)- I think Marion will not be back and will be on a contender next year. If you are going to take less money which Marion clearly will be. Than he is more likely to do that on a contender. He could do a sign and trade and help out the Raps. He may rethink things if Nash were to end up in Toronto.

Chris Bosh is IN!!!- I know everyone seems to think he is not. But I will choose to believe. He may not be IN the whole year. There is still the deadline if things were to go wrong and things change. But I have hope to think Bosh may want to stay here. I also think the Raptors want him to stay. Can they work something out to make that happen? Will see. But I may be crazy but I think Bosh is going to be still a Raptor next year. I hope I am write because media and Fans said Ford would go and they pushed him out the door. How did that whole thing work out? I do not want to see the same thing happen with Bosh.

If Bosh is not back I just think this team goes back to square one and I am not exactly thrilled about that. I also worry at what impact that would have on Andrea Bargnani who has finally turned a corner this year. I think with no Bosh he would fall backwards again. The one thing that is certain. Bryan Colangelo is going to CHANGE this team. It is just a matter of it is for the better or the worse.

Oh I almost forget. Coaches.

Jay Triano is In- Not sure if I agree with it but the writing seems on the wall at this point. The staff he has will likely have a make over and I think Alex English and Mike Evans could be gone. Mark Ivaroni perhaps is added to the staff as well as someone else.

I don't think it needs to be said but Bryan Colangelo is back of course. I agree with Paul Jones in that this season Colangelo had an off year. He tried to hit a home run and in the end hit a harmless fly ball. But just like in baseball he will get more than a few more at bats to get it right before anyone at MLSE would even consider a change at the top of the Raptor organization.


2 comments:

  1. what about Delfino? Printezis?

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  2. Well I did just deal with folks on the current Roster. Carlos could be back. He will be a restricted free agent if he does. So Raps could match any offer(s) he would get. Printezis( I am trusting you spelled it right. ) He is still under contract for another year in Europe? I think he is. But he could buy himself out of that even if he was. I watched him in Beijing and in the qualifier to get there. I was not very impressed if memory serves me. So Delfino In and Printezis out for now.

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