2009-2010 Team Preview: Toronto Raptors
September 3, 2009 by Evil E
Is Jose Calderon ready to become the 2nd best point guard in 9-cat leagues?
LAST SEASON
Sam Mitchell coached Toronto for 4+ seasons, but after getting off to an 8-9 start, he was promptly fired. Jay Triano took over and went 25-40 in his first year as an NBA head coach. The Raptors missed out on the playoffs, but they still had the league’s 10th highest attendance.
Their 92.0 pace factor was right around the league average, but they did become a more efficient offensive team after Triano took over. Surprisingly, their opponents attempted 427 more threes over the course of the season, despite the Raptors making more of their attempts from beyond the arc (37.2% 3P compared to 36.7%).
MANAGEMENT
Main Owner: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
General Manager: Bryan Colangelo
Head Coach: Jay Triano
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is a $1.8 billion corporation that owns and operates the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, and other sports teams and TV stations. But did you know that the sports conglomerate is just one of many things owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan? Say what?!? The OTPP administers the pensions of 284,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario, while investing the pension fund’s $87 billion in assets at the same time, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment groups in Canada.
Bryan Colangelo is the son of Jerry Colangelo (former owner of the Suns and now director of USA basketball). However, Bryan more than earned his stripes in Phoenix by trading for Nash and drafting Amare and Marion, among other solid moves. He was hired by Toronto in 2006, he was named Executive of the Year in 2007, and now Bosh and Calderon are the only players remaining from the squad that he inherited.
When Colangelo promoted Jay Triano last season, Triano became the 1st Canadian-born head coach in NBA history. Despite his poor record last season, Triano was given a 3-year deal to stay on as head coach. He is also an assistant coach for USA Basketball, recently leading the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas.
OFFSEASON MOVES
Key Additions: Turkoglu, DeRozan, Jack, Belinelli, A. Wright, A. Johnson, Nesterovic, Evans, Weems
Key Losses: Marion, A. Parker, Kapono, Mensah-Bonsu, Ukic, J. Graham, Delfino
Talk about an overhaul! Colangelo wasn’t afraid to make some major moves over the summer, so he kept his core of Bosh-Bargnani-Calderon and replaced just about everyone else. It started with Toronto’s signing of Hedo Turkoglu to a 5-year deal for $53 million. He gives the Raptors an elite offensive player with plenty of postseason experience.
With Marion leaving to Dallas, Parker signing with Cleveland, and Kapono going to Philly, Toronto had to bring in several more scorers. They drafted DeMar DeRozan out of USC in hopes that he’ll become a future star, signed veteran guard Jarrett Jack (teammate of Bosh at Georgia Tech) for more immediate help, and acquired promising guards Marco Belinelli (teammate of Bargnani on the Italian national team) and Antoine Wright via trade. To replace fan favorite Pops Mensah-Bonsu, they added veteran big men Reggie Evans and Rasho Nesterovic. And last but not least, since they still owned the rights to Carlos Delfino, they sent him to Milwaukee for prospects Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.
How often do you think Marco is going to remind Hedo of this Eurobasket 2007 play?
Answer: I dunno, but I would love to listen to those announcers for a full game. “IN YOUR FACE!!!”
DEPTH CHART
PG: Jose Calderon / Jarrett Jack / Quincy Douby
SG: Antoine Wright / Marco Belinelli / Jarrett Jack
SF: Hedo Turkoglu / DeMar DeRozan / Sonny Weems
PF: Andrea Bargnani / Amir Johnson / Reggie Evans
C: Chris Bosh / Rasho Nesterovic / Patrick O’Bryant
ROTATION / PLAYING TIME
Bosh averaged 38.0 mpg last year and is Toronto’s top player, so mark him down for the same. Playing alongside him usually will be Andrea Bargnani. AB averaged 34.6 mpg in 59 starts last season, so he should be a lock for 35+ minutes in ’09-10. Off the bench, Rasho Nesterovic has averaged 22.8 mpg over his 11 year career, but he’ll struggle to get more than 12-14 minutes unless someone gets hurt. Veteran Reggie Evans and youngsters Amir Johnson and O’Bryant will battle for the remaining big man minutes, but only one is worth keeping an eye on (see below).
