Grizzlies, Raptors looking for third team to facilitate Rudy Gay trade
The final hurdle for the salary dump of Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors hinges on finding a third team to absorb the expiring contract of Raptors guard Jose Calderon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Rudy Gay is averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 boards this season. (USA Today Sports)The Grizzlies have inquired with multiple teams over the past several days, searching for a willing partner to facilitate a three-team deal, sources said.
Despite organizational proclamations to the contrary, new Memphis ownership and management is determined to unload Gay and the $37 million owed him as soon as possible, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Calderon has a $10.5 million expiring contract.

"With so many quality point guards, they're struggling to find a spot for Calderon," one league general manager told Yahoo! Sports.
Preferably, the Grizzlies want a less expensive small forward to plug into the lineup for Gay, sources said. Memphis has been relentless in shopping Gay over the past several weeks.
In a proposed deal, Memphis would likely receive another young Raptors player and a future draft pick, sources said. The Grizzlies have unsuccessfully tried to pry Raptors rookie Terrence Ross as part of the deal, sources said. Toronto has deemed Ross untouchable in these talks.

Recently, the Grizzlies' front office dumped three contracts and a first-round pick – including Mareese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Shelby – onto the Cleveland Cavaliers to get under the luxury-tax threshold.
At 29-15, the Grizzlies are currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Beyond Gay, the Grizzlies have nearly $65 million in contracts locked into forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol through the 2014-15 season. They are determined to lessen luxury-tax implications of holding onto three significant contracts.

This trade is close! We just need to find another trade that nobody seems to want. But we're almost there!

Memphis is weighing whether to pull the trigger on three different trade scenarios, including one that would send Gay to the Toronto Raptors. The Griz appear to be headed toward moving their 6-8 small forward before the NBA's Feb. 21 deadline.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/30/grizzlies-appear-closer-to-trading-rudy-gay-with/

shit that made it even better when i clicked and saw it was bout rudy

the 2nd one lmaaaao c'mon.


that top picture is hilarious tho

for the perfect opportunity to do that

or Minnesota should offer Rubio

_________________________________________
The Combat Jack Show is the best hip-hop related internet radio show
http://thecombatjackshow.com/

Make the octopussy do the watusi for the night

>


_________________________________________
The Combat Jack Show is the best hip-hop related internet radio show
http://thecombatjackshow.com/

Make the octopussy do the watusi for the night

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

_________________________________________
The Combat Jack Show is the best hip-hop related internet radio show
http://thecombatjackshow.com/

Make the octopussy do the watusi for the night

son, log off

But a post titled Gay for Boner would sound pretty ghey.

then I woke up :(

Rudy Gay - F - Grizzlies

Sources tell ESPN's Marc Stein that the Grizzlies and Raptors have a trade in place that would send Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to Toronto in exchange for Ed Davis and Jose Calderon.
Stein also reports the Grizzlies plan to flip Calderon to a third team, with the Pistons at the front of the line to acquire the Spaniard. The Gay-to-Toronto trade has been bubbling under the surface for a while, but it finally appears as if it's done. Gay's value should go up since he'll be the primary option in Toronto, with Kyle Lowry also getting a boost since he'll no longer be sharing time. Calderon's value depends on where he lands, but any full-time starting role should make him a must-start. Unfortunately, the biggest loser here appears to be Davis, who will likely enter a reserve role behind Zach Randolph.

i can't even say who the most overpaid player on that team would be:

gay
derozen
barganani
fields

they're ALL terrible.

What. The. Fuck. Dude is clearly insane.

and got back a stiff who makes $17M per season. contract the bitches.

it's hard to deny that his best year(s) were when he was with Gasol and a random assortment of similarly athletic 4s that just wanted to get a running start and dunk the ball.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

he needs to be around shooters and open paint

he was a better mascot than Grizz

down is up right now, fam

His stats project really well, he's improving a ton and is only in his 3rd year.

This is solid for you guys. Really solid.


And dat cap room...ya'll can breathe finally.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/150911_511868540804_426651156_n.jpg

Perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VastXQ_hPb0

I really can't believe memphis dumped that contract and got back value.

Advantage Hollinger.


----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

.

>.

Uninsurable knees = Knick for life.

