Last year I posted an offseason report card about Colangelo's moves (http://www.raptorshq.com/2009/9/9/1023312/raptors-offseason-report-card). This offseason isn't done yet, so until then I'd like to revisit my opinions last year and see how they compare to now.

 

May 11, 2009 - Jay Triano signed as head coach

I wasn't too fond of the signing last season because Jay Triano was a rookie coach and we wanted to win now. Now that the season has ended, I think he did a poor job managing the personalities in the locker room and was too stubborn with his lineups (the Jose-Jack lineup, specifically). I gave this coach signing a C+ last year, and I think it's about right given Jay's performance this past season. With that being said, I think he's much better suited for the upcoming season (assuming we continue in this "rebuild" mode).

June 9, 2009 - Kapono traded for Reggie Evans

Unfortunately Reggie was injured for much of the season and couldn't contribute the way he should. I gave this trade an A- last year because Reggie plugged a hole (rebounding) for us. I think he was a great addition to the team chemistry wise, it's just unfortunate he wasn't healthy. At this point I'd give that trade a B.

June 25, 2009 - DeMar DeRozan is drafted

Last year I was very high on DD's athleticism and youth. It's hard to judge potential after just one season, but DD didn't really show us many glimpses of truly being a great player. Of course, when you're the 5th option on a top 5 offensive team, it's very easy to fade into the background. I like that DeRozan didn't force the issue on offense, but his defensive shortcomings were a bit glaring. Last year I give this pick an A. Right now, I'd give it a B+.

July 7, 2009 - Andrea Bargnani signs 5-year 50 million dollar extension

Andrea didn't really show much this past season. His single coverage showed a little bit of improvement, but he seemed to regress from the three point arc. He added a bit of a post game, which was nice, but nothing substantial enough. Really this grade still can't be assessed until next season, when we see if Bargs will flourish or fail as the 1st offensive option. Last year I gave this extension a B-, and I think it's still a pretty fair assessment.

July 9, 2009 - Toronto Acquires Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, and Devean George in a 4-way trade

Oh dear. Last season I gave this trade a B. Given the way the Hedo situation turned out, and Antoine Wright's inconsistency off the bench, I think it's safe to say this transaction deserved much less than that. I warned about Hedo's bad shot selection, and that his defense would get worse without Dwight Howard (duh?), but even I didn't foresee the absolute PR and locker room nightmare that Hedo would eventually become.

Anything more than a C- would come from a BC fan boy, but personally I think this transaction deserves an F. Because it failed. Miserably.

July 13, 2009 - Jarret Jack Signed for 4 years, 20 million

Last year I felt this signing meant Jack was a little overpaid. After a slow start to the season (really slow, actually), Jack picked it up and got a very respectable PER rating while also improving his assists. I no longer think Jack is overpaid at all, and his leadership role with the young players is great to see and hear about, even in the offseason. I gave this grade a B+ last year, but would upgrade it to an A-.

July 30, 2009 - Devean George traded for Marco Belinelli

I was quite high on Belinelli last season, and after his January stretch of being a solid role player, he quickly settled back into his inconsistent ways. Marco found himself out of the rotation by the end of the season, and if he doesn't improve his shot selection, shooting percentage, and consistency, then I don't see a future in the NBA for him. Still though, we did get him for Devean George... Last year I gave this trade an A+, but now I'd give it a C.

July 30, 2009 - Rasho Nesterovic signed to a 1 year deal

I was pretty high on this signing as well. Rasho was supposed to come in and provide some veteran leadership in the locker room. But reports have surfaced that he actually contributed to the locker-room divide, siding with Hedo Turkoglu. He still gave the Raptors some pretty good minutes off the bench. Last year I gave this signing a B, now I give it a C+.

August 18, 2009 - Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic traded for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems

Like pretty much everyone else out there, I completely neglected the "Sonny Weems" addition to this trade. I also didn't think Amir would contribute as much and as consistently as he did. Last year I gave this trade a B+, but now I'd give it an A+.

Conclusion

This past season was a major disappointment. Luckily, it had a few bright spots here and there. After going through all the excitement (at least up to the All-star break) and the drama (thanks Hedo), I'd give this past season a C-. That is, below average. I don't think it was a complete failure - we managed to provide DeRozan with some respectable minutes. Weems emerged as a decent role player. Amir showed he could be a consistent contributor. And Jack showed he could hold down the fort if Calderon was not around (although, Calderon was very good when he was around... at least offensively). Last year I gave these transactions a B-... it's too bad that grade is too high :(.

I was a little inspired by the Raptors HQ post on statistical analysis and how the NBA only provides very basic stats. So, I set out to record a few more stats that could possibly be helpful. I found out that it's HARD, especially when you get caugh in the heat of the game, and especially when the video crew wants to show you a close up of the Leafs GM instead of the actual game being played. In other words, take these with a grain of salt...

