Raptors' rebuilding pleases its architect
GM has no plan for big moves ahead of deadline
Bruce Arthur in Toronto, National Post
Published: Wednesday, February 21, 2007
In previous years, all it took to locate holes in the good ship Toronto Raptors was to look, and then to point. Point guard? Chemistry? Salary flexibility? Defence? Centre? It was all there. Or rather, more often, it was not.
But as tomorrow's NBA trade deadline follows in the echoes of the all-star weekend -- on a personal note, we're just happy to have made it out of Las Vegas alive -- the team's weaknesses are far more difficult to find. Point guards? T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon might comprise the best one-two point guard punch in the league, unless you consider Phoenix's Leandro Barbosa a point guard, which we don't. Chemistry? Got it. Salary flexibility? There's only two contracts that go more than three years, and they belong to player options for Ford and Chris Bosh.
As well, the Raptors are 27-16 since a 2-8 start; 16-6 since Bosh returned from a knee injury to start 2007; and 10-2 in its past 12 games. This is going pretty well.
All this adds up to a deadline that is unlikely to be active, and even if the Raptors do make a move, it would be a surprise if it didn't take place at the far end of the bench.
"I don't anticipate anything, and certainly nothing significant," said Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo yesterday. "The group of players that we have together, and the way the team is performing right now, and how it fits into the building of the team over a period projecting out several years -- the pieces that I consider significant are not going to be moved."
If you look at his record, the defining trait of Colangelo's career is that he is unafraid to make bold strokes, and that, like many general managers, he is never satisfied. A quiet deadline does not mean this is a perfect team, since obviously it isn't. If you're looking for areas that could certainly stand improvement, Toronto could use a small forward who can create off the dribble to play in a three-man rotation with Anthony Parker and Morris Peterson, and a short-term backup centre. But it's not the end of the world if that doesn't happen.
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