The First To Bolt

[Joey]

Players only leave when they feel the grass is greener elsewhere; all you can do is make your grass as green and inviting as possible.

Love it.

[Joey]

I think alot of players want something to "call their own". A team that is theirs. And I think these Young Guys relish being "different" and trying to live up to the challenge. I'm sure they all realize the losing is part-and-parcel with the injuries. Nothing can be done about that.

Once the ship is righted they will all be very happy as Toronto Raptors. Players LOVE Toronto. It's the losing culture and poor management that deters them. It's the ONLY reason Vince left. Don't get them mixed up. It has nothing to do with Toronto and I don't think it ever has. Except for Bosh being a douche and saying the stuff he did, and who ever it was saying they didn't "want their kids singing someone else's national anthem." If we can establish winning, then the rest is history.

New Orleans and Denver are still within US borders last time I checked and they've got the exact same problems.

[Nine New Faces]

Once the ship is righted they will all be very happy as Toronto Raptors. Players LOVE Toronto. It's the losing culture and poor management that deters them. It's the ONLY reason Vince left. Don't get them mixed up. It has nothing to do with Toronto and I don't think it ever has. Except for Bosh being a douche and saying the stuff he did, and who ever it was saying they didn't "want their kids singing someone else's national anthem." If we can establish winning, then the rest is history.

New Orleans and Denver are still within US borders last time I checked and they've got the exact same problems.

You made a good point here: teams collapse all the time in the NBA and the Raps will probably be in a good position over the next 2-3 years to pick up a major piece. Orlando, NO, Utah, Atlanta, they're all stuck in that 2nd tier of contenders thanks to the moves of their GMs, and they're hardly the only ones with stars who might want out if things don't improve. Just as easily as a star can leave, a star can arrive through a trade that exports cheap young assets and cap space, which is exactly what the Raps are going to have over the next few years if they play their cards right.

So while TO has been a victim of stars leaving in the past, that doesn't mean they can't benefit from some other city's misfortune down the road.

[bigmanshaq]

bottom line, if we can win consistently, players are less likely to leave.
Have a team with solid foundations and show players that management
know and understand how to win.
Why worry about something you can't control, try our best to win,
and that's all we can do.

[Apollo]

I don't think David Stern would want to do that - the major market stars seem to make the NBA loads of money and popular. Why spoil something good? Fans also like seeing dynasties too - look at the popularity of the NBA in the MJ and Bulls winning years lol and a lot of Lakers fans all the way to China.

Fans like seeing their team in the playoffs and like knowing their team has a chance. The NFL is far more successful than the NBA. It's not even close. The NBA is pushing for a hard cap by the way.

[Maleko]

This thread upsets me.

I'll be the one to Zag, instead of Zig, and say none of em. They're all classy, professional's with good heads on good shoulders. Demars mother has said she loves Toronto and is very happy with Demar here. If its good for his mama, it's good enough for him. Dude listens to his mom. haha
Davis will show loyalty to the team that finally decided he was worth the pick.
Caldy will show loyalty to the death to the only team he has ever known.
Amir will show loyalty to the only team that believed in him.
Same goes for Jarryd.

Well said

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

This thread upsets me.

I'll be the one to Zag, instead of Zig, and say none of em. They're all classy, professional's with good heads on good shoulders. Demars mother has said she loves Toronto and is very happy with Demar here. If its good for his mama, it's good enough for him. Dude listens to his mom. haha
Davis will show loyalty to the team that finally decided he was worth the pick.
Caldy will show loyalty to the death to the only team he has ever known.
Amir will show loyalty to the only team that believed in him.
Same goes for Jarryd.

sorry man, i didnt mean to upset you. but that has been the curse of this team, dont get me wrong, i hope to God nobody leaves the same way as VC, Bosh and Turk did but the reality is, with the loses, the rebuilding, the uncertainty, it can very well happen again.

I think we've discussed this before in one of the Bosh threads, loyalty is nonexistent in the NBA.

[smushmush]

Why do we have a team if no one wants to play here? The city is clean and friendly and the fan base is pretty good for a city that apparently only cares about hockey. These American players are too ignorant and unwilling to adapt to a new country. They don't want to play in Canada where the culture is relatively similar but they'd gladly play in a European country where surely you'd have to learn a new language. It's all fucking ignorance. Losing doesn't help. If we were winning then maybe players would come. When the Jays were winning we attracted both Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield, and while they only played here a season, they both won World Series titles. This team isn't going to be winning any time soon or until the team is taken away. Many Americans look down on us as a whole but in reality they are just being completely stupid.

Nah, the real reason is our management really does not pony up the resources to win. They are okay with the profits instead. I would not want to play for a management like this too, trust me(see LeBron James and Chris Bosh this year, no supporting casts to complement both in their 7 years with a team). The Raptors are not gonna get a Reggie Miller anytime soon that is ok with not winning a championship. As they say, winning cures everything.

[smushmush]

Fans like seeing their team in the playoffs and like knowing their team has a chance. The NFL is far more successful than the NBA. It's not even close. The NBA is pushing for a hard cap by the way.