At point guard, Calderon averaged 34.3 mpg last year, but he suffered hamstring troubles that limited his minutes on several occasions. If healthy, mark him down for 35-36 mpg in the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Turkoglu will start at small forward and also get around 36 minutes of action. The remaining minutes will be divvied up among the following players…
Preseason Battle to Watch: Wright vs. Belinelli vs. Jack vs. DeRozan
Antoine Wright has the best combination of size and experience, so he may get the first crack at starting. Last year he started 53 games for Dallas while playing 26.7 mpg. However, if Wright struggles out of the gate, Marco could step into the lineup and instantly give Toronto another outside shooting threat. As a result, both Wright and Belinelli have the potential to play anywhere from 16 to 26 minutes a piece. If neither man seizes the job, then Jarrett Jack could see extensive duty at both guards spots. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan has all kinds of potential, but he’ll probably be limited to just 10-15 minutes to start the season. If Toronto falls out of the playoff race however, his minutes could shoot up in the second half.
Odd Man Out: Reggie Evans
Evans is still a very good rebounder, but he brings little else to the table and is on the downside of his career. He was useful in the ’07-08 season when he pulled down 7.5 boards in just 23.2 mpg, but those days are long gone if you ask me. Don’t even consider him unless Bosh goes down.
DON’T SLEEP ON: Jose Calderon
There was nothing wrong with Calderon’s ’08-09 stats. From the charity stripe, Jose posted the highest single-season FT% EVER, making 151 of 154 attempts for a blistering 98.1% FT (Calvin Murphy, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Ray Allen, and Jeff Hornacek all shot between 95-96% one season). He also ranked 4th in assists with 8.9 per game, 26th in FG%, and 31st in 3P%. Among players who averaged 10+ ppg last season, Calderon’s 61.3% True Shooting Percentage (PTS / [2 * (FGA + .44 * FTA)) ranked 9th overall.
However, a bum hamstring bothered Jose for most of last season, and it showed in some of his stats. He shot just 44.1% from the field in November, he averaged just 26.8 minutes in January, and his steal rate (1.3 per 36 minutes in ’07-08) was also down. On a healthy hammy, he should improve on all of those stats. The addition of Turkoglu will likely hurt his assists, but Hedo’s ability to drive and kick should result in lots of open 3-pointers for Calderon. He’s one of the few players who can shoot over 50% FG, 40% 3P, and 90% FT, and he’s going to challenge Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, and Chauncey Billups for #2 PG status in 9-cat leagues.
BE CAREFUL OF: Jarrett Jack
Jack’s ’08-09 stats are overinflated because he started 52 games for Indiana, but he’s likely going to come off the bench for Toronto. In the 29 games where he did NOT start last season, Jack averaged just 8.8 points, 3.3 dimes, and .7 treys in 26.7 minutes. He also shot just 38.8% FG off the bench compared to 47.9% FG as a starter. He’s still worth a pick in deeper leagues, but only consider him in the later rounds.
Prospect to Keep an Eye on: Amir Johnson
He’s been in the league for 4 years already, but since he’s still just 22, it’s okay to call Amir Johnson a prospect. Amir has flashed plenty of potential in the past, but his numbers regressed last season in nearly every category. Perhaps the worst sign was that he committed a career-high 6.8 fouls per 36 minutes, struggling to stay on the court. Most raw big men commit a ton of fouls when they first come into the league, but their foul rate usually declines after a few seasons. Amir’s hasn’t, so that’s a legit concern. On the other hand, the Pistons did him no favors offensively by playing at such a slow tempo (Detroit was 29th in pace factor last season). Johnson could possibly excel in an uptempo system where he gets to block shots (3.1 rejections per 36 minutes for his career) and run the floor for easy buckets (57.7% FG for his career), as demonstrated in the video below. The playing time won’t be there right away, but definitely keep an eye on him of you need blocks.
Most Likely to Miss 20+ Games: Chris Bosh
He’s never had a MAJOR injury, but Bosh always seems to miss some time. He’s played 78+ games only once in his career, and has missed an average of 11.3 games over the past 4 seasons. Since Bargnani doesn’t really like to bang inside, Bosh has to go against bigger, more physical opponents nearly every game, and you can see how the pounding would take its toll. In fact, I once lived with someone who was friends with Bosh growing up in Dallas, and even HE said that CB4 needs to bulk up and get stronger.
