
Dear Fans,
You do not "blow up" a team who's core players are a 26, 24 and 23 years old. This is why Fans are not GMs.
I could point point to a few examples around the NBA of why this is true. A glaring example is Isiah Thomas, and his terrible construction of the Knicks. Another, maybe not so obvious one, is the Nuggets. People said I was stupid for not championing the Iverson trade two years ago. But what has that got them: 2 first round exits, the latest a sweep by the Lakers. I said it then, and i'll say it again now, Iverson will never win a championship when he demands 20+ shots a night. He is a me-guy and me-guys don't win.
Which brings me to the point of all this. What's to do with the Raptors.
There has been a lot of reactionary commentators on the net spanning last night and today. I guess a surprise playoff berth last season meant they were destined for a championship this year? Im not saying the Raptors don't have issues, what I'm saying is unrealistic expectations by their fan-base fueled by the city's sports journalists (if I should refer to them so nicely) have made a playoff series loss to a vastly superior team seem more detrimental than it actually was.
The Raptors woes are apparent. Rebounding/interior toughness, Bargnani's slow development and secondary scoring top the list. However, i'd like to direct your attention to something that the Raptor's were praised for last year, that has all but disappeared this year: team chemistry
More specifically the Point Guard. One has to go, and the decision is a complete no-brainer.
Some quotes from today's G&M:
“I think where I'm at right now in my NBA career, I consider myself a starter and I don't see myself coming off the bench for 82 games” - T.J. Ford
“I want to win. I don't want to be a starter or not a starter, I want a ring. I'm Jose, I want to be a winner.” - Jose Calderon
It comes down to some simple questions for what you want your team's on-court leader. Do you want an oft-injured, under-sized, pouting, "world against me" PG, or a world class, pass-first, team-first, lights-out PG.
Lets see what BC can get in return for Me-J