Live Blogging The Night Away

What a fun night last night was. Had our draft lottery Live Blog here and then off to work over at The Score.com for a great basketball game between the Nuggets and Lakers. I have a ton of fun doing what I do. It is a good thing I love basketball in general or it would be tough to just focus on the Raptors. The Raptors were not winners last night in the lottery but they were not losers on the other hand. The big losers on the night were the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards. They dropped to 4 and 5 and that is awful for both of those franchises. So it could have been worse for the Raptors. In the end they get the draft pick that they earned in picking 9th. It seems odd to say it that way. So now we will see what the Raptors do. It seems clear to me the plan is to keep the pick at 9 and look for a pick late in the first round and bring in 2 players to add to the mix via the draft. The Raptors have cash considerations that they can turn into that second pick. In these tough economic times some teams late in that first round may not be all that excited about giving a contract that is guaranteed to a player that is part of what most consider a weak draft class. The risk and reward in this draft is far more risk and few rewards the Raptors will be looking to find that reward. It is going to be tough. But so is everything that faces the Raptors this off-season.

Bosh Has Had Enough

At the heart of that is Chris Bosh. If you are part of Twitter and follow Bosh you may have noticed this tweet he posted yesterday.

Chris Bosh (Via Twitter) " Everyone, please stop asking me to come and play for the team in your city. I get that question everyday now. I just want to enjoy my summer"

I can understand the frustration of Bosh. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. U.S media on mass from writers on Yahoo to reporters on ESPN and everywhere in between all think that Bosh is going to leave Toronto and it is a question of when and not if. Should Bosh remain with the Raptors heading into next season this kind of speculation is only going to increase and go on and could grow to become a great distraction not just for Bosh but the Raptors as a whole. Bosh could end all of this by saying that I am staying in Toronto and that is that. He could say it on Twitter or Facebook, heck if he wants to come on the Dino Nation Blog and say it he would be welcome. However that is not going to happen because it makes no sense for Bosh to do that. Even if he plans to stay he is not going to sign and extension and he is going to wait it out and have the chance to be a free agent. He can make the most money by going this route. In the economy today I can not blame anyone for doing what is best for them.

So this becomes the problem for Bryan Colangelo. How can he move forward and build this franchise when the major piece of it sits in limbo. The trouble is with all the speculation and drama can Bryan get anything close to true value for Bosh? Well he could if he traded problem for problem. But if you traded for another guy that is part of that 2010 free agent class that is perhaps a step below Bosh you face the same problem. In the end if anyone thinks the Raptors can trade Bosh and get better in the short term as a result I think they are dreaming. It seems to be the cool thing to do to try to devalue Bosh but he is a talent and just because he didn't make the ALL NBA squads does not suggest to me he is any less a talent. He averaged 20 and 10 only 3 guys in the entire league did that. Blake Griffin or anyone in this draft class is not doing that. I am not sure what the answer is if you are Bryan Colangelo. I personally would take the risk and ride it out. The last thing this franchise needs is to make a bad deal for it's best player by a wide margin. I know this much about Bosh in that he will work with the Raptors to do a sign and trade should he eventual leave and never gets moved this year. It is also the best move for him money wise as well. Unless the perfect deal comes along it really makes little sense to move Bosh to me.

Rob Babcock made a complete mess of the Vince Carter situation and I do not expect that Bryan Colangelo will do the same. First of all he has a much more willing partner in Bosh to make a deal that will benefit both the Raptors and Bosh. I personally hold out hope that it never has to come to this. I have enjoyed watching Chris Bosh develop into the player and person he is. I would be very disappointed to see him go. I find it a shame that so many folks have decided to bash this guy and try to take away from all that he has accomplished as a player. Let's be honest about things. When he was drafted did anyone expect him to be as good as Lebron James or Carmelo Anthony. Heck even Dwyane Wade was thought to be a better talent. But Bosh has proven to be a top level player and been able to hold his own and be a player that is part of what was a great draft class. To compare Bosh to a Lebron, Melo or Wade is a bit unfair to a point. All of those players can handle the ball and as an individual and create their own scoring. For Bosh not unlike a Dwight Howard he has to depend on the team around him to get his points. That for me does not make him a bad player it is just the reality of being a post player.

Bottom line of all of this is that Chris Bosh is a very good player and the best the Raptors have and to my mind the Raptors can not get a player better them him with what they have. Bosh may not like it but this is only the start of the storm that will surround him until 2010. It is part of the price you will pay for getting those big dollars. But he should enjoy his summer because it is only going to get worse unless Bryan Colangelo were to pull a trigger on a deal. Even than where Bosh lands that team will wonder if he stays for the long term or ends up being a one year rental.

Vince McManon vs Denver Nuggets

I got a huge laugh out of the mess over game 4 of the Lakers and Denver series that kicked off last night. What a great game that was and full marks to the Lakers for pulling out the win. They may have a lot of big fans now. Guys like HHH, The Big Show, Batista and the rest of the WWE Roster. It seems the Denver Nuggets made a mistake. They happened to book the popular wrestling show Monday Night Raw which airs at 9pm EST on the same night as Game 4 scheduled to start at same time. McManon never one to back away from a spotlight, he came out full guns blazing. He challenged the owner of the Nuggets to a steel cage match. He suggested his lack of leadership would be why the Lakers would likely knock off the Nuggets. It was a pretty good wrestling promo on behalf of the Lakers. To make it even more strange the interview was conducted by Johnathan Coachman on ESPN. Coachman who before he was in the WWE was a sports reporter in Kansas City I believe. It made the whole interview all the more strange. Vince McManon claims the WWE trucks are heading for Denver and who knows what to expect. My guess is that Raw would be forced to be taped in the afternoon if McManon will not back down. The NBA has stated that the date can not be changed so it is a mess to be sorted out. So if Kobe gets hit with a steel chair in game 4 something has gone wrong.

These issues have happened before. I recall a time that Dora the Explorer hi-jacked an NHL Playoff game. Well Vince McManon is not any kind of warm fuzzy kid's show. Expect the WWE to make this an issue in the shows going forward. Do not be shocked if you see a few wrestlers rocking the Lakers gold and purple in the coming days. After all as Vince will tell you he beat the federal government in court. He fears no one and can always see a situation as a chance to promote his product of the WWE. The WWE is claiming to be the best value in entertainment in these tough economic times. Well given that the NBA does not have playoffs on PPV I will suggest that the WWE has a long way to go to live up to that slogan. But this was to funny not to talk about. I know in the past I have enjoyed wrestling and know some of the readers of the Dino Nation Blog have been or are fans. The 2 worlds came together if only for one day. Craig Sager better watch his back he could get a chair shot. Oh wait he is safe he is doing the Eastern Conference series. Sager the way he dresses could be considered the NBA's Mouth of the South.

So how do you top that? I don't think you can so that is all for today. Enjoy the playoffs they have been great.

Actually one last thing. The Clippers won the lottery do you need anymore proof that Blake Griffin is going to be a bust?