Built Ford Tough

What are you talking about? The position that the Raptors are the strongest at is the power forward spot with Bargnani, Davis and Johnson all being solid players as well as guys like Dorsey and Evans (when healthy) who can give you a solid effort on the glass. Unless they are getting an All-Star caliber power forward, that is the last position that they should be looking to add to. Iguodala is a 3rd option role player who makes borderline franchise player money. What exactly is he going to do to help the Raptors? Not only would he not be the wing scorer that the Raptors need, but he would eat up all of the cap space and flexibility that Colangelo has managed to create in the wake of Bosh leaving. Why throw all of that away for a player who isn't even good enough to get you into the playoffs in an absolutely [expletive]ty Eastern Conference? The last thing the Raptors should do at this point is throw away all of their flexibility for an overpriced veteran, especially one who isn't even good enough to get them into the playoffs. Lastly, why trade away more draft picks? I know that it is only a 2nd round pick, but what exactly is the point in trading away 2nds when you are rebuilding? I can understand if it is a throw in when acquiring a decent young player (like a Bayless or something) but they shouldn't go around shopping any draft picks at this point in time. Amir Johnson shouldn't be traded either, unless it is for a starting caliber small forward who can grow with this team. He has been the Raptors best all around player this season, is only 23 years old and is locked into a very reasonable long term contract, assuming he continues this kind of play (and there is nothing to suggest that he won't, unless it is him being even better). I couldn't care less about Weems or Wright, but there is no reason for them to actively shop Amir Johnson considering how valuable he is to this roster. Do you enjoy being a fan of a perennial treadmill team or soemthing? Every single roster related post that you make seems to suggest that you enjoy being a fan of a team that will never, ever accomplish anything in this league.

League is looking into this trade as salary cap circumvention: It definitely is an example of cap circumvention, but it would be complete BS if the league did anything about it considering how many times they have allowed a team to trade an expiring contract only to have the other team buy him out so that he can join his former team a month later. If they allow [expletive] like that to happen and not this, it shows huge hypocrisy on their part, at least as far as I am concerned. To be honest, though, I don't care if the deal has the plugged pulled on it or not because I couldn't care less about acquiring Ajinca (I'm happier about them getting their 2nd round pick back more than him), but I think it would be absolutely hilarious if the league did rescind this trade.

So the Raptors basically traded Peja for Ajinca and a 2nd. I'm sure that it is no coincidence that the Raptors decided to buy Peja out today and just so happen to make a trade for a player who is on the team that Peja signed with. The Raptors pretty much got Alabi and Ajinca for nothing, though. Not too bad. Neither of them are likely to ever amount to anything, but I like them taking a flyer on two project bigs when they don't actually have to give up anything for them.

I had a feeling that the Raptors would be potentially making a move after buying Peja out and freeing up a roster space in the process. As for the trade (should it go down), I love it. The Raptors acquire another complete scrub. He will do great things for Tank Nation, should he even get any playing time. Ryan Wolstat (from the Sun) has been Tweeting about this non-stop as well. EDIT: Trade is done. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6041580 So basically, the Raptors got him for the 2nd round pick that they traded for Alabi in last years draft and a player who will never play in the NBA. Not bad. UPDATE: League is looking in the trade: Trade Completed STEIN_LINE_HQ Marc Stein League has formally approved Ajinca trade to Toronto. Which clears Mavs roster spot to sign Peja Stojakovic

http://nba-facts-and-rumors.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/27154273 I know that DeRozan was average last year (although I still think he was better than Robinson but that is neither here nor there), but hopefully this season he will be much better as he will be 100% heading into the contest. Not sure if you guys remember or not, but about a couple weeks before the All-Star Weekend last year, DeRozan suffered an ankle sprain that caused him to miss some time and he wasn't 100% going into the contest. Either way, I'm sure DeRozan will be better than Jennings would've been, so I for one am glad that he will be replacing him. Not only was it stupid to have Jennings in the contest in the first place, but having him in the contest knowing full well about his injury was just beyond ridiculous.

