Good Bye "Money Bag"

Good-bye Peja we barely knew ya. It was first reported by ESPN and was confirmed late this afternoon via press release by the Raptors. The two sides have agreed to a buyout. Here is the official release from the Raptors:

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have released forward Peja Stojakovic. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

“We were clear from the beginning that our trade with New Orleans was made with the future in mind, so a buyout or trade of Peja's contract was a likely option,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “Although he did not fit into our plan of developing our young core talent, I'm sure that Peja will add significantly to any veteran team that signs him.”Stojakovic was acquired with Jerryd Bayless from New Orleans on November 20. He appeared in two games with Toronto before being sidelined for the past 26 contests with a sore left knee. The Raptors roster now stands at 14.

Raptors vs Sixer In Rematch From 7 Days Ago

Since these two teams last met the Raptors have been on a roll and made a trade. Toronto entered last Wednesday in a tie for last in the East with Philly. Raptors would win and have not lost since with wins over Houston and Boston. Tonight is also the debut of Peja and Bayless. There was some talk that Bayless may take #4 upon his arrival to the Raptors but has decided to go with 5. The CB4 legacy safe for now. Well other then what he did to trash it leaving for Miami and all. Raptors sit a full 2 games in front of Philly heading into this one at the ACC. So win or lose the Raptors will not drop to the basement in the East. That being said Philly is definitely one of those "Winnable" games that the Raptors must get this season to remain competitive.

The Basics: Sixers 3-11(1-7 on the Road) Raptors 5-9 (4-4 vs East)

When Last We Saw Them: The Raptors shocked the NBA with a 1 point win over Boston. A Paul Pierce fade away did not fall and the Raptors pulled out the improbably win over Boston. This was after letting Boston erase a lead that climbed to 11 points. But the Raptors would find a way to pull out the win as Amir Johnson hit free throws to force Boston into having to score with 2.7 seconds left which they did not.

Happy to be here: Both Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless expressed their happiness to be in Toronto. Odd right? They just came off a team, that when they left was tops in the Western Conference. But truth is that they had little to do with that. Peja is happy about Toronto's Serbian community and his wife is Greek which also has a strong community.Sound all very Hedo like. Let's hope the play from Peja is not the same. From Bayless, it was all talk of opportunity and a chance to be part of this young core. Will it be long before the Young Onez had a 4th member to the group? If you listen to Jerryd chances are not that long. He also is said to be a solid defender at his position by most. Something the Raptors have lacked for a LONG LONG Time. Isn't that right Jose, Jarrett and T.J? Finally the Raptors may have an answers to stopping elite point guards.

Other Things Of Note: IGGY's Back. Andre Iguodala (who did not play last week) returned to the Sixers line-up in a 2 point loss to the Wizards who welcomed back John Wall. Iguodala has always been a Raptors killer since entering the league. His last game vs the Raptors last season he lit up the Raptors for 33 points. The all time series between these once heated rivals is at 30-28 in favour of Toronto. Raptors hold an edge in all the team stats this season with the exception of 3pt % and A
assists. Philly who struggled shooting the 3 ball last year under Eddie Jordan have improved this year shooting 35% from 3 point range under Doug Collins to this point. Peja if he plays a role, should help the Raptors poor 3 point % which is below 30%. Remind me again why that 3 point streak is important? Which for those that care sits at 956 consecutive games with making a 3.

Key Match Ups: Jose Calderon avoided Rajon Rondo but will not be able to avoid Jrue Holiday tonight. If he gets matched up on Holiday that could be ugly. But maybe this is where we get to see Bayless shine in his debut? Will see. Andre Iguodala will make it a long night for whoever is on him. That we would assume for the most part will be Sonny Weems. While for the Raptors, as it was shown the last time these two teams hooked up in Philly, have a huge advantage with Bargnani. The Sixers have no one capable of stopping him and it showed in that last meeting.

In Case You Missed It: Yesterday was my birthday. Late gifts are always welcomed. But I was so touched by all the birthday greetings I received that I felt the need to write this. Also you are running out of chances to win our Contest for The Best Seats In The House with MGD. Check out your latest chance to win tickets and join me for Raptors and Nuggets on December 10th. Congrats to our Latest Winner Mary Anne who I believe is from Toronto. If not my bad but congratulations to her and Good Luck to all of you that enter.

Looks like I will be working another game for The Score tonight so good luck to the Raptors and your re-cap might be a bit delayed.

