Linkage - May 10
If you’re a Raptors fan, you’re hoping the team can parlay the depth at the point position into a serviceable piece, at best a rotation player and at the absolute worst someone who doesn’t just spot up on the perimeter and heave jumpers.
What the Raptors will discover, likely as soon as July 1 when teams are in a position to offer Calderon, a restricted free agent, a contract, is that Ford is an unmoveable part.
Hindsight is a wonderful tool and upon reflection it is so obvious that the Raptors completely mishandled Ford.
For this, the entire organization is at fault.
There is nothing wrong with Ford that can’t be fixed, though.
In the past two springs, Calderon was on the floor when the Raptors needed a basket.
On each sequence, Calderon and Chris Bosh were the primary options. In each case, they came up short, last year’s elimination in Game 6 to New Jersey and this year’s exit against Orlando, when the Calderon-Bosh tandem failed to execute a late-game play in Game 2.
The one thing Ford does that Calderon can’t is create his own shot.
Another quality Ford possesses that Calderon doesn’t is an assassin’s approach.
You want attitude and an edge and Ford has them.
This is by no means a dump Calderon campaign, but the fact remains that Calderon is more coveted around the NBA than Ford.
Calderon is a piece the Raptors must explore in trade scenarios to fill the many holes exposed this past season.
Calderon might even fetch that 20-point-a-night player to complement Bosh.
One thing is certain — Ford won’t.
Last season Bosh was named to the All-NBA second team, which was a huge accomplishment, far outweighing his all-star nods the past three seasons. The All-NBA teams are based on a full-season of work and aren’t popularity contests like being named an all-star team starter or being shoe-horned in the reserves. Besides, you’re competing against the entire league, not just your conference. So earning a second-team nod in his fourth season was very impressive.
Was it significant that Bosh was left of the first, second and third team this year? I don’t think so. Just looking at his numbers they are virtually identical year-over-year, with the slight difference being attributable to a slight decrease in minutes, while on the positive side he made subtle improvements in assists and turnovers. His rebounding totals declined, but mainly that was almost entirely on the defensive end and attributable to guys like Rasho, Moon and Delfino getting more minutes and more boards.
To me by far the biggest predictor of his future ‘dominance’ is his health. In 06-07 Bosh was missed 12 games in December with a knee injury and struggled off-and-on with plantar fasciitis. Those issues – the platar fasciitis in particular – prevented him from training effectively in the summer. He came to camp healthy but missed a huge chunk of it with another knee problem. I think fitness was directly attributable to his struggles in November and December (he shot 46 and 42-per-cent in those months, respectively).
A better picture of what kind of player Bosh will be with 80 games of good health is what he did in January and February. His combined totals saw him score 25 points a game on 57 per cent shooting over 25 games before missing 10 games with his knee injury and he never quite back to that level afterwards. He’s had enough stretches like that in his career to suggest that’s the level he can play at when he’s right.
So yeah. Chris Bosh is good. If he’s missing anything it’s that he doesn’t quite have that sheer athletic ‘X’ factor that the very top handful of guys in the league have. I see him more of a Nowitzki than a Howard in that he kills you with consistency and skill and match-up problems than by simply over-powering you. But yeah, he’d damn good and getting better, I think.
So let’s dig through his words a bit here, as how they apply to the Blazers: Portland and Kevin Pritchard have the ability to offer both a sports and economic offer. Check. He would be a starter for Portland. Check. The Blazers aspire for everything. Check. He would be an important contributor. Check. Solid structure, I’d say so. Check. Options for the playoffs, for years to come. Check. Sounds like a pretty good fit.
And check out his solid “Per 48 minutes” numbers. They’re almost Chris Paul like (his regular season averages).
I love Calderon’s size (6′3, 210), speed, ability to dish and shoot the 3. He’s got the experience and at 26, he’s still relatively young (in NBA terms). As we know, the PG play (or lack of) was a deficiency for Portland last season. Were KP able to work his magic, be it via contract offer or sign-and-trade with Toronto or a draft-day deal involving the Blazers’ lottery pick and a possible mix of current players, landing Calderon would be a definite upgrade for the Blazers, however unlikely it may be.
When the Raps acquired TJ , I wrote then that B.C. made his 1st big mistake . Not only did he failed to recognize Charlie V’s value but also that Jose is a 1st rate guard worthy of a starting job. I wrote then that the Raptors just need to draft a back up point guard or get one from the free agent market. Available then were Pargo , Williams and Vaughn among talented back ups. Whew . I keep asking myself , why despite being the Nostradamus of the hoop world , I am still not hired by any NBA team or the even just the Raptors ? I’m not picky . I am willing to start at the top , say as a GM , and for a salary equal to the annual budget of a Third World nation.
So what do we do with Bargnani? Bryan Colangelo says to judge him after 5 years, Chuck Swirsky once replied to my email and told me to give him 3 years. I’ll go with Chuck. Bargnani has a busy off-season planned where he’ll work on the fundamentals of the game, if we see a meaningful improvement next year in his point production and defensive game, we should hang on to him. If the improvement is negligible and if he has regressed, there isn’t enough time for us to wait on him and we should ship him off as soon as his trade value reaches a point where we can get a warm-blooded body for him. He’s only 22 and might be a late-bloomer but will Colangelo actually wait till the end of the 2010-11 season before deciding Bargnani’s fate? I highly doubt it.
Alright, so the Raptors are long gone, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the NBA playoffs are still ‘where amazing happens.’
The panel discusses their thoughts on the second-round matchups and other news from around the NBA, including Jose Calderon stating in a recent blog that he wants to start.
The ideal time to trade Ford if that is the plan is at the deadline next year not this off-season. The danger in that of course is should T.J get injured or come back with a negative outlook towards the situation he could drop his value. But I hope I know T.J Ford as well as I think I do and say you will see a different T.J next season. If I am wrong you will not have to tell me I was wrong. I will say it myself and I will be deeply disappointed in T.J Ford.
Well, so much for Jose Calderon being the ultimate selfless teammate; a guy only concerned with winning and bringing fellow Dinos some Gatorade on the bench to keep them properly hydrated.
Jose, like every professional athlete on the planet, wants a prime-time role.
Jose is without a doubt the Raptors’ best point guard, and yet, his role on the team continues to be ill-defined, as coaching and management insist on letting both he and TJ Ford take turns steering the ship.
You can’t fault Calderon for wanting to start; he may be looking out for his best interests (as he should), but it’s also what’s right for Toronto.
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