source Its funny how near the end BC wont say anything about this yr, like last yr how he said "this is my best team" or something along those lines
Everyone's learned their lesson from last season. Colangelo's refusing to make predictions about this team before the season starts. Bosh is avoiding showing too much excitement about the moves as well. There's a wait-and-see mindset coming from this franchise, which is refreshing after the JO debacle.
I'm not a Raptors fan per se, but they are my hometown team. Never cared much for them, but this year I am really excited to see what they can do. I feel this team is a lot better than what we had at the beginning of last season. Infact, I always thought JO was past his prime when we traded for him and didn't really think the Raptors were going to accomplish much. The team now seems like a great improvement, and although I don't see them as contenders, I think they will have a great season and will put on a great show for the fans. This seems to be one of the most talented Raptor teams ever, and most diverse with shooters, slashers, rebounders, etc, though I think they could still use more inside scoring/slashing.
That's my main issue with the Turkoglu signing. By signing A 30-year-old Turk they don't have the cap room to go at a player like Rudy Gay.
I dont mind the hedo signing at all and I was just joking about Rudy Gay, his a decent player but very inconsistent!
I don't mean Rudy Gay necessarily. I mean by signing Turkoglu the Raptors are now unable to sign better players with more potential such as Rudy Gay. Turkoglu at age 30 is not going to get any better and only makes the Raptors slightly better so what's the point in signing him? Why not use the money to sign someone like Gay who has all-star potential and has the potential to make the Raptors a contender (with a few additional moves, of course).
Your points are valid BUT (big BUT too) if turk's stats said opposite, if you look at his stats (with the excaption of the past season) he has increased all of his stats with excaptions here and there, so the guy can still play and his a VETERN and will be solid for young guys like douby, DeRozan, and even bosh! so sure his like up for few years but its not so bad! Plus this move was made as a move for if bosh leaves raps could still handle their own! I really hope bosh leaves because they are ALOT of better players at his position then him who can make raps a contender without making anymore moves (i.e. Stoudmire!) In all seriousness I expect Bosh to say sum random ass sh*t during this coming season (I expect him to say after a 3 game winning streak that I really wanna try for MVP!)
Toronto kinda had to jump at the opportunity. Recent history shows that Toronto has had trouble luring in big name free agents. Who knows what Toronto would have ended up with if they waited. Plus, the point was to make the Raptors relevant so Bosh would stay. If Toronto blew this season, Bosh would most likely leave (not that I'm saying he's not gonna leave now even if we got Hedo and Toronto doesn't totally suck this year).
No doubt about it Turk is solid, but like I said he isn't an ideal acquisition because he's expensive and he won't make the Raptors that much better. Turk would be better for a team that needs his presence to be a contender. And Turk wasn't signed as insurance for Bosh. If anything he was signed to influence Bosh to stay. If Bosh leaves then the Raptors won't be relevant conversation in any playoff discussion.
I don't recall the last time the Raptors had sufficient cap space and actually attempted to lure in a big name free agent. At the end of the day, I think most players are most concerned with money; hence why so many players are heading overseas these days. Even if Bosh leaves Toronto, though it will be a loss, they will save $16M in cap and they could have saved $26M if they didn't sign Turkoglu. That's a lot of financial leverage to sign the right players. I just question the move in a long term sense. Let's say the Raptors have a 'good year' and make the playoffs and, as a result, Bosh decides to stay. They will probably be stuck with the same mediocre team for the next couple of years. I think it's best to suck this year and possibly lose Bosh. The Raptors can then get a lotto pick and have tons of cap room to make the right signings. That's best for the long term.
