On Tuesday, with Sam Smith of Bulls.com’s statement that “Many believe Nash instead of chasing a title with a contender for a lesser salary will go back to Canada and the Raptors for a three-year deal and help bring their young players along” setting the blogosphere on fire,we thought why not go right to the source of the frenzy and talk to Mr. Sam Smith himself.
The Ultimate Raptors Rankings are the RaptorBlog editors’ attempt to rank the top 30 Toronto Raptors of all time. These rankings are obviously somewhat arbitrary and endlessly debatable, but they’re based on each player’s contribution, performance and longevity as a Raptor, and on how beloved they are by Raptors fans.
Chris Bosh’s Raptors résumé:
- Second in franchise history, games played (509)
- First in franchise history, points (10,275)
- First in franchise history, rebounds (4,776)
- Five consecutive All-Star nominations as a Raptor (2006-2010)
Starting from when he was drafted fourth overall in the 2003 draft after the most-hyped top three picks in the history of the NBA draft — LeBron, Darko and Carmelo — Chris Bosh has always been viewed by the general NBA fanbase as an afterthought, a nice piece of the puzzle but not a player you’d want to build a team around. The fact that Dwyane Wade was selected right after Bosh in that draft hasn’t helped Bosh’s image as the quintessential sidekick.
By now, whether here at RaptorBlog or somewhere else on the internet, you have probably stumbled across Chicago NBA writer Sam Smith’s claim that “many people” believe Steve Nash will sign in Toronto for “three years” to “help bring their young players along.”
Sam Smith is an NBA writer in Chicago, and his work can be found on Bulls.com. He often writes about all NBA-related news and notes though, and on Monday, he wrote something that might send Raptors followers into the sports fan’s equivalent of an orgasm, given that we’ve already dealt with Jonas Valanciunas’ birthday, David Aldridge praising us and DeMar DeRozan being included on the U.S. select team all within the last day-and-a-half.
Towards the bottom of his latest column, Smith notes that Steve Nash is expected to move on after the Suns make a “limited offer.” Where it gets insanely interesting for us in Canada is:
DeMar DeRozan has been invited to be a part of USA Basketball’s select team as the U.S. prepares to defend their Olympic gold in London this summer.
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