Linkage – June 27
The Raptors selected Roy Hibbert with their No. 17 pick, but were actually selecting the seven-foot-two centre from Georgetown will head to Indiana as part of a trade agreed to in principle on the eve of the draft.
The Raptors will acquire six-time all-star Jermaine O’Neal and Indiana’s 41st pick in the draft in exchange for point guard T.J. Ford, centre Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, and the rights to Hibbert.
The Pacers selected Australian centre Nathan Jawai with their 41st pick.
“They have a ton of talent,” O’Neal told The Indianapolis Star yesterday, confirming a trade to the Raptors that can’t be officially announced until July 9 because of the NBA’s complex salary-cap rules.
The deal – O’Neal and Australian centre Nathan Jawai, who was the 41st pick in the draft, to Toronto for Hibbert, T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and Maceo Baston – gives the 29-year-old a chance to rekindle a career that’s been stalled by injuries in each of the last four seasons, including a 42-game 2007-08 season.
“When I sat out all those games last year, it was a career move,” O’Neal told the Associated Press. “I knew what the situation was. I knew what the significance of me staying away from the game, rehabbing the leg and getting the knee back to its normal usage was.”
“I think playing alongside Chris Bosh gives us a different dynamic,” O’Neal told the AP. “You look at teams in the NBA, you look at their low-post players, and they always have one good player, and when that good player goes out, you can change your defence a little bit and load up on other areas. Even with us starting out the games together, one of us will always be on the floor. You won’t get a chance to adjust your defence.”
Neither the Raptors nor the Pacers can officially comment on the deal until it’s finalized next month.
With the trade of O’Neal in NBA-imposed limbo, the Raptors were trying to swing other transactions as the draft unfolded. President and general manager Bryan Colangelo was trying to find a way to acquire at least an extra pick to hoard for the future but didn’t have much luck.
“I really don’t expect anything significant,” he said while the first round was unfolding.
While the O’Neal deal will happen, another one that didn’t involving the Raptors and Ford emerged last night.
According to sources, a trade that would have had Ford and Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace as the centrepieces – and allowed Toronto to keep its draft pick – was scuttled when the Bobcats refused to add a second-round pick to sweeten the deal.
Phoenix and Portland were also after Ford before Toronto took the Indiana offer.
Jawai has been on Toronto’s radar for months. Director of player personnel Jim Kelly scouted him in the Australian league last season. But it’s likely the Raptors will leave the 21-year-old to play in Europe or Australia for at least a year or two.
Jawai played last season for the Cairns Taipans of the Australian league, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds a game.
“It depends where you get guys in their career,” said Mitchell. “And Jermaine, with all the stuff he’s been through in Indiana, maybe he’s figured it out.”
Mitchell’s point is well taken. No matter how abysmal and injury-riddled Jermaine O’Neal’s recent history has been, perhaps there’s a chance he will, nearing age 30, shed that baggage of a mid-career swoon and enjoy a Hogtown renaissance. Mitchell has seen it happen before, selfish players morph into selfless ones as they age.
But Colangelo hasn’t exactly been producing like an elite executive in the days since the Raptors ran off a feel-good 47-win season in 2006-07.
Heralded as a messianic visionary of up-tempo Euro-ball, he is suddenly a garden-variety reactionary. That doesn’t make him incompetent. That only makes him about the same as the vast majority of jockdom executives, plugging holes, fixing mistakes, slogging it out. So applaud him for staying in the fight, but understand he made millions designing the plan he just ditched. And know, too, that he’s a risk-taker, whose recent bets haven’t panned out.
That’s why it’s been rich to hear Colangelo spend no end of wind explaining how Jorge Garbajosa was last season’s missing link – as though an act of God kept the .500 Raptors from second-round playoff glory. It was Colangelo who opted to allow Garbajosa to play in the European championships, a move that proved disastrous to both the since-departed player’s career and the Raptors’ fortunes. (And let’s not forget the GM was, before the season, espousing the theory that Garbajosa, with Andrea Bargnani poised to be a star, was shaping up to be something of a bit player in 2007-08.) Only in the revisionist tale-telling is Garbo the linchpin.
