"Free agent sharpshooter Jason Kapono has quickly reached an agreement Sunday to leave the Miami Heat and sign a four-year deal believed to be worth $24 million with the Toronto Raptors.a The NBA's free agent period commenced at 12:01 Sunday morning, with free agents unable to formally sign contracts before July 11. "Jason is excited about this opportunity and intends to sign with the Raptors when the moratorium period ends," said Kapono's agent, Bob Myers. Kapono, a second-round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, led the NBA in 3-point percentage, and posted career-highs in points (10.9) and rebounds (2.7) this season." SOURCE: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2922597 sux that kapono has a great season and is now gone, but i anticipate dorell wright will get a lot more playing time because of it. i got high hopes for wright and hopefully he'll live up to them.
I think Kapono will be a bust in Toronto. They don't have a guy like Dwyane to facilitate for Kapono and get him those open looks. 24 million is a lot of cash for a one dimensional player.
I'm sure Bosh will find him when he's drawing double teams down low. But yeah, he won't have as good of numbers I'm sure.
Bosh is a great player don't get me wrong, but he's not Shaq. Just his presence allowed Kapono to get free when Shaq got the ball down low. I doubt that Bosh is going to draw as many doubles as Shaq.
You're right. Bosh isn't Shaq, because the dude can play a full season of basketball at this point in his career. Also, TJ Ford and Jose Calderon are better facilitators than Wade. In Toronto's offense, Kapono will definitely get his open looks. The financial aspect of the deal though, is a whole different issue.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're right. Bosh isn't Shaq, because the dude can play a full season of basketball at this point in his career. Also, TJ Ford and Jose Calderon are better facilitators than Wade. In Toronto's offense, Kapono will definitely get his open looks. The financial aspect of the deal though, is a whole different issue.</div> True, but I'm talking about in the Miami offense which runs around those two. Kapono's game is running the baseline behind Shaq and setting when Wade penetrates. Defenses don't key in on Calderon and Ford, which will make it harder for Kapono to get his shots. I'm not saying he won't be able to shoot, but you won't see a whole lot of what he was in Miami.
Bosh > Shaq, now. I think Kapono is going to play even better in Toronto. Bosh is a lot more scarier than Shaq now, he'll be seeing double teams and TJ Ford is more of a playmaker than anybody on the Heat, Kapono should be seeing open looks left and right.
<div class="quote_poster">Playmaker15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">True, but I'm talking about in the Miami offense which runs around those two. Kapono's game is running the baseline behind Shaq and setting when Wade penetrates. Defenses don't key in on Calderon and Ford, which will make it harder for Kapono to get his shots. I'm not saying he won't be able to shoot, but you won't see a whole lot of what he was in Miami.</div> Toronto's offense runs similarly, but has much better ball movement. The two staples of our offense are Chris Bosh isolations and TJ Ford/Jose Calderon dribble penetrations. Both of them draw more than one defender and, in a lot of cases, they kick it out and the ball swings around the perimeter until it finds someone with enough space. A player like Kapono, that can consistently stroke it if given a little space, will always have a place on this offense. Before this season, Morris Peterson was the player that was always ready to hit that corner 3, but he came into camp out of shape and lost his spot in our rotation. With this signing, the Raps once again have that player that opponents always have to be wary of and it'll make the rest of the offense run smoother.
Even Parker who's not known as a shooter gets tons of open looks in the corner for 3's. Parker got a good share of his points from the 3 point line after a kick out from either Bosh or a driving Ford. Guys like Garbajosa also get looks in the corner, so I'm sure Kapono will get open looks all year long. And Mamba is right in saying Bosh is better than an aging Shaq right now. So IMO, Kapono is going to blossom under the Raptors system.
This is actually a big lose for the Heat. Who will be the guy to go to in the corner?? I don't see Antoine Walker being able to be consistent and James Posey might not come back either.