Most Likely to Put Up Big Stats After an Injury: Marco Belinelli
Belinelli played well in 23 starts for the Warriors last year, averaging 11.3 points, 2.9 assists, 1 steal, and 1.7 treys in just 27.6 minutes. If you think about it, those numbers are BETTER than what Anthony Parker did last season, despite Candance’s brother playing 5.4 more minutes per game! Marco is nearly a 40% shooter from beyond the arc for his career, and he can get hot in a hurry. He’s also a capable ballhandler and willing passer, so he’s just one injury away from putting up really solid stats. Belinelli should be very comfortable playing with 4 other Euros, and at the age of 23, he still has plenty of upside.
PLAYER PROFILES / RANKING POTENTIAL
Chris Bosh
Among the 4 players who averaged 20+ points and 10+ boards last year (D. Howard, A. Jefferson, and Z. Randolph were the others), Bosh was the only one who shot over 75% FT. In fact, he’s made nearly 82% of his freebies over the past 4 years while getting to the line over 8 times per game! Now hopefully he cuts back on the 3-pointers (12-49 last year) to improve his FG%. He could REALLY improve his value by pumping his blocks back up (1.0 per game in each of the past 2 seasons after blocking 1.4 shots per game his first 2 years in the league). A career-high in assists is also possible thanks to Toronto’s added weapons. Factor in that Bosh will likely be playing for a new contract this year, and you have one of the top big men around.
Lock For: Top 24
Good Shot At: Top 16
Potential For: Top 8
Jose Calderon
See above.
Lock For: Top 36
Good Shot At: Top 24
Potential For: Top 12
Andrea Bargnani
After a sluggish start (just 26.3 minutes and 10.3 points on 40.6% FG shooting in his first 32 games), Bargnani really turned it on. In fact, if you picked him up off the waiver wire, you got one of the best free agent pickups of the year. In the 50 games that followed, AB averaged a sparkling 17.4 points and 1.7 treys on 46.9% FG, 43.3% 3P, and 82.1% FT shooting. His rebounds are weak, but he’s one of the top shooting big men in the league, making him the perfect “small ball” center. However, don’t expect a huge improvement over those “last 50″ stats, because the Raptors have more depth and a more balanced scoring attack this year.
Lock For: Top 75
Good Shot At: Top 55
Potential For: Top 35
Hedo Turkoglu
After a career-year in ’07-08, Hedo’s numbers declined quite a bit last season. The biggest culprit was his outside shooting, as he made just 35.6% of his shots from beyond the arc after shooting 40% 3P the year before. As a result, both his FG% and scoring average plummeted, making him a Top 100 fantasy player rather than a Top 50 one. He’s one of a few swingmen who can average 5+ boards and 5+ dimes, but his assists will likely dip slightly thanks to Jose Calderon. Turkoglu is really clutch, but due to low steals and relatively high turnovers, his real life value is greater than his fantasy value.
Lock For: Top 100
Good Shot At: Top 80
Potential For: Top 60
Jarrett Jack
See above.
Lock For: Top 200
Good Shot At: Top 150
Potential For: Top 100
Marco Belinelli
See above.
Lock For: Top 240
Good Shot At: Top 190
Potential For: Top 140
Amir Johnson
See above.
Lock For: Nothing
Good Shot At: Top 250
Potential For: Top 200
Antoine Wright
Wright could have some value if he wins the starting two guard job, but his upside is very limited. In 53 starts last season, he averaged just 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, .8 steals, .8 threes, and .5 blocks in 26.7 minutes. Those are very mediocre numbers, so you’ll only want to consider him in very deep leagues.
Lock For: Nothing
Good Shot At: Top 250
Potential For: Top 200
DeMar DeRozan
The rookie averaged just 13.9 points in his only year at college, and his other numbers suggest that he’s not ready to contribute much right away. DeRozan shot just 16.7% 3P and 64.6% FT, so his shot obviously needs a lot of work. And while he’s extremely long and athletic, he averaged just .9 steals and .4 blocks in college, which is very sub-par. DeRozan has plenty of potential, but I suggest staying away this year.
Lock For: Nothing
Good Shot At: Top 275
Potential For: Top 225
EVIL’S PREDICTIONS
Projected Record: 42-40
Projected Finish: 2nd in Division, 8th in Conference
Crunch Time Lineup: Calderon, Jack, Turkoglu, Bargnani, Bosh
+/- Curveball Lineup: Calderon, Belinelli, Turkoglu, Amir, Bosh
Pleasant Surprise: Despite all of the new additions, the players gel together right away. Calderon has a career year, and Bosh puts all of the free agent chatter behind him as he focuses on leading Toronto back into the playoffs.
