We will miss you, Anthony

It seems that Anthony Parker is moving to Cleveland. Although not a super star, he will be sorely missed in Toronto. I met him once in person - he was a very nice and classy person, with the sweetest smile. I get he will be teaching LeBron now how to behave. Some lessons on modesty and classiness can also go to Mo Williams.


If Andy Varejao got a dollar for every flop, how much would he earn? The answer is here. 50 mln for Hedo or Bargnani doesn't sound that crazy anymore? Right.

S&T Marion with Dallas is on its way. We still need another team to complete our threesome and let us grab some dollars for adding players to our bench, which will definitely not include Pops nor Delfino, as we renounced the rights to them. If we have luck, it might also be our chance to get rid off Kris Humphries or Marcus Banks.

Zaza Pachulia goes back to the Hawks, Spurs sign Haislip and McDyess, Jennero Pargo heads to Chicago, Dahntay Jones to Indiana.

More signings here. And here.

The Rockets get exception for injured Yao Ming. Hey, what about Tracy McGrady? Every team that ever had him on a roster or even thinks about trading for him should get exception, too. Just like that.

I might have forgot: Free Jordan Crawford! #freejordancrawford

It's nice to cash your check...

... especially in these hard times for the economy.

As we all expected, the salary cap fell down, luckily only about 2 mln, but is expected to get a full hit for next season. Yeah, THAT season, when the Free Agent Bonanza of 2010 hits the market.

First news, we hear after that is our GM offering the extension to Andrea Bargnani, worth roughly 50 mln for 5 years. Yes, 50 mln, Andrea, good job, you can close your mouth now.


This is definitely a bold move and yet another cocky reassurance, that Raptors mean their business. It brings a sense of security over our frontcourt, securing the Center and Small Forward position for next 5 years. And if the economy was thriving, nobody would question any of these contracts. In reality we're wondering if it's not too much money.

So, the ball is on your court, Andrea, and all our eyes are on you. Are you gonna be our doom? Or you will become such a superstar that you'll have Man In Black following you around, deleting the memories of you being dunked on and stealing the video footage?

The interesting fact, I noticed previous season, our Magician seemed to play better, while unshaven. Hope he won't celebrate his contract extension by buying new razors.


Other news:

Ron-Ron becomes an official entertainer for Lakers' fans. The contract is signed, sealed and put into fire-proof safe-box. Shannon Brown also stays in LA.

Birdman will be still in Denver, the place, where his tattoos are the most appreciated.

San Antonio Spurs are flirting with Antonio McDyess. Seems that Big Baby Davis is still the wallflower. Don't worry, your time will come, Cinderella.

Championship or cash?

I believe every Raps fan has at least one team they secretly (or not secretly) root for asides Raptors, preferably in Western Conference. We need somebody to cheer longer than to the first round of playoffs. Providing Raptors even make the playoffs at all. Most of Raptors fans, I hear, have been cheering for the Suns, because of Canadian accent in Steve Nash and the high-speed offense, which is always so much fun to watch.

I am a little different with my 'fancies'. My second favorite team is the Spurs. I've never hidden the fact, that I have a weak spot in my heart for Tim Duncan. I also consider Popovitch as one of the most clever coaches in the league, and the French Flash has that killer instinct Raptors have been cruelly deprived of for years.

Look what the Spurs and the Suns have been doing lately. While Suns were great to watch, they couldn't get the championship trophy. And instead of trying to retool to grab that golden prize, something wrong happened. The Suns started the garage sale. Kerr showed the world, how much of a cheap bastard he is, selling the draft picks and getting rid of the best players. They didn't even make it to the playoffs this year. Now they dumped Shaq to Cavaliers, and rumors make us believe, that the first choice was trading the Big Cactus for expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz, only the big man disagreed. They've been also trying to shop Amar'e, and nobody believes that Steve Nash stays in this pathetically depleted team.




Meanwhile, the Spurs grabbed 4 championships, until finally the age factor hit them. Last playoffs were helluva of a disappointment, with Manu Ginobili injured and 'the old dudes slowin down'. And how did the Spurs react? They started full-speed retooling. They found another cheap team thinking dollars and grabbed Richard Jefferson, shedding some of their elderly citizens. No mistake here, Bruce Bowen used to be very valuable piece on defensive end, but these legs are not young enough to chase Kobe or LeBron on the court. The next step was drafting DeJuan Blair, who magically fell to the second round. Why he fell so low, stays a mystery for me. There's some talking about his bad knees, but there was also something similar about Danny Granger, and look how we feel right now, drafting Joey Graham ahead of him. Next Spurs move might be going after Rasheed Wallace. And we'll see them running deep in the playoffs again if not winning their next 'ship.
Unfortunately, BC seems to still think along the lines 'Suns East'. First, trying to implement the run-n-gun offense with a player like Jose Calderon spells FIASCO. Second, getting Shawn Marion might of been OK if he was 5 years younger. We ended the season as 'Clippers East'. Now, the money issues. Jay Triano as a head coach is one that comes cheaper than hiring a really good and experienced coach. Also, how many times have we heard: 'cap space', 'financial flexibility', 'salary dump', etc. compared to 'we want to win this year'? I know, that BC is on a short leash of MLSE, which mostly belongs to unionized retired teachers [*union - terrorist organization, known for regular riots in demand of more money/holidays/benefits for less work]. But it cannot go forever. I don't have to be a hockey fan to know what kind of product they've been selling under the name of Maple Leafs. The point is that Canada breaths hockey, it needs at least one more generation for people to realize what they're paying for. Not the same with basketball, the market being younger, and actually waiting to see any results. One day the greediness of the MLSE might make them decide to sell the Raptors for yet another sucking hockey team. I hope it's not the case. And I hope we'll hear from BC: 'We're doing our best', without adding: 'to have a financial flexibility'.