The list continues. Bargnani, Colangelo’s signature No.1 overall pick from 2006, has regressed. His big off-season signing of last summer, Jason Kapono, didn’t fit into Mitchell’s rotation for much of the season.
And Mitchell, the coach Colangelo signed last summer, holds a diametrically different view of how the game should be played and who should play in it.
Maybe the O’Neal trade bridges that gap a little. Maybe now the coach’s incessant complaints about a roster lacking in defence and rebounding will be silenced. Mitchell suggested as much last night.
Indeed, when O’Neal’s deal comes off the books in 2010 the club will have plenty of money to pursue a bright free-agent class. But let’s not forget that Colangelo had, until this deal, been promising that kind of big-spending off-season in 2009.
Waiting for free-agent classes – delaying the gratification another calendar year – is a dangerous game with zero guarantees. Like Bargnani and Kapono, it’s another of Colangelo’s gambles that promises a payoff as yet unseen.
Two years ago Bryan Colangelo believed that Bosh, Ford and Bargnani was the nucleus of Eastern Conference title contender at least with a bit of seasoning and extra talent.
He’s was obviously wrong then, in retrospect. We’ll just have to see what this new vision holds for 2008-09 and beyond.
The brief press conference that Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo just conducted should go down as one of the stranger moments in Raptors history. Because of the pending trade for Jermaine O’Neal that cannot be completed until July 9, Colangelo did not have much to talk about. Colangelo did not have much to say about Roy Hibbert, who was taken with the 17th pick that will be dealt to Indiana as part of a trade. He also could not talk about the 41st pick, which Indiana will use and then trade to Toronto on July 9. A brief sampling: “He is just a very nice man who is going to be a fine NBA player,” Colangelo said of Hibbert. “There has been a lot of speculation about a trade. I know it’s sort of a hot topic right now, but unfortunately we’re not in a position to comment on trade speculation.” Scintillating stuff.
Hibbert, though, will be a Raptor longer than some other draft day picks. Antawn Jamison put on a Raptors cap after the fourth pick of the 1998 draft, before he was dealt for Vince Carter. Kareem Rush also was a Raptor briefly in 2002, before he was traded to Los Angeles the same evening.
With the 41st pick of the draft, the Indiana Pacers took Nathan Jawai, a 6-foot-10, 280-pound centre from Australia. He will be shipped to Toronto as part of the O’Neal trade that cannot be made official until July 9th.
Jawai, the “Aussie Shaq,” played professionally in his native country for the Cairns Taipans last year. He averaged 17.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He briefly played for Midland College in Texas before returning home.
On his page in the NBA Draft Media Guide, his strengths section reads, “Possesses a huge frame and a massive wingspan at 7-foot-5. Runs the floor well.”
According to nbadraft.net, Jawai needs to keep developing his all-around skills, in particular his post skills.
Also of note, he grew up in Bamaga, a town of only 1,000 people.
“There were about 13 players in the draft that we thought without question would be off the board by 17,” Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo said after most of the first round was completed, before revealing his would-be choice if they had kept the 17th pick.
“All 13 were off the board. The first centre that we had rated in that area that we thought might have a chance at 17 was (Phoenix’s pick with the 15th selection) Robin Lopez.”
Colangelo did say he was still in talks to add a pick later in the draft, in addition to the unofficial second-round pick he got from Indiana that he could not talk about.
“I met so many different people around (Indianapolis) in my eight years and they allowed me to (become) a perennial All-Star,” O’Neal said in a phone interview. “It was a hard decision, but I understand it was the best decision for the team and myself. Sometimes when you’re at a particular place for so long and it doesn’t go right, you need a new start.”
O’Neal, 29, said he knew he needed a fresh start two or three years ago and that the franchise’s off-the-court problems took a toll on him.
“It stopped being about basketball and it really wore me down,” the six-time All-Star forward said. “It’s hard to go from being on the cusp of winning a championship to coming down and not making the playoffs. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.”
O’Neal said when he’s done playing, he plans to retire as a Pacer.
