Summer 2011: What our beloved Raptors should do. Concretely.

[knickz]

Irving is head and shoulders the best prospect in this draft. That's why everyone is so high on him. This team doesn't have any all-stars or franchise players, so drafting for position need is NOT an option.

so what if we draft him and he has lingering foot injuries?

[ezz_bee]

so what if we draft him and he has lingering foot injuries?

It's not always possible to predict, but you do have team doctors who advise you on the level of injury sustained by a player and the long term effects. That said, you never really know when injury is going to occur or how bad it'll be. Based on Irving coming back and playing in the tourney he is only minutely more likely to get injured vs another draft pick and yet his skill set and potential are way above other picks making it more than worthwhile from a probability standpoint. If kyrie is available you take him. Even if you are Minnesota.

[e2thed]

whats up with this irving love fest? i personally think bayless is a better option, we need a center and a sf who can score

I hear you, if you bring in Irving then what will Bayless do, rot on the bench and play like the player he was when Jose started. i rather draft Derrick or Enes.

[MangoKid]

so what if we draft him and he has lingering foot injuries?

He played well enough when he came back. If he does have any foot issues, it will be made known at the workouts, but as for right now, he's the best prospect in this draft.

[ceez]

No offense, but if you have a shot at irving you don't worry about bayless

[jd4]

My plan:
1. Pray that you win the lottery, get the top pick, and draft Irving.
2. Trade Jose for a 3 point shooting SF. Not sure who's available but one guy that comes to mind might be Gallineri of Denver. BC has connections with Masai. Perhaps a deal could be done. Denver will have all sorts of cash issues in the coming years with so many of their players headed for free agency. They'll have to pay quite a lot to keep Nene and they need to resign Wilson Chandler too. Raymond Felton is also a free agent next year. Jose only has 2 years left on his deal. I know Gallineri is not a great defender but he shoots the 3 well. He and Johnson might make a nice offence/defence combo at the SF spot. I just threw out Gallineri's name as it just came to my mind. If anyone knows anyone else, who's available as a 3 point shooting SF, feel free to add it.
3. Sign a defensive minded centre via free agency. Chandler, Gasol, etc.
4. Sign/trade for a veteran PG for league minimum amount to help mentor Irving and Bayless. Anthony Carter of Knicks comes to mind. He's about 35-36. Has about a year or two left. Would be a great mentor much like Derrick Martin was for Jose and TJ a few years ago.
5. Resign Dorsey and let Reggie Evans go. Love Reggie but that body has taken a pounding during his decade long NBA career. At 31, he's only going to continue to break down as the years go on. Dorsey is a younger version of Evans.
6. Either resign Sonny Weems or take a look at bringing back Anthony Parker to be the 3rd SG.
7. Move Andrea to the bench. He'd be a good combo with Barbosa against the other team's 2nd units. Coming off the bench might actually motivate him to play a bit of defence. If he plays well, his trade value goes up and we can look at moving him at the trade deadline next year or next summer.
8. Hope that Barbosa exercises his player option.

2011-2012 team would look like this:
PG: Irving, Bayless, veteran (Carter)
SG: DeRozan, Barbosa, Weems/Parker
SF: Galinerri (or some other 3 point shooting SF), Johnson, Kleiza (can always let Weems/Parker play in an emergency)
PF: Davis, A.Johnson, Dorsey
C: Chandler/Gasol etc., Bargnani, Alabi

Built this way, the team should be able to get into that 35-40 win range and maybe get a shot at the 8th seed in the east. There's also room for growth in the future as Davis, DeRozan, Irving etc. continue to develop and we get some salary cap relief when guys like Barbosa have their contracts expire in 2012 and beyond.

Again, all of this is just me playing GM in my head. Whether or not it's possible to do also depends on what happens with the salary cap and other factors too.

[ceez]

I don't see half of that realistically happening but I like where your head is at.

[WBG416]

even if half of that went through i'd be stoked.

[c_bcm]

i also say no to rick adelemen, i want a young coach to grow with this young squad

What you mean like Triano?

[knickz]

What you mean like Triano?

no! how about brian shaw from the lakers?

[Raptors_]

My plan:
1. Pray that you win the lottery, get the top pick, and draft Irving.
2. Trade Jose for a 3 point shooting SF. Not sure who's available but one guy that comes to mind might be Gallineri of Denver. BC has connections with Masai. Perhaps a deal could be done. Denver will have all sorts of cash issues in the coming years with so many of their players headed for free agency. They'll have to pay quite a lot to keep Nene and they need to resign Wilson Chandler too. Raymond Felton is also a free agent next year. Jose only has 2 years left on his deal. I know Gallineri is not a great defender but he shoots the 3 well. He and Johnson might make a nice offence/defence combo at the SF spot. I just threw out Gallineri's name as it just came to my mind. If anyone knows anyone else, who's available as a 3 point shooting SF, feel free to add it.
3. Sign a defensive minded centre via free agency. Chandler, Gasol, etc.
4. Sign/trade for a veteran PG for league minimum amount to help mentor Irving and Bayless. Anthony Carter of Knicks comes to mind. He's about 35-36. Has about a year or two left. Would be a great mentor much like Derrick Martin was for Jose and TJ a few years ago.
5. Resign Dorsey and let Reggie Evans go. Love Reggie but that body has taken a pounding during his decade long NBA career. At 31, he's only going to continue to break down as the years go on. Dorsey is a younger version of Evans.
6. Either resign Sonny Weems or take a look at bringing back Anthony Parker to be the 3rd SG.
7. Move Andrea to the bench. He'd be a good combo with Barbosa against the other team's 2nd units. Coming off the bench might actually motivate him to play a bit of defence. If he plays well, his trade value goes up and we can look at moving him at the trade deadline next year or next summer.
8. Hope that Barbosa exercises his player option.

2011-2012 team would look like this:
PG: Irving, Bayless, veteran (Carter)
SG: DeRozan, Barbosa, Weems/Parker
SF: Galinerri (or some other 3 point shooting SF), Johnson, Kleiza (can always let Weems/Parker play in an emergency)
PF: Davis, A.Johnson, Dorsey
C: Chandler/Gasol etc., Bargnani, Alabi

Built this way, the team should be able to get into that 35-40 win range and maybe get a shot at the 8th seed in the east. There's also room for growth in the future as Davis, DeRozan, Irving etc. continue to develop and we get some salary cap relief when guys like Barbosa have their contracts expire in 2012 and beyond.

Again, all of this is just me playing GM in my head. Whether or not it's possible to do also depends on what happens with the salary cap and other factors too.

Only if bc was reading this...

[lavito]

Bayless iis garbage, he only played nice because calderon was out and he was get PT automatically. If we have a shot at drafting Irwing take him ASAP. He's a franchise type PG and Bayless will be nothing more then a rotation player. Kemba Walker and brandon knight do sound tempting but irwing all day !

[MangoKid]

no! how about brian shaw from the lakers?

Why Shaw? What exactly has he done to warrant getting the HC position here over Triano?

[Joey]

Bayless iis garbage, he only played nice because calderon was out and he was get PT automatically.

But by this logic, would promoting him to full time starter not have him playing 'nice' all the time?

[Joey]

What our beloved Raptors should do?


Resign Colangelo long term.
Secure an Owner that will allow Colangelo to do his job without interference.
Draft best player available.

Wait for CBA to be resolved.

Determine Cap flexibility and sign the closest thing to a Center we can afford.
Allow Barbosa to Use Player Option; trade Him, JJ, Amir and our 2nd Rounder next year (Or Bargs and No pick?) to 76ers for Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes.

Play out 2011/12 and see what we have.