February 28, 2006

Bryan Colangelo hired as GM of the Toronto Raptors:
Scott Carefoot breaks it all down.

posted by lilnemo to basketball at 05:21 PM - 10 comments

Great hiring and a great write-up. I thought Babcock getting axed at midseason made no sense, especially when CV3's pick has worked out so well. Sucks for Rob, but hey -- he picked Stiffo too.

posted by wfrazerjr at 05:56 PM on February 28, 2006

Scott really nails it here. To add to his commentary, I give you Bryan Colangelo's "resume". Colangelo seems to be a pretty keen at evaluating talent for the draft. To my eyes, his trades are above average, but can be a little uneven. The transaction history shows that he isn't afraid to make moves to keep his team competitive. This is also reflected by the fact that since '96 the Suns have been in the playoffs every year except '02 and '04. But it is important to note that in both seasons the head coach was fired midway through the season (breaking continuity, establishing a new style), Stephon Marbury was involved, and the Suns would reach the playoffs the following year. So what does this mean for the Raptors? The odds that Bosh stays in Toronto increase exponentially. The signing of a GM with a proven track record means that Bosh won't have to worry about being surrounded by enough talent to win or whether or not he will be offered a lucrative contract. The Raptors drafts will yield pieces that will help them win, or can be spun off for needed parts. I think Scott's right about Coach Mitchell. I'm not saying that he will be out at the end of the year, but if Colangelo doesn't see a coherent system in place by midseason next year (at the latest) I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. One last thing. If I were a Raptors fan, I would be looking around the league at point guards that are, or might be on the move within the next year. Bryan has always had good, established lead guards on his squads (Kidd, KJ, Nash, Cassell, Marbury slightly less so).

posted by lilnemo at 05:56 PM on February 28, 2006

Just for kicks, here's what the Raptors salary commitments are. Interesting, this off-season:

  1. A.D. comes off the books.
  2. Lamond Murray comes off the books.
  3. Alvin Williams, Eric Williams, and Mike James have player options
The salaries of AD and Murray account for $19 Mill alone. I sincerely doubt Eric Williams sticks it out in Toronto for another year, I think he opts out to see if he can catch on in Jersey again. Alvin should seriously consider retirement, I hope he opts out. Mike James has been a bright spot and most likely will re-up after a solid season, though he could opt out and try and capitalize on a breakout season. Beyond that no other contract approaches the MLE.

posted by lilnemo at 06:10 PM on February 28, 2006

Two little words; "Woo" and "Hoo". A great move. Love the blog, Scott. I'm not sure if the Raptors are ready to go into the free agent market looking for a point guard. The ones available (and attractive - age, game and leadership) all seem to be worse options than re-signing Mike James. But I'd bet dollars to donuts that James is eager to test the waters. I want to see who he'll draft. Colangelo always seems to have a plan - and he can certainly help attract the talent that wouldn't go near Toronto. Smooth Daddy, it's good to be a Raps fan again.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:16 PM on February 28, 2006

Scott nailed it, for the most part...though there's still a small part of me that thinks that due to Embry's good relationship with both Colangelo and Mitchell, and Bosh's positive relationship with Mitchell and (seemingly) the younger players, the two of them may be able to play nice. An added note: Love the blog, Scott...but where's the RSS feed?

posted by evadery at 11:31 PM on February 28, 2006

Hey, thanks guys. This was a nice surprise. One point I'd like to respond to: Eric Williams will NOT opt out. He's unhappy but he's not dumb. $4 million is $4 million, and he'd be lucky to get $2 million elsewhere. I don't have time to find the exact quote, but he hinted at this after the trade deadline passed, something about how it's a business and he has to think of his family first. Regarding the RSS feed, I get asked that a lot. The honest answer is, I'm not tech-savvy and I'm somewhat afraid of them. I've read that it's easy to steal content that way.

posted by Scott Carefoot at 10:05 AM on March 01, 2006

Great move by the Raps, but I don't think were gonna get a Steve Nash. Maybe he can get Marburied again, and trade his ass...again.

posted by Pabo at 11:00 AM on March 01, 2006

Weedy: Here's a list of Free Agent PGs in '07.

  • Mike Bibby
  • Kirk Hinrich
  • Earl Boykins
  • Leandro Barbosa
  • Mo Williams
  • Luke Ridnour
I would venture a guess that any of these guys could be had for the right price. Also free agents in 07: Dwayne Wade, LeBron, and Billups, but we know they're not going anywhere. Scott: You've got a point about EW. I just think he's upset enough to leave the money on the table. But you're probably right.

posted by lilnemo at 02:28 PM on March 02, 2006

Regarding the RSS feed, I get asked that a lot. The honest answer is, I'm not tech-savvy and I'm somewhat afraid of them. I've read that it's easy to steal content that way. While this is true, there are tools available which will produce RSS feeds from any web page whether the site has its own or not and people who want useful content are almost certainly (he said, pulling hat from ass) the most common users of them. Once your content is out on the web and noticed, it's not safe from this concern. Honestly, and having been blogging for five years now, I think you'll get more from producing the RSS than you'd lose from asshats.

posted by billsaysthis at 03:03 PM on March 02, 2006

agree with lilnemo

posted by defrag3x at 05:38 PM on March 05, 2006

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