Tomorrow, July 1st, at 12:01 AM the free agency period begins. Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Carlos Boozer, Chris "Birdman" Andersen, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, and Ron Artest are just a few of the big name players that will be without a team. But the big question is--who will the Toronto Raptors go after? Considering the very disappointing year the team had last year, and seeing that this is Chris Bosh's final season under contract, the Raptors must do whatever they can do to have a great 2009-2010 season. So far, they've done a good job by acquiring big man Reggie Evans, and drafting DeMar DeRozan in the draft. Carlos Delfino is also rumored to come back to Toronto. But, unfortunately, that's not enough--the Raptors must to a solid job in free agency, and bring in proven veterans to make the ball club better.
Monday, June 29, 2009
2009 NBA Free Agency Begins Tomorrow
Tomorrow, July 1st, at 12:01 AM the free agency period begins. Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Carlos Boozer, Chris "Birdman" Andersen, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, and Ron Artest are just a few of the big name players that will be without a team. But the big question is--who will the Toronto Raptors go after? Considering the very disappointing year the team had last year, and seeing that this is Chris Bosh's final season under contract, the Raptors must do whatever they can do to have a great 2009-2010 season. So far, they've done a good job by acquiring big man Reggie Evans, and drafting DeMar DeRozan in the draft. Carlos Delfino is also rumored to come back to Toronto. But, unfortunately, that's not enough--the Raptors must to a solid job in free agency, and bring in proven veterans to make the ball club better.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Winners and Losers of the NBA Draft
San Antonio Spurs: Despite having no first round picks, the Spurs were still able to have a great draft night. With the 36th pick, the team was able to snag DeJuan Blair, the big man from Pittsburgh. Blair was supposed to go in the late first round, so by drafting him 36th was certainly a steal. I believe Blair will come in and immediately help on rebounding. With the 51st pick, the Spurs drafted Jack McClinton. According to scouts, McClinton is a duplicate of Celtics' Eddie House. What does this mean? He'll be able to score well off the bench. Two picks later, San Antonio selected Nando De Colo from France. At Eurocamp, De Colo blew scouts away on his shooting ability. Despite having late picks in the draft, San Antonio still had a great night. And by adding Richard Jefferson on Tuesday, the organization had an excellent week. If I'm a Spurs fan, I'm hopeful for the future.
Losers…
Minnesota Timberwolves: The Timberwolves had the possibility of having an excellent draft. Considering they traded to get the 6th pick, and they already had the 5th, the Timberwolves could have drafted two excellent rookies. In my opinion, they made very questionable calls. Minnesota drafted PG Ricky Rubio from Spain with the 5th pick, and Syracuse PG Jonny Flynn with the 6th. I don’t understand the logic behind this at all, because both players are PG’s. Now, reports are saying Ricky Rubio may go back to Spain, and play overseas for a more years. The Timberwolves claim this is why they picked Flynn, because they weren’t sure on the status of Ricky Rubio. OK, I guess that makes sense..but then why did they get Rubio in the first place? Because I’m guessing there would be no way to play Rubio and Flynn on the court at the same time, therefore they’d have to trade one away. Why bother drafting and taking the risk on Ricky Rubio, when both Stephon Curry and Jordan Hill were available? I think they should have drafted Jonny Flynn and Stephon Curry, because both come with no question marks, and both would feed off each other. And then, the Timberwolves pick Ty Lawson, another PG late in the first round. That’s 3 PG’s! Now, granted, they did trade away Ty Lawson, but still…with these picks it shows the Timberwolves don’t know what they are doing, and don’t know the right players to fit into their system. Overall, I was very disappointed with the Timberwolves night, and if I’m a Timberwolves fan, I’m not to happy with the front office.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Draft night marked the first night off a very important off-season for the Cavs. LeBron James’ contract ends at the end of next season, so the team needs to do whatever they can to make this team better, and force LeBron to stay. With the 30th pick in the draft, the team selected Mr. Irreverent, Christain Eyenga from the Congo. The Cavs made this pick with big man DeJuan Blair still on the board. Blair would have fit perfectly into the Cavs system, because the team is in need of an athletic big man. But instead, the team goes with an no-name from the Congo. In my opinion, this was a very confusing call. The Cavs front office needs to be smarter then that if they want LeBron to stay.
New Jersey Nets: The Nets really surprised me when they selected SG Terrence Williams with the 11th pick. Just hours before the draft, the team traded away SG Vince Carter to the Orlando Magic, for PG Rafer Alston, and SG Courtney Lee. I'm confused, because don't the Nets have a lot of PG's and SG's? I mean, they already have a solid point guard in Devin Harris, and they just added Terrence Williams, Courtney Lee, and Rafer Alston. What are they going to do with all these players? If I was Rod Thorn, Nets GM, I would have drafted Tyler Hansbrough. The Nets are in need of a big man, and I think Hansbrough, despite what people say, will be a good contributor in the NBA.
So there are my winners and losers in the NBA Draft. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A Little Introduction...
"The Salami and Cheese" was a catch phrase used back in the day by Raptors commentator Chuck Swirsky. Although Chuck is not with the organization anymore, he will always be remembered. Now, I may not have come up with my own blog name, but when the phrase Salami and Cheese is used, ya gotta go with it, right?
-Kevin