A Triumphant Return! - The Marion Trade and the Raptors

A message from the SportsOne:

Sorry everyone. I’ve been sick; more so than usual even. It all started last week when I went to visit my people in London and after a date, spent the next two days sick in my parents spare bedroom. Not fun indeed. I’m back on my feet and ready to resume a column which has definitely been lacking these last few weeks. Was my last viable sports piece really three days before the Super Bowl?? Have I become as reliable in sports writing as MJ is at releasing albums? Ouch, that one hurt. No matter. There’s a ton to get to this week and as promised the NHL Trade Value column will be out on Thursday so sit tight everyone, it’s going to be a great week. With that, let’s get it on.


Well, the NBA All-Star weekend came and went and the NBA Trade Deadline came and went too. That was fun. Really? Rafer Alston is THE marquee name that got traded this year? Nobody wanted Amare? (Probably a good choice in retrospect) The biggest news was Tyson Chandler being deemed to big a risk to join the Thunder. (I hate it when MY big toe hurts too) So as February is about to become March and the stretch run is upon us, there was one team who made a deal and instantly became a better team. No, not because they picked up the guy who could save their season and not because this player will develop into a star amidst the ones they already have. No folks, this trade worked for one reason and one reason only. The newest members of the “Trading For an Expiring Contract Club”: The 2008-09 Toronto Raptors.

I wisely decided to wait three games just to see what Shawn Marion would bring to the team. He was involved in the trade that sent present door-stop Jermaine O’Neal and “Shows flashes but really isn’t a great player” Jamario Moon to Miami before the All Star Game. The first game out was against the Cavs on Wednesday and all the local papers were calling it “The Marion Era”. That floored me. Couldn’t these newspaper guys realize that Marion is gone in eight weeks? He’s a rental player; actually, he’s a rental contract. In the great traditions of expiring contract players (more on that in a bit) Toronto has found one of the best in the league this year. He can still play at an adequate level (not for his salary), rebound a little (not for his salary), drop a dime or two (again, not for his salary) and he’s a fun guy to hang out with I’m sure (I’m sure I saw an “After the game, strippers on you right Shawn?” look from Anthony Parker during that game) but other than that it’s a wash.

I’m sure that some of you are finding it difficult to see where I’m coming from with this term “Expiring Contract” and how it is an asset to the Raptors. It works like this: O’Neal was due $21 million this season and will be due the same amount next year as well. Buy shipping him off to Miami (Thank You!) they now get a player who is in the last year of his deal. The Raps will pay him for the duration of the year and that’s it. The money they would have owed to O’Neal is being paid by Miami now, so that money is freed up to invest in a player who might be worth a similar amount. I.e. Not Shawn Marion.

Now they might try to resign him, but anything more than 3 years for $20 million would be a waste, especially if they can get one of the players at the bottom of this column.

Shawn Marion’s $17 million contract isn’t as lucrative as some of the other expiring contracts in the last few years. Remember when Phoenix traded for Penny Hardaway? Theo Ratliff, signed a huge deal and once everyone realized he was a $19million Pape Sow went from one of the highest paid guys in the league to a $1.4 million player who now to supplement his income parks cars at the Wachovia Center before games? At least Marion can still put up 12 and 10. That being said, it’s still not the Marion Era. I was happy to see this guy come to town for one reason and one reason only: To get him out of here this summer and bring someone in who can actually make this team better.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s review the first three games since the trade. A worse game than it sounds 17 point home loss to Cleveland, a 30 point loss at New York (a game in which the Raps were actually down 9-0 four minutes into the game prompting a buddy of mine to inquire as to whether anyone had ever been shut out in the first quarter of a game before; to their credit they managed 22 for the quarter; down by 20 after one isn’t bad right?) and a 10 point win at home Sunday against the same Knicks. In defence, Chris Bosh missed the Cleveland game and Anthony Parker was absent from the first New York game (check his stats, they can tell me he played all they want, I know what I saw!) so it pretty much was a mirror of what this team has accomplished for the season: 1-2. For every win, we get two losses. This Marion trade is supposed to get us excited for a potential first round playoff drubbing at the hands of Cleveland or Orlando? Sign me up!!

(Actually, I think the Raptors could definitely surprise Boston if they were to play in the opening round. They always play the Celtics hard, and Boston plays better against opponents who are not familiar with them, like those in the West. Cleveland would absolutely destroy Toronto, and Orlando already did last year; and they’re better this year, and we’re WORSE! Much, much worse.)