Ah, things just get worse for us. Honestly, we're a mess (which many predicted would happen a few years ago). We turned out to be a one and done team back in 05-06. I expected a two year run, but it was only one. We clearly need another revamp. Kapono would of fit well with this squad because he was a huge X-Factor last season. Let's hope Riley can pull something off...for the better.
When I watched games this season of the Heat, I noticed this about Kapono. He was far more effective when Shaq was injured than he was when Wade was injured. Wade's penetrations actually gave Kapono better looks at the rim than Shaq's double teams. Therefore I think it's more important to consider whether Toronto have anyone on their roster that and drive, draw attention and then pass out like Wade. Last time I checked the Raptors didn't have anyone on their roster like Wade. So I'm going to say Kapono will adjust eventually, but will noway be as effective as he was in Miami. He is not worth $6mil a season unless he can hit at least 4/8 threes a game. He has too many deficiencies.
<div class="quote_poster">NaKz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">When I watched games this season of the Heat, I noticed this about Kapono. He was far more effective when Shaq was injured than he was when Wade was injured. Wade's penetrations actually gave Kapono better looks at the rim than Shaq's double teams. Therefore I think it's more important to consider whether Toronto have anyone on their roster that and drive, draw attention and then pass out like Wade. Last time I checked the Raptors didn't have anyone on their roster like Wade. So I'm going to say Kapono will adjust eventually, but will noway be as effective as he was in Miami. He is not worth $6mil a season unless he can hit at least 4/8 threes a game. He has too many deficiencies.</div> You're right and wrong. You're right in saying that the Raptors don't have a Wade calibur player, but wrong because TJ Ford does for the Raptors what Wade does for the Heat. He doesn't look like much of a threat, but with his quickness he easily blows by his defender and penetrates to the rim. Its unlikely that Ford actually goes all the way to finish, but most of the time he does what Wade does, penetration to the hoop then kicks it out. Thats how Parker got alot of his points last year, from camping in the corner waiting for a dish out then BAM he hits the three. So I do believe that Kapono will be successful if not more successful with the Raptors than he was with the Heat.
<div class="quote_poster">NaKz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">When I watched games this season of the Heat, I noticed this about Kapono. He was far more effective when Shaq was injured than he was when Wade was injured. Wade's penetrations actually gave Kapono better looks at the rim than Shaq's double teams. Therefore I think it's more important to consider whether Toronto have anyone on their roster that and drive, draw attention and then pass out like Wade. Last time I checked the Raptors didn't have anyone on their roster like Wade. So I'm going to say Kapono will adjust eventually, but will noway be as effective as he was in Miami. He is not worth $6mil a season unless he can hit at least 4/8 threes a game. He has too many deficiencies.</div> Both TJ Ford and Jose Calderon are excellent at penetrating off the dribble/drawing another defender off the pick and roll, and kicking it out to an open teammate. Obviously they aren't at Wade's level, but factor in our ball movement and I think Kapono will be more productive in Toronto. That said, I still don't think he'll be worth that contract.
Every player in the league almost can thrive in the Raptor system because of TJ, Calderon and Bosh. Bargnani got so many 3's off the high pick and roll, parker got kick outs because of Bosh and so will Kapono.
<div class="quote_poster">Playmaker15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">True, but I'm talking about in the Miami offense which runs around those two. Kapono's game is running the baseline behind Shaq and setting when Wade penetrates. Defenses don't key in on Calderon and Ford, which will make it harder for Kapono to get his shots. I'm not saying he won't be able to shoot, but you won't see a whole lot of what he was in Miami.</div> IIRC, wasn't Kapono a great shooter over in UCLA? And the guy did blow away his competition in the three point contest. I mostly agree with Chutney; but I don't think they necessarily overpaid for Kapono, his contract isn't that bad.
<div class="quote_poster">Playmaker15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Kapono never played in Europe from what I remember.</div> Uh, I meant college or whatever, heh.