Biggest Disappointment: DeRozan struggles in his rookie season and Antoine Wright doesn’t capitalize on his opportunity.
Bold Prediction: The Raptors will become one of the league’s more dynamic offensive teams, but their defense will suffer and they will routinely give up 110+ points. Even if they make the playoffs, I still see Bosh bolting when the season ends.
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*This Toronto Raptors team preview was published by Eric Wong of RotoEvil.com on September 3rd, 2009. If you enjoyed reading it, please bookmark the site and check out the other free team previews.
If you want to get ALL of the team previews (including updates to this one), stat projections & analysis for 360+ players, in-depth sleeper & strategy articles, and the best draft ratings, player rankings, tiers, and cheatsheets around, then stay tuned for his 2009-2010 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide. Join hundreds of satisfied customers, and you’ll get everything you need to win your fantasy hoops league.
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Hey E,
Great breakdowns. I agree with almost everything. One thing I found interesting, was that you think Toronto will be 42-40 and that will make them eighth in the conference. I am not saying you are wrong, but hasn’t it been awhile since all the eastern conference playoffs teams were above the .500 mark? Last year, 3 eastern teams made it into the playoffs at .500 or below. This is probably splitting hairs, but it just stood out to me. I would predict a 42-40 finish in the east would land the 6th or 7th seed. I guess we’ll see.
Bucko – You make a good point, but I see the East being a little different this year.
Last season the East was actually better than the West overall (621 wins for the East vs. 609 wins for the West), but there was a ton of parity in the East. There was really only ONE team in the East that everyone beat up on: Washington had just 19 wins.
Every other team in the East had at least 32 wins last season! Now compare that to the West, where SIX teams had less than 30 wins.
The Western playoff teams beat up on teams like Sac, Memphis, Minny, LAC, OKC, GSW, which pumped up their records.
BEFORE last season, the West used to dominate the East, which gave them even fewer wins to spread around.
THIS YEAR, I’m expecting the East to win more games overall again, but I’m also expecting more “crappy” teams in the East. New York, Detroit, and Milwaukee are all candidates to win under 30 games, thus allowing the mid-level teams to get more wins.
I see Indiana, Washington, Toronto, and Miami all battling for the final spots, and I think it’s going to take a .500 record to make it. FINALLY!
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? Losing teams shouldn’t qualify for the postseason in my book.
I’ve always thought if the 8th seed in the East has a sub .500 record, the 9th team in the West should take their spot if they are above .500. Who wouldnt have rathered watch a Cleveland v Phoenix first round series last season?
Haha, I love it Jet! Start a petition and I’ll sign it.
The Raptors biggest problem right now is ..coaching.
players on the court wins ballgames. Is politic going to control who plays. Amir Johnson is a forward not power forward. we need to learn the game of basketball, example jack is a point guard not shooting guard. Chris Bosh is the best Raptor ths far, No body else played good enogh… calderon and barni, only get reconition becase they are Euro, let them earn it first…………
Nice write up E!
Looking at your ‘lock/shot/potential’ listing I would think Belinelli would be listed as a starter and not Wright.
I think Belinelli will get most minutes pretty soon, maybe even from game one. I also think he has a better potential; around 100 (if no injury).
Just my 2 cents. (Can’t wait for your guide)
By looking at the Ranking Potential numbers, obviously I like Belinelli more than Wright or DeRozan. But Toronto needs some defense in their lineup, and thus I think Wright and/or DeRozan will at least get a chance to prove themselves. Read the “disappointment” section to see how I think that’s going to turn out.
As for Marco having top 100 potential, there just aren’t that many shots to go around with Bosh, Hedo, Bargs, and Calderon around. If Calderon or Hedo goes down for an extended period, then sure.
Glad you’re pumped for the guide.
I’ve got the 8th pick of our 14 team, 9 cat roto draft…where should Chris Bosh go?
I’m thinking Roy or Amare at #8 and #9…and I’m personally leaning towards Roy.
#10 – #14 is a toss up of bigs or PG’s. It bugs me that I can’t figure out where Bosh goes among Amare, AJ, Dwight, Gasol and KG. All of them have health or roster issues that make it hard to rank them.
