The Raptors announced the signing of free-agent forward/guard Hassan Adams yesterday and will introduce centre Jermaine O’Neal to the Toronto media this afternoon at the Air Canada Centre.
In a deal that will become official today, the Raptors traded point guard T.J. Ford, centre Rasho Nesterovic, forward Maceo Baston and centre Roy Hibbert, Toronto’s 17th overall selection from this year’s draft, to the Indiana Pacers for O’Neal and Indiana’s 41st overall pick from the draft, 6-foot-10, 280-pound Australian Nathan (Baby Shaq) Jawai.
O’Neal, 29, is a six-time NBA all-star, although knee problems have kept the 6-foot-11 centre to an average of 51 games a year for the past four seasons.
Also on hand at a media event this afternoon will be point guard Jose Calderon, who has re-upped with the Raptors reportedly for five years in a deal worth $7.5-$8.5 million US a season.
- Toronto SunCap and tax numbers are in, they’re a little bit below what many had expected and just reinforces, again, that the only move left here is to sign a minimum-value free agent, maybe someone with two or three years of service in.
The cap came in at $58.680 million, the tax at $71.150 million and the mid-level exception is $5.585 million.
The numbers, in reality, are staggering but in the world of basketball, they’re actually lower than some people expected.
And what’s going to happen is more than a few players are going to have to settle for less than they thought.
For the Raptors, the numbers don’t mean anything, actually. They still have enough to get the one guy at the one price they expected, and are willing to pay. I guess the only thing it might mean is that the pool of players available might grow a bit if some teams have budgeted X dollars and the limits are lower than they thought.
As we sit and wait for Matt Devlin to be formally announced as the new Raptor TV play-by-play guy, whispers around the organization are that Jack Armstrong not only will be back, but that we’ll see and hear more of him on games this year than we did last.
And that’s a good thing.
- Toronto StarIs O’Neal an injury-plagued fading star destined to be a drag on the bottom line? Or a still potent veteran determined to extend the prime of his career and help the Raptors win their first playoff series in six years?
Trainer Joe Abunassar, who has been working with O’Neal daily in Las Vegas since May 15, bets on the latter as O’Neal attempts to rebound from a lost season and a “best thing for everyone” divorce from the Indiana Pacers.
“He’s a world-class player and an unbelievable guy,” said Abunassar, who runs an elite summer training program in Las Vegas for a who’s who of NBA stars. “He’s like Kevin Garnett that way, just a pleasure to be around.”
The scouting report only gets better from there. It needs to as Raptors president Bryan Colangelo tries to steer the franchise back into the mix in the Eastern Conference after a desultory 41-41 season.
In trading T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the No. 17 pick in the draft (Roy Hibbert), Colangelo has staked the Raptors’ short-term future on the belief that a revitalized O’Neal will team with Chris Bosh to give Toronto one of the premier front lines in the NBA.
But if O’Neal continues to battle injuries — he’s played more than 51 games only once in the past four seasons — or fails to fit in alongside Bosh, the Raptors will have little choice but to count the days until his massive salary comes off the books after the 2009-10 season and they can begin to rebuild.
O’Neal has gone out of his way to prove he’s ready for a fresh start in Toronto.
Following news of the deal, O’Neal called Colangelo, Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell and Bosh, in each case assuring them he was determined to make the most of a fresh start and fit in well alongside Bosh. He wanted to prove his string of six consecutive all-star seasons was the norm and the past two years the exception.
More important, he’s been walking the walk, Abunassar says.
O’Neal has spent nearly two months focusing primarily on basketball-specific fitness training with just a dusting of skill work thrown in. His fitness and health have continued to improved, and he’s now up to 45 minutes of basketball work following nearly two hours of therapy and training.
His four- to five-hour days will get longer later this month as he begins to scrimmage against other NBA players later this month.
“Most NBA players don’t start coming in until June or July,” Abunassar said. “But Jermaine was here in May. He was very determined to get into elite shape, and we set up a four-month plan to get there and we’re way ahead of schedule.
“I’ve been doing this for 10 years and he’s as good a guy as I’ve had in terms of focusing on the plan and doing what it takes to get ready. If he keeps going at this pace, he’s going to have a tremendous summer and be able to roll right into training camp. He’ll be ready.”
there is such a thing as a talent trap: when you’re so good it’s often hard to even know what is necessary to be done to get to that next stage. Now that O’Neal has been setback by injury and age, to a certain extent, it’s encouraging that he’s come to appreciate the full picture of what it means to be an elite professional. Abunassar described a program that has focussed on O’Neal’s machine first — correcting muscle imbalances, focussing on speed and explosiveness in his weight and conditioning work — with the skill side to come later.
