Built Ford Tough

It's funny, if you asked me if I wanted Jose Calderon gone, any way necessary, at the beginning of last season I would've said yes in a heartbeat. Now? I'm glad to hear that the chances of them using their amnesty on Calderon seems very slim. I think it would be a huge waste of the clause to use it on Calderon. That isn't to say I would be upset if he was traded. Far from it. I just don't want to see them waste their amnesty clause cutting a guy on an expiring contract unless it was necessary to sign a high impact player, which there aren't any available.

It is worth noting that the Raptors didn't have to rescind his QO to trade for Lowry or sign Fields. They could've made both of those moves even with having his $7M cap hold on their books. I'm not saying that another move is on the horizon as this could simply be a case of Colangelo doing Bayless a favour and allowing him to find a better situation than being stuck on the bench in Toronto. However, it is interesting as it does open up some more possibilities for another move. I can't really think of what they would do next, though. Their roster seems pretty set with: PG: Lowry/Calderon SG: DeRozan/Ross SF: Fields/Johnson/Kleiza PF: Bargnani/Ed/Acy C: Amir/Valanciunas Ideally, I'd like to see them sign a big like Camby or Kaman for 1 year to start at center while Valanciunas develops, but that wouldn't happen, so I'm really not sure what to expect, assuming another move is forthcoming.

LA better hope Crawford plays more like he did in Atlanta than what we saw from him last year in Portland. He was awful last year and if he plays like that for the duration of this year it is really going to hurt the Clippers ability to improve to the point where they could be considered a serious threat for the championship. On the other hand, if he plays like he did in Atlanta the Clippers finally have a legitimate shot creater on the wings to help their offense when CP3 is on the bench or saving energy. I think the lack of creativity on offense when Paul wasn't creating was a huge problem for the Clippers last year and Crawford, if he plays like he did for Atlanta, would be a huge help with that. I'm actually interested to see how this works out for LA. I'm not a big fan of the money he is making since he is getting up in age, but I'm still interested in seeing how it works out.

Not a surprise at all to me, as I posted in the other thread to expect them to rescind the QO to Bayless today. Kind of sucks since I like Bayless and thought he was the Raptors best player last season. I understand why the move was made since there simply isn't any room for him on the roster after the Lowry trade, but I still wish they could've found some way to keep him around. Hopefully he can get a legitimate chance somewhere since I still think he could be a starter in this league. The last two years when he was given a chance and didn't have to constantly look over his shoulder, he was very productive for Toronto.

With the Lowry trade and a Calderon trade/amnesty looking unlikely, don't be surprised if Bayless' QO is rescinded since his cap hold is $7.6M and if Toronto wants to do anything else that doesn't involve a Calderon trade or amnesty, they will need that cap space. Besides, assuming Calderon sticks around for the final year of his contract, where is Bayless going to play? Lowry and Calderon will split the 48 minutes at point guard between them (maybe even play together a bit) DeRozan, Ross and Fields will work out the 48 minutes at the 2 (with DeRozan and Fields playing some 3). That leaves basically no room on the roster for Bayless. I think he is done in Toronto and would not be surprised to see them rescind his QO within the next few days.

http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/20220706bass_in_mix_agrees_to_three-year_deal/srvc=home&position=also I like the move for Boston. They still are a step below the Heat, but assuming nobody gets hurt and their grumpy old men don't decline too much, I think they are easily the 2nd best team in the East with Rose being hurt.

Yeah, I don't see them amnestying him either, nor do I think they should. I think everybody knows my opinion of Calderon as a starter, but as much as I dislike him, I fully admit that he was absolutely fantastic as a backup point guard to TJ Ford for that 1.5 years. If he can give that kind of production again I could easily see some team come knocking looking to acquire his services around the deadline when most of his deal has already been paid. http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/07/05/toronto-raptors-acquire-point-guard-kyle-lowry-from-rockets/

Fat chance of that happening. Batum said he would never sign with Toronto because he felt the Raptors doctors screwed him over during his draft year when they reported that he may have a heart condition and red flagged him, causing teams that were rumored to be very interested in him passing on him and having him fall to 25 when he was speculated to be drafted in the 15-20 range. Even then, I like Batum, but paying him $10M a year would be awful. Not as bad as paying Fields $20M over 3 years, but still pretty awful.

Ok so it sounds like it is protected for both teams. Houston won't get the pick if it is too low, but Toronto won't have to surrender it if it is too high either. So I'm thinking Toronto keeps anything in the top 5 and gives up anything from 6-14?

Ok, so I guess Houston is guaranteed a lottery pick out of this? What the hell? Knowing Toronto's luck (and Colnagelo's complete failure to build a team) they'll end up handing over Andrew Wiggins or something, lol.

Yeah, I overreacted at first just because Colangelo making a move usually equals disaster, lol. Gary Forbes is also going to Houston. Have no idea what he means by innovative, but if the pick is lottery protected I have no idea why Houston settled so much, unless they are hoping Toronto doesn't make the playoffs and instead they get a 2014 pick, which is supposed to be a stronger draft.

With the Raptors picking up Lowry, what happens with Calderon? Does he stay as the backup point guard for the final year of his deal? Does Toronto trade him? Do they amnesty him to make room to either sign or trade for a legitimate starting calibre small forward?