O’Neal confirmed the trade Thursday, saying he was pleased with the move by team president Larry Bird.
“He wanted to get me to a place where I could contend and do what I’m capable of doing,” O’Neal told The Associated Press. “We both agreed that the timing was perfect. His focus on getting them (the Pacers) to a level where they can grow and start to be competitive was tremendous.”
O’Neal wasn’t surprised by the trade.
“I knew last year that this time would be coming,” he said.
That’s one of the main reasons he believes the Raptors can contend for an NBA title next season.
“You’re talking about a team that’s extremely athletic, extremely big at the wing positions, and they play defense,” O’Neal said. “With my defensive mentality and ability to change the game and Chris’ ability to block shots and change the game — it’s exciting.”
In the second round, the Pacers drafted 6-10 Nathan Jawai, but he is headed to Toronto as part of the trade sending Jermaine O’Neal to the Raptors.
“I think we got more athletic,” Bird said. “I think we got some size, or Toronto got some size, and next year we got some cap space.”
Hibbert, at 7-2, adds size, and Nesterovic, whose contract expires at the end of the year, adds depth.
All or any of it could have been spun as great news by the Pacers, but their hands were tied.
“I really don’t know what to say about it,” Bird said. “I know the franchise is going in the right direction and that’s just a step because next summer it puts us in a position to do a lot of things. The Pacers future looks brighter today than it did a few days ago.”
A general manager, even one as resourceful as Colangelo, is in the end just a man. Cut him and he bleeds; analyze his track record with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight and it’s inevitably uneven.
One guy who thinks he’s got it going on is O’Neal, who took his physical for the Raptors yesterday.
“You’re talking about a team that’s extremely athletic, extremely big at the wing positions, and they play defence,” O’Neal said to The Associated Press about the prospect of joining his new team. “With my defensive mentality and ability to change the game and [Chris Bosh's] ability to block shots and change the game — it’s exciting.”
Two summers ago Colangelo, who refused to elaborate on the widely reported deal last night, was on fire. His presence alone at the NBA’s draft lottery seemed to allow the Raptors to jump up from fifth to No. 1 overall.
Last night, he was reduced to scraping up a second-round pick — the Pacers picked Australian big man Nathan Jawai at No. 41, reportedly on behalf of the Raptors. Journeyman stuff.
Back in 2006, in an uncertain and not particularly deep draft class, Colangelo hired his old friend Maurizio Gherardini and with the benefit of the former Benetton Treviso boss’s inside knowledge, picked one-time Benetton prospect Andrea Bargnani No. 1.
Colangelo then picked up Ford as the Raptors’ point guard of the future in a deal for Charlie Villanueva. There were other valuable moves around the edges: Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa, both European free agents, were positive contributors.
But the die was set: The Raptors’ building blocks were Bosh, Ford and Bargnani.
Less than two years later, the die has been broken.
It’s not just that Ford has been jettisoned — an acknowledgment that Colangelo misread the long-term potential of Jose Calderon — but that he was dispatched for O’Neal.
It’s a big man’s league, to be sure, and O’Neal has at times been one of the NBA’s best — an automatic 20-and-10 man when healthy and perhaps most significantly a well-respected defender on the block.
But there is the wonky knee, which betrayed him last season after surgery the season before, and the fact he plays a very similar role as Bosh, the Raptors’ franchise player. (At least until the summer of 2010, when Bosh can decline his contract’s player option and become a free agent if he is concerned about the Raptors’ prospects long term.)
O’Neal’s arrival also seems to be an acknowledgment that Bargnani, the second leg of the three-legged stool, hardly looks like a foundation piece after a decidedly flat sophomore season.
Gambles are taken, mistakes are made.
Colangelo’s Midas touch isn’t quite as evident, and his shoes do get wet when he gets too close to the water.
But he is no fool. If O’Neal recovers some lift and some health as a soon-to-be 30-year-old, he instantly gives the Raptors a top-tier front line.
If he doesn’t, Colangelo has at least preserved his ability to remake the franchise again two seasons from now when O’Neal’s contract expires.
By then, Colangelo might need another chance. They almost always do.
