TORONTO RAPTORS (41-41) – ELIMINATED FIRST ROUND
The Raptors were a little bit of a surprise last year. They had a bunch of question marks coming into the season but most of them were answered thanks to the spectacular play of Jose Calderon and to a lesser extent, Jamario Moon. So with Calderon putting up All-Star numbers, management decided to trade away TJ Ford and give their All-NBAer Chris Bosh some help up front by getting Jermaine O’Neal in return. They can only hope the trade works out for them (ie O’Neal stays healthy).
Chris can apparently be a star off the court too.
Face of the Franchise: Chris Bosh. This Redeem Teamer has cemented his status as an elite power forward in the NBA. He stood out this past summer in the Beijing Olympics as one of the better big men in the world with his efforts in helping the USA win the gold medal. Many people forget that Bosh will also be a part of that free agent class of 2010. One team will be thrilled to make him their franchise player in that summer. Toronto can only hope it will be them.
Send Him Away: Andrea Bargnani. I don’t know if disappointment would be the correct word to use with Bargnani. He is still 22 years old and has a ton of potential. Unfortunately, although he started 51 more games last year than in his rookie year, his minutes, points, rebounds, FG % and 3PT % all dropped. He digressed in his progression and that just can’t happen. This year will be huge for him as he comes closer and closer to free agency.
Get used to this picture Raptors fans.
Impact Newcomer: Jermaine O’Neal. There is no question that O’Neal can be one of the dominant post players in the league. The issue is that he has never played a complete season since he was drafted. On top of that, he’s only averaged 52 games in his last 4 years. The Raptors took a huge gamble by trading for JO and his health will determine if it was a good move.
X-Factor: Jose Calderon. This All-Star snub from last year grabbed his opportunity to start and never let go. He led the NBA in assist/turnover ratio by FAR at 5.38. He shot an outstanding 52% from the field last year including 43% from 3-point range. If this Spaniard can even come close to the numbers he put up last year, the Raptors will wonder why they even got TJ Ford in the first place.
More Chris Bosh fun.
Forecast: Playoffs – 6th seed. Let me start off by saying Jermaine O’Neal will NOT stay healthy for the whole year. The important thing is that he is healthy come playoff time and that the other players remember how to play with him on the floor. I mean, without O’Neal they pretty much have the same team as last year and they were pretty successful. The Raptors, however, just do not have the depth to be a title contender this year.
Posted by david im 
