Rudy Gay is officially a Raptor. Finally they have a coveted small
forward. As I have said before the only
way for Toronto to acquire talent is through trade or draft. High name free agents are not coming to
Toronto. Coloangelo, atrocious GM,
rolled the dice with this one. The
future will tell as to whether this deal works out for Toronto. Let’s look at the pieces.
Rudy
Gay is very talented yet very overpaid for two more years. He is having a bad season so he was bought
for a low price. He is a good friend of
Kyle Lowry, who becomes the man at point guard for Toronto, this chemistry
should help. He is paid like a #1 and
wants to be a #1. Can he be a star? Toronto is banking on it.
The
Rap lost Calderon and Davis in the deal.
Both were a pleasure to watch.
Davis finally got some minutes this year due to injuries and was
impressive. However, his rookie deal was
up and Toronto was going to lose him for greener pastures in the coming
years. Plus with JV and Bargs coming
back soon his minutes were sure to drop.
Caderon was a surprisingly solid point guard for eight seasons in
Toronto. His contract was expiring and
the Raptors were sure to let him walk over the summer. Davis and Calderon were good players on their
way out and the cost of losing them was an overpaid wild card in Rudy Gay.
With
the deal the Raptors roster is very redundant.
Derozean and Gay are the same type of player with Gay being a superior
version of the two. Both are slashers
who shoot poorly from three and are below average defenders. Derozean was just signed to a monstrous
extension! Yikes! Now Demar needs to be dealt.
Bargnani as well has to be dealt at the very least before next
season. Dealing the pussy cat Andrea
must be priority number one for Colangelo and I believe the Raptors board must
have told him that if Gay comes Andrea must be dealt. Fields is also overpaid and a new home for
him is needed. There isn’t much
financial flexibility for the Raps.
Yikes!
If
the above mentioned are dealt there might be some hope with the deal. This deal is a predicated on what happens
next with the roster. If players are
dealt it looks promising. If not?
Yikes!
The
combinations with Gay playing some power forward are intriguing. Lowry, Ross, Demar, Gay, and Johnson? Very athletic! As long as Demarr and Bargs are dealt I think
I am behind this deal. Building around
Lowry, Ross, Gay, and JV seems the way to go.
Add Johnson to the mix and I would like to see what happens.
Standing
wise the deal goes two ways. The Raps
either remain an 8 to 10 seed or they make some trades and build around the
ones they should and they elevate to a 4 or 5 seed.
Memphis
has taken themselves out of the West race with the deal. Prince may help a bit but its over for the
Grizz. The financial realities are harsh
for the small market teams.
Detroit
may join the race for #8 in the East.
Calderon should help their bigs.
This summer Joe Dumars will have some cap space but given his record in
free agency, is this a good thing?