Power forward Chris Bosh will be starting off the 2010–2011 season for the Miami Heat, and Raptor’s General Manager Bryan Colangelo, who was basically hired to find players that would fit around Bosh as the cornerstone, is left with no foundation to build on — only pieces.
Simmering on the Raptors’ backburner simultaneously with the Bosh situation is the debacle with Hedo Turkoglu and José Calderón, as well whether or not Andrea Bargnani will ever play like a number one pick should.
It may seem crazy, but the Raptors might not be as bad as everyone says they will — in the long run anyway.
Bosh leaving could actually be the best thing that’s ever happened for Colangelo. To look at it from another perspective, the veteran GM finally gets to build a team from the ground up without inheriting any pieces from the tenures of predecessors. It’s safe to say that this Raptors team has Colangelo’s fingerprints all over it.
With Bosh gone, the first thing on the agenda for Colangelo was to take care of the Turkoglu debacle. It was always a bit of a conundrum as to how Turkoglu, a ball-dominating forward, could coexist with Calderón, a ball-dominating point guard. Both players need to control the rock, and are essentially invisible on the court without the ball.
Colangelo’s initial solution to the problem was to get rid of both of them, and it almost worked. While Turkoglu was sent to the Phoenix Suns for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones, Calderón and Reggie Evans were dealt to the Charlotte Bobcats for Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw, until Bobcats owner Michael Jordan nixed the deal.
While Raptors fans cried bloody murder, however, Jordan’s cowardly move may have proven to be a blessing in disguise for the Raptors.
It’s no secret that when Jarrett Jack assumed the point guard role for the Raptors, Turkoglu began playing better. But Jack failed to establish the same cohesion with the second unit as Calderón did, and this season Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, and Sonny Weems will most likely be opening-day starters. These players are the future of the team, and if Calderón gets them playing at their maximum potential, it’s clear that keeping Calderón was wise.
While there are those in the pro-Jack camp who argue that Calderón’s defense is a huge liability — so much so that he shouldn’t start — others say that his offensive output outweighs his disadvantage on defense.
Prior to the 2008–2009 season, no one really cared about Calderón’s defensive issues because he had guys like Morris Peterson and Anthony Parker guarding the perimeter, and Bosh, Bargnani, and Jorge Garbajosa to protect the paint. Calderón’s defense was exposed when over the past few seasons Jason Kapono and Marco Belinelli were expected to help whenever he was beat by his man.
But the real problem for the Raptors’ defense is going to be the interior. While Bargnani is solid when it comes to one-on-one, his help is severely lacking.
The Raptors do have an advantage that not too many other teams do though — and that’s depth. Their second unit will be one of the better ones in the league this season, and if Toronto has anywhere near a .500 season, it will be because of their bench.
