How odd is it that Duhon is the Bulls' restricted free agent that's offered a contract, and we have heard NOTHING on Tyson Chandler or Eddy Curry? With the lack of big men in the league, I was sure someone would offer them some serious cash, a la Adonal Foyle's ridiculous contract with GS.
Why do all you sports writers always pick on the Raptors....seriously? It’s like as if it’s a trendy thing to do. We had both Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter on our team. They both left. So we draft guys who say they would WANT to play in Toronto…..so what happens??….you guys rip on the GM ....go back to rippin the Clippers........i forget that's been played out
i am from canada. i want to cheer for the raptors, but i just can't...cuz they are too poorly managed. it's an organization similar to stu jackson's vancouver grizzlies - full of dumbasses. you've had two good players, one who stayed around in his twilight years - and the city rode him for all he was worth - but outside of VC and TMac, the raptors have made some very very very poor decisions. last two years of draft picks tells the story.
VC, I'm not lumping you in with this group so don't jump down my throat, but in all candor -- I don't rip on the Raptors as much as I could, because the bulk of Raptors fans that I've had to deal with (since, crap, 1998!) are twice as sensitive and reactionary as any Knick/Laker/Bull/Magic/whatever fan out there. This is not a reaction to 3814's post, but a lot of the angry reactions Raptor fans have towards American sportswriters stems from the Grizzlies situation. Moron US scribes used to regard Toronto as this arctic wasteline, where a thousand US dollars could buy a loaf of bread, and they wrote incessantly about Toronto's "impending" move to the US -- like the Grizz. Nevermind that the Grizz were a horribly mismanaged team playing in an arena that was costing the millions of bucks. Nevermind that Toronto's the third largest city in North America. And yet, 1999 until summer of 2001 was full of those stories. Half the columns about Vince Carter had him leaving the Raptors as soon as his rookie deal expired. Unfortunately, those columns must have gotten to Grunwald, who signed the Williams brothers, Davis, Hakeem and Vince to giant contracts in a three week span back in the summer of 2001. Those moves didn't "save the Raptors for Toronto," but they did screw over the franchise. The Peddie-Grunwald-O'Neill fight put the franchise on standby for a year, and Babcock's been an outright abomination since then. The Graham pick was good, and Calderon is looking solid on NBA TV this week, but otherwise he's been awful. Weisbrod had the decency to fall on his own sword, and Chris Mullin has made some solid moves after his initial burst of incompetence, so Babcock stands alone in Isiahland. VC, everyone wants to play in Toronto, so the fact that those draft picks said "they want to play in T-Dot" means nothing. We rip the Raptors because they stink, they've won 24, 33 and 33 games with one of the NBA's highest payrolls over the last three years and don't look to be moving towards 40 any time soon. So I don't see writers ripping on the Raptors any more than any other crappy team in the NBA. You can convince yourself all to hell that the Villenueva pick was a masterstroke, but whether he turns into a Hall of Famer doesn't matter right now -- it was an absolute head-scratcher. Same goes for Raffy's selection. Raptor fans need to learn from Knick fans: I'll take delusional over sensitive any day.
in terms of the entire market, I think it ranks behind New York, LA, Chicago, Philly, Dallas/FW, and Mexico City if you include it...
I've had to do business several times in Toronto the past few years. Man that place is a frozen tundra in the winter with mountains of snow all over the place. And everyone's too damn nice and courteous, too. Anyways, off the top of my head I would say 1) Mexico City 2) NYC Tri-State 3) LA basin 4) Chicagoland 5) Philly/Central Jersey 6) DFW 7) Bay Area 8) Toronto 9) DC/Baltimore 10) Houston (all metro areas, not proper city limits)
Question If the bulls Match . . can the Raptors [or anyone else] RE OFFER . .or UP the offer? Rocket River
Vince Carter was the one who said that if everyone(Davis/A.Williams/J.Williams) came back he would re-sign….what would you have done as management? Let him walk? The guy sold out AWAY GAMES because of his electrifying dunks. There is no way you let a guy like that walk. The only bad move Grunwald made was signing of Hakeem, everything else what he did was what any GM in the league would have done. I also agree Peddie who is a hockey guy has a lot to do with the Raptors being a sh*tty franchise. Of yeah by the way in Toronto we are delusional about our Leafs….the Raptors may someday enter that realm of fantasy, though first they gotta atleast win one.
