Sports Illustrated Top 20 Free Agents 2011: Raptors (Joeys) Likely Interest Level.

[Joey]

With Odens Qualifying Offer set to pay him right around the same money as Bargnani, I think thats maybe an interesting debate to be had: Who would you rather pay $9-$10M per season?

Though Oden may not ever be a 20ppg guy, he has serious potential to be a 12rpg guy, and even a 2-2.5bpg.
But the thing with Oden is that you're relying VERY heavily on potential; to blossom into a Stud player, but also potential to stay healthy.

I'm not sure he's worth the stress.
Though Bargs will likely be pawned to the highest bidder, I'm not sure Oden is what we trade him for. Especially not with Jonas coming in as a very promising young Center, without the kind of History for Injuries that Oden has.

[ezz_bee]

Bargs for Oden is very intriguing. If we were able to get a lottery pick out of the deal I would probably do it. Especially if Oden is only on the books for 1 year. The cap savings would be huge and would allow us the money to go after someone like Chris Paul when he is a free agent. With JV, Amir, Davis, Derozen, and 2 lottery picks from next year's draft, puts in position where elite talent might be willing to sign. Or we have enough elite talent to make a trade w/ out gutting our depth completely.

[NoPropsneeded]

well i tried the trade in association mode in 2k11 and portland accepted it. if BC could pull it off and Oden can stay healthy it would be very good for this team.

[mcHAPPY]

No 2012 pick is coming from Portland unless they acquire another as their 2013 pick is gone to Charlotte.

As for the trade, I'm weary. Given the risk associated with Oden and the fact Porltland is most likely a 4-6 seed in the west, meaning a low 20's draft pick (assuming we could get the Blazers pick), I would probably pass.

I'm not sure if it is a 'homer' opinion but I'd like to think we could get more than a worst case scenario high risk salary dump and a late/bottom third first round draft pick for Bargnani. For all Bargnani's faults, there are positives - especially with the right supporting cast.

[NoPropsneeded]

No 2012 pick is coming from Portland unless they acquire another as their 2013 pick is gone to Charlotte.

As for the trade, I'm weary. Given the risk associated with Oden and the fact Porltland is most likely a 4-6 seed in the west, meaning a low 20's draft pick (assuming we could get the Blazers pick), I would probably pass.

I'm not sure if it is a 'homer' opinion but I'd like to think we could get more than a worst case scenario high risk salary dump and a late/bottom third first round draft pick for Bargnani. For all Bargnani's faults, there are positives - especially with the right supporting cast.

then who would you suggest we trade him for and why?

[mcHAPPY]

then who would you suggest we trade him for and why?

There are threads dedicated to these very topics in the trade forum:

Trade partners: http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/sh...trade-partners

Trade ideas: http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/sh...de-Idea-Thread

Many of the trade ideas are outdated due to the draft or other trades (notably Casspi to Cleveland).

[Joey]

Was also just thinking, that if a Hard Cap is set in place, the NBA will likely allow teams to shed players and their contracts ... this could add A LOT of talent, or "talent", to the free agent pool. Perhaps a cheap vet, that no ones even thinking about will be placed onto the open market.

Food for thought.

[Joey]

*cough* Bump. *cough*

And low and behold, my amnesty prediction came to light as well.
Free Agent pool should be swimming with some new fish very shortly.

[ceez]

I think we should just throw money at Deandre. He's young, defensively gifted (which coach will like) and can start while big Val figures things out. He also won't be overly expensive. He'd be a fantastic addition, IMO.

[Tim W.]

I think we should just throw money at Deandre. He's young, defensively gifted (which coach will like) and can start while big Val figures things out. He also won't be overly expensive. He'd be a fantastic addition, IMO.

Ya, because who would pay a lot for a young, athletic centered with a ton of defensive potential? Can't see a guy like that getting much interest.

[ceez]

I didn't say he wouldn't have suitors, I said he'd be worth the investment.

[Tim W.]

I didn't say he wouldn't have suitors, I said he'd be worth the investment.

Well, you did say he wouldn't be overly expensive. If he goes for less than $8 million a season I'll be shocked. In fact i' guess closer to $10 million. And what's the point of spending that money on a position that only needs to be temporarily filled? On a team that any upgrades this offseason will probably just hurt them in the long term.

[Joey]

Deandre Jordan will command a pretty penny for suure. I'm with Tim on the $8-10M range.
Considering he's Blake Griffin's best friend on the team, I envision Sterling will pay what he has to, to keep Blakey Blake happy.

Not saying I wouldn't like to see him in a Raps uni, but the price woud likely not be worth it, considering we have Val coming in on a Rookie deal and Ed still playing his out.

[jimmie]

Why do the Raptors need do ANYTHING this year in free agency, other than fill the required roster spots with bodies X, Y, and Z? By that, I mean minimum, short-term contracts. It's well-recognized that 2011-12 will be an evaluation/chemistry year for Toronto. New coach teaching a new defensive philosophy, young core, great financial situation heading into 2012-13 when they really *should* be looking to use their amnesty and make a free agent splash en route to playoff contention over the next 5 seasons.

They have a hole at SF, either in front of or behind James Johnson (unless you have faith that Kleiza will come back healthy), and they probably need another backup big in case Alabi's still a stiff. They have 10 guys under contract , so they need to fill a few spots.

In the interest of both developing who they have + surreptitious tanking for a good pick, I wouldn't sign anyone who will take PT away from the core developing players, and I wouldn't spend much on anyone at all. As long as they have people in uniform filling those last few seats on the bench, that's good enough. Ideally, I'd sign Reggie Evans as the backup big. If not, I'd take a look at Chuck Hayes on a short contract as a backup big, or maybe Dalembert if he comes at the right (ie. less than 4M/year over no more than 3 years) price -- which I doubt. Other than that, I'd be looking at guys who can just fill in spot minutes when needed: a guy like Scalabrine, if he comes back from Europe, Willie Green... there's really not much on the FA list that is enticing. I wouldn't even be against pulling in some D-leaguers.

Anyway, the point is: why tie any money/time up in players who you don't think are meaningful in the next 5 years to a playoff run? That should be the only goal, and anything that puts that in jeopardy -- from the standpoint of a) detracting from the development or evaluation of the core guys already here, or b) tying money up that could be used 2 years from now when the team is hopefully readying for a playoff push -- is a bad idea, IMO.

[Joey]

I fully agree Jimmie, that we don't NEED to do anything.
But I don't believe James Johnson or Kleiza are the Final Answer for our SF problem, so if a solution to that problem can be done now, while there are good, young pieces to satisfy that, then we should, in my opinion.

I think brining in a guy like Thad Young and Wilson Chandler, who are still very young, and whos potential is still seen as quite high, would provide us another Piece to add to our developing core.