7/6/10

Hello Ed, Good Bye Chris.

Ed Davis has a passport and for proof he was at the ACC for his belated welcome to Toronto press conference. For the amount of time it lasted, press chat might be more like it. The fact after the press conference there was a lunch at the new Real Sports Bar might have had something to do with it. I have yet to see the bar with the T.V that ate Godzilla, but everyone that has seems blown away by it.

There was actually a bit or at least as much talk about Solomon Alabi. The fact he has hepatitis B was a concern for some in terms of his health. Colangelo says the Raptors doctors checked him out and they gave the thumbs up. Solomon himself seems eager and ready to go and does not see it as an issue. This will not be a case like with Nathan Jawai and his heart condition. The Raptors this time were aware and know what they are getting into. Jawai of course had it discovered in a routine physical that he had an enlarged heart. He was part of the 4 way deal that brought Hedo to Toronto. He was then dealt from Dallas to Minnesota. He now is on the Charlotte Bobcats summer league roster fighting for his NBA Career.

While as far as Ed Davis goes, he is a nice kid that to a degree will remind some of Bosh. It is hard to recall, but when Chris Bosh first came to the Raptors, he was kind of shy and awkward in front of a camera. Davis is a bit removed and laid back in his talking. Colangelo pointed out how Davis has dealt with pressure playing at UNC. He also mentioned how he played in front of 80,000 people this year vs Texas. Colangelo failed to mention that Davis and his team lost that game. But it would appear that in both Davis and Alabi, the Raptors have added to guys that are hard workers. Honestly nothing about this presser really jumped off the page. It was kind of strange to with the long delay as a result of the G-20. The draft seems like a month ago. Maybe that is just because we are stuck in this Free Agency that is moving slower than a drunk turtle.

Chris Bosh went to see Grandma yesterday. She is not working for any NBA team. According to Bosh she is 93 and it made me think of my Grandma who was tiny and small and lived to be 89. Made me stop and pause, to remember that we are all people at the end of the day. Think that was the first Bosh tweet in a long time that made me smile. Bosh is said to be done with visits for now, and it seems is sitting waiting for Lebron and Wade to make their moves. Just because this process is taking a long time, do not confuse that with Toronto having a shot to keep him. There was confirmation of a rumour we mentioned in the Dino Nation Blog a couple days ago. Bryan Colangelo did in fact not even travel to meet with Bosh on July 1. He sent one of his assistants. Compare that to the full court blitz Colangelo constructed to sign Steve Nash. The entire Suns basketball staff was on his door step at 12:01. If you needed anymore signs is that not enough.

Bosh does seem unwilling to not get his full 30 million dollars which is good for the Raptors as it keeps hope of a sign and trade alive. I had always believed there would never be a case in which Bosh would leave that money on the table. However, I also believed that Bosh had learned something by watching Vince Carter leave the Raptors in a bad way. Bosh's handling of all this has proven me wrong on that point. The fact he is making this documentary about his free agent experience says to me he might be considering leaving money on the table. Will his documentary make the missing 30 million dollars up? No but it would soften the blow.

I want to close with two points. It makes no sense to want Bosh back if his sole motivation is an extra 30 million dollars. If that is why he would re-sign with Toronto you are just asking for a Vince Carter re-run to happen in a year or two. It also makes no sense for the Raptors to make a sign and trade deal unless they get what they want. While allowing the star player to walk for nothing is about as bad as it gets. What is worse would be taking on players or assets that the team does not want or can be useful. If this is going to be a rebuilding situation while getting something for Bosh is helpful to that. It is only helpful if Colangelo gets what he wants. That being said negotiating with a gun to your head is never easy.

There is still lots of drama to play out. How it will turn out changes like the wind. The one option that you can likely cross off your list in the Bosh Watch is New York City. Amare Stoudemire agreed to a 100 million dollar deal with the Knicks yesterday. This would clearly rule out Bosh to the Knicks and could mean the Knicks have come to realize they are out of the mix for Lebron and Wade. A Bosh choice seems clearly tied to what those 2 guys do.

I for one have got to the point that I just want to see this end no matter the result. After 2 years of build up and hype. Along with a week filled of more inaccurate rumours than you can imagine. Tired of the drama and tired of all the tweets and nonsense. At least summer league in Orlando has started and can provide a slight distraction. NBA Draft Blog is covering that and filed this report from day 1.Daniel Orton who I met when he was working out for the Raptors got kicked out of his first summer league game. It was a rocky start for him with Orlando. He seems like a nice young kid despite that and hope he learns from that and turns it around.

1 comment:

  1. Colangelo should have traded Bosh when he had full control.

    ReplyDelete