Bosh Thoughts And Finals

The general thought is that the Raptors must trade Chris Bosh sooner or later if he is going to explore free agency. The feeling is that if Bosh was to walk away from the Raptors it would be a huge blow. I am here to say not so much. Let's run through some questions and maybe by the end of it you will agree or at the worst understand my point of view.

So everyone knows that Chris Bosh is going to Opt out. So what kind of a deal can you actually get?

If 29 other teams know that Bosh is going to become a free agent, how much would they be willing to give up for a very good rental player for a year? My suggestion would be nothing close to the true value of a Chris Bosh. We all saw the terrible trade that was made to get rid of Vince Carter. Bryan Colangelo would never make a trade that bad. However could even he, make a trade that would match the value of a Bosh? My answer to that is no. This is one of the reasons why I would make the focus to build a better team and a team that Bosh would like to be a part of moving forward.

Could the Raptors not do better with the cap space that Bosh would create if he leaves than what they would get in a trade?

Everyone goes mental over the 2010 free agent class. So why could the Raptors not be a player in that and bring back a package from free agency than they would from any Bosh trade. Steve Nash would be out there. Joe Johnson and many others beyond James, Wade and Bosh. People will counter with the Chicago Bulls as the example of how this may not work. But I will have an answer for that as you read on. The point is if you believe the Raptors could attract some free agents I think Bryan Colangelo could do better with the money in his hands than making a trade for Bosh.

It's the Economy stupid!!!

O.k that was not a question. But I mentioned about the economy. The NBA Cap numbers are trending down and until the economy changes it likely is not going to rise anytime soon. What that means is the value of having cap space increases. Think of it in terms of currency everyday the value of our money is changing. Well in NBA terms the value of cap space is as well. If the Cap number comes down so will the MLE- Mid Level Exception, the Tax threshold and everything else. So if you are a team that has cash and is willing to spend it (Which some won't be) with a quality smart G.M making the choices there is no reason to think he can not get good players to fill the Bosh void. The Bulls did not have the economic advantage that the Raptors could have given the climate of the economy in the NBA. Older ideas of letting a guy walk for nothing being thought of as crazy may be crazy like a fox in an NBA that will not have the free spending ways of the past.

Does Bosh want to leave or does he just want to get paid?

Many people think Bosh wants to leave Toronto and head for the good old U.S.A. However his actions recently might suggest other wise. He makes a deal with a Canadian Division of a company. He has said he like Toronto and that people here have been good to him the last 6 years. He seems to have been the first player that has played here that has truly understood how to cash in on being the face of pro basketball in Canada. While at the same time has been able to keep a high profile in the U.S. It is the best of both worlds for him if you think about it. He is not going to have Nike making a puppet add for him anytime soon. But thanks to playing on team U.S.A and taking advantage of the Internet and traditional media he has made himself known in U.S as well as Canada. So it is not a case of him just not wanting to be here. He does want a max contract offer most likely. However that is not because it is Toronto it would be the same on any team that was not a top 5 team in the NBA. He also said that the odds of him returning to Toronto are good. So it remains the issue of if you think Bosh is worth a max contract or not. I think he has. If the Raptors had not messed up on some other contracts like Jason Kapono and the Marcus Banks contract they got in the Miami trade they would not be in as bad a shape to sign Bosh to a max deal. Bosh can be a max guy and if he takes his game to the level he started last season on a regular basis he will be.

So forgive me if I am not all that excited or concerned about dealing away the best player on the Raptors by a wide margin. It will be a summer of Bosh trade rumours that have no chance in hell of happening. But I think moving Bosh will be a huge mistake when people look back on it should a deal happen. I listened all last summer how we had to trade T.J Ford. Given the way all that turned out how many people would like get a redo on that? Well let's hope next summer I am not asking that about a Bosh trade gone wrong.

Finals Thoughts

Just a quick word on the NBA Finals. I actually found out late Sunday afternoon I was going to be live blogging it for The Score. What a great game 2 it was. Think the Magic showed they are much better than the team that showed up in game 1. However when the story of this series is written the miss by Courtney Lee with .6 seconds on the clock is going to be part of the story. Had he made the shot the block by Hedo Turkoglu might have been. The Magic head home down 2 games to nothing. This is why I am not a fan of the 2-3-2 format. The odds of beating the Lakers 3 straight games is pretty long no matter where they are played. If the Magic can not do that I think the chances of winning are next to nothing. 2-3-2 format may be great for T.V but it sucks for the competitive nature of the basketball series.

The Magic face a must win game 3. But I think they will get that but to win 4 and 5 is another thing. Still it seems after last night we still have a series left. But it is a series that in the Lakers to lose.

So that is it for today. Enjoy your week as we get things rolling on a Monday.