Riley, 63, will remain president the next two years, and then (with owner Micky Arison) decide whether to continue. . . If the Heat cannot draft Derrick Rose, one potential point-guard trade option who intrigues management is Toronto’s T.J. Ford (the Raptors say they will keep Jose Calderon).
Herewith, the 10 highest-paid athletes in Canada:
CHRIS BOSH
$43M
At the tender age of 22, Texas native Chris Bosh became a very rich man. In June, 2006, after leading the Toronto Raptors in scoring the previous season, the NBA all-star signed a three-year deal with the Raptors that comes with a one-year player option that will keep the power forward with the team through 2009-2010. The deal was the biggest Raptors contract since Vince Carter’s six-year extension in 2001. While the Raptors may have just been knocked out of the playoffs, Mr. Bosh earns the big bucks because he is the marquee player on the team.
T.J. FORD
$33M
Standing six-feet tall and weighing 165 pounds, T.J. Ford is far from the biggest man on the court, but his contract certainly isn’t small. In October, 2006, the Raptors signed the tiny Texan to a three-year deal, with an option for a fourth year, worth as much as $33-million. But at the time of the deal, Mr. Ford said he was focused on the game, not his contract. “I want to be one of the best point guards in the NBA, and that’s my main focus. Whatever my pay may be, my ultimate goal is to continue to have the legacy I’ve had throughout my career,” he said.
JASON KAPONO
$24M
In the 2006-2007 season, sharpshooter Jason Kapono led the NBA in three-point percentages and won the three-point contest at the All-Star Weekend. On top of that, he averaged a career-best 10.9 points for the Miami Heat. With those numbers, the Raptors had to dangle a big pay cheque to lure the Long Beach, Calif., native to Toronto. In July, 2007, Mr. Kapono inked a four-year deal with the team, reportedly worth roughly $24-million.
In some ways, Chris Bosh has fallen into the same rut as Anthony, a product of the lauded 2003 draft who finds himself as a statistical dynamo and playoff no-show.
No, Bosh has not advanced out of the first round, either.
Unlike with Anthony, who has had Iverson, Kenyon Martin, Camby and others, Bosh has lacked much in the way of supporting casts.
For as solid a pick as Bosh has proven, the Raptors have muffed the draft since, with the likes of Rafael Araujo, Charlie Villanueva, Joey Graham and the lamentable Andrea Bargnani.
In the first round, the Magic were playing the Raptors, which is sort of like showing up for your first day of kindergarten. Playing the storied, stingy Pistons is sort of like showing up for your first day of boot camp.
Parker’s tendency to become anonymous for large parts of the game is very troublesome, as a starting shooting guard playing 39+ minutes a game you have to be a constant factor in the play. There are times where you almost forget that he’s in the game until you look at the box score after the game (see Orlando) which makes you wonder just exactly what the hell he was doing while he was in there. This phenomenon is partially because he’s not a good enough scorer to demand the ball and score consistently like better 2-guards such as Crawford, Johnson, Hamilton, Allen or Richardson. It’s also because in a Bosh-central offense his primary role becomes that of a three-point shooter. If the defense has him covered on the three-point line, he basically becomes a non-factor. Although there have been a few times where he’s carried the team offense over a 4-5 minute stretch, it doesn’t happen nearly enough for him to be considered a go-to guy when your offense is in a funk.
Toronto Raptors: Where Outrebounded Happens – Toronto fell to Orlando in five games mainly because of some little guy named Dwight. In their four losses, they were outrebounded by 9.8, including being outrebounded 55-37 in the Magic’s Game 5 clincher. In the Raptors Game 3 victory, guess who won the rebounding battle? Jamario Moon led the Raptors with 10 boards, and collectively, they outrebounded Orlando 42-34 by allowing Howard only 12.
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Maybe the heat will give us Marion for Ford & Rasho. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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Well, it would certainly fall into BC’s “we will have 8gahzillion dollars in cap space come 2010″ line of thinking.
Not sure Riley would want Rasho, though…and doubt he’d want that cap relief that Marion brings to leave his hand for TJ. Now, TJ and Andrea and AP?? Maybe.
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i might be inclined to pull the trigger on that trade scott…imagine lining up marion with bosh, wow!
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On the Miami side of things, I think TJ Ford would fit right in. They’re a team with players who have special abilities that do not necessarily include scoring. They don’t necessarily need a pass-first guy. A team like Miami needs the type of point guard the Ford is.
ebrian- agreed to an extent. If Marion stays there, you’d have to ensure that any new PG isn’t too full of himself and needs to feed Wade and Marion.
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