Post draft thoughts

Moving to a new place is always a pain in the ass. If you add the fact, that our movers didn't come when they were supposed to come and we had to do it on our own. New building didn't let us transfer our Rogers account, and Look TV (which they recommended) didn't take new customers. We finally ordered internet from Bell (no TV, because we have no balcony) and the appointment was yesterday morning, so I felt myself lucky enough to not miss the draft and draft discussion on Twitter. The technician came early in the morning, but then we found out that our building management has some bitch-slap war with Bell also, so the technician left us without internet. What was our surprise another technician came in the evening and made it work. Thirty minutes before draft I finally connected!

Draft night wasn't half as eventful. Not much trades, some pick swaps. And not much to talk about Raptors selection. We got (Vince Carter) Demar DeRozan, as we expected. We didn't buy a pick. We didn't do a blockbuster trade. My favorites were Tyreke Evans, Jonny Flynn, Demar DeRozan, as I stated before. Both Evans and Flynn went earlier (BC didn't even bother his head with Evans, but I hoped we could somehow trade for Flynn). DeRozan was an obvious choice. And his reaction was cute.

Other thoughts:

- Number 1 pick wasn't a surprise. Blake Griffin was supposed to go to the Clippers and here he goes.

- Lots of people expect Hasheem Thabeet to be a bust (#2 to Memphis).

- Ricky Rubio, who was projected to go at number 2, but slipped to number 5. We're all kinda not that trusting the European players. And after being drafted his agent said he'd play in Europe for next 2 years. I know, Minnesota sucks, but where is this "I'll play for free, just to be in NBA" attitude?

- Tyreke went to Sacramento with #4, Jonny to Minnesota with #6.

- Minnesota Timberwolves drafted a bunch of guards - Ricky Rubio with #5, Jonny Flynn with #6, Ty Lawson with #18 (traded to Denver), Wayne Ellington at #28. 4 first round picks = 4 guards.

- Golden State Warriors pissed off NY Knicks fans grabbing Stephen Curry at #7.

- New Jersey Nets drafted Terrence Williams at #11. Wait, it only gets cuter. They traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Magic for Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie. Backcourt with Devin Harris and Courtney Lee? It rarely gets more entertaining (and HOT!!!). I already feel bad having a crash on division rivals.



- Brandon Jennings drafted at #10 by Milwaukee Bucks looks like Jamario Moon.

- Indiana Pacers went Caucasian, drafting Tyler Hansbrough at #13. Jared (Both Teams Played Hard) wasn't happy at all.

- DeJuan Blair slipped to second round. Suspicions were getting really thick (he raped somebody before draft, knocked out all the GM's daughters, brought a bag of cocaine and a hooker to the practice). There is no way, his knees are that bad! Finally Spurs took him at #37, making Spurs fans happy (me too), and giving another reason for conspiracy theories about SAS. I, myself, feel, that he'll become a huge piece of another championship team.

- Suns got Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, second-rounder and dollars from Cleveland for Shaq, who will have the opportunity to play with yet another great player in LeBron. That's a life story (he played with Penny, Kobe & Wade already).

- Warriors got Acie Law and Speedy Claxton from Hotlanta for Jamal Crawford.

- A part of Portland's Spanish Armada, Sergio Rodriguez is moving to Sacramento.

- Bucks get Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Amir Johnson, Pistons get Fabricio Oberto, Spurs got Richard Jefferson. I rambled a little about that trade here, but check Project Spurs here.


Raptors Republic got it together pretty nice, telling us about winners and losers in the draft.


Update: I don't believe I forgot about the biggest trade! Darko got traded! For Q-Rich!

My $0.02 on Spurs - Bucks trade

So Richard Jefferson is gonna rock silver-and-black jersey now. Luckily it's not red, so he won't have anymore room to mock Raptors fans.



And Bruce Bowen will have to abandon his beauty salon. As a consolation price he takes 2 other ole' buddies with him: Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto, which will dramatically decrease the average Spur age to below 50.

Go Spurs!

Update: Fabricio Oberto went to Detroit for Amir Johnson.