It is Leo Rautins. If this game was on TSN instead os Sportsnet and you had Jack Armstrong calling the game alongside Devlin, it would've been fine. Rautins is just an idiot. As for the game, seemed pretty good to me. DeRozan and Davis both have good nights and the Raptors play competitive basketball with the best team in the league for nearly 3 quarters before losing it in the 4th (late in the 3rd in this case). Pretty much the exact kind of game that I hope to see from this team for the rest of the season. Somewhat disappointed in DeRozan only scoring around 4 points in the 2nd half, but Ginobili really took it upon himself to shut DeRozan down and didn't give him any room to do anything. DeRozan really needs to tighten up his handle if he is going to take his game to the next level. His jumper has progressed to the point where you at least need to respect him from 18 feet away, but he just doesn't have a reliable enough handle to score against tough defense like kind that Ginobili was playing him. It is actually encouraging that he can put up these kinds of nights despite the fact that his handle is so weak. It gives me a lot of hope for his future. Oh yeah, I hope to god that Sundiata Gaines isn't signed to another 10-day or, god forbid, for the rest of the season. That guy is just terrible. I cringed every time he touched the ball and was ready to throw the remote through the tv whenever he thought he was Jordan and tried to drive through all 5 Spur defenders. EDIT: Forgot to mention that Calderon is back to being a complete scrub and Andrea Bargnani is about as usefull as Linas Kleiza when his shot isn't falling. In games where he is shooting 5-20 or whatever he did tonight, there is literally no point in having him on the floor as he is completely useless in every other aspect of the game. This season is making it quite clear that his role for the future should be that of an offensive spark plug sixth man type of role. Guy just can't be a starter logging 35 minutes a night unless he is paired with an elite low post big.

Have class in 45 minutes so I'll miss the first half while the game is still live, but NBATV Canada is showing a replay at 9PM, so I think I might just not watch the 2nd half of this when I get home and watch the full game later. As for the game, I don't know what to think. Every time I think that the Raptors are going to get absolutely smoked, they seem to play well and make it a competitive game, like the wins against Boston, Orlando, Dallas and close losses against teams like Miami, Atltanta etc... Should be a nice test for Johnson and Davis matching up against Duncan. From the bits and pieces of the past couple of weeks, I've really liked what I have seen from these two as they are providing the Raptors with nice energy, hustle and defense. I know most people talk about Davis, but I think that developing Amir is just as important. People seem to forget that he is only 23 years old because he has already been in the league for 5 years. I know that Davis has a higher ceiling than him, but I still think that he can become a damn good first big off of the bench for this team.

Just thought I would bump this thread because as of tomorrow the Raptors are able to package Stojakovic with another play as the 60 day trade restriction is over. With him having such a large contract, I don't really see any trade getting completed before the deadline. I think that a buyout is much more likely than a trade, but who knows.

Good point. Completely forgot that the logos at the top of the forum direct you to their respective team forums. Hell, I completely forgot about the logos at the top of the forum all together.

Talk to me again when you are in college and lets see how your opinion changes.

Divisions so that I don't have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Raptors forum. Outside of that, I don't really care.

I would imagine that he would be showcased and traded prior the deadline, should he return. I'm ok with him cutting into Davis' minutes for a couple of weeks prior to the All-Star game if it means the Raptors dump him to some contender for a draft pick, ideally a late 1st but probably a 2nd, or some cheap young asset. I definitely don't see him sticking with the Raptors past the deadline if Colangelo has his way. He seems to want to move his expiring for some other cheap asset. I definitely agree with you if he isn't moved, though. I like Evans hustle and all that junk (get it?) but he has no future on this team past this year so if you aren't trading him, he should be nailed to the bench because Johnson and Davis both deserve minutes based on their play, and both are going to be crucial pieces heading forward, which Evans clear is not.

http://twitter.com/#!/RaptorsDevlin/status/27799816431996928 Sounds good to me. Come back, grab a couple dozen rebounds and then he is traded during the All-Star break. Although he said that he was hoping for about 30 different return dates when he injured his foot last season, so who the hell knows when he will actually come back.

The draft. This season is just depressing. I just want it to finish already. On a more serious note, I think what Flash said is a large part of the reason for the dip in activity. I haven't been able to watch a full game, outside of the Clipper/Miami one the other night, in about a month and that is including Raptor games. With college, work and studying, there just isn't nearly as much time to come onto message boards and post about games that you weren't even able to watch. It is pretty hard to post anything of substance when you are just going off of box scores and things like that.

I agree he has done better since Bosh left, probably in part due to him not trying to appease Bosh with every move and just having more freedom to make decisions, but terrific? I don't know if I would go that far. I like the drafting of Davis, but really, that was a no brainer pick. He should've been a top 10 pick and would've if he hadn't injured his wrist, forcing him to miss the 2nd half of his college season and not allow him to really take part in any of the combine activities. The Jack/Bayless trade was nice as well. It gave the Raptors a decent young guard while also creating cap flexibility. I could use more examples, but the basic point of what I am saying is that while I do believe he has done a nice job since Bosh left, I don't really see how what he has done can be considered terrific. He has made a couple of solid moves, a couple of meh moves and one really good move (Turkoglu for Barbosa). Terrific is a bit of an overstatement, if you ask me. I do have to admit that I am very much a Colangelo "hater" (for lack of a better word). I have absolutely no faith in the guy after the past 4 years and there may be some bias in my opinion towards him.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/raptors/article/923316--feschuk-raptors-have-limped-through-past-decade I pray to god that the bolded isn't true because that definitely means the Raptors will be blowing their TPE on some aging vet with a terrible contract who will make the Raptors finish in that dreaded treadmill terriotory. As for the extension, meh. I couldn't care less if Colangelo is with the team next year or not. They probably won't find anybody who brings a better "name" than he does, but they probably can't find anybody who has done a worse job over the past few years than he has either. The way I see it, he can only improve considering how bad he has been.

