Can Brian Colangelo Build a Winner in Toronto? 5 Offseason Questions

Raptor fans, it’s been a long season filed with numerous missteps, and speculation. So today we examine the Top 5 questions facing the Toronto Raptors this off-season.

1. What to do with Chris Bosh?

It is very apparent that losing Chris Bosh is more of a reality today than it was at this time last year. Bosh has played coy with the media, and reporters about his intentions, and has not given any indication that he would like to stay in Toronto long term. There is much to be said for “sitting back and deciding what is best for you” or “taking care of your family long term.” But the question is what does Chris really want? If Bosh wants to be a marquee head-lining player his options are limited (Memphis, New York, Charlotte) as those teams have several decent players but no true ‘star’. If Chris truly wants to win a title then he would have to take a pay cut and a shorter contract to play with a contender. If he doesn’t want to be a leader or go-to player there are several teams (Portland, Atlanta, Phoenix) that have other stars that can take the ‘pressure’ off of Bosh. Naturally there isn’t a team in the NBA that would like to lose their marquee player however the time has come where Bosh needs to state his intentions to management. Personally I do not believe Bosh is a franchise player but more of a second tier-star like Carlos Boozer, or Ray Allen. While the trade speculation heats up the likeliness of a comparable package being received by the Raptors decreases. Whether Bosh is traded or chooses to go will ultimately shape the face of this franchise for many years to come.

2. Who will backup Jose Calerdon?

Calerdon was outstanding in his first half year as the starting PG when TJ Ford was out with an injury. However Calerdon possibly after a grueling schedule complete with the Olympics could not remain healthy over the course of the season. This off-season with no international tournaments, or qualifiers to play Calderon should be healthier this season as there is no doubt the team plays better when he is healthy. Last year Calerdon broke down under the strain suffering numerous groin pulls, and hamstring problems throughout the year due to a lack of a reliable backup. There weren’t great options last year and unless Anthony Parker takes a pay cut (which he said he would) to come back as a backup PG this upcoming year looks incredibly bleak. Wil Solomon was horrible upon his return to the NBA and struggled mightily, Roko Ukic was a rookie learning the game last year from Europe, and Quincy Douby was given a contract extension as his was the best out of the three. (Frankly I think anyone would have been better than Ukic and Solomon last year). So this year we hold out hope, Anthony Parker ran the team well when Jay Triano switched him from SG\SF to PG. Parker has always been an intelligent player and this trait serves him well in an off-season where the Raptors do NOT have much cap space to use on a backup. An open request to GM Brian Colangelo: PLEASE bring back Anthony Parker if the price is right, or else we may have to petition the NBA to make Raptor games 30 Minutes this year.

3. Will the Raptors ever be able to defend anyone?

While the Raptors are far from ‘Golden State North’ over the past 3 years we have been subjected to some of the lackadaisical, softness defense in the league. We haven’t had anyone to intimidate since the days of Charles Oakley. I am reserving judgment on the hiring of new assistant coach and defensive expert Marc Iavaroni until game 60 of the new season. The acquisition of Reggie Evans, gives us a rugged defender and hopefully someone who will give the Raptors a sense of belonging, of pride in their defense. There were multiple times last year where the players didn’t seem to care about stopping the other team. (The blowout in Denver that sealed Sam Mitchell’s fate comes to mind). Now I understand that every NBA team gets blown out at sometime or another but the Raptors just seem to go through stretches where non-descript players are looking like all-stars (Eddie House, Ronald Murray, Jared Dudley are not suppose to conjure up images of Ray Allen, Wade, and Duncan). Ideally some toughness and some offensive rebounding should cure some of the defensive woes this year however I believe the Raptors will be at the bottom of the standings in most defensive categories next year.

4. Who to Draft?

This year’s draft many scouts and GM’s are calling a crap-shoot with more losers than winners. While under a microscope it would appear (as it does every year) that the top 15 projected picks should be great players if they are placed in the right situation. I’ve already examined who the Raptors logically should take in the draft. However I will state again that DeMar DeRozan appears to be the pick for this team. Simply put that his potential like most wing players seems to be limitless. However we also must consider that most NBA players DO NOT reach their potential so it is difficult to project what DeRozan will become, and can he be that ‘athletic slasher-type that can create his own shot’ this team desperately needs. In another scenario I had examined trading down in order to stockpile assets. If we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can be a contributor or a 6th man type (in the Josh Childress, Ben Gordon mold) by trading our pick and moving down in the draft AND allowing us to pick someone that fills a position of need (Gerald Henderson, Earl Clark). I believe we’d be maximizing one of the few assets we currently have (which is the draft pick).

5. Is Brian Colangelo the right person to lead this team?

I find that because of Colangelo’s success in Phoenix you do not hear a lot rumblings in Toronto calling for his firing or replacement. Part of that is because of past success and the other part I believe centers around the league-wide regard for him, and his evaluation of talent. I would like to state that Colangelo has caught some lucky breaks from other teams (The Nets for making the Kidd trade which lead to Nash eventually coming back to Phoenix, Dallas for thinking Nash was washed up, the 8 other teams that passed on Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks for trading that pick to Phoenix in the Marbury deal just to name a couple) and he hasn’t had the opportunity or the same luck that he had down there. Toronto is a true test of Colangelo’s abilities to build a winner. I am a firm believer that each GM should have at least one summer where 'bad contracts' come off the cap and see what they do with it before writing them off (sometimes this is possible other times it's not). I am very willing to stick with Colangelo until his contract is up and then re-evaluate at that point. In this current NBA contenders have seemingly been made on Draft night (Boston, San Antonio) so let’s give Colangelo a couple more drafts to get the Raptors to that status.

With little cap space, a unhappy star in Bosh, a depressing economy shrinking the salary cap by the day, and a plethora of their own free agents, the problems in Toronto seem enormous and plentiful even for Colangelo. However as I’ve said previously I would like to see Colangelo complete his contract here before passing judgment. He had 11 years in Phoenix before leaving and it takes more than 2 years to build a contender especially when cleaning up the messes left by the previous regime. While my blind faith in him as subsided, I am convinced that the Raptors can’t possibly get any worse can they?