 

Format: Player Name | Fouls Incurred | Charges Taken / Charges Attempted | Deflections | "Half Assists"

 

Jose Calderon | 5 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 1

Jose may not be in mid-season form, and it showed since his shooting touch was off, but you can tell the old Jose is back. All the Jose haters that said he can't create and never dribble penetrates can shut up now, as he did so on at least 3 occasions this game - at one point dropping a sweet dime to a cutting Bargs for the dunk. Triano's defensive scheme did a good job overall of hiding Jose's deficiencies in the department. Jose was a true floor general this game, slowing down the cavalry when the fast break wasn't there and using up the clock when we had the lead.

 

DeMar DeRozan | 1 | 0 / 0 | 2 | 0

I was a big supporter of starting Antoine Wright over DeRozan, but DeMar did an excellent job of playing with energy. He was caught napping a few times early on Anthony Parker, but hey it's live and learn. The important thing is that he was strong and athletic on the glass - he'd literally fly in out of nowhere to grab the board. He was also active in going for the ball which resulted in two deflections. I still have the jury out on him to see how he deals with a more star-quality 2 guard, but so far so good.

 

Hedo Turkoglu | 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 0

You want to talk about intangibles? I'll tell you about intangibles. Every time Turk had the rock in his hands, the offense seemed to flow much more comfortabley. I felt a lot more comfortable with the ball in Hedo's hands than I was when it was in Jack's and even sometimes Jose's. He's certainly the best creator on the team, but the important point here is that his patience doesn't result in a winding down shot clock. Add to that he crashed the boards, something we weren't sure he'd be good at after playing with Dwight for so long, and we have a pretty solid addition to the Raps. i wasn't a believer before, but I'm slowly seeing why this guy was paid so much this offseason.

 

Chris Bosh | 7 | 0 / 1 (!!!!) | 1 | 0

If you watched the game, you'll know that Bosh was completely robbed of a charge. Bullshit call by bullshit refs. Anyway, Bosh still has a lot of growing to do into his new role. He's trying to be more physical and it certainly showed, but he went back to his old ways at the beginning of the 3rd and nearly shot us out of the game (or at least, he completely killed our first half momentum). He struggled offensively, especially early, trying to get his shots in. Luckily his new found muscle means he doesn't get stripped as easily in the paint anymore (although it did happen once or twice) and instead results in trips to the charity stripe.

 

Andrea Bargnanni | 2 | 0 / 0 | 1 | 1


This man was robbed! 3 of the 5 fouls called against him were questionable, 2 of which being just damn unnecessary. Had he played closer to 40 minutes, he'd have closer to 40 points on the night. Also, those saying Bargnanni doesn't work on the glass need to pay attention to him in the game rather than the boxscore (hence the title of this post). The man was boxing out like there was no tomorrow, helping players like Bosh, Hedo, DeRozan, and Wright pick up the loose balls while he carried the Cavs frontcourt on his back. Excellent game for Bargs, now let's hope for some consistency.

 

Jarret Jack | 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 0

Either Jarret forgot his shooting stroke in Indiana, or he never had one. His offense is reminescent of a less talented TJ Ford, but much more physical. His bullish drives into the paint sometimes result in a foul incurred, and sometimes result in a missed shot. Luckily not many resulted in turnovers, because it looked like he has his eyes closed as he runs to the basket. His defense also didn't show up as advertised. What did show was that he's a solid ball handler and he can work with Calderon. If he can find his shooting stroke and play a little more under control, then we can all breath a little more this season. One thing's for sure though, he's a lot better than Will Solomon.

 

Marco Belinelli | 2 | 0 / 0 | 2 | 0

A lot of people think this guy's a shooter. That's a mistake, this guy is a scorer. Unlike when Kapono puts it on the deck, Marco can actually finish! The style of his game seems like it could be streaky though, so I'm not expecting consistency out of him. But if he can come in off the bench and provide a spark every other game, I'm all for keeping him on this roster. The knocks on his defense are also questionable. He played solid man-on defense throughout the game. The only knock is that he gambles quite often, something that could end up burning the Raptors in key end-of-game moments... that's probably why Wright was on the floor instead during those times.

 

Antoine Wright | 0 | 2 / 2 | 2 | 0

A lot of people counted 3 charges, maybe I missed one. Wright turned out to be a solid defender we can bring off the bench. The only problem is he's our new Kris Humphries. Yes, the black hole is back, this time in the form of a shooting guard. He showed a tight handle and the ability to knock down some shots, but he's not talented enough offensively to be able to do some of the things he's trying. Think Jalen Rose without the efficiency (and Jalen Rose was *not* efficient... so think that). Still though, his smart help defense and solid man-on defense was sorely missed last season.

