The Indiana Pacers and Raptors have agreed in principle to trade six-time all-star Jermaine O’Neal for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and their 17th overall pick. Toronto’s Maceo Baston is also rumored to be included in the deal and Indiana’s 41st overall pick will be going to the Raptors.
Rumors began to swirl earlier this week before the deal apparently hit a snag when concerns over both players’ health was brought into question before talks picked up again shortly after.
I decided I was going to root for the Celtics half way through the series. I actually was impartial to both sides entering the series but finally decided to root for the Celtics winning because of it’s implications on the Raptors. First, it signifies that we’re clearly no longer the T.O.A.D (Top Of the Atlantic Division… Yes lame acronym, I know). As long as the big three are together, the Raptors will have a tough time competing for that top spot for at least the next three years. Secondly, it shows how quickly a team can change it’s fate by bringing in big talent. Although the Celtics 4 through 15 were questioned, getting a Kevin Garnett and a Ray Allen brought faith back to the franchise and had everyone buy into their team philosophy and, in turn,solidified their team. Then there’s the Raptors, suffering from a lowly .500 season after a 47 win campaign that had everyone believing in BC and now quickly losing their faith. phdsteve from RaptorsTalk suggested trading our franchise Chris Bosh. While I’m not sure what it will take to turn this franhise around, I do know that you can’t win it all with a Chris Bosh, Forderon, and a bunch of change. It’s time to change in those nickels and pennies for straight dimes. Now get ‘er done, BC!
For those who stuck around to watch halftime during last night’s game (versus the Sixers) might’ve caught Leo Rautins “report card” segment where he attached grades to Raptor players. If I remember correctly the highest grades were awarded to Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon who are both having exceptional seasons. Next he awarded TJ Ford with an A, despite his season being cut short due to injury. Jamario Moon was also awarded an A given everything he’s accomplished, especially coming into the season with little to no expectations. He goes down the roster with the lowest grades given to the guys who get little to no floor time (Martin, Baston, Graham) and Andrea Bargnani who’s simply been terrible as of late. Given that the lowest grade were C’s, I guess we can all agree he was nothing short of being politcally correct.
At RaptorsCentral, we allow all the users to rate our beloved Raptors on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, where 1 is terrible and 5 is exceptional. Users are allowed to rate our players on a daily basis and equally encouraged to rate both losses and wins - players playing great to players playing poorly. As we’ve reached the mid-point of our season, we’ll take a look at how we’ve rated our players.
Top 3 Highest Rated Raptors
Jamario Moon - 4.05 stars
Chris Bosh - 3.97 stars
Jose Calderon - 3.88 stars
While I think that Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon should be rated highest, it didn’t surprise me that Jamario Moon holds that top position for the same reasons Leo mentioned - he came into the season with virtually no expectations and has inserted himself into the starting rotation of this team. The guy is exciting, atheletic, blocks shots, grabs boards and pretty much does everything many of us thought we’d be addressing through free agency.
The Raptors rated the most wasn’t too much of a surprise either as the only guy I figured would be there before the season began would be TJ Ford. A little surprising is the fact that Andrea wasn’t in the mix as he had higher expectations pre-season and now to the point where some are calling him a bust and may have wanted to take out their frustrations.
Last night against the Indiana Pacers was just a reminder of why we signed this guy. I think this was the first night where he came in and did exactly what we hoped he would do - catch and shoot the ball. Although he hasn’t necessarily been playing bad for us (he’s been shooting a great percentage and takes a lot of good shots), it’s just that other nights he hasn’t seemed to gel with the team. Other times it’s like we put him in a position to do things he doesn’t usually do, like put the ball on the floor (although he’s been able to do this to some success). I think a guy like Jason benefits from guys creating for him where all he’s got to do is catch the ball and knock it down. Last night, the Raptors kept him busy on the offensive end hitting him with great passes for open shots and he did exactly as Raptors fans hoped he would when he was signed for $24 million over 4 years. Career night for Jason with 29 points.
My picks for the game:
Jason Kapono - 5 stars
Kris Humphries - 4 stars
Chris Bosh - 4 stars
Jose Calderon - 4 stars
Carlos Delfino - 4 stars
