yea they have bosh who is a PF not a center, and they just drafted the Euro guy, but they probably could have gotten a better offer.
I think a lot of you are over-valuing Villenueva. I think it was pretty even for the most part. I think it's obvious with Colangelo that he wants to build this squad as an up-and-down team like the Suns, and TJ Ford is a good PG for that, while Villenueva isn't really a big man suited for running. Now they can let Ford, Bosh, and Bargiani run the floor and light up the scoreboard.
Over-valuing Villenueva? Sorry i don't agree with that. The guy averaged 13pts and 6rbs in his rookie season! I've seen this kid play and I have to say he has all-star written all over him. I don't think he will ever dominate the game, but he surely will average 20Pts 10Rbs in the NBA. There are only about 6 players that do that. I think BC paid a hefty price for a PG that is coming of major surgery and can't shoot. However, since Bargnani is basically the same player as Charlie V. it became obvious that one had to go.
Damn! You've gotta think that Gay and Swift would've been enough for us to land TJ. I've always maintained that he'd be the ideal PG for Houston, since he's a playmaking, pass-first PG.
There's a reason only 6 players do that. It's not easy. Jermaine Oneal has gone for 20/10 twice in his career, Amare and Bosh have yet to do it, but with Villanueva it will "surely" happen. Don't get me wrong, he's a good young player with a lot of promise. But he's still got a lot of work to do to forge that talent into the kind of player you're envisioning. Not that it won't happen, but it's definitely a tossup in my book.
Man, you guys are talking about "We could have gotten Charlie V!" but what about "We could have gotten TJ Ford!"??? If I was a Raptors fan, I'd love this trade. TJ Ford is a great pure point guard and a solid citizen. He is the kind of point guard that makes the players around him look better. You can second guess it all you like, but I remember thinking signing Steve Nash to that massive contract was a bad idea. Colangelo knows what he's doing. I have a really high opinion of TJ Ford. I wish he was on the Rockets.
Wow, caught me off guard with this one. The Raptors have 5 pg's on the roster right now- Andre Barrett, Darrick Martin, Calderon, Ford and Alvin Williams (remember him?), unless you play him primarily as a shooting guard. I've got to think they're not done tweaking their roster, and I'll be interested to see what they do from here on out. As another poster mentioned, this just scores some good karma points with Bosh by bringing on another Texas product after passing on Aldridge (you've got to build a positive culture- ex: Clippers bringing Cassell and Cuttino on to appease Brand), and even without that logic it's a smart basketball move- having a great pg should lessen Bargnani's learning curve, and Bosh runs the floor great for a big man. I know Colangelo has carte blanche now, but this seems like a deal Sam Mitchell will have completely been behind. The Raptors played some really attractive basketball last year, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of identity they develop with these moves. I get the feeling they'll move for another shooter with only Peterson and Williams as reliable outside threats. From the Bucks perspective, they've got to be optimistic to border-line thrilled. Their starting 5 should look like this- Mo Williams, Redd, Bobby Simmons, Villanueva and Bogut. That's a pretty damn good core.
Villanueva scored 13 a game for the crappiest team in the league. Someone's gotta score the points over there right. Who else is going to score points over there? TJ Ford is the perfect move for Toronto. Colangelo was looking for his Nash to make that team run. Ford will look like a different player when put into an offense that accents his positives like this will. People will be wondering what the hell the Raptors were thinking doing this trade in a few years.
Oh yea, but those guys don't really play much, or shouldn't play much. Alvin Williams hasn't played in what seems like years.. he's ALWAYS INJURED and NEVER PLAYS. With Darrick Martin, I think he gives good support . . . FROM THE BENCH.
I think the Raptors made a good move here. Charlie V. had a nice rookie season (after getting wholeheartedly bashed on draft night), but I think the Raptors selling himwhile his stock is high. I don't think he's the banger PF some people make him out to be. He's more likean oversized 3, and they just drafted another one in Bargnani #1. Now, they utilized one of their duplicate assets to land what they really needed, a true PG. TJ is small and needs to work on his shot, but he's one of those rare true PGs who can impact the game immensely with his pace and ability to get others involved. I definitely see how Colangelo is trying to get Steve Nash-lite, although TJ will probably never be that good. They have a nice, young, athletic sqaud up there.
Seems to me you aren't very familiar with the team at all. 1) Andre Barrett was a 10 day that became gauaranteed for the season, and he has a training camp invite in place for next season. That's it. He's not under contract and is a long shot to make the team. 2) Darrick Martin was brought on for some vet help for the baance of last season only. He too, is not expected to be on next year's team, or even invited to camp for that matter. 3) Calderon is under contract and is a capable backup, not ready to start. 4) TJ Ford is the new guy, of course, and is expected to start. 5) Alvin Williams hasn't played for 2 seasons and is widely expected to be either bought out or traded as cap ballast in a deal where another team dumps a larger contract on the Raptors and proceeds to buy Williams out. His final 2 years are not fully guaranteed and I believe it would cost about $6 mil to buy out the remaining $13.6 owed to him over the next 2 seasons. 6) Roko Ukic - Croatia. He signed with TAU for 4 seasons, but is able to leave any time after the 1st season (like now), though there is a buyout in place. It's $1.5 mil this seasons, $1 mil next and $500K the following season. Colangelo tried to bring him over last year, but wasn't able to swing it with our cap situation. It's not 100%, but it's very likely that Ukic is brought over for the coming season. The PG situation therefore looks like: Starter: TJ Ford Reserves: Jose Calderon, Roko Ukic At 6' 6" with shooting range, Roko can play minutes at the 2 guard, and the team is expected to get another combo guard this summer - either in exchange for Mike James (say Marquis Daniels, Luther Head), or with the $9 mil or so left to spend on FAs.
I really don't know where did you get that from. Ukic is somewhere around 6-4/6-5 and physicaly very weak. He can't play quality SG minutes even here in Europe... NBA SG's would eat him alive.
I didn'y imply he could log starter minutes at SG, but he's certainly capable of filling 5~8 backup minutes at SG against other reserves. I could see him averaging about 10~12 minutes a game as a backup to both guard spots. I admit he's a little on the weak side, but he has filled out a little since his days in Split and it was said he is still growing and could reach 6' 7". Even if he's 6' 5" as you say - that's 6' 6" in shoes - he certainly has the height to matchup up against other NBA combo guards, many of whom also barely break the 200lb mark. You can't deny that he has exceptional handles and a scoring touch. He's not the mature playmaker that Prigioni is with TAU, but his game should translate better to the NBA than it does in Europe anyways.
FYI I'm from Croatia... so I should know. Nobody's denying his talent, but even more talented guards (than he is) from Europe haven't succeded in the NBA.