----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Lowry, DeRozan, Gay, Bargnani is quite the foursome. And I think this crew guarantees that the Thunder get the Raptors pick this year. They won't be one of the three worst teams in the league but they won't be in the playoffs either.

Solid job by Wallace and Hollinger but a good-not-great prospect and a contract is what I expected the offer for Rudy's contract to be.

The big winner are the Pistons. A pass first point guard for this season and they clear cap space next year. They can make some moves this offseason.

Raptors are a joke.

Big win for the Pistons to dump salary and get a better player. They can make some moves next year via free agency.

I was wondering what they were planning to do with Terrence Ross after trading for Rudy Gay. It gets even worse for the kid and the Raps altogether.

Posters in High Griffinition.

Don't think-FEEEEEEEEEEEEEL! © Bruce Lee

>Lowry, DeRozan, Gay, Bargnani is quite the foursome. And I
>think this crew guarantees that the Thunder get the Raptors
>pick this year. They won't be one of the three worst teams in
>the league but they won't be in the playoffs either.
>
>Nice job by Wallace and Hollinger.

How do you make that trade and still be stuck with Bargnani's deal.

38 million next year for Derozan, Bargnani, and Gay.

How awful teams stay awful 101.

----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Him and Ernie Grunfeld are close.

Toronto has something to work with at least.


Just need a good coach

sent first-rounder to houston in lowry deal, and calderon/davis out in this deal. no incentive for anyone to take one of those shitty contracts off their hands.

was to DUMP bargnani's salary and make room for Davis and the Valanciunas kid.




----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Most likely, Colangelo offered him around, expecting value back. He got obvious lowball offers and decided to wait. As much as I think Bargnani's a joke, his shot has been terrible this year and if he could start hitting a shot here or there in the second half of the season, his value will improve.
At the very least, he'll have one less year on his contract so that's something, I guess.

I suspect that Calderon will sign with Toronto next off-season for a reasonably low contract. So from that perspective....the trade becomes Gay for Davis and a 2nd rounder. Bad for the salary structure but good for the court.

For arguably the best player in the deal (Ed Davis is very very capable) while dropping that 17 million bomb on someone. Great job by Memphis..Toronto is LOL as usual.

They are making nice moves financially but Rudy Gay for a washed up Prince, a bust Daye, and the good but not great Ed Davis is about what you'd expect for Rudy Gay, even with his contract.

I actually thought the deal was better before Detroit got involved because at least Calderon's an expiring deal. I think they should have gotten Maggette's expiring deal instead of Tayshaun.

ed davis better than rudy gay. that's a net positive.

Three years ago, he overpays Rudy Gay and now he is declared a genius for being able to get rid of that contract.

I like Ed Davis but the Grizzlies are still a team that will be happy to see the second round but probably won't.

think they'll beat houston/GS/portland. denver would be a great first-round series.

now we don't have rudy jacking up shots
those shots get spread between Zach, Marc, and to a lesser extent Darrell Arthur
who all will have better percentages within this system
Rudy, though a good player, didn't fit
i think he'll work out in Toronto.

oh god I hope this trade goes through.

can't wait for that motherfucker to not. be. on. our. team.

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Time to do work in the 'offs

But I also don't like Pistons offense.

07-08

Detroit comes out the best, clearing cap space just to take on Calderon for half a season. If they're smart they'd start Drummond and still give as many minutes as possible to Knight.

Memphis gets back lesser talent but clears cap space, which is what they wanted, so its a win.

Toronto...I think they're just desparate for good players. That franchise is just trying to grab whatever talent they can and keep their heads above water because no free agents want to go there and everyone they draft eventually bounces on them. That's got to be the worst franchise in the NBA, and their never moving because their owned by a Canadian cell phone/cable company.

the whole season they've been talking about moving andrea and instead they give memphis ed davis...who might be their best player this year.

i understand financially why they're moving calderon but they've had so many other better opportunities, and he was their best player last year.

It's a better place than about 2/3 of the NBA.


>
>Toronto...I think they're just desparate for good players.
>That franchise is just trying to grab whatever talent they can
>and keep their heads above water because no free agents want
>to go there and everyone they draft eventually bounces on
>them. That's got to be the worst franchise in the NBA, and
>their never moving because their owned by a Canadian cell
>phone/cable company.

The team is bad because the GM is just winging it and fucking things up. And they keep shooting themselves in the foot.
----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

>It's a better place than about 2/3 of the NBA.

