Driving home from work today, I was listening to the radio. I usually have it tuned to my favorite sports broadcast. Let it be known that this particular show is a hockey news (Toronto lives and dies with the Maple Leafs) show first and foremost, then followed up with little snip-its of other sports interspersed throughout.
One of those snip-its caught my attention, which was a rumor involving talks between the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers. Basically, here's the scenario as I know it:
Toronto sends TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th pick in this years draft, and likely another player (to match salary) to Indiana for Jermaine O'neal... Maybe some of you out there who are more familiar with Jermaine O'neal can offer their opinions to me why that would be a good deal, but I think it is a horrible and terrifying thought.
O'neal's recent injury history is just as sketchy as TJ Ford's, but there is consolation in the fact that TJ makes $8 mil per season, compared to $22 mil for O'neal. That's a lot of money to be spending (wasting) on a guy who likely won't play a full season, and is especially difficult if your team is working on a budget. For the same amount of money, a team could easily afford 2 or 3 other players of the same caliber who will be more reliable. Usually when one talks of overrated players, does not Jermaine O'neals name come up often?
I do not like the idea of this trade at all.
I would be remiss in my duties to just leave it at that, so I will introduce a trade idea I do like.
What I think would work better is for the Raptors to get into talks with the Charlotte Bobcats, and encourage a sign-and-trade involving Emeka Okafor. Okafor could easily sign for about $13 or $14 mil. The Raptors offer up TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic, Charlotte offers Okafor and maybe Othella Harrington. The salaries even out (approximately). this gives Toronto more size that they have needed, and offers another rebounding option, and it gives the Bobcats a good explosive PG in Ford, teamed up with Raymond Felton, and that makes a decent PG duo. Also, neither team is handcuffed by outrageous salaries.
Those are my thoughts of what I don't think my Raptors should do, and what I do think they should do. I would like to thank CurlyMo who first suggested the idea of Emeka Okafor being the type of player that would help the Raptors a while ago when discussing many ideas.
Maybe so, but at least with Harrington, he's only a $2.5 mil underachiever, as opposed to $22 mil underachiever in O'neal. The keys to my ideal trade are that TJ Ford gets moved (I like TJ, and think he's a great PG... it's just that Jose Calderon is the man of choice in Toronto) and Okafor comes to Toronto.
TJ Ford doesn't want to come off the bench, so if he goes to Charlotte there will be a point guard problem and I don't think that the Bobcats want that.
If I remember correctly, Okafor was offered a contract extension by Charlotte, but did not accept it. I think he is a restricted free agent, which is why I would suggest a sign-and-trade.
As a Bobcats fan I'm constantly reading trade ideas that bring in a lot of talent to our team without giving up enough in return to make the trade reasonable for the other team. I'm glad to see that the Bobs aren't the only team with fans like that.
The Bobcats are looking for a PG to back up Felton. They're not looking to give up their only good post player just to inherit the Raps PG problems. Ford is a decent enough player but he's not worth the trouble. I'll admit that I don't know much about Rasho, but this trade looks great for the Raptors while leaving the Bobcats in a mess. Don't expect this one to happen.
I know I'm only dreaming when it comes to the scenario, and I will admit I don't know much about the Bobcats or what their big plans are...
In all honesty, I wouldn't want to give up Rasho, he's a good center who can be effective as a starter, or come off the bench and be a great contributor, so I think Charlotte wouldn't be too bad off with him. But in order to sweeten a deal, a player of value must be added, and the best bet for the Raptors is adding Rasho to a deal.
The biggest thing is that I DO NOT want Jermaine O'Neal coming to Toronto unless he is with the visiting team...
Well considering the level of talent it may seems to work, but it's all wrong for the bobcats' roster. Felton needs to be the starting PG. Last season he spent a lot of time playing the 2. The team suffered and the coach got fired partly for poor rotation choices. Felton is good enough to start in this league even if you do bring Ford in. After seeing the way Ford handled coming off the bench last year, he's only going to do well on a team that needs a new starting PG. That limits your trade options. That's why I see the Indiana trade as at least worth considering. You give up a player you don't really want(Ford) to get a former allstar who may have a huge impact for your team. A healthy O'neil should put the raptors in title contention. If he doesn't work out, you only lost a player you didnt want anyway. The biggest question is the contract that O'neil has. That is a legitimate concern.
We can probably agree that TJ Ford will be traded from Toronto, likely not to Charlotte, but somewhere because there are a lot of teams that need a starting PG.
I think the perfect fit for Ford is in New York with Mike D'antoni coaching. But, the only players worth taking from the Knicks (IMO) are David Lee and Renaldo Balkman.
I think we have one of the best GM's in the league, so here's hoping he'll make a good move in the end.
I'm a Toronto sports fan. The Maple Leafs are my hockey team, the Raptors are my basketball team, and the Blue Jays my baseball team. I'll do what I can to stick with them through good times and bad, and always hope for the best. Lately, the Raps have been my number one team, and the one that has the best future right now.
I'll have my opinions that may be shared by others, or not. However, they are just opinions which are intended to get others to think differently about whatever topic they may be.
