Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors: Match Maker

Here's a crazy idea, and I KNOW I will get some real flak from both sides for this, but hear me out here and then make your final judgment.

Toronto Raptors trade Andrea Bargnani, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham, Will Solomon and their 2009 first round pick.

Golden State trades Corey Maggette, Marcus Williams, Marco Belinelli and Brandon Wright.

First let's evaluate pure feasibility. Right off the top, this deal wouldn't be able to be approved until after Dec. 15 because that is the earliest that players who signed in the offseason can be traded.

This could also help explain why the Raptors made the coaching move now; to see how they perform with the current roster before those signed become available for trade.

Secondly, dollars. The Raptors would be sending over about $14 million in contracts with Golden State sending back about $13.5 million. So the Warriors' owe slightly more money immediately, but save money in the long run as all the players coming in have short deals or deals that expire at the end of the year. Either way, the money works.

Toronto Raptors Perspective:

The Raptors are built, and more importantly NEED, to win now. If we don't start winning and winning fairly big now, then we can guarantee Bosh will be saying bye-bye in two years.

O'Neal is not getting any younger, and while some people have been down on him, I actually think he has been pretty good and is definitely further along than I thought he would be at this point. So this satisfies that criteria for us. Not only does the trade make us deeper right away, but it makes our starting five more balanced as well.

Maggette is a solid defender at small forward, plus he gives us another scoring option that isn't afraid to take it to the rack.

Williams gives us a solid backup PG that has recent NBA experience.

Belinelli is a European player and great shooter that I know the Raptors were high on when he came out.

Wright is a versatile front court player that slides in behind Bosh and could also get some time backing up the three. He is still very raw but we really don't need to get a lot out of him right away.

The Raps Depth Chart would look something like this:

PG: Calderon, Williams, Ukic
SG: Parker, Belinelli, Adams
SF: Maggette, Moon, Wright
PF: Bosh, Wright, Hump
C: O'Neal, Hump

This lineup makes me feel a whole lot better when thinking about if the team can compete in the East this year.

Sure Bargnani has looked like he is starting to figure things out, but let's be realistic here folks, he isn't a SF and Bosh will always will be blocking him at PF, where he belongs. He is also probably another year or two away from developing his talents and by that time, what are we really left with?

You HAVE to give up something to get something and he is the only logical choice.

Kapono has never really fit in Toronto but could be valuable in the right system.

Graham and Solomon are more for contract purposes to make the money work.

I don't like dealing another first rounder, but we need to win now, not three years from now when that first rounder will be able to contribute.

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