So here’s an idea: Lose the season and get a lottery pick! A novel idea, considering outside of a few plane crashes there’s no way this team could ever be the Eastern Conference Champs. So, get a high draft pick, and then take the $21 million we’re not paying O’Neal next season and invest it in an adequate player so our star player won’t opt out of his contract in 2010. That’s what must happen. There’s a problem at the root of this that won’t go away unless Bryan Colangelo fixes it this summer: Chris Bosh needs to win, and this current line up won’t get him to the promised land.

A few weeks ago ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith pronounced that Chris Bosh wanted out of Toronto and every reporter in the city was up in arms saying things like “Smith is nuts!” or “Bosh loves Toronto!” I’ll be the first to agree with both of those statements. Bosh DOES love Toronto. And Stephen A Smith IS nuts (at the very least) however, he hit the nail on the head. I told my buddy Phil back in January that unless the Raps give Bosh an adequate front man, he’s out during the Summer of LeBron. (Right now my money is on Bosh joining LeBron and Steve Nash in New York. Remember I told you it would happen.)

The problem is that the free agent market in 2009 for the most part sucks. It’s full of wash outs like Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd, guys we wish we had 6 or 7 years ago. Kobe COULD become a free agent, but he’s not going anywhere. The rest of the field isn’t even worth mentioning, except for one guy: Carlos Boozer from Utah.

He’s already stated he wants out of Utah. I know what you’re thinking: Why would he want to play here, you can’t be a star here. That’s true. That’s why Bosh wants to leave. I can’t say I blame him at all. Look at Chris Paul. He’s a star and plays in New Orleans. Is he a star if he’s playing here? Does anyone get to see him play if he’s playing here in Toronto? Same with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. Or Brandon Roy in Portland. Last time I checked OK and Portland aren’t exactly the hot beds of American life. (Does anyone vacation in either of those places??) But their stars, and it’s because they don’t play in a foreign nation. Look at Bosh’s draft class: LeBron, Darko, Anthony, Bosh, Wade. Outside of the nightmare that Darko’s become (he needs to go join our old buddy Araujo in Slovakia or whatever), all of those guys are leaders on their team, but Bosh easily has the lowest profile of any of them. (Yes, LeBron is LeBron and Wade got his team a championship with the help of Shaq and the 2006 NBA Finals referees, one of which is on his way to jail, but still you can’t argue that Bosh would be more recognizable if he played anywhere else, save perhaps Sacremento)

T-Mac wanted out because he wanted to be a star. Carter was a star here, (somehow led the league in All Star voting three years in a row) but he’s a head case. You can’t have a team in the league that never gets a high profile game on American TV and think that you’re going to be a star on that team. (It’s the very reason why Toronto will never get an NFL team: TV deals, but that’s another column) In last years playoffs, the Toronto/Orlando series was the ONLY series that did not air a single game on TNT’s “40 games in 40 nights” NBA playoff schedule. Both feeds were local. As well, you’re almost never going to find a Raptor game on TNT, ABC, or ESPN this season. Yes, there is a collective thought that a Kings/Wolves game would attract more viewers than a Raptors/Spurs matchup, but they’re right. They only care about American viewership, so if they’re only getting one of the teams, why bother? It’s just how it is.

That’s why almost nobody in the US has seen Chris Bosh play. In the 2008 Olympics he was easily the second or third best player on the US team. He just wants to parlay that into a career where “he’s the man” and unless he gets a championship here, he’ll never get it. The way to get it to him, is to sign Carlos Boozer this off season. Something like 5 years $80 million. They’ll have the cap room and the funds necessary. Boozer is a top notch forward who coupled with Bosh could create havoc for the rest of the Eastern Conference. If Bargnani continues to step it up, then you have a starting line up of Bargs, Bosh, Boozer and Calderon. Not too shabby.

So please everyone, quit using the phrase “Marion Era.” Maybe if it was 2003 again I could get pumped up about him. He’s gone after this season, unless they can resign him for about 3 years $10 million or something. Right now the best thing this team can do is tank tank tank. Think Maple Leafs but with an actual chance of landing the No 1 pick. If they can’t sign Boozer this summer, they need to start talking Chris Bosh trade. There is no reason for him to stay after 2010, and frankly I wouldn’t blame him if he left.