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

How much nervous are you?

It doesn't really matter how much you're thinking about the free agency and trades your team should/might do. This dude definitely is biting his fingernails way more than you'll ever do.

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!

What'ya gonna do?

It was rather a calm evening, after eventful day. I wasn't even supposed to be around, we were moving to a new place without internet and cable, at least for a few days. Then @RapsFan announced that he got an anonymous email offering Andris Biedrinds and Monta Ellis from Golden State Warriors for our Chris Bosh. No, bloggers cannot trade players in the real NBA, but it made me think - should we:
a) keep Bosh, surround him with a better cast
b) trade him at the draft night, and for whom
c) keep him till the trade deadline

Fortunately I am not the GM, because I have no answers. We need Chris to stay here, but he didn't sign the extension, and what if he walks? Surprisingly Toronto fans base seems to be optimistic about Bosh staying here:
@altraps believes we can keep him if BC provides a solid piece.
@RapsFan holds the hope Bosh will resign.
@_Chaun thinks we just need to make some noise and he's ours.
@Raps_fan says it's all up to BC and his willingness to add some decent players to the roster.

Or maybe I just follow the optimistic people, because how can you still believe after the last season? And having the memories of all these players, that either walked, demanded trade or just simply declined coming to Toronto?

@docksquad33 offers Tyrus Thomas, Kirk Hinrich and 2 1-st rounders from Chicago, @altraps thinks that BC would rather have Ben Gordon included in this trade. Just think about the defensive power in our backcourt with Jose & Ben(!!!)

@thattalldude sees Bosh in San Antonio in 2010. Spurs are my second favorite team and Duncan/Bosh duo sounds powerful, but I am not willing to condemn Raptors to league basement just to watch Spurs get another 'chip.

Last but not least @NBAguy shares his knowledge about basketball players that will never play for Toronto, because it's too cold here. Providing the fact, that most of basketball players sleep in cardboard boxes and have to wait on bus stops, temperature is definitely the huge factor!

So what'ya gonna do BC? Will you give us a winning season, make Bosh happy to stay in Toronto? Will you put us through rebuilding all over again? What do you have for us?

My RSS reader is pretty silent today. Well, they say no news is better than bad news!