I hope so - tell that to Lakers fans all over the world though. It will take a rollback of salaries to incorporate the hard salary cap a la the NHL with the last CBA imo.

[phez]

Fans like seeing their team in the playoffs and like knowing their team has a chance. The NFL is far more successful than the NBA. It's not even close. The NBA is pushing for a hard cap by the way.

hell yes. its retarded a team like the lakers can afford basically 2 salary caps worth of players because high rollers live in their city, more than willing to pay insane amounts of money for seats.

(lakers 34 million over cap, 34*2 = $68 million worth of salary over the limit)

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Nah, the real reason is our management really does not pony up the resources to win. They are okay with the profits instead. I would not want to play for a management like this too, trust me(see LeBron James and Chris Bosh this year, no supporting casts to complement both in their 7 years with a team). The Raptors are not gonna get a Reggie Miller anytime soon that is ok with not winning a championship. As they say, winning cures everything.

I think it actually goes beyond than just money. all these years players have mentioned taxes, weather and exposure. and its not all three altogether, but its one or the other, which sucks even more. I mean we can all cry bullshit about this all we want but bottomline is, this is what players think and have said so i guess it gives merit.

for me, the reasoning behind taxes and weather is a bit iffy. i think LA has 7% tax? but they still get good players. new york has cold weather but they still get good players. i think its really the exposure. prime time players, although its not their only concern, but a big concern is having your name thrown out there and knowing you are known. some may say that playing basketball is more important, blah blah blah but money also comes from endorsement deals, so it does play a big part. where i work, out of 40 staff, im the only one who follows the Raptors. out of 100 in the company, 3 of us follow the NBA. the company rented a basketball gym to get people to come out and play basketball. out of the 100, only 5 regularly show up. during the winter they do a makeshift hockey rink and theres a huge line of teams waiting to play. i mean its a small scale compared to the whole canada, but im pretty sure the same thing is going on in most places. up until basketball is a major sport in this country, big name free agents will never be interested in playing here.

[Nine New Faces]

I think it actually goes beyond than just money. all these years players have mentioned taxes, weather and exposure. and its not all three altogether, but its one or the other, which sucks even more. I mean we can all cry bullshit about this all we want but bottomline is, this is what players think and have said so i guess it gives merit.

for me, the reasoning behind taxes and weather is a bit iffy. i think LA has 7% tax? but they still get good players. new york has cold weather but they still get good players. i think its really the exposure. prime time players, although its not their only concern, but a big concern is having your name thrown out there and knowing you are known. some may say that playing basketball is more important, blah blah blah but money also comes from endorsement deals, so it does play a big part. where i work, out of 40 staff, im the only one who follows the Raptors. out of 100 in the company, 3 of us follow the NBA. the company rented a basketball gym to get people to come out and play basketball. out of the 100, only 5 regularly show up. during the winter they do a makeshift hockey rink and theres a huge line of teams waiting to play. i mean its a small scale compared to the whole canada, but im pretty sure the same thing is going on in most places. up until basketball is a major sport in this country, big name free agents will never be interested in playing here.

It's a bit of a chicken and the egg thing though, because if Toronto ever did develop a winner and legitimate championship threat then the city, and to a degree the country, would get behind them. That's how you create a lasting connection and loyalty with a fanbase, you give them a team worth cheering for. So far the closest the city has had was a couple of good years out of Vince and a whole lot of first round exits and lottery picks. Toronto does offer exposure, because if there's one thing we Canadians love it's to be able to lord a sports victory over the states.

[Hotshot]

I bet there is a mathematic equation out there to determined all that.

Basically what it boils down to being an ALL-Star. If one of the player's are going to make it to the All star game, then it won't come to be about money but they will have the desire to play somewhere else due to weather, its Canada and more oppertuinties for winning elsewhere.

If the players have not made it to the All-Star game and probably won't in the near future then what will keep them in Toronto will come down to money, in which Toronto will have to overpay them to keep them here.

This have been a pretty predictable formula thus far. So Derozan could bolt after playing in Toronto for 7 years if he makes the All-Star game or if he isn't there but very close to then we are probably talking somewhere in between Iggy and Joe Johnson type of money.

This is why its important when we have a bad year such as this to draft the right player so this unit can at least ride together for 5 solid years before the tough decisions happen.

[Rg1990]

I don't see Demar just bolting like that. The Raps are in a deep hole yes, but you have to remember when the Raps were good in 2006-2007, Boston was still shit and they didn't have Allen and Garnett, the Nets were making the playoffs and the Pistons were still good. Demar seems loyal IMO. If he had any incentive to leave I think it would be management or just losing. He said himself he liked the city and he even spent time here in the summer with Amir and Sonny. The young core of Demar and Amir specifically have built themselves an identity within the city. I don't know if you've seen pictures of Compton, but it looks like a very low scale poor area. Going from a crime filled area to a relatively low crime rate in Toronto is probably refreshing.

[RaptorsFan4Life]

I don't see Demar or Ed leaving till their 2nd contract expires (at the earliest). No players ever leave the team that drafted them after their rookie contract