Raptors/New Orleans Trade??? White Flag for 2010/11 and Green Beyond

After the Summer in Raptor land, a trade is never a trade until I get an e-mail from the Raptors saying they have made it. But this one is being widely reported and may in-fact have legs to it but has some issues as well. Bryan Colangelo just can't make a simple trade...EVER!!! Only kidding but a nice simple trade would be nice. So here is the deal as it is being reported according to several sources .

To Toronto:

G Jerryd Bayless
F Peja Stojakovic

To New Orleans:

G Marcus Banks
C David Andersen
G Jarrett Jack

Ok on to the problems. Bayless may not be able to be traded. He was acquired in the off-season and was with Portland last year. The only loop hole to this is if he is dealt in a straight 1 for 1 trade. Doesn't that apply to Andersen as well? Not sure he was never traded for actual players so might not. In fact my research says it doesn't.

It may work if you trade Bayless for Andersen straight up.......DING DING WINNER WINNER.

So that problem is solved. Thanks to Real G.M Trade Checker. Now does the rest of it work? Nope it doesn't. Ok so something involving cash or exceptions will need to happen. Raptors do not have to use ALL of the Bosh trade exception so could use a portion of it, to get the big fat expiring contract of Peja, to add to the remainder of the Bosh exception. That would work but only if Bayless was traded in the package. Which he can't be until sometime in December. I believe the date is the 10th but don't quote me on that. Do Bloggers need to start getting capologists? maybe.

But assuming the Hornets and Raptors have them I am sure this stuff will get sorted out. So for the sake of argument we will say this can happen even though how it would is a little foggy to understand.

So if the Raptors do this deal they have basically raised the white flag on the 2010/11 season. But they have set themselves up to be a giagantic player in the NEW CBA free agent period which depending on if there is or isn't a lockout will happen eventually. It would also be a safe bet that this new CBA will be far more cap restrictive and make cap space even more valuable. Talk of the elimination of the MLE and Hard Cap have been thrown around.

So in theory the Raptors become an attractive landing spot for free agents. All except for that whole Canada thing. Raptors would really only have one of their own players that they likely would want to re-sign in Sonny Weems. This is just a rough estimate but the Raptors should have somewhere between 25-30 Million to spend. Let's assume Sonny really kills it this year he still likely gets no more then 5-6 Million? That is if he seriously steps up. Any thing less then a complete blow the doors off season the number goes down. Actually that amount of money to spend might be a little more because Reggie Evans would also be expiring as well. Bottom line the Raps will be loaded with cap space.

So based on Bryan's moves this off-season this trade should be no surprise to anyone. His plan has clearly been to reset the Raptors for being a player under the new CBA. That is what was so attractive about the Charlotte deal for Evans and Calderon that never happened. It also in the short term might have helped the Raps be slightly more competitive.

The down side is this is clear proof that Jose Calderon as of this moment is just untradeable. That is the only conclusion you can draw. He also for the short term is your starting point guard with 2 combo guards backing him up in Barbosa and Bayless. Jose has played well in recent days but in the past when he has moved from back-up to starter the results have not been positive. The lone exception to that in his contract year when Ford was hurt and that set up a number of dominoes that led to Calderon's over priced contract and Ford being shipped to Indy in what turned out to be a brutal trade. Anyone seen Roy Hibbert lately he is pretty good. Nathan Jawai was last seen in Summer League. J.O is now sucking in Boston.

Andersen would give New Orleans a back-up center that can do a number of things they do not have at the moment. Jarrett Jack is a great back-up to Paul and if things go south and you need to move Paul eventually he can be a stop gap starting point guard. Banks is expiring and at least gives them part of what they gave up in Peja's fat contract. As for Peja he has past his prime like 3 years ago at least and really does not offer the Raps a lot other then a guy that use to be able to light it up from 3 point range.

The Bottom line to all of this is that if you had hope for this season and Raptors trying to be a playoff team....FORGET ABOUT IT. But if you were accepting the Raptors reality and looking towards the future this gives you reason to be optimistic. It also may just be the thing to give Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano a free pass on this season. Not sure if I like that. But as we all learned in the Summer...A Deal is not a deal until a team is announcing that is. So far on that front the Raptors and Hornets have not said anything. What we do know is Brown or Jordan will not screw this trade up. So will wait and see if this thing gets done. Sooner or perhaps later if they can't figure out a way to move Bayless.