Curious. For the Raps, this seems like a small risk/modest reward move. For the Warriors? I just don't see what they get out of it. He is an expiring contract, but only for 1.7 mil. Big whoop.
Yeah. I don't really understand Golden State's motivation, unless Belinelli was in Don Nelson's doghouse and he just wanted him gone.
They gave up on him flat out. It doesn't help when you trade a guy like Jason Richardson in order to clear playing time for him, only to have it not pan out. They probably just want to leave it behind them, and move on.
All of a sudden a Calderon/Belinelli/Hedo/Bosh/Bargnarni lineup (with Jarret Jack backing up the guard spots) doesn't seem like such a bad team. Should do okay next season in my opinion. DeRozen might help too. But all-mighty, they really, REALLY need help with a solid backup big man.
Don't even see the risk, to be honest. Both contracts are expiring, but only one of the players is younger and might pan out. The other is basically useless and at the tail end of his career.
It sounds like a fun team to watch, but a pretty poor defensive and rebounding team. I think they project to me as a low playoff seed in the East...a 7/8 seed.
It's like the run-n-fun Suns with half the talent. I like Bosh, and Calderon is OK, but that looks like a perennial first round exit team.
Did anyone tell the Raptors that Bosh is an American? I can't believe they did not offer him for Dirk Diggler
That has to be the worst defensive line-up in the NBA. They will be good at home (Especially Sunday morning when the west coast teams are still asleep) and horrible on the road.
I agree. Bosh and Stoudemire are reasonable comps, Calderon is a poor man's Nash and the rest of that lineup is a very low-rent Suns supporting cast.
That has to be one of the NBA's unintentional running farces. I still don't know how we get away with that. It almost guarantees a handful of wins every season.
uhh Dirk Diggler is american too, DUH... They should try to get Dirk Nowitzki to complete their european team.
I don't think we hate you. We just find you mildly entertaining - like a trainwreck. We see this bold experiment by Colangelo and just can't look away. We just know it's not going to end well. With his recent acquisitions, he's obviously totally given up on the notion of defense. A high powered, fast paced offense may get you a few more wins in the regular season, but it's a roster ill suited to post season success. Besides, with Colangelo making so damn many moves this off season, what else are we going to talk about? BNM
im withholding judgment on colangelo's frenetic summer but keep in mind that im unequivocally the most ardent critic of colangelo in raptorland. although, i will say that he's acquiring assets which means that if we get close within the next couple of years, he might be able to swing a deal that would make us serious contenders. of course that hinges on derozan blossoming and hedo making a significant contribution. big IF's? but without hope- we would have nothing but our socialized healthcare.
Do you honestly ever see this team, as currently constructed (poor rebounding, no defense) ever making it out of the 1st round? This team reminds me of the team Colangelo originally constructed back in 2006-07 that won 47 games and the Atlantic Division title. Three problems: 1) The Atlantic Division was incredibly weak back then. That meant several extra easy wins to pad your win total. You won't have that advantage this season. 2) If anything, this team is worse defensively than that one was. 3) In spite of winning the division and having home court advantage, you lost in the 1st round to a team that won only 41 regular season games. A big factor in losing that series was rebounding. In six games the Raptors didn't out rebound the Nets once. Other than the decisive Game 6, when the Raptors were out rebounded 40 - 30, the rebounding was fairly close, with a small advantage to the Nets. But, that advantage was enough to tip the series in the Nets favor. If the Raptors could have owned the edge on the boards, they probably would have won that series. And, if anything, the 2009-10 version of the EuroRaptors will be an even weaker rebounding team. I know Raps fans and the local media are excited about all these moves, and they have improved the team. But many of them are going overboard - predicting that the Raptors will get HCA and will be a lock to make it to at least the 2nd round. They are, unfortunately, ignoring the fact that it takes defense and rebounding to win in the play-offs and the Raptors are VERY weak in both areas. To me, this whole strategy smacks of desperation by Colangelo. With the Raptors regular seson win totals going from 47 to 41 to 33, he needs to reverse this trend to keep his job. I do think the Raptors will win more regular season games this season (probably in the 40 - 45 win range if Bosh is healthy and motivated), but I just don't see any way they make it past the 1st round with such poor defense and weak rebounding. BNM
pg - calderon/jack sg - belinelli/jack sf - hedo/derozan pf - bosh/reggie evans c - bargnani/patrick obryant that's basically what the raptors are looking at. it really is a very poor man's suns team from when they had joe johnson. you've got bosh as amare, calderon as a lesser version of nash, and hedo as young joe johnson. the biggest diffence is the downgrade from marion/qrich/barbosa/jim jackson to bargnani/belinelli/jack/derozan. i see 50 wins as possible for this raptors team if everything goes right(though my prediction would be a record just over .500), but it's hard for me to see them knocking off anyone in the playoffs.