I literally said that exact same thing during the game. The Raptors have really been shafted by the refs over the last few games that I've watched. They score 60 points in the paint against Atlanta, yet they only attempt 12 free throws the entire game, while Atlanta shot 13 in the 4th quarter alone, DeRozan constantly attacks the rim yet went through a 4 game stretch where he took like 10 free throws total and now this game. Raps have defeinitely gotten the raw end of the officiating stick lately.

Great finish to the 3rd for the Raptors. They managed to have their lead cut from 12 to 3 in a matter of about 3 minutes. This is the kind of ball I like to see from them. Calderon is filling in admirably as the Tank Commander in Kleiza's absence. 4 turnovers in the 3rd quarter alone, about 7 all together. Has done nothing offensively and is doing his usual disappearing act on defense (although Paul is struggling as well).

Just got home from class as the 2nd half was finishing. Davis with a nice 1st half with 11 points, 2 blocks and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes. He had a nice move on Okafor where he showed a bit of his face up game, which he hasn't really shown before. I'm not going to get too excited considering it was one move, but it was nice to see him show something on offense other than a put back. The best part is him playing 18 minutes in the first half. I know that the only reason why he has played so many minutes is because the Raptors have a short bench with Kleiza, Bayless, Barbosa, Stojakovic, Weems and Evans all injured and Johnson had 2 fouls, but it is still nice to see him being productive when his minutes are increased.

Alabi back to the Raptors: What exactly is the point in having him jump back and forth between the NBA and the D-League? Exactly how is this helping his development? If you don't want to put him in the D-League because it is so guard oriented, I understand that, but for the love of god, at least stop jerking him around so often. Maybe giving him some minutes here and there might help as well, but I'm not about to expect a miracle.

He sucks. If he was a "beast" why on earth would a team like Minnesota cut him? Also, the last thing the Raptors need is some scrub to take minutes away from DeRozan.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ApiD7G9HwXFCz18lNvyVFgq8vLYF?slug=aw-wallacebobcats011411 Seems kind of a steep price to move Wallace. I don't see why Charlotte would give up a first round pick to move Wallace considering his talent level and the fact that his contract, while maybe a tad bit overpaid, is hardly a burden considering it is only for two more years.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AloXVCxEHk3k38yc0CgpF9m8vLYF?slug=ap-raptors-gaines Raptors tradition of 10-day point guard scrubs continues! Now only if he can match the awesomeness that was Andre Barret and Omar Cook. Those are some real big shoes to fill. I'm kind of surprised they didn't go out and sign Bobby Brown to a 10-day, though. There was so much talk about how much they liked him during Summer League and all of that. I don't know where he is playing right now, nor do I really care all that much, but that could be why they went with Gaines instead. On a more serious note, Bayless tweaked his ankle again in practice yesterday, and is doubtful for the game against Detroit tonight. So Gaines will probably actually see some playing time tonight.

Just thought I would point this out because the whole Griffin-Chalmers incident was a bit of a hot topic when the game was going on. Flash claimed that Griffin was the one who shoved Chalmers from behind while nobody else mentioned it. Anyways, here is a video of the incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBZBYBlsRtc I know that it isn't very clear and is really brief, but if you look at the bottom left hand corner of the screen during the first 5 seconds of the video, you will eventually see the beginning of the Griffin and Chalmers incident. Now, unless Griffin shoved Chalmers on the previous possession or something, can somebody explain to me how exactly Griffin was the one who shoved Chalmers from behind when Griffin was in front of him when the whole incident started? It is hard to tell from such a brief clip, but I sure as hell don't see Griffin do this: Pretty hard to push somebody down from behind when you are in front of him. Griffin is good, but not that good. EDIT: Nevermind, I found a video of the incident that Flash was talking about: So yeah, he has a point. Although Flash talked it up a lot more than it actually was considering it was a slight bump and not the "shoving him down" that he described it as. Chalmers is no angel in this situation either by elbowing Griffin in the back (and apperantly trying to trip Gomes as he was running up the floor, at least according to a poster over at ISH), which was well documented that he was having problems with, but I concede that Griffin was the one who instigated the entire thing and should be blamed.

Clippers aren't doing themselves any favors by missing free throws and allowing easy And 1's. That is 4 missed free throws from the last 6 that were taken. They are lucky that the lead was big enough that this won't bite them in the [expletive].