Also, we’re drafing 9/27…will your guide be ready by then? =)
I believe the guide will be ready by then. Roy or Amare makes sense at pick #8. Bosh is a much safer pick than Al-Jeff IMO. Howard and Gasol will likely go in the Top 14 in most leagues. Garnett should not be included in that group.
As an ‘SC guy, I’ll second the “stay away from” DeRozan, from a fantasy perspective. He can’t hit a College 3, doesn’t shoot FT’s well, has questionable ball handling skills and passing ability, which makes him turnover prone. He got scorching hot during the Pac-Ten Tourney, which got his stock back up to where it was when he came out of high school. But if not for that, I don’t know if he would have even left for the NBA. just my 2 cents.
Very nice article Evil. I’m not too sure where the quote/reference is, but Triano has mentioned he’d like to put DeRozan in as a starter. If he is a starter and is playing in the beginning of games, it’ll give him some minutes where he get a feel of games without “winning/losing” them. What I mean by that is teams can lead or fall behind in the first quarter but still come back or fall behind to win or lose games. Moreover, I have Wright backing up Turkoglu at SF with Belinelli playing behind DeRozan with Jack playing behind Calderon but also playing minutes at SG. Finally, I can’t imagine Bargnani, Bosh or Calderon playing that many minutes… or I’m hoping that don’t play that many minutes so that they can be more fresh come playoff time (assuming they make it). I do agree with all your other points though. Cheers
Thanks 6264. I know Triano has been quoted as saying that, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Even if he DOES start, I’ll be avoiding DeMar.
Also, I don’t see Toronto making the playoffs if their big 3 doesn’t play 36+ minutes every night. At least, they won’t have the luxury to get cute and rest their starters like you’d like them to. Especially Bosh.
Ive read over 100 Raptors or NBA previews for the last month, this is far and away the best work I’ve seen. Excellent analysis
Thanks for the props Tarun.
You’ve read that many previews? 
Wow. talk about an insult, you definetly have to be American to write this article.
Anyways I agree with many of the points like Bosh bolting and along with Calderon putting up big numbers, however one thing I do not agree is where they stand, I know its just a prediction the season can go anywhere, but to say the Raptors are going to be 8th, I have to say they’re much better than the 76ers (without Andre). better than the Chicago Bulls (no more Ben Gordon thank God). And I’d say a fair fight against the Wizards, we always seem to get a split against them (barring any injuries on both teams)
Philly is gonna miss the playoffs, but how do you figure that the Raptors are better than the Bulls? Did you watch the Boston-Chicago series?
Sure, they lost Ben Gordon, but Jannero Pargo can provide similar instant offense off the bench for a cheaper price and without any headaches. If Luol Deng can bounce back, the Bulls will be BETTER than they were last season.
Calderon might be the better fantasy player, but Derrick Rose will eat him (and most PG’s) alive for the next decade. Salmons really improved last year, and Hinrich is easily one the Top 3 backup guards in the league. Noah really came on strong at the end of the season, and Brad Miller is the perfect backup veteran center to complement him. The wild cards are Deng and Tyrus Thomas. If Deng is healthy and TT grows up, I don’t think the Bulls will have much trouble getting past Toronto. And I don’t think I’m biased for believing that.
But to accurately analyze the bulls you have to ask yourself why were they border-line terrible during most of the regular season? how does a .500 team gain improvement by losing argueably their best player and adding nothing but 2 rookies that could form into possible role-players at best?? Their young which does gives them a bit of room to grow but it also gives them just as much room to be just as inconsistant as always. They are a .500 team, and even thats a bit optomistic. Please don’t be fooled by the playoff series since we all know this Celtics team has a serious tendency to play down at their opponants level for large stretches.
Celtics do not play down to their opponents. The Lakers on the other hand, always play down. Celtics were getting their asses handed to them by the Bulls and the Hawks(07-08). Doc Rivers had his old boys running full throttle and could not pull away from the Baby Bulls. *Can we still call them that?* Give the Bulls credit they answered the Bell every round. If it had gone to a judges decision…Bulls could have won the fight. Unfotunately for all NBA fans they were gassed and knocked out in round 12.
Child please. “play down to their opponents.” Celtic apologist. Have you ever thought the Celtics aren’t as good as good as you think them to be? 07-08 has come and gone. Deal with it.
“But to accurately analyze the bulls you have to ask yourself why were they border-line terrible during most of the regular season?”
Hey Evil E: Why were the Bulls borderline terrible (average) for most (part) of the regular season?
hmmmm….