The Raptors are obviously hoping it works. They need it to in the new-look East. Orlando proved that Toronto’s front line is lacking; Cleveland had an edge on them last year, in terms of physical presence; Boston certainly; Detroit; Washington could roll out a big front line and now Philly is right in that league, assuming Brand recovers fully from his Achilles problem.
The Raptors need O’Neal to be his healthy best just to stay in the mix.
- Globe and MailPay no mind to the statutory rape case that swirled around him when he was a 17-year-old in South Carolina. Forget about the minor problems he got into as a prep-turned-pro in Portland. Stop thinking about that brawl in Detroit.
Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, who coached O’Neal in both Portland and Indiana, has. He calls O’Neal, a married father of two children, a “conscientious family man.” Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, who was an assistant with the brawling Pacers, calls O’Neal “terrific.” Repeatedly. Former Toronto Raptors head coach Kevin O’Neill, another assistant with that Indiana team, says he “can’t say enough good things about him.”
All that is left then is for O’Neal to win. In Indiana, his team never made it to the NBA Finals. With Bosh, Toronto has never made it past the first round. If the two mesh, perhaps O’Neal can further justify the words of his various coaches.
At the very least, O’Neal will bring a swagger to Toronto that the Raptors are missing.
- National PostAs of Tuesday, they had made contact with six players: the Clippers’ Corey Maggette, Warriors’ Mickael Pietrus, Jazz’s C.J. Miles, Trailblazers’ James Jones, Celtics’ James Posey and Raptors’ Carlos Delfino. None are considered as good bets to sign with the Pistons.
- Detroit NewsThe Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday that Matt Devlin has been named the club’s new television play-by-play announcer. Devlin joins the Raptors after stints as the play-by-play voice of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats and Memphis Grizzlies.
“Matt has a polished presence and a network broadcast style,” said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. “His hire is consistent with the continuing commitment of our organization and our broadcast partners to grow Raptors basketball nationwide.”
“I am honoured to be a part of MLSE and the Raptors organization,” Devlin said. “It is a genuine privilege to have the opportunity to call Raptors games for the great fans in the Toronto area and across the nation.
“My wife and I are fortunate to have relatives living in the GTA. My family is excited to be here and we look forward to being a part of this great community.”
Devlin will call all 82 nationally televised games. He replaces Chuck Swirsky, who has joined the Chicago Bulls’ radio network.
“It’s never easy to lose a broadcaster and Raptors booster like Chuck, so we are thrilled to have been able to attract someone with Matt’s experience and credibility,” said Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Devlin was the first television announcer in Bobcats history, handling the duties for three seasons (2004-07). He began his NBA team broadcasting career in 2001 serving three seasons as the television play-by-play voice of the Grizzlies. He called the team’s record 50-win season and first playoff appearance in 2004.
Devlin has also worked with the NBA and its national television partners since 2002, serving as a play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter for TNT’s national coverage. He will continue to do so when his obligations with the Raptors allow. He has been a broadcaster for NBA TV since the league launched its network in October 1999, working as a studio host and play-by-play voice on game broadcasts of the regular season, playoffs, summer leagues and the WNBA. Devlin has covered many events for the NBA, including the 2003 All-Star Weekend when he co-hosted several shows live from Atlanta.
This summer he will work for NBC, broadcasting wrestling from the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Devlin handled the play-by-play duties for track and field and diving for the network’s high definition Olympic telecasts in 2004 from Athens, Greece.
Most recently, Devlin has broadcast National Football League and Major League Baseball action for Fox, as well as college basketball and baseball on the Big Ten Network.
Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Devlin called the play-by-play action for the New York Liberty of the WNBA for the MSG Network, and also was a radio pre-game and post-game host for select games on the network’s broadcasts of the New York Knicks and New York Yankees. Devlin also hosted the WNBA Draft on three occasions for the event’s live broadcast on ESPN2.
In addition to his NBA and WNBA experience, Devlin has also called college basketball and football games on ESPN, the Atlantic 10 basketball network and the MSG Network. Moreover, Devlin has announced games for the St. Louis Cardinals, the University of Connecticut Huskies, ESPN Regional, ESPN International and four minor league baseball teams.
Devlin lent his support to a variety of community initiatives on a personal and team level in Charlotte and Memphis, including the NBA’s Read to Achieve literacy program. He is a 1990 graduate of Boston College. He and his wife, Erin, have three sons, Jack, Ian and Luke.
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