NBA players don't wanna live in Canada.

to Toronto you think FA's wouldn't follow him?

The team is bad. Cancels out everything else.

Shit, three years ago who would've ever GONE to the clippers. They draft blake and get CP3. Now it's a FA destination.
----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Free agents aren't going to Toronto. But cap space still could help since the Raptors could trade for someone, the way the Jazz acquired Al Jefferson and the Grizz acquired Z-Bo.

so how come it's SUDDENLY become attractive to play there.


----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Donald Sterling held that team back because he was a notorious cheapskate. He is still somewhat cheap but he's opened up the books more of late.

you don't see ANYONE wanting to leave OKC or San Antonio. you've seen Dallas teams in pretty much every sport attract bigs names in some era or another despite that shitty city when they wanted to be successful.

if westbrook or ibaka were to magically go off the books, you can bet 90% of the free agents would seriously consider landing there.

no toronto can't play their contract games the way LA and NYC do, but that's also why bullshitting big money on mid level players gets them nowhere.

Of course people are going to go there.

>you don't see ANYONE wanting to leave OKC or San Antonio.
>you've seen Dallas teams in pretty much every sport attract
>bigs names in some era or another despite that shitty city
>when they wanted to be successful.

You don't see a lot of guys signing there either. Obviously, nobody's going to OKC if they are losing but the odds don't really jump up as high as you'd expect when they are winning.

>if westbrook or ibaka were to magically go off the books, you
>can bet 90% of the free agents would seriously consider
>landing there.

LeBron couldn't recruit anyone go to Cleveland. The Raptors were winning with Vince and T-Mac and then Bosh but they couldn't really get anyone to go there. The Celtics were winning and still getting turned down by free agents.

>no toronto can't play their contract games the way LA and NYC
>do, but that's also why bullshitting big money on mid level
>players gets them nowhere.

Well, yeah. They are doing a horrible job. But that doesn't change that, given the choice, most NBA players are going to sign with Atlanta than Toronto.

>>It's a better place than about 2/3 of the NBA.
>
>NBA players don't wanna live in Canada.


Only a handful of NBA cities are seeing Toronto. Granted, the same could have been said for Vancouver. However, NBA players aren't going to be drawn in by the cultural/lifestyle aspects of the city; particularly since it's located in what many mistakenly perceive to be a foreign, far away land.

The main way to draw free agents therefore is through winning. And, this questionable (at best) trade won't help in that regard.

If Toronto can get 18-19ppg out of Gay and some much needed 4th qtr play, they don't lose much. Calderon wasn't staying after this season and at the beginning of this season if you'd have said Davis for Gay it would be a no-brainer. Raps have plenty of cap room, are paying Lowry virtually nothing next season and will probably make more moves before the deadline is done.

If they don't move Bargnani now they will after the season.

My main issue are the intangibles. Calderon and Davis were TEAM guys - chemistry guys who worked hard. They're hard to replace and Toronto need as many as they can get.

The Calangelo "lol" fest going on here is some bullshit. Toronto have been one of the most active teams in trades and trying to improve their roster. Don't underestimate how difficult it is to get guys willing to commit to playing/living in Canada. Sometimes you have to give up more than you'd like to get pieces.

they will be paying 40 million for bargani, landry, and gay in 2014.

And who knows if they won't swing Landry or at least one of their wings in the offseason now that they've made this trade.

As a TO fan since 95 the one thing I know for sure is the roster looks drastically different from year to year. I don't expect that to change until they get what they think is the right mix.

There's still plenty of time left before the trade deadline.

It's not like they can tack him onto some other trade bait, Calderon and Davis were pretty much the only players other teams would want at the price they're getting, and they already traded their 1st rounder.

I mean, there are idiot GMs out there but I'm not seeing Bargnani or Fields going. And I'd hate to see what Colangelo would have to take back or give up (he can't even give up a pick since he owes one to OK City already.)

than Calderon's contract money-wise except he's got two more years to run.

on a good team with a strong system he could be damaging. hell, just a change of scenery. dude has been slack in Toronto because he's always felt like there's no real imperative to do anything, coasting off his size and ability etc.

In the fall, me: "Singler will start over Prince and Daye by year's end."

Now, Detroit: "Bye bye, Prince and Daye!"