Because Vinny Del Negro was a rookie head coach.
Because Derrick Rose was a rookie starting point guard with just 1 year of college experience.
Because Joakim Noah showed up to training camp out of shape and shot just 40% FG in 15.9 minutes in November.
Because Tyrus Thomas was still an immature 22-year old and shot just 35% FG in 20.0 minutes in November.
Because Luol Deng battled injuries again and was a shell of his former self.
Because Hinrich was worried about trade rumors and his ego was bruised from a rookie starting over him.
Because they started the season with cancers called Larry Hughes and Tim Thomas on their team.
Because they underutilized Nocioni & Sefolosha when they were on their team.
Because Ben Gordon gave up just as many points as he scored.
Because they were a much worse team before they traded for Brad Miller & John Salmons.
Okay, now can I accurately analyze the Bulls?
Because of all those reasons, Chicago is only going to get better. The team that gave Boston all they could handle in the postseason is much more indicative of how they are going to play in ’09-10 then anything they did before that. What D. Rose did as a 20-year rookie playing under a rookie head coach was awfully impressive, and he’s only going to become more dominant. More dominant than Calderon, more dominant than Bargnani, and more dominant than Bosh. Even if they decide that they don’t want to keep Tyrus Thomas, he is going to have a ton of trade value. If Joakim Noah plays like he did at the end of the season, he and Miller are going to be one of the top 1-2 center punches in the league. If Pargo plays like he’s capable of, the drop-off between him and Ben Gordon isn’t going to be nearly as big as some people think. And so on…
Satisfied?
I agree with Evil E’s projection.
As a Magic I can say, people are seriously overrating Hedo this summer. Delusional Cav’s fans actually believe that Hedo is better than Vince Carter
…. But back to reality though, the Raptors are nice but (IMO) Hedo does NOT put them in a top 4-5 position in the East.
If healthy ATL, CHI, WASH all look better to me on paper so I would put TOR around 7-8 fighting with MIA and possible teams with an outside chance would be CHA,INDY,PHILA,&DET(maybe).
ATL adds Crawford, Teague, Joe Smith and they lose noone…
CHI loses BG, but like E says they replace him Pargo and with guys like Kirk, Deng playing healthy for a full season. Also at least marginal improvement from Rose, TT, & JOKEim are in order and James Johnson looks like an impact rookie. Bulls definitely are better.
We all know the WASH situation, if Gil & Haywood is healthy. On top of that, add Foye & M&M(miller) to the mix and young guys like Young, Blatche & McGee who can all breakout. I got them over TOR.
TOR is fools gold to me, because Hedo is fools gold. He was NOT primary the reason why Orlando was sucessful like CLE homers and others will try to claim. Nice player, but he is just your above average starting small forward. He is no better than a Mike Miller or Mike Dunleavy type shooter/pseudo playmaker. I actually think M&M is better than Hedo, but that’s a different discussion entirely… Toronto will be competitive again and will make the playoffs, but unless Derozan really breaks out I dont really see them higher 7.
blue magic,
Hedu is not Mike Miller. What a disgrace. On paper they may appear similar. On the court using the eyeball test, they couldn’t be any more different. Im just going to run off a bunch of turkoglus attributes. Great ballhandler for a forward. Great court vision. Non verbal connection with Dwight was almost telepathic. E,Is there a chart tracking assist breakdowns going to DHo? Hedu is a clutch shooter during the regular season and especially during the playoffs. Smart post player as a finisher and setup man. Plenty of experience during stemming from Sacto Kings prominence(learned some passing skills from Webber and Vlade. 2 of the best passing big men in recent time), 1 season in San Antonio(during its hey dey), and most recently a key cog to Orlando’s Finals appearance. The entire offense ran through Hedu. Im not saying he deserves <50% of the credit. He deserves a healthy fat chuck of the credit. Think about it. Vince Carter is his replacement. Not Ryan Anderson. Vince freaking Carter!!!
Truthfully, Keeping Hedu should have been more important than retaining both Bass and Gortat. Their combined salary is much greater than Hedu's 10Million for 5 years demand.
As a Magic fan you should know better.
Blue Magic,
As a Magic fan you should know better about Hedu. Mike Miller? Seriously?
This has been scratching at me. Otis Smith replaced Hedu Turkoglu with Vince Freaking Carter!!! Not some above average forward named Mike Millr. Vince Freaking Carter!!! His acquisition highly represents the importance of Hedu’s role in Orlandos offense.
