NBA Raptors Talk Article

Toronto Raptors Rumors and Talk - BasketballCentral

The Toronto Raptors have continued their off-season restructuring, and today signed Spanish Cup Finals MVP Jorge Garbajosa, who joins American-born, but overseas league-hardened Anthony Parker as the Raptor's last two pieces to their hard-to-solve puzzle.

Wallowing near the bottom of the standings for the last few years, to the point where a game last season against the Atlanta Hawks would be considered the NBA version of a BCS-inspired "Suck Bowl", the Raptors seem to be on the Bryan Colangelo fast track. Importing Euroleague stars left and right, aquiring the services of Slovenian Rasho Nesterovic, picking up the quick-as-lightining TJ Ford, this team the newly-hired GM is building seems to have the makings of the one he just left in the Arizona desert.

With this seemingly Suns-inspired offense in the making, the recent signings may do just as much to add veterans to the team as it does to confuse anyone trying to project a depth chart for the Toronto club. First of all, starting with the Bargnani drafting, that added some confusion as to where the 7-footer would play with Rasho getting the nod to start at center, and with franchise player Chris Bosh at his natural PF position.

As I've outlined already, Andrea doesn't seem to have all the right "moves" to play NBA small forward, so why go and sign another tall (6'9") Spaniard who seems more apt to play down low than fulfill the NBA-prototype for a SF? In my opinion, Jorge Garbajosa just adds to the logjam at forward and center, and at 28 and used to playing 35 minutes a game for Spanish power Benetton Treviso, he might not relish coming off the bench.

As for the Anthony Parker signing, it seems to make a little more sense. Used to the American style of basketball, growing up in the States and honing his skills at Bradley, Parker was drafted in '97 by the Nets. But with nothing working out there, Anthony took his skills over to Europe, where he won two Euroleague MVP's. Now 31 and offering experience at SG for a team that's looked for that ever since Vince Carter was traded away in a wash of a deal, Parker is poised to step in to the starting lineup and provide some scoring punch, which should be easy to do at a good 6'6" and 215 lbs. One thing that worries me about this though is that at his age, he seems more like he's in it for the short-run; because by the time the rest of this Raptors team matures, Parker will be far past his prime.

With Fred Jones, the Raptors are getting a young and undersized SG, with little starting experience. He delivers big dunks as the Concesco Fieldhouse and Staples Center's crowds can attest to, but his overall game needs a lot of work, being as his 3-point shooting and aforementioned dunking are the only strong points in his game. He'll do little but add some some energy and maybe a scoring punch if he ever finds his way off the bench. Luckily though, the Raptors got a bargain on him, and he could prove useful if they were to package him in a deal.

Overall, more than adding security to a young team, these signings have created an atmosphere of competition for many starting spots and for time off the bench. While it remains to be seen if that competitiveness will bring the team down or help build it up, it leaves many unanswered questions as to which 5 players will be stepping onto the court on opening night and throughout the season, as well as down the road.

With draft pick Roko Ukic still overseas at PG, along with Jose Calderon and TJ Ford, then Parker, Jones and holdover Morris Peterson looking for the start at SG, a question mark that needs dealing with at SF (and one that won't be answered by incumbent Joey Graham or rookie PJ Tucker out of Texas), Bargnani, Garbajosa and Bosh creating the jam at PF, and finally an underperforming Rasho Nesterovic at C, with no good alternatives other than playing Bosh out of position there, this Raptors team needs to get sorted out, and quick.

Given that Garbajosa is already 28, and Parker older at 31, anything this Toronto team does will have to be quite soon for the signings to pay off. But seeing as Colangelo knows speed better than anyone, and given his track record with run-and-gun Phoenix, quick decisions should be no problem.

Fred Jones

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