The thinking is that Riley is concerned about drafting someone as apparently immature as Beasley.
There is a terrific Washington Post story from a year ago making the rounds. It details Beasley’s journey to six high schools in five states and quotes him saying he was "just killing time" in high school. Basketball factory Oak Hill didn’t ask him back after he averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds during the 2005-2006 season. And he admitted to the newspaper that he wore pajamas to the school cafeteria, threw sticks at teachers’ houses, organized late night hide-and-seek games after curfew and signed his name all over campus in graffiti contests.
Beasley’s antics were described as mostly playful, but they also crossed over to practices where he’d sometimes mock the coach.
Conventional wisdom says the Heat will take Beasley because of his amazing talent. But Riley doesn’t do conventional wisdom.
He traded for Shaquille O’Neal when no one thought it possible, and traded away Shaq when no one thought it possible. He was supposed to take a center, Chris Kaman, with the fifth pick in 2003 after losing Alonzo Mourning, but he surprised many by taking Dwyane Wade. The Bulls were among the surprised, as they thought Wade would be there for their No. 7 overall pick.
Toronto Raptors point guard T.J. Ford also may be in the trade mix, but he remains a serious medical risk with spinal cord issues. The Raptors are looking to package Ford in a trade along with some of the team’s expiring contracts. They intend to re-sign and start Jose Calderon at point.
The Toronto Raptors guard chats with Chuck Swirsky about his injured finger, how he’ll spend his summer, the end to last season and his involvement with Raptors management decisions.
Bryan Colangelo may be able to surprise me but I think he is hard pressed to make a deal for T.J Ford that could have a situation that improves the Raptors from where they are at. Trading Calderon would not only be an unpopular move but it would also put the Raptors at risk with Ford being in a fragile state as far as long term health goes. The one thing I am certain of is this problem will be the make or break moment for Bryan Colangelo as far as Raptor Fans go. Till this point Colangelo based on his reputation and success he has brought has for the most part avoided much negative press and fan reaction. If he does not make this work out right those days will be over and he will be looked at in a much different light.
This morning, the Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, announced that Madrid will host a Human Race for which José Manuel Calderon is the Spanish ambassador.
José Manuel Cauldron attended the presentation of the second “Fan Club” that carries his name in Villanueva de la Serena. It is called ‘Mr. Catering J.M. Calderon’ using the nickname that T.V. broadcaster Andrés Montes gave him. A nickname that Calderon is "delighted" with because "it is original and funny".
Walsh’s other options could be on the trade market, which could be quite active involving point guards this summer. The Toronto Raptors will do whatever it takes to re-sign restricted free agent Jose Calderon, which likely means T.J. Ford could be acquired in a trade. Another team that has a plethora of point guards is Memphis, which has to decide who among Mike Conley, Jr. and Kyle Lowry is their guy. A few NBA executives believe the Grizzlies aren’t sure, themselves, if either has the potential to be a full-time starter.
The situation to keep an eye on, however, could be in Golden State, where 22-year-old restricted free agent Monta Ellis is expected to demand a hefty pay raise over his $770,610 salary from this past season and it could force the Warriors into considering sign-and-trade offers for the lightning quick combo guard.
The Clippers, assuming Brand does not opt out of his contract, have no more than the mid-level exception to spend. That’s not enough to lure Jose Calderon away from Toronto.
I think we can all agree that Calderon is the player we’d most like to have for the Clippers. Unfortunately, that seems unlikely, for several reasons. First of all, the scuttlebutt is the Raptors plan to keep the guy. In addition to that practical problem, he would only be available in a sign and trade, and base year compensation rules would make that transaction incredibly complex, as I’ve pointed out before .
So the question is, if the Clippers are set on a veteran point, and Calderon isn’t an option, who would you rather have, Ford or Hinrich?
Ford is terrific in some systems – but it would seem that either the Clippers would have to significantly revamp their offense to take advantage of him, which seems highly unlikely.
In addition to fit problems, there are other issues. He’s not particularly cheap – he has three years and $25M left on his current contract. He also has a disconcerting injury history, having missed the entire 04-05 season and large portions of two others with spinal cord injuries, stemming in part from a congenital condition. The bottom line is he’s played in only 253 of the 410 games of his pro career. Yikes. If the team is planning to hand the keys to the car to a young point guard with a troubling injury history, they don’t have to make any trades to do that. And they can do it for a lot less money.
Toronto Raptors’ Slovenian center Rasho Nesterovic said Beijing will be the last time he will wear national team uniform. Nesterovic said he will not play for national team in Eurobasket 2009. Nesterovic thinks its time to give chance for young players.
So what should the Warriors do? Trade for T.J. Ford. (Wow, I bet you didn’t see that one coming). But can they pull it off? I don’t pretend to be some kind of NBA trade guru, but it seems to me they could. If Baron Davis walks, the Warriors are left with a ton of cap relief. This should allow them to trade Brandan Wright and his $2+ million contract to the Raptors for T.J. Ford and his $8+ million. The Warriors still cut salary in 2009, and the Raptors basically convert a bench player into an extra $6 million of spending money.
As for the Raptors, it’s not so much about bringing in talent as it is dumping Ford’s contract. But in this case, the Raptors make off pretty well with Wright. They get a young, talented and athletic power forward to back-up Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani – giving them a nice young nucleus of Calderon, Bosh, Bargnani, Jamario Moon, and Wright.
