Also, you know what this series showed? It showed the Toronto Raptors, built not on defence or rebounding but on jump-shooting and finesse, are more miles away from the NBA title than can be measured. Boston won because their defence was impregnable, and it conquered LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in the same post-season.
Bryan Colangelo made a whirlwind trip to Spain yesterday to say goodbye to Jorge Garbajosa.
After a series of meetings with Garbajosa, the Spanish basketball federation and insurance company lawyers, the Raptors’ general manager has negotiated a buyout of the final year of Garbajosa’s contract, settled a lawsuit against the federation and ended an NBA career that never realized its potential.
All that’s left now is for the NBA to approve the buyout of the final year, $4.25 million (U.S.) of Garbajosa’s deal, a move that could come as early as today or tomorrow.
There are suggestions Garbajosa, who quickly became a fan favourite in Toronto for his work ethic and leadership abilities, will join a team in the Spanish league next season. The buyout also will enable him to play for Spain at the Beijing Olympics.
In workouts scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday at the Air Canada Centre, four players who could be legitimate picks for Toronto will show their stuff to the team’s brain trust.
Syracuse forward Donte Green, French forward Nicolas Batum and Georgetown centre Roy Hibbert are scheduled to work out tomorrow. Florida centre Marreese Speights will work out Saturday.
The Raptors will hold their second annual free-agent camp at the Air Canada Centre on the weekend for D Leaguers and other minor-league professionals, the same camp at which they discovered Moon a year ago.
The team has invited 21 players to take part in the three-day session. The most recognizable might be former NBAer Marcus Haislip, who played with Toronto’s summer league team three years ago. Also invited is John Lucas Jr., the son of the former Raptors consultant.
The Memphis Grizzlies have added former Raptors head coach Kevin O’Neill to their staff. He went 33-49 in his one season with the Raptors. He started last year as an assistant to Lute Olson at the University of Arizona and became the team’s interim head coach when Olson took a leave of absence.
It appears the Raptors and small forward Jorge Garbajosa have parted ways for good.
The man that Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo referred to as the “glue guy” of the 2006-07 team, and the Raptors have agreed to terminate the final year of his contract freeing him up to play for Spain at the Olympics this summer in Beijing according to a report on the Spanish website AS.com.
“All the talks have been concluded,” Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said from Madrid last night.
Because the deal was finalized after the close of business in North America the paperwork won’t be submitted to the NBA until today. Once it has been submitted, Garbajosa will have 48 hours to clear waivers, during which time any other NBA team can claim him. However, it is expected he will become a free agent and return to play professionally in Spain.
The deal will provide “a little” financial relief to the Raptors, who owed Garbajosa $4.25-million during the final year of a three-year, $12.75-million contract, Colangelo said.
And while he was relieved to have the issue concluded he wished the day had never arrived, too.
“It’s bittersweet,” Colangelo said. “Because no matter what the financial benefits of the deal we don’t have the player. We missed him last season and now we won’t get him back and have to find what he brought to our lineup and that’s not easy.”
The attraction for the Raptors is easing their front-court logjam and gaining a little financial flexibility. If, for example, Garbajosa settled for half of the $4.25-million owed him, Toronto’s salary obligation would decrease by more than $2-million – money the club could apply to other contracts.
The skinny: The Raptors need size, toughness and rebounding in the middle in the worst way. Though Robin Lopez doesn’t project as a great scorer in the pros, he’s a big, rugged player who could solidify the Raptors’ front line. Alexis Ajinca is a possibility here.
Lee’s first audition is with the Raptors. He’ll be working with Wayne Ellington and Danny Green (UNC), Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), and Malik Hairston (Oregon)—eventually. Travel snafus have delayed the 9 a.m. start. The six invitees make this the largest perimeter-oriented scrimmage of Lee’s mini-tour. He’s heard the Raps may be trading down, and this crew of projected second-rounders gives credence to the buzz. After trainers take quick measurements (height—in and out of shoes—standing and running vertical leap, wingspan), it’s on to situational matchups: full-court one-on-ones, fast-break two-on-twos and sideline-inbounds three-on-threes. With no bigs to set screens or throw to in the post, games devolve into shooting sprees as coach Sam Mitchell and GM Bryan Colangelo watch. Lee shows he’s a fluid sniper who can create space with his first step. Plus, he has the best range. When Colangelo invites them to lunch, the guys wish they’d packed a more varied wardrobe. Except Lee. “I’m Polo up and down, Sperrys all day,” he says. At the meal the players mumble one-word responses to Colangelo’s psyche-probing queries about their families and Toronto’s offense. Gordon seems the least engaged, barely looking up from his Sidekick. Then Lee is off to catch a flight to Orlando. Clearly, the Magic want to see how he plays tired. The ticket they’ve issued includes an Atlanta layover and doesn’t get him into town until 11 p.m.
