I hope the reports are wrong...

Reports are coming out that the Toronto Raptors have made an agreement with Indiana that would send TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th pick in this years draft, and a player to be named later (in order to match salary) to the Pacers in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal...

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If any of you had read my last post, you would be aware that I hate this idea.  The guy has only played more than 70 games in 5 out of 12 seasons (granted, one of those 12 seasons was shortened, but he still missed about a dozen or so games thatparticular season) and is there any reason to expect that he will be able to play more than half a season in '08-'09?  He's a $22 million liability.

TJ Ford had to go, there's no question about that.  He's too good to keep on the bench, and the writing on the wall indicated that Jose Calderon was the PG of choice in Toronto.  TJ's had his injuries, and there's no reason to expect that he will be able to remain healthy for all 82 games, but he only accounts for $8 million on the payroll.

Rasho is a good, reliable, and healthy center.  He's a smart player who can start for you, or come off the bench and not allow it to affect his game.  I would fully expect Rasho to be able to play the  full season, and he would account for about $8.5 million on the payroll.

TJ and Rasho make about $16.5 million, which leaves another $5 to $6 million dollars to make up.  How much value will be placed on the 17th pick of the draft this year?  If I were to guess maybe $1 million, that would still leave about $4 - $5 million, which would possibly mean the player to be named later could be the likes of Kris Humphries, Anthony Parker, Andrea Bargnani, or Jason Kapono...  All those guys are capable of being huge contributors to the team... a huge loss if they are included in the deal...

If the reports are true, and if Jermaine O'Neal passes his physical, the one thing I would recommend is that he had better take care of himself and really contribute to the team. I want the Raptors to be successful, but it's so hard with O'Neal's sketchy history.

If the Raptors should end up with a result anything less than a .500 season, they will likely lose a lot of fan support, which would make it very difficult for the team to survive in Toronto.  The city throws more support behind the Toronto Maple Leafs than the rest of the major sports combined (the Raptors could win the NBA championship, but the headlines in the Toronto media will be about the latest surgery on one of the Leafs...).  Now, over the next five years, the Buffalo Bills (NFL... I''m sure you know that, but I'll say it anyway) will be playing games in Toronto which will likely draw a lot of attention away from the Raptors.  Our MLS team (soccer), the Toronto FC, which has only been around for a season and a half has ridiculous support already.  The CFL (Canadian Football League) team, the Toronto Argonauts will probably have a lot of support as well based on their big moves in the offseason, and are expected to be championship contenders (that's more of an FYI for y'all, but hopefully you see my point).

I am also hard-pressed to believe the ownership group will be happy to be paying their basketball players more than their hockey players... the same group owns the Raptors and the Leafs (and Toronto FC).

I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything will magically work out... but am just too skeptical to believe it...