WHITE NASTY GON GET THEM MINUTES!

calderon, knight, singler, monroe, and drummond=interesting.

Depending on their draft position and where they wanna play Brandon Knight, scores of options.

If they want Knight as their Jason Terry, draft MCW or Trey Burke. Or wait til the second round and roll with local boy Ray McCallum.

If they want Knight running point at days end, draft Marcus Smart, Hardaway Jr, or... Goodwin, but as you know, that's a project. He's more likely to go late first to some playoff team where he can develop. Or in the second round, I have a soft spot for Michael Snaer, or if he somehow falls enough, that kid Oladipo from Indiana may not be a starter per se, but he'd be a great bench scorer at the 2.

This draft is way better for a team that needs guards than bigs or even swings minus the first couple in the draft.

last night was the first time ive seen the lineup the pistons will be winning and losing with

Knight
Stuckey
Jerebko/Singler
Monroe
Drummond

If Jerebko starts, Singler can back up 1-3

If singler starts Jerebko can back up 3-4-5 (Monroe moves to C in that scenario)

Calderon is an interesting piece and i dont know how they plan to use him. Will Bynum has been absolutely fantastic this year and i dont really want to see JC take his minutes.

that dude was always in the long term plans, and paradoxically burying him on the bench for Daye in the short term has opened up a lot of minutes for him long term

Could we

-start a text chain and see who's available to get on right away? (May work sometimes)
-wait til we can get on at night and record one
-wait til next days so we have more analysis or breakdown.


See this is what I love about the board and I want to think outside the box about how we can capture this.

The post about this trade had pre trade talk and speculation, then the trade broke and there were the immediate reactions, then some analysis and breakdown of contracts, who won, who lost, colangelo bashing, etch. In coming days there will be up pages when a Player sucks or plays well, more analysis, more fun.

It's a living, breathing, evolving topic.

The easy answer is we start with a podcast/blog post and then move the convo to a message board or the comments section of the post...

We got enough brains/technical knowledge here to figure out if another way is possible. It'd be great not just for this site but it'd revolutionize social media. It's not that easy or else someone would be rich but I think we on this board know the potential it has more than outsiders because we know how great posting here is. Everywhere else including reddit people are generally about the quicker/shorter responses, reducing things to tweets. I think there's room for both approaches.

Sorry for the rant. This topic has been on my mind for a minute and I've been trying to figure it out.


Anyone have experiences creating apps btw? Lol

>-start a text chain and see who's available to get on right
>away? (May work sometimes)
>-wait til we can get on at night and record one
>-wait til next days so we have more analysis or breakdown.

First things first: We post a headline STAT with whatever information is on hand, reminding folks we'll be back shortly with more. We just make sure it's a verifiable situation so we don't jump the gun and look like asses.

Then, I dunno about a text chain- I'm all about phone calls. Call people going through the on-call rotation, let them know, and see who can jump on it first. We can be proactive with breaking news by subscribing to major outlets and any alerts or tweets they might offer. Most of us have smart phones, I'm sure.

Otherwise, you laid it out precisely. Even if it's a quick video recorded on a phone and uploaded to youtube to get a 5 minute commentary to break the story, it's important we have guys willing to jump on something right away. I'm all in, personally.

>See this is what I love about the board and I want to think
>outside the box about how we can capture this.

Simple, I'd say. If we're doing the site to the degree of your vision, then we all need to be as plugged in as possible. For awhile it means coming in second in terms of breaking things as they happen, since it means we're getting the information from outlets that have already broke the story, but over time that will change.

What's important to set us apart, I think, is two things:

1. Avoiding the flavor-of-the-moment, speculative bullshit the hacks at Bleacher Report rely on and focusing on more thoughtful, quality articles as well as interviews if at all possible.

2. Interaction with our readership. If we can inject the OKS brand of mad making, agenda warfare, and overall knowledge into this thing with a cleaner, more mainstream sensibility, I think that's a recipe for success. It has to maintain that element of barber shop banter IMO. That's really the hallmark.

So instead of, say, these long exchanges we have on the boards, we could pick two guys to present written arguments on a topic and encourage people to vote for the better argument. Consistent interaction via twitter and youtube will also be vital.

