A $24-million bench-warmer

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>elcome to the NBA, where a $24-million US player isn't necessarily expected to be a starter.</p>

Which is what the Raptors may have in Jason Kapono.</p>

Raptors coach Sam Mitchell went on the defensive yesterday when asked if he would be disappointed if Kapono, the club's most expensive, most heralded, off-season signing, did not turn out to be a regular starter at the small forward position -- the lone starting spot still up for grabs.</p>

Mitchell has said the last couple of days that Kapono may not be his starter at the three spot, that the job may go to another newcomer, Carlos Delfino, or the wildly inconsistent Joey Graham, or even to Jorge Garbajosa, whom Mitchell would prefer to play at power forward.</p>

To the uninitiated, dropping close to $24 million (in mid-level exception money) over four years on a player who may not crack the starting lineup on a consistent basis would seem to be a disappointment, perhaps even a miscalculation.</div></p>

The Toronto Sun</p>

 

He should be coming off the bench with his limited game. Perfect shooter to have coming off of the bench and the Raptors took away a player from the Heat which can't be overlooked.</p>

 

Yea, I have to agree. We just need him to shoot. A very dangerous guy to have off the bench, he will be shooting the lights out. That is a guy we have the "Luxury" to come off the bench,</p>

 

He will play 20-25 minutes anyway. I think Garbo will start again at SF. He did a great job last year, and he a very smart player.</p>

 

For anyone who watched the game against Roma, how did Delfino look as a starter? That lineup looked intriguing on paper (Ford-Parker-Delfino-Bargnani-Bosh).</p>

 

He wasn't to bad. He looked more comfortable in out system. I could see him starting some games.</p>

 

Interesting, if Kapono is coming off the bench I would assume this means more 3pt shots for him and he would be kind of what Bargnani was for us last season off the bench. Regardless this is a win-win situation in my eyes.</p>

 

I hate the Title of this article, just because he comes off the bench doesn't mean he's a "BenchWarmer".</p>

 

Well, I mean, 6 million to come off the bench is a lot. We could of went for a different guy, like Ruben or Sasha even for less. I think even at 6 million, I don't care if he comes off the bench. I just want to see consistent play out of him. I want him in double figures every night, and shooting at a high percentage. I also wanna see better defense and him creating his own shot, not always relying on a PG.</p>

 

It makes so much more sense for him to come off the bench. Like the article mentioned the starting four have enough fire power behind them and it's so important for the Raps to be able to execute for 48 minutes.</p>

Calderon, Kap, Jorge. I think there's three players that could be on Toronto's bench that may be starters on other teams. This will allow them to keep the pressure on when resting Bosh, Bargs, TJ and AP. That's not even mentioning the bench players I think are just beneath those three. Rasho, Delf and Dixon would also probably be higher on some teams depth charts.</p>

 

This should be no suprise, its not like Kapono's game has gotten any better. He had one good year with the Heat, he is a marginal player who excels and the spot up 3 pointer. He has been a disappointment ever since signing with UCLA and I really dont expect him to have many years like last year, although playing in Toronto's system will definately help.</p>

 

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to start Delfino and bring Kapono off the bench. I thought one of the overlooked needs of last season's team was a 2-guard that could slash draw some defenders to him. We did have Fred Jones and eventually Juan Dixon, but they're lack of height made our backcourt (with Ford) a total liability. Plus they were both chuckers (and in Jones' case, it was just ugly to watch).

Kapono will always be important to this team, because anyone who can hit an open shot with his accuracy will fit right into our system. But one of the main problems I noticed during the playoff series against the Nets was a lack of ball movement in our offensive sets. I don't think we can count on Sam Mitchell to make that adjustment since he never really seemed to recognize the problem. Delfino can shoulder some of the ballhandling duties so TJ isn't dominating it all the time and he has a balanced enough game that defenders will shift towards him without being able to anticipate his drives beforehand (like they do with Ford).</p>

 

While since i've posted around here! Good to be back, just in time for the regular season.</p>

Mitchell does this type of thing every off season so far. He puts the starter spot up for grabs (technically) to keep guys working hard. Whether Kapono starts really doesn't matter. The way we play our small forward slot is highly situational anyways.</p>

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Bulls pay Nocioni about $6M (maybe $5.7M?) to be 6th man. Nothing wrong with it.</p>

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Big difference.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (a13x)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

While since i've posted around here! Good to be back, just in time for the regular season.</p>

Mitchell does this type of thing every off season so far. He puts the starter spot up for grabs (technically) to keep guys working hard. Whether Kapono starts really doesn't matter. The way we play our small forward slot is highly situational anyways.</p>

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Welcome back, dude. Man, I can't wait for the season to start...</p>

 

I think Kapono was over paid. But isn't every player over paid in some way? I think off the bench he will be worth his money, and if not, I trust Colangelo to make the right move.</p>

 

Even if we didnt make any off season signings or big moves we would still be improved this season over next IMO because we're a developing young team on the uprise and adding Kapono who hits 3s like nothing will only improve us, and like someone mentioned above me the way we play our SFs is situational as one game Bargnani will play 30 minutes then Garbo or Graham at the postion.</p>