 

OVERALL OFFENSE

At the beginning we seemed kind of stagnant, feeding Bosh a few times and getting burned. Once the team realized that Bargnanni is our new offensive scoring machine, things started to go uphill. The further we got away from Bosh, the better we did. That's not to say Bosh was a liability on offense - he got the opposing team in foul trouble and started to pick things up as the game went on. More importantly we now know that if Bosh isn't "on", we have other options.

The bench offense was spurred on by Belinelli but held back by Jack. If this was just an off game for JJ, who played a lot of minutes, then maybe our bench scoring won't be so bad.

 

OVERALL DEFENSE

People keep pointing to holding the cavs to under 40% shooting, which is great and all, but I'll tell you one thing: there are other teams out there with better shooters. We leave that many 3 point shooters open in the 3rd quarter against a team like Orlando and... well, look at what happened to Philly. Ryan Anderson, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis... those are all better shooters than Daniel Gibson and Mo "I'm overrated" Williams. The defensive intensity was there, and that's a good thing to see. I think as we develop better communication over the course of the season, we'll be tighter on the perimeter. But we play Orlando on Sunday, and I don't want to be embarassed like Eddie Jordan was tonight.

With the offseason basically over, training camp approaching, and the Banks-for-Caroll trade no longer in consideration, we can finally recap what Colangelo has done these past few months. Many fans seems to be excited of the acquisitions this past summer, while a few remain skeptical. I'll break down each off-season move as objectively as I can, and then look at the end result as a whole.

 

May 11 - Jay Triano signed as head coach

Before Glen Grunwald got the axe, he hired rookie head coach Kevin O'Neil. The firey, hot-headed, defensive minded K.O. somehow managed to squeeze 33 wins out of lackluster players, a wire thin Chris Bosh, and an inconsistent Vince Carter. In the Rob Babcock Era, we saw yet another rookie head coach take the helm, Sam Mitchell. This time instead of relying on X's and O's, Sam Mitchell relied on... well, I have no idea. And now finally, in the 09-10 season we'll see yet another rookie head coach take the helm, our very own Jay Triano.

For a team looking to "win now" and advance to the second round of the playoffs, another rookie coach just doesn't make sense. Sure, Jay is experienced at the international level, but in the NBA he's just another rookie head coach without playoff experience. On the bright side, Jay Triano brings in a happy medium of X's and O's, push-the-ball offense, and motivation. And he's Canadian! What could possibly go wrong?

Individual Grade: C+

 

June 9 - Kapono traded for Reggie Evans

Many fans seem to believe Kapono is a bad player, and with his play these past few seasons for the Raptors, who can blame them? What they fail to understand is that Kapono is a niche player, and when a team can't provide him with that niche to be in, his flaws will be exposed. The guy can't dribble without travelling, yet he was asked to create off the bench. The blame can be placed on Kapono just as much as Mitchell, Triano, and even Colangelo for acquiring a 6th man that just didn't fit.

Reggie Evans to the Raptors just made sense. For a team that was out-hustled on rebounding, even when the big men were blocking out, a player that averages one of the highest rates of rebounds per minute is a godsend. His limited offensive abilities may be cause for concern, except no one is expecting him to have any offensive production to begin with. This is a perfect swap between two teams at the beginning of the offseason.

Individual Grade: A-

 

June 25 - DeMar DeRozan is drafted

How do you think Rob Babcock would have handled this draft class? Thank god we drafted DeRozan, a player who has drawn comparisons to Vince Carter (unlikely), Andre Igoudala (more likely), and Jason Richardson (most likely). The other two options here were Gerald Henderson and Terrence Williams, but with DeRozan showing the most potential I think we made the right pick.

Individual Grade: A

 

July 7 - Andrea Bargnani signs 5-year 50 million dollar extension

After an abysmal second season in the NBA, Bargnani didn't do much to doubt his naysayers early on last season. Being asked to play outside of his comfort zone in a variety of different roles, several fans were calling for his head. "Bustnani" was his new nickname. At least, up until the second half of the season. With a defined role and a coach that doesn't suck, Bargnani exploded onto the scene, averaging 19 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and a scorching 43.5 percent from 3 point range. So given these numbers, why was this extension over-priced?

If we take a look at the current economic climate, we'll notice that many teams are being stingy with their dollars. David Lee, a player who's production surpasses Bargnani, was not able to land the dollars he was looking for. And in this market, the rumour mill had it that 4 years 36 million would be something Lee would gladly take. A more concrete case is Charlie Villanueva, a stretch big-man that averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds last season. Well he got about 7 million a season. Considering Bargnanni is also a "stretch big-man" (a big man that can space the floor because of his shooting ability), is he worth an additional 3 million a season over Villanueva? He certainly has the height advantage and the shooting efficiency, but I feel we could have had Bargs for 8-9 million a season.