Can somebody please fire Colangelo before he completely [expletive]s this team up? By the sounds of it, this pick has little to no protection on it since Woj and others are saying it is a "guaranteed lottery pick". The moron probably sent an unprotected 1st to Houston. The only thing that makes me not absolutely loathe this trade is that the 2013 draft is supposed to be really shitty after the top 5 and Toronto sucks, but they aren't bad enough to get a top 5 pick assuming they don't get lottery luck. On the other hand, from a basketball standpoint I'd rather have a 26 year old Lowry than a 38 year old Nash. EDIT: Actually, the more I think about it, I actually don't mind this move all tha tmuch, haha. I forgot just how bad the draft is supposed to be next year.

I read that as well, but I don't buy it. I think they offered Lowry for the Raptors 8th, Toronto countered with Lowry and the 12th, Houston countered with Lowry and the 18th and Toronto turned it down. All the speculation was that Houston wanted Drummond and I don't see who else they would've been targeting. Everybody knew Beal was going to Washington and everybody also knew that if MKG or Robinson fell to 5 that Sacramento would pick whoever fell without hesitation. That leaves Drummond as the only guy I can think of. After Toronto turned the offer down, that is when I think Houston finally decided to just use all of those picks since they knew Drummond was no longer possible. Of course, this is all speculation on my part and maybe Toronto was all ready to do the trade but Houston backed out. I highly doubt it, but it is possible.

The deal is actually 4/$30M not 4/$34M. The $4M is a $1M bonus each year if Dragic makes the All-Star team, which I think we all can agree won't happen with the guards out West.

Actually, they were willing to do the 8th for Lowry and the 12th so that they could still draft Ross. Houston was either not offering a pick or were offering the 18th and that didn't interest Toronto because they wouldn't be able to draft Ross. I know the talk was Toronto didn't trade for Lowry because they were set on Nash, and I have no doubt that was a big part of it, but I still think they make the trade if the Rockets were offering the 12th pick as well.

Well, yeah. But that would be absolutely retarded. So it has Colnagelo written all over it.

No thanks. Besides, what exactly does Toronto plan to offer? Ed Davis? Yeah, the Rockets would love him considering they already have 10,000 power forwards. Terrence Ross? They drafted a better shooting guard prospect 4 picks later in Lamb. DeMar DeRozan? Lamb on a rookie deal for 4 years > DeRozan up for an extension after this year. Jonas Valanciunas? Possibly, but they clearly are very high on Asik and even then, Toronto would be crazy to do it. So yeah, fat chance of any Lowry to Toronto deal after the Raptors botched the draft pick and didn't take Drummond.

So now that Nash to New York looks like it is all but a done deal, can Colangelo rescind this offer? Pretty please? Oh yeah, and then to avoid backlash, fire him immediately after. That is pretty much the only thing that can salvage the complete disaster that was these past 7 months.

Valanciunas will be lucky to play 20 minutes a game given how frequently he fouls. Raptor fans are going to be in for a rude awakening with Valanciunas next season. All of these people expecting him to come in, play 35 minutes a night and put up 15/10/2 or something (not saying you are one of these people) are going to be very, very disappointed when he plays 15 minutes a night and averages 6/5 with 4 fouls a game. The poetential is there, but he is not going to be a guy who comes in and is able to significantly contribute right off the bat.

Technically you are right but until the offer sheet has actually been signed (which Hibbert can't do until July 11th) nothing is set in stone. Portland or Hibbert could back out and change their mind since it is nothing but a verbal agreement at this point. It would be awful business and you rarely see anything like that happen, but it is a possibility. Once the offer sheet has been signed, then what you are saying is 100% true. It would either be Portland or Indiana for him and no other team could enter the mix.

I'd be shocked if New Orleans doesn't match, especially after they dumped Okafor and Ariza's contracts.

I think the thought process is that with Nash on the team Fields' cutting and off the ball movement would really shine, especially since the floor is going to be spaced with Bargnani as a stretch 4, Valanciunas being able to hit corner and elbow jumpers and Ross being a deep threat. When DeRozan is playing the floor would more congested, but Nash's passing ability should help compensate for that. His rebounding would cover for Bargnani, since, like CmS said, covering for Bargnani's weaknesses is a must for any player that the Raptors sign. Problem is you can get a guy to do those things for a lot less than what the Raptors are going to be paying Fields. No matter how you try to spin this contract, it is bad and a significant overpayment.

The Raptor beat writers are such puppets. It is pathetic. Not one of them has even had the balls to even say a negative thing about this offer sheet. - Wolstat and Koreen are too busy talking about Fields averagng 10.5 points when Melo was hurt and "finding his shot" late in the season by shooting 33% from 3. - Grange was saying that he is a starting calibre player on Prime Time Sports. - I don't even think I've seen Jones, Smith and Smith say anything about this, but considering those 3 are the biggest yes men, you know they'd be gushing how great of a move it is. The only one who has had the balls to rip into this offer sheet is Bob McCown when him and Grange were talking about it about 10 minutes ago on PTS. I realize that they can't just rip into the deal given they have to maintain a relationship with the team or else they'd be out of a job, but still, the blatant ass kissing and blind defending of every ridiculous move made is pathetic. I'm not saying to call for Colangelo's head, but at least point out the obvious negatives in this offer sheet or something.

Moultrie sprained his ankle and won't be taking part in Summer League.