Raptors On Court Good, Off Court Not So Much

Only was able to see bits and pieces of this one. But in what I was able to see DeRozan and Weems were continuing there high wire act in Vegas. The 2 young guns are doing an excellent job of taking the ball to the hoop. DeRozan did take a shot in this one but was not going to let it stop him. He was the game's high scorer with 23 points. As for the Raptor rookies it was not as good for Ed Davis today. After an impressive debut he faded into the background today with just 4 points and 4 boards. Raps 2nd round pick Solomon Alabi was a bit better in this on with 10 points and 6 boards in just 18 minutes of action. Also Dorsey again was doing work on the glass and scoring a bit to with 13 points matching Weems total and a dozen rebounds. So the summer version of the Raptors are 2-0 with a 100-91 win over the Rockets. Which is good news.



While off the court, the Raptors deal that had people including me ready to pat Bryan Colangelo on the back. Forget about it!!! It is now but a memory as Michael Jordan on his own or with the encouragement of his coach Larry Brown called off the trade with the Raptors. They quickly went and moved one of the pieces of the deal Tyson Chandler to Dallas. Mark Cuban is the big winner of the 3 way trade between the Suns, Raptors and Bobcats. Who saw that coming? He gets a major upgrade at center with Chandler for Dampier. It also makes you wonder if Cuban is considering bringing in Shaq as the Diesel did not exactly get along with his former center. Story for another day though.

So after Reggie Evans and Jose Calderon were told that they are gone, suddenly they are not. Awkward, and not good at all. Especially in the case of Calderon. If the Raptors had other offers it is safe to say they will be looking at them. Seems Charlotte, if you care to believe them or not, were not happy about a 10% trade kicker in Jose's contract. This was one of the reasons they gave for killing the trade. But now you have a less than thrilled point guard, who has had the only organization he has played for say they didn't want him . While Jack is clearly more in tune with this Raptors young core and is at summer league watching the guys play. It is a pretty awful mess for Bryan Colangelo, and unlike the Bosh saga that played out, a very unforeseen one. Also, not his fault it should be pointed out.

So you are thinking fine but what about Hedo? No he still is gone it would appear. I find it ironic that Suns are not the ones with buyers regret. But everything still seems a go for that trade despite no official announcement yet. Leandro Barbosa will still be a Raptor. While Diaw remains a Bobcat for the moment and Chandler is off to Dallas. In theory the Raps could still move Calderon for Diaw but I think if their were other options for Calderon those will be explored long before Bryan Colangelo makes a call to Charlotte. You have to imagine that Colangelo is hot at Charlotte and with just cause to be.

He may have even have been to angry to hear his former star on the radio give his version of his departure to Miami. I don't think Colangelo would care even if he wasn't busy or angry. I really have to find out what B.C does to deal with his anger and frustration. He handles it far better than me as my Twitter followers can vouch for. However, I handle it a million times better than Dan Gilbert. Who was fined that amount by David Stern. In the first smart thing Gilbert has done since James bolted he told Cavs fans that were willing to donate to pay his fine, thanks but no thanks. He encouraged them to give the money they had planned to donate to the Cavs Charity foundation or some other worthy cause.

Some off-season this is. I think I am working harder now than I would be in the season. I need a vacation to someplace nice....maybe South Beach....I hear it is great. Perhaps not!!!!