For someone with long-standing self-esteem and image issues, this guy being traded to the Raptors (for TJ Ford, of whom we will likely never of again) is maybe the worst thing that could ever happen.
The man has long thought himself “the man”, and surely thinks he was supposed to be part of some league-shaking, KG-to-BOS level, weeks-long media frenzy, type of mega deal.
But no, he was traded for an average PG with a bad back/neck, and a mid-first round pick in a weak draft.
In short, this makes the Raptors a smidge better if Mr. Jermaine is healthy, and changes the Pacers not at all.
No issue here with bypassing the opportunity to deal for either T.J. Ford or Jermaine O’Neal. Ford’s contract runs through the all-important 2010 offseason and O’Neal is an injury-plagued shell of his former self.
However, I’m still happy with the selection of Jawai who, like Douglas-Roberts, was projected to be a late 1st round pick. He is pretty much everything that the Raptors need in a big man, as he a load and force inside, running 6′10″ and 270 pounds. He is strong and surprisingly athletic for his frame. I’ve also read that he can get angry and emotional, but not to the point where it affects his game in a negative manner.
I think Jawai could possibly challenge for a roster spot this season, as he brings the big body and strength inside to help this team deal with the Pistons, Magic, and any other team with a large front court. He would be a great complement off the bench to our slender starters in Bosh and O’Neal off the bench, and a real change-up from the only other big man Toronto has under contract in Andrea Bargnani.
What are the chances that CDR falls into the second round, let alone lasts until the pick before Toronto?
It was Danny Granger all over again for me.
Now granted CDR is not the talent Granger is on paper, and may have fallen to the second round for a reason, but I have to say I’m starting to question BC’s draft decision making.
Bargnani isn’t panning out so well and others like Gay, Aldridge and Roy are flourishing. PJ Tucker is out of the league while HQ favourites from that year like Gibson, Powe and Millsap were still on the board when PJ was selected. We’ve yet to see Giorgos Printezis and now we bring on a Printezis clone in Australia’s Nathan Jawai. Yes Toronto needs to get bigger behind JO in case of injury, but couldn’t that be accomplished via free-agency instead of via the long-bomb in the draft?
Will Jawai, Printezis or even Roko for that matter, come over next season? If not, it’s mighty disconcerting to see players like Bill Walker being bought for cash by teams that are already overflowing with talent.
Yes we’ve got Jermaine O’Neal on the way…but admittedly tonight just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Because as it stands, Toronto’s line-up consists of:
PG:
SG: Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono
SF: Jamario Moon, Joey Graham
PF: Chris Bosh, Kris Humphries
C: Jermaine O’Neal, Andrea Bargnani
Even assuming Jose re-signs in a few weeks, that’s a lot of holes to fill with not a lot of money to work with.
As per my current math, which admittedly might be slightly sketchy at this time of night, Toronto will have the following salaries to pay out next season:
-$21,352,500 (O’Neal)
-$14,410,581 (Bosh)
-$ 5,784,480 (Kapono)
-$ 5,176,440 (Bargnani)
-$ 4,550,000 (Parker)
-$ 2,522,913 (Humphries)
-$ 2,449,184 (Graham)
-$ 711,517 (Moon)
Add in another 8 or so to Jose and we’re talking about $64,957,615 in payroll if indeed Maceo Baston and not Joey Graham is being sent to Indiana with Ford and Rasho.
Considering the salary cap is approximately $56 Million, that doesn’t leave Toronto with much room at all with which to work in order to avoid the luxury tax, which should come in at around $68 Million.
So my question then is, why not try and grab some second round or even late first round talent for cheap if you’re Toronto? Other teams seemed to be moving in and out with ease (ahem, Portland) so unless BC and co simply didn’t see anyone they liked, I’m not sure why this wasn’t seen as a more viable option?
Hopefully BC answers these questions in the next few days.
However, I would take Jermaine O’Neal above Boris Diaw or Webster/Frye or any of the other legit offers on the table. A healthy Jermaine O’Neal in the middle changes the whole complexion of the Raptors from a defensive perspective. It takes pressure off Bosh and moves him into the PF position. Bargnani benefits by now coming off the bench.