3. I think we should place a greater value and emphasis on our reader responses. We can rate responders based on their comment and if there's a guy who knows his stuff, let's interview him. If guys know they might get some recognition for their input, why wouldn't they come back? In a sense, we're treating our readers (i.e, customers) as actual partners instead of currency, if that makes sense.

Over time, if/as we develop connections and sources and whatnot, we'll develop a stronger base. So long as we present a somewhat more organized version of OKS and interact with the people, we're good.

>The easy answer is we start with a podcast/blog post and then
>move the convo to a message board or the comments section of
>the post...

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the message boards. I suggest promoting conversation within the comments, same as a regular news site. Message boards sort of double up on the same material and detracts from the feeling of 'real time' interaction, even if it is mostly illusion. Plus, I can just install a plugin to Wordpress that allows for live chat. We can take and record caller segments too. It all boils down to how committed we are.

We're talking about applying that time here toward something far more productive and possibly, profitable. So either sign up or run along.

All my homies traded away (uuunnnggghhh!)
Big buzzer beaters and highlight reels.
That's how me and my boys rolled
How could it be?
Somebody took my forward from me
My SF gone
And I'm so all alone
I really miss you, Rudy
Even though they gone away
I know you in a better place
And I hope to see ya soon someday

Dude followed the team on a road game to Indianapolis last night, has his Tayshaun jersey on, waiting by the tunnel for him to come out, then gets a call about the trade...

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2098077/sadprincefan.gif

I love how he immediately takes the jersey off and tries to be cool about it.

Who knew that Tayshaun had fans going to road games wearing his jersey in 2013, waiting for him at the tunnel.

got offered tickets to Portland v. Boston by the dude who works security at the Rose Garden (for a decent price, too) and when you get the tickets from him he can take you into the player tunnel so you can take a picture afterwards (his wifey is g/f's co-worker so that's the hookup, she's got MAAAAAAD pictures of her cheesing like a Bieber fan next to a hipster'd out Steve Nash).

I say yeah, okay -- that would kinda be worth it if I could snap a picture with Eddie House. that would be a treasure I could keep for the rest of my life. but pretty much during the time I'm doing the debate on paying the price for the tickets, sending texts + shit to get it all in order, news reaches me Eddie House got traded (just looked it up -- trade on Feb. 18, 2010, Rose Garden game on Fed. 19, 2010) so yeah, then I say fuck that I'm not really trying to see the boring ass Boston Celtics with no Eddie House, took the pass on the tickets. but damn, missed the opportunity to meet an icon by 24h or so, always a tough pill to swallow.

Do cats think Rudy Gay is really THAT bad?
I know he's not the most efficient cat in the league, but still do think if not a #1, a definite #2 that can create his own shot and is a tough matchup when motivated.

I get why Memphis makes the deal, and although not sold completely on Ed Davis, it makes sense for them. I just don't think getting Rudy Gay in a deal is THAT terrible. Unless he's terrible moreso for his Joe Johnson like contract, in which case yes.

Bargnani on the other hand...wow. Toronto messin' up (glad they tried to bluff us with that Landry Fields poison pill...lol)

They should've tried to held onto Ed Davis though. I wonder if they have a taker for Bargnani.

shit is crazy

Rudy looks the part and plays the part twice as good as Jeff Green.

18 ppg ain't easy.

Rudy Gay is notoriously inefficient
inefficeient to the point where it made it harder for Marc and Zach to score because defenders could just cheat off Rudy since his percentages are so low.
in the games where Rudy takes over, particularly in the 4th, we usually lose, whereas if it's Zach or Mike, we usually win.

he's not a bad player
he just doesnt have a place in this system
he's a cutter
and cutters arent gonna fit in this two big, defensive system

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/toronto-raptors/rudy-gay/

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/jeff-green/

if rudy wasn't visually the ideal basketball player--athletic, long, feathery jumper--his numbers would never, ever warrant a max contract. low FG percentage, never gets to the foul line, takes tons of shitty midrange jumpers.

and Jared Dudley.

Rudy is averaging 17 points on 16 shots. That's not that hard.

Rudy is too agressive, Green is too timid.

you traded back Gay for a Battier-esque player interestingly enough.

I think Tayshaun being washed up is overblown. Hes gonna be a solid contributor and fits in well with Memphis on both ends of the floor.

we came out of this like thieves in the night

all he ever had reliably was length and quickness, and now he just has length.

he's like lamar odom w/o the kardashian and the handles.