Individual Grade: B-

 

July 9 - Toronto Acquires Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, and Devean George in a 4-way trade

A little before this trade transpired, it seemed as if Hedo Turkoglu was heading to Portland. My thinking at the time? A sigh of relief. The guy was going to be paid 50 million dollars for 5 years. A point-forward who had peaked in Orlando was being paid 10 million dollars as season! Thank god we wouldn't throw away all our rights and cap space at one player... AGAIN (recall: Jermaine O'Neil). Alas, my relief was short lived after I found out Colangelo stole him away from the Blazers. Luckily, the front office found a way to not lose our mid-level exception and land Antoine Wright/Devean George as well. This means we wouldn't end up in the Will Solomon/Hassan Adams fiasco like last season.

But is the acquisition of Hedo good enough to propel us into the second round of the playoffs? People keep heralding his clutch abilities, but forget about his suspect shot selection. They talk about his playmaking abilities, but forget that he no longer has the brick wall that is Dwight Howard setting the pick. I certainly hope all the intangibles Hedo brings help the Raptors - his leadership and experience will be vital, especially for Bargnani. But at 53 million a season, it just seems too much.

The other big acquisition here is Antoine Wright. You know that when Rick Carlisle is singing you praises, you did something right. Remember that it was Rick Carlisle and Kevin O'Neil that originally made the Pistons into the defensive power house that they were. Wright will be a key player in stopping opposing teams' runs, and help in closing close games.

Individual Grade: B

 

July 13 - Jarret Jack Signed for 4 years, 20 million

When the Pacers didn't match the deal 7 days later, Raptors fans could finally free their minds of the horrible point guard play they endured last season. The steep price tag for a back-up point guard such as Jack was necessary to ensure Indiana didn't match, but at the same time was Jack the only option? There were several other back up point guards available this off-season: Earl Watson, CJ Watson, Marcus Williams, Jayson Williams, etc. What made Jack stand out was his ability to play physical defense at BOTH guard positions, allowing him to play alongside Calderon to close out games. Oh, and he's Chris Bosh's best friend. Yeah, that helped too.

Individual Grade: B+

 

July 30 - Devean George traded for Marco Belinelli

Quite possibly the steal of the offseason, especially since all we gave up an ailing forward who wasn't going to play much anyway. If Belinelli doesn't work out, well, we wasted close to 3 million dollars for the season. But if he shows some potential, like the potential Bryan Colangelo sees in him when he calls him a potential 6th man of the year candidate, then this is one hell of a deal. What are the chances Belinelli isn't a dud? Given Nellie's track record of hating rookie players more than Rosie O'Donnel hates low fat yogurt, I'd say the chances are pretty good.

Individual Grade: A+

 

July 30 - Rasho Nesterovic signed to a 1 year deal

After playing with the Raptors for over 8 million a season just a short while ago, bringing back the locker room presence that is Rasho Nesterovic at a reasonable 2 million is a solid pickup. He's not getting any younger, and he's slower than he once was, but as a position based defender Rasho is one of the best in the business - making life easier for PFs like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. And he's the only Raptor with a championship ring.

Individual Grade: B

 

August 18 - Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic traded for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems

The key thing to note here is we were not going to get Carlos Delfino. We weren't going to sign him for 3.5 million dollars after loading up the wings of the roster, and he wouldn't sign here even if we did offer that. This trade is essentially Roko Ukic for Amir Johnson. One is a tall point guard who has shown flashes of greatness, and the other is an athletic forward who has shown beatly efficiency in the post. But Amir is younger, and given the influx of point guards we have on the roster (still sitting at 4 with Jose, Jack, Douby, and Banks) this trade makes a lot of sense for the Raptors. It also means Patrick O'Bryant gets pushed one spot further down the bench, a huge plus in my books.

Individual Grade: B+

 

Conclusion

Overall Bryan Colangelo has managed to overhaul the roster and solidify a core starting line of Jose, Bargs, and Turkoglu with 6th man Jack. Is that a scary core? Not at all, but it's one hell of a complementary core, especially if Turkoglu manages to bring his intangibles to the Raptors. Add a max-money player (we all hope it will be Chris Bosh proving that he deserves it) and we should be able to compete for quite a while. Especially when you consider that the aging Celtics have a maximum of 2 seasons to go, LeBron's Cavs are about to hit a wall at the centre position (Big Z and Shaq are old), and Orlando can't keep paying that much luxury tax for much longer without dumping some of it on Mark Cuban.

Overall Grade: B-