In a report that should come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed this team in recent years, ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted the following on Saturday morning…
First order of biz for new Raps GM Masai Ujiri: Word is he’ll shop Andrea Bargnani everywhere he can in hopes of moving him before July 1
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 1, 2013
Given the way this season has gone for Andrea Bargnani and the Raptors, this shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise, but the team announced on Wednesday morning that they expect Bargnani to miss the rest of the season with a “right elbow avulsion sprain.”
While the injury isn’t related to the ligament tear Bargnani suffered in his right elbow earlier this season, the fact that a shooter who was already struggling with his shot has now suffered two significant enough injuries to the elbow on his shooting arm within the last three months is certainly concerning.
After a crazy couple of months of Raptors-related trade rumours in January and February and an actual blockbuster in the process, I didn’t think we’d be talking about potential moves again until at least April.
So much for that, as Marc Spears reported in his weekly power rankings (where the Raptors held firm at No. 20) that according to a source, “the Raptors are looking for a veteran power forward and could make a run at Golden State’s Carl Landry if he opts out of his deal this summer.”
For what it’s worth, it was also Spears last week who revealed reports of Bryan Colangelo “likely” making an extension offer to Rudy Gay this summer.
I hate that I love you, Kobe.
The Raptors blew yet another double-digit fourth quarter lead, Kobe Bryant killed the Raptors for the umpteenth time in his career, Dwane Casey mismanaged his rotation and Rudy Gay threw up brick after brick after brick, as Toronto fell to the Lakers in overtime. The Raptors still haven’t beaten the Lakers on the road since 2001, they fall to 2-14 all-time against the Lakers at Staples Center and they have yet to win a season series with the Lakers…like, ever.
Here are some thoughts on a game that exemplified the Raptors’ 2012-13 season in one completely predictable fourth quarter meltdown…
With Oliver posting his case for keeping Bryan Colangelo yesterday, it’s time that I dig into the case against extending Colangelo.
I probably maintained faith in the man they call B.C. longer than most, and in truth, am always one shrewd Colangelo move away from being back on the B.C. bandwagon, as it seems most others are as well. There’s something about him that makes you at least want to believe. As a teenager myself when Colangelo arrived in Toronto, he restored respectability and relevance to my beloved Raptors. When the team won 47 games and its first division title in his first full season at the helm, it seemed the heights of our future successes were as tall as his trademark collars.
But alas, while Colangelo seemed to have a Midas touch for that first year on the job, nearly every major transaction Bryan has signed off on since then has backfired, and while deep down there is probably a Colangelo fan waiting to reemerge in many of us, the decision of whether or not to extend or fire a sports executive comes down to business. And from a business perspective, we’re talking about a team that looks destined to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight season for the first time in franchise history. And that’s really saying something considering how futile this franchise’s history has been.
Of course, losing faith in Colangelo runs much deeper than simply missing the playoffs again…