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

if you desperately need a fifth, he's your guy.

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

he really fits in the system better than Rudy.
we'll see Friday

because he was never good to start with. Dude got a rep as a defensive stopper because of one nice block on Reggie Miller and for "slowing down" Kobe in a series when Kobe and Shaq were beefing. As far as offense, at his peak his best move was a turn around jumper which took him around 10 seconds to spin with and because of his awkward height it was easy to take the ball from him. He's slower, his shot is even more inconsistent, and he's due to make 7 million + per year through the 2014-15 season.

This is a day of celebration in the D.

Tay was ALWAYS consistent. He wasn't flashy or anything but he performs jsut fine in the right offense. The Pistons haven't had a decent point guard since Billups and have had a TON of inconsistent play everywhere else the last few years. Tay isn;t right for the direction of this team anymore but he was perfect for that veteran squad cause he could do the little things. He could rebound, defend, hit timely 3's, get to the line, and he could even occasionally handle the ball and initiate the offense. He wasn't the best at any of those things but he was pretty good at most.

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

he'll make more in 2014 than durant (but durant has an extra year after)

Joe Johnson. These guys have their place in the league, because they are good enough to be effective and help their teams, but they're being paid as though they are difference makers. Players that you add to your team and they push you to the next level. Rudy is not that. I don't know how much he's being paid, but his value should be around 11M a year.

The problem is that Rudy is a #3 and not a #2. He could be a #2 but his jumper isn't falling, he doesn't always try on defense, and his passing is so-so at best. But he gets paid to be a #1. (Statistically, he makes the same impact as Jeff Green and Jared Dudley. Just watching him, you often prefer Gasol, Z-Bo, and Conley get more of his shots.)

Calderon, Ross, Rudy, Ed Davis isn't bad but putting him alongside Lowry, DeRozan and Bargnani makes almost no sense, especially this year when Bargnani can't even shoot. It's not like Rudy is going to create for DeMar or Andrea and he can't consistently knock down kick-outs from Lowry.

All that being said, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis makes no sense either but it's somehow working so you never can tell just by looking at paper.

One other issue is that Lowry and Rudy are friends and the coaching staff, who preferred Jose, were already struggling with him (which happened to McHale in Houston, as well.) Adding another voice in his corner (and a voice with his own shot selection issues) might not play well in the locker room.

for a shot at one of its homegrown talents like Anthony Bennett or especially Andrew Wiggins

Then desperately try to make the playoffs and get blown out in the first round.

Being a middle of the road team is what Colangelo seems to be gunning for here, and that is not the place to be in the NBA.

If this trade makes Toronto worse then I'd like this trade, but it may make them just good enough to be mediocre..ugh.

but Toronto is bad a building off mediocre

in toronto they try to end up an 8 seed and end up with the 4th pick.

Top 3 protected. (and 15 - 30 protected but that's not an issue.)

They traded the pick to Houston for Lowry who dealt it to OKC in the Harden deal.

to get Bennett if he comes out this year.

The pick will be top 2 protected if they hold onto to it for next year when Wiggins comes out, who will likely be a top selection.

I'd rather take chances to land those guys, rather than ending up 8th in the east, or in the 9-10 slots...where they would lose their pick anyway.

Bennett is a top three talent but shorter big men always seem to fall when there are bigger prospects out there. Regardless of what he does, I think Noel might still go over him as could McLemore and Shabazz.

His best shot at top three is if Charlotte has the third pick and Noel, McLemore go 1 and 2. They'd probably go with Bennett 3.

not from a superstar standpoint, but okc might luck into a pretty awesome player if things break right.

and they're a far more hard-working team now. I don't see them tanking at all. They will lose plenty of games, but that's not the plan now. They are trying to set something up. If they can flip bargnani and one or two of our wings (we now have too many) for one or two veteran players it will make a big difference. bargnani is a cancer

This isn't a big picture move to set up the Raptors for years to come and eventual contender, it's a hail mary to get the raps into the playoffs in a weak Eastern conference so Colangelo can save his job.

It's not a big picture move to get a 26 year old starting small forward and proven closer for a guy who's had half a good season and a pg that was going elsewhere at the end of the season?

funny how this becomes about Colangelo but Brooklyn throw ridiculous money at half their team and we cool