The $50 million dollars being thrown at Hedu from Colangelo and Kevin Pritchard. 2 highly highly respected talent evaluators and general managers. Guilty by association proves Hedu is a premier forward in the NBA.
Vince Carter is CLEARLY better than Hedo is bro. Look @ Mike Millers career #’s and Hedo Turkoglu’s career #’s and then tell me where im wrong… Hedo is nothing more than a glorified Mike Miller bro and that’s the truth. I’ve seen them both.
Vince Carter is just better than Hedo in every facet of the game, and that shouldn’t even be a discussion(
). Hedo is a very solid player dont get me wrong, but He & Vince are not in the same class. One is a system guy, and the other is a perennial all-star and likely HoF candidate. Like I said, I would take a prime M&M over Hedo, and thats not a knock on Hedo. M&M is just a much more efficient player and more consistent. He can do everything Hedo did w/in our system, but you put VC in our system? And people think we got worse?? People who think that are only the people who watched Orlando in the playoffs and finals… Good luck to Hedo in Toronto, but I think most Maagic fans will tell you we will miss Lee more than TurkoFLU. Pretty good player when he’s on, but i’m soo glad he’s not our ‘closer’ anymore. 
Not sure if this is the appropriate article to posit these predictions about 09-10, but here it goes:
Two for now:
1). The Washington Wizards will finish in the top 4 of the Eastern Conference.
2). The Indiana Pacers will make the playoffs and could wind up anywhere between 5th and 8th. Conversely, The Toronto Raptors will NOT make the playoffs. The Pacers were very quirky last year, but despite some key injuries they still managed another 9th place finish. They always play hard although defense has been a concern (which they have addressed this summer with some key veteran signings). Jim O’Brien believes in winning now at all costs and will not play rookies/younger players ahead of veterans just because of a desire to prepare them for the future.
Even though on paper the Raptors look improved (and I do have to compliment Colangelo on the moves he made this summer because he has made a really great try here), something still tells me that they will be unable to put all of the pieces together to make a winning product. They will be competitive, probably lose a lot of close games and finish somewhere around 30 to 35 wins. I just don’t see a lot of spark on this team, where exactly is the center of gravity and what is this thing going to look like especially since as Evil E points out they will be defensively challenged? There is some talent with Bosh but where do you go when the game is on the line? I suppose Turkoglu may give them a little extra swagger. Also, Jay Triano is a huge wildcard at coach. Colangelo must see something in him he likes though.
No way does Indiana finish the season higher than Toronto. The Raps had a terrible season, but they have retooled, have a healthy Jose (although I’m skeptical he’s built to play heavy minutes 82 games a year), and another year of development in Bargs. They overpaid for Turkoglu, but he is an upgrade over Parker. When compared to the 07 team that won 47 wins, its not implausible for this team to match that production. The East is stronger now though, so I think 42-43 wins sounds about right.
Don’t get me wrong, Indiana play to their strengths really well, but outside of Granger, their team is unimpressive to say the least. And Granger won’t carry a team into the playoffs by himself (ala Wade).
Quote from Coach Triano:
“We might start [DeRozan] off in games, let him play with a real good bunch of players because if we don’t start him, maybe we have a hard time getting him in,” Triano admitted.
“You can’t let a No. 9 pick rot on the bench and not develop him.”
I know next to nothing about Jay Triano other than his lack of head coaching experience. And it will take a lot of skill on his part to properly distribute playing time amongst all of these competing options. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has difficulty in disciplining his rotation with all of these newcomers vying for playing time. Either way my forecast for Toronto is a pessimistic one. If given two propositions and forced to choose just one, I would place my bets on Triano being ousted before season’s end as much better odds over Cleveland winning the 2010 championship (or even the conference championship).
Triano is right about one thing: If (once) the Raptors are out of the playoff race, I’m sure whoever the Coach is at that point will elect to give the rookie DeRozan more minutes to develop.
wow if belleni starts and gets most minutesthe raps r gonna kill derozen… if that happens its gonna be a raptor thing killing guys careers or limiting them or wasting them like they did with t mac, he left for orlando and was a bonifide all star and was a franchise player, raps have someone who has athletism off the roofs and could we wasting it =.=
calderon SUCKS. OVER-RATED
I told you Calderon SUCKS!!!!! Jack is still starting ahead of him. Very SAD