For the record, Jermaine O’Neal will be turning 30 during training camp. No doubt, Raps’ rebounding improves with JO in the mix. When healthy, he’s a 10 board per game player who can add a couple of blocks each game. He’s 6′11″ and 260 lbs, which is by no means undersized for NBA centers. While his offensive numbers percentages could be better, that’s not his primary role in Toronto. As the Celtics proved - its all about playing tough defence, baby!
Don’t for a minute think that this is the end of the dealing. I expect another shoe (or two) to drop in the next few weeks. Bryan will address the need for an upgrade on the wing.
JVG Likes it!
Jeff Van Gundy told ESPN that he believes this deal vaults the Raptors into becoming the third best team in the East behind Boston and Detroit.
Right now, I give this deal a 7.5 out of 10. If JO is injured, its a 6 out of 10. If JO remains healthy, it becomes a 9 out of 10.
At this juncture, we need to wait and see how it all plays out.
Cairns head coach Alan Black said he had spoken to Jawai’s agent Mark Fleischer about the likely trade.
“Jim Kelly, who is the head scout for Toronto, was in Cairns last year to see Nathan play and we know that the Raptors are very impressed with Nathan,” Black said.
“After talking with Nathan’s agent he has been told by Toronto that they want Nathan to play with the club in the NBA next season, which is fantastic news for Nathan.
“The full trade will take about a week to finalise, but it now looks highly probable that Nathan has achieved his dream and will be playing with the Toronto Raptors in the NBA.”
Jawai, who won the NBL rookie of the year and was named the most valuable player in the league’s All Star game, became the 10th Australian ever drafted to the NBA.
“You don’t want to walk away from something that’s unfinished, but it was so bad,” O’Neal said. “We thought the best way for (the Pacers) to get back on the right track was to move me. I was totally fine with it.
“Me and Larry haven’t had the best relationship over the last couple of years, but I can honestly say in this particular situation, he did a hell of a job. His focus was to better this team, and at the same time he was going to send me to a team where I was able to compete for a championship.”
“I played on one leg for two years, and if I’m able to do the same things I did on one leg, then they need to check me out this year,” O’Neal said. “For the first time in three years, I’m healthy and I’m ready to roll.
“You have to expect criticism. It’s the nature of the beast. It’s motivation. That’s what I took from it. I knew if it didn’t work out for the Pacers, it would work out elsewhere.”
Being drafted in the first round would have guaranteed Jawai a three-year NBA contract and while he no longer has that security, he is determined to make his mark in the top league.
“It motives me that I got picked in the second round,’’ he said.
“Thanks to Toronto and the Pacers for picking me.’’
Jawai said motivation rather than disappointment became the overriding emotion when his name was not called out in the top 30.
“It got to the second round and I wasn’t called and I was nervous but as the round went on I got motivated (to prove that I can make it),’’ he said.
“I can’t let that affect me and change me as a person, I’ve got to strive to get better.’’
Jawai’s mentor, Cairns Taipans coach Aaron Fearne, and his agent Mark Fleischer reminded their charge that some of the NBA’s best players, such as Manu Ginobili and Gilbert Arenas, were not picked up until the second round.
Jawai is likely to play in the NBA summer league from July 8 and hopes to impress enough to force his way onto an NBA roster.
Cairns Taipans chief executive Denis Keeffe said the club’s staff and players were excited by Jawai’s selection.
“I know most of the staff arrived at work today excited and nervous and there was just this electric atmosphere in the office as we all watched the draft live on ESPN,’’ he said.
“To be selected in the top 41 young players on the planet is a great achievement for Nathan.
“He has worked extremely hard and to see how this kid has developed from a shy youngster from Bamaga through the Taipans Academy, AIS, US College system and last year with the Taipans in the NBL shows what tremendous drive and determination he has along with the amazing talent we have in our region.
“We have been saying for a long time now about what a fantastic basketball program we have in place at the Taipans – our youth development is first class through our Academy and we are moulding and giving our local youth a realistic shot at a career in basketball.”
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