Related posts:
Brandon Wright is going to be a career back-up player in the NBA.
Whoever TJ Ford is traded for, and there are at least a few good possibilities out there still … in a package deal of some sort … needs to be a player with the ability to become a Starter for the Raptors, not necessarily right away but certainly somewhere down-the-road.
PS. Like the new look to the site!
khandors last blog post..Pistons vs Celtics will go to Game 7
Wow, it’s amazing how blog posts make their rounds on the net. Anyway, to respond to khandor – I can’t say I’ve been keeping my head in the middle of all the Toronto Raptor rumors, but I can’t imagine the Raptors can get a whole lot more than Brandan Wright. The teams that should be interested in Ford are teams that want to run a fast-paced offense – that’s a short list, with teams like the Warriors, Suns, Nuggets, and MAYBE the Knicks. The Suns and Nuggets already have starting point guards with Nash and Iverson, respectively (assuming Iverson doesn’t terminate his contract), and the Knicks would have a hard time coming up with enough talent and cap relief to land Ford. That leaves the Warriors who not only run a fast-paced offense, but will have the cap space (if Baron Davis opts out) and starting position for Ford. As for getting a starting-caliber player for Ford – you’re going to have a hard time getting that given Ford’s propensity for injury, and because teams know its the Raptors who are coming to market. Brandan Wright is a young lottery pick, who *could* develop into a starting-caliber player.
Great points, Sean, but what we have to realize as Raptor fans is the unfortunate spot we are in with the ill-advised extensions that Colangelo has signed since here.
Using TJs deal on its own, we either need to get someone earning starters money in return or, if BC decides to accept bench players, we need 2 or 3 such players to make the salaries work. That means we have to free up roster spots in order to do so. Kiss Carlos goodbye along with Primoz and we have two. Not sure Carlos will be shown the door.
I wish I could see a lot of flexibility with this roster, but I just can’t.
Scotts last blog post..Best Raptor Ever – 10th Bracket
Scott — I’m surprised that you think BC made ill-advised extensions. Bargnani could still prove his worth, while the contracts of Humphries and Moon aren’t at all restrictive. I guess you might question Ford’s extension in hindsight. And also Sam Mitchell’s.
As for flexibility, we got a bunch of expiring contracts:
Rasho’s 8 mil
Parker’s 4 mil
Garbo’s 4 mil
Moon’s 700 K
Baston’s 2 mil
plus
MLE
17th overall pick
Ford
future picks?
could help BC remake the SG and SF spots, plus get veteran backups at PG and C.
kris humphries FTW??
extending Ford was insane, under ANY circumstances. You have a gun to your head all season under BYC rules tied to a guy who had his life flash before his eyes (again) and turned into a nutter. If BC had zero confidence in Calderon, then I can see it. If he DID have zero confidence in Calderon, Colangelo should be handing in his staff pass at the door on the way out.
Garbo would be a stretch for anybody to take on, save someone looking for the expiring, but they won’t be offering anybody serviceable in return.
Moon is worthless in any trade at his current financial value.
Maceo might be a nice piece to make a salary work, but 2mil in an expiring if we keep him isn’t much.
And, again, we have no roster spots. We can only either buy this riff raff out or hope that some noob thinks that TJ Ford and Maceo Baston is the steal of the century.
In any event, this is all a pipe dream. Go back and listen to Colangelo’s interview and he isn’t going to move unless Bill Russell loses 50 years and gets kicked out of the USA, moves to Toronto and decides to lace ‘em up. Raptors V3.0 is more than 2 years away. At best all we can hope for is a tweak. Yay team.
Scotts last blog post..Best Raptor Ever – 10th Bracket
re FTW = For The Win?
re Ford — as I said, in hindsight. I think BC had few options at PG when he extended Ford in October 2006. At that point (no pun intended), Calderon only had one year under his belt and was inconsistent. BC had to take a chance here, and he was rewarded for the 2006-07 season (and part of ’07-’08) when the two PGs worked well together.
I think expiring contracts (individually or packaged) are more valuable than you think, especially if you add an attractive piece to them (Moon, draft pick). Isn’t that how Shaq and Gasol were moved?
As for roster spots, we got two open (Linton Johnson/D-Mart & Delfino). Two- or three-for-one deals might be available.
Sure, Raps version 3.0 might not be until October 2009, but it might also appear in December 2008. Optimism, Scott!
yes, correct definition. WTG!!
I personally detest going back over transactions and playing the whole “20/20″ game. I wear my heart on my sleeve and live and die by what I see. That said, I still think the length and cost of the extension (both monetarily and to our ability to move) of Ford was questionable. Let him play out at least half that season or all of it knowing you can still re-up him at the end. Surely he wasn’t holding BC over a barrel. Did anybody know for sure that Jose was going to turn out as good as he has? No, but as a GM and a coach, you’d hope that they could see a spark. And, again, don’t sign TJ out of the box and you now have leverage to go back at TJ and either save some cash or move him out.
I am not devaluing expirings. Quite the contrary. I’m well aware of their value. What I *am* doing is playing along with BC and what he said at the end of the season and his alluding to the fact that we shouldn’t expect much, save a blockbuster.
I will say, though, that in my examples above, I stand by them. A $2mil expiring of Maceo is next to worthless, Garbo’s $4mil might tempt somebody, I’d rather re-sign Parker. The only one that anybody will be looking at will be Rasho’s.