First off, two notable first-round names have decided to return to school, Ty Lawson and Chase Budinger. With these two now removed from the first round equation, it potentially juggles the prospects available for Toronto when they pick at 17.
I thought with the NBA season on the verge of ending tonight it might be a good time to reflect on the Season that was in the NBA for 07/08. So with that I give you a list of the 10 things I will take away from the 07/08 season.
You’ve heard the rumblings over the last few days … “Batum and Hibbert are coming to town” …
But the news became OFFICIAL on Tuesday afternoon when the Raptors announced their latest pre-draft workout … scheduled for Thursday June 19. Toronto will also host another less-star-studded workout on Saturday as well.
Here’s who the Raptors will be looking at:
The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday they will conduct a free agent camp June 20-22 at Air Canada Centre. Events scheduled for the weekend include physicals, drill sessions and scrimmages. The participants will consist of players from the NBA Development League and international teams.
What’s interesting is when you look back on the season past Garbo’s disappearance had a tremendous impact on the season. The best example of this is with regards to Jamario Moon.
Without Garbo’s injury there likely wouldn’t have been a Jamario Moon story to tell. I also can’t help but wonder how different the playoff match-up would have been against the Magic. In my opinion the Raps would have had more success with Jorge manning the three against Hedo than Moon. Would the Raps have won the series? Unlikely in my opinion (as I discussed on the site I expected a 4-1 result) but it would have been a better contested battle. In fact his steady play would have been more than welcome at many points during the season.
Now it looks like Garbo won’t be coming back at all. What was a three year commitment essentially boiled down to one full season of play. The return on this investment was not as was hoped. Years from now when you look back at this era of Raptors basketball Garbo will be nothing more than a blip on the radar. Besides these will be known as the times when CB4 made the Raptors his own.
What is disappointing is that many of the characteristics he showed on the court are those that this team is searching for this off-season.
It’s like we barely knew the guy, and that’s a shame.
“We have all signed an agreement — the club, the federation, the insurance company and me. It was the best for all parties,” Garbajosa was quoted as saying in the Spanish media on Wednesday.
“This opens the door for me to be able to play at the Olympic Games.”
Former KU guard Keith Langford, who will play NBA summer league ball for Chicago and Denver in July, will attend free-agent camp of the Toronto Raptors this weekend.
Here is the list of players hoping to be the 2008-09 Jamario Moon:
17. Toronto Raptors: Alexis Ajinca, C, France Why not throw a wrinkle into the mix? According to a recent ESPN report, Ajinca’s stock has been rising, and there’s always a team or three who makes a draft pick we don’t quite understand. The Raptors will claim they’re aiming to bulk up this 7-1 big man to play him alongside Chris Bosh. Ajinca needs at least one year to adjust to the NBA, if not longer.
But I can distinctly recall watching Knicks vs Celtics games last year and seeing the Boston arena EMPTY. Again, these Knicks aren’t exactly an even “okay” team to come and watch, so there is no hype about Knicks vs Celtics a year ago. But still, I’ve been to Knicks games where MSG was packed when we went up against Toronto. Please, don’t tell me either that Toronto was decent last year, which may be true to an extent, but NOBODY goes to watch the Raptors play. And don’t use the excuse that ticket prices are too high in Boston, because trust me, I would bet my left leg that nobody pays more for tickets than Knicks fans.
The NBA should join the likes of the MLB and NFL and give up geographic divisions at the conference level. The creation of a National League and American League allows for more flexibility in arranging teams based on talent, but also keeping some of the most treasured rivalries.
Here’s how it should be set up:
Related posts:
Anyone else find it slightly funny that the Raptors were put into the “American League”?
*Note: Just realizes that the Toronto Blue Jays are in the American League. GO BASEBALL!
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I’m very glad that the UNC trio has decided to return to school. They will definitely be first round picks in the 2009 draft.
GO HEELS!!!
One mention of Polo and Sperrys and look who pops up…Nuff Luv. Go figure.
Makes one wonder how much the boosters at UNC “enticed” them to come back for one more kick at the can….either that or they did the typical Tar Heel move of tucking tail between legs and realizing they had no shot at being picked in the top 20.
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But Spudz… just because Canada is not part of the the “United States of”, doesn’t mean we aren’t part of America.
Thanks for the shout-out for my page.