Despite Harrison Barnes’ talents, The Toronto Raptors won’t tank
Despite Harrison Barnes’ talents, The Toronto Raptors won’t tank
If you want a reason, all you have to do is look at the New Jersey Nets who were said to be tanking for John Wall since the season opened. They put out one of the worst teams in NBA history and still did not land the #1 overall pick, or even #2 for that matter.
We will likely be a lottery team anyways so tanking is probably not necessary, and as stated above even tanking does not assure that you land your ‘tank target’ (see also the Celtics tanking for KD or Oden).
Harrison Barnes is a tantalizing prospect and is a likely franchise player in the NBA, and is a prospect that can undoubtedly lead his team to the next level…but as pointed out above, tanking does not assure you the drafts top prize…or even 2nd prize for that matter.
I would LOVE to add Harrison Barnes to the Raptors, and there are about 10 more prospects such as Perry Jones that could probably contribute to the Raptors squad right away following the 10-11 draft.
I know some of you are calling for the Raptors to tank, but besides not assuring yourself anything by tanking you also run the risk of hurting the development and confidence of the players currently on your team, this is especially pertinent when talking about a young team like the Raptors.
Bryan Colangelo himself has publicly stated that he refuses to tank and that he does not feel we need to rebuild, but rather that we need to retool. His sentiments make sense because if you were rebuilding a team you would not already have young building blocks like DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems…not to mention Bargnani and Kleiza and to a lesser extent Solomon Alabi.
“I can’t tank,’’ Colangelo said. “I’m about competing and winning. I don’t plan to lose. That won’t happen as long as I’m here.”
“I’m not buying the losing approach,” Colangelo said Thursday. “I’m not buying it. I’m not buying planning to lose. Plan to win. Plan to compete.
“My strategy, my approach, has always been to try to move forward and put the most competitive and entertaining team out there, and justify the investment that the people put into season tickets, corporate partnerships. And I don’t want to leave anything on the table in terms of that effort.”
So to sum up….the Raptors won’t tank…and that likely means we will not have chance to land arguably one of the five most talented players to enter the draft since Kevin Durant.
That’s fine…I doubt many Raptor fans would sit quiet through 82 games of tanking anyways…heads would roll.
Would you be willing to suffer through a New Jersey Nets 2009-2010 type season to land a future all-star like Harrison Barnes?
We want to hear your thoughts Raptor fans! Do you support tanking? Why or why not?
Chime in below and leave us a comment or send us an email at raptorcity@raptorsdigest.com
Raju Byfield is a Senior Sports Writer for Raptors Digest.
Raju Byfield also writes for Win My Fantasy League as a Senior Sports Writer/Fantasy Sports Analyst.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Raptors Myth #1. A team has to tank its season, in order to add a player like Harrison Barnes, via the NBA Draft.
Raptors Myth #2. A team put together by Bryan Colangelo has, at any time, succeeded in winning a League Championship..
Raptors Myth #3. If the Raptors trade Andrea Bargnani, they are incapable of improving the long term fortunes of their team.
Raptors Myth #4. There is nothing wrong with the Raptors:
i. Losing Chris Bosh, via unrestricted free agency;
ii. Trading Hedo Turkoglu, in exchange for Barbosa and Jones [Phoenix];
iii. Trading Jose Calderon, in exchange for ?;
but,
iv. Refusing to trade the biggest defensive/rebounding liability on their team, i.e. Andrea Bargnani.
Cheers
[Reply]
Raju aka RaptorCity Reply:
July 16th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Khandor,
I agree and we need to make some sort of concerted effort to start the get rid of Bargnani bandwagon….lets do it..
[Reply]
I really don’t think the Rapotrs should tank. There is a lot to be said for being hardworking and trying to compete, especially with the young group the Raptors will be putting on the floor night in and night out. It is realistic to think the a lottery pick is in the future for this team and in my opinion that may be the best option for this team as long as they stay focused and play hard. If Demar, Sunny, Andrea, Amir, and Ed are part of the future, which seems likely at this point, then the focus should be on development and building cohesion on the court. It would be counterproductive to tank and develop a culture of losing with these young players by encouraging losing. They have not experienced the struggles that the franchise has endured over the years and can therefore be above those negatives and move forward towards building a team that is difficult to play against and hopefully will be a team on the rise.
[Reply]
Raju aka RaptorCity Reply:
July 16th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Mick,
Very well said
Thanks for your comments…I look forward to more in the future
[Reply]
I dont see this raptors team (unless BC uses that TPE for some major talent) winning more than 30 games even if they try really hard….but i would rather watch a 30 win team that is trying really hard over a 40 win team (last years raptors) who look like theyve given up…….. let the players try their hardest and they might just surprise us……wouldnt it just be phenomenal if the young guns can get us in the playoffs?? (a guy can dream , right?)
[Reply]
I don’t know if you read my latest post….
http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/2010/07/the-r-word/
…but I don’t think it’s necessarily a matter of tanking. Tanking is purposely clearing your roster of talent, and the Raptors obviously aren’t going to do that. They have talent, but there simply is not high enough talent and that talent is too young to be able to compete for a playoff spot. I think they don’t need to try and lose big, I just think that’s going to be the natural result of what they are doing. I don’t see them finishing in the bottom 3, but if they finish outside of the bottom 10, I’ll be very surprised.
[Reply]
Raju aka RaptorCity Reply:
July 16th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Tim,
I just gave it a read and as you can tell by my comments there I fully agree
How about some cross-blog Trade Bargnani promotion….I WISHED we dealt him for Gerald Wallace back than and was actually in the stands yelling Gerald Wallace everytime Andrea touched the ball for a couple of games…..now as good a time as any as he must have some decent trade value.
[Reply]
No, you don’t tank. You just treat the regular season like the summer leagues. Develop the young players like Weems, Derozan, Davis and hope they improve. If you happen to win 25 games, so be it as wins and losses don’t matter. Making the playoffs is detrimental to the team as it doesn’t have the pieces required to be a championship team a few years from now and players like Barnes and Jones can help depending on their college seasons. BTW I don’t buy the Barnes is going to be the number 1 pick, he’s talented but not as talented as Perry Jones. 6’11 players who can dribble like a guard don’t grow on trees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quxsxSe1YTo
[Reply]
Raju,
I responded to your comment on mine blog, but I can tell you, I’d be willing to try anything to have Bargnani traded away. Now, I don’t think the guy is a bad player, and I definitely think he’s talented, but he’s never going to be the starting forward on a Finals team (unless he joins Miami) because of his poor defense and rebounding. I’ve been suggesting trading him to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio (possibly even here), and I think it makes even more sense now that Jefferson has been dealt.
[Reply]
Raju,
Perhaps you should start a new web site titled:
http://www.raptorsmusttradebargnanitowinbig.com
If you do, I can almost guarantee that it will eventually grow into a bigger story … which will then be picked up by Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, TSN, Sportsnet, etc.
Before you know it, you will then find yourself on network tv being interviewed by all sorts of different people wanting to know the ins and outs of your idea.
Cheers
[Reply]
Trust me raps will tank. I think if Reggie gets injured we’re done for. Trust me season just started but we are wayyyyy to soft in the paint. Amir or Reggie gone we’re loosing forsure
[Reply]
Raju aka RaptorCity Reply:
November 22nd, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Spirow,
If they do I would not hate
[Reply]
Leave your response!
NBA Twitter Wire
Login
Our Friends
Polls
Follow Us On Twitter
Latest Analysis from Raptors Digest
Raptors Digest is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).