Not much wiggle room for Raptors

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

February 18, 2008 at 10:59 PM EST

In the NBA, there are the haves, the have-nots and the rich, who keep getting richer.

By that measure, the Toronto Raptors are a not-quite, a team with some intriguing long-term potential, but looking at minor renovations between now and Thursday's trade deadline rather than a big addition.

Raptors president Bryan Colangelo won't come out and say that, naturally. He's doing his usual probing to see whether there is indeed a deal that could move his club into the neighbourhood occupied by the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.

But the reality is that after a spectacular stretch of player movement – in which the Phoenix Suns topped the Los Angeles Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol by trading for Shaquille O'Neal, inspiring the Dallas Mavericks to try to deal for New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd – the Raptors can only stand by and watch.

Attribute that to their financial reality.

The driving force behind most deals this time of year – when good players leave bad teams for better ones – is for the bad team to acquire expiring contracts that will allow them to rebuild their teams sooner rather than later.

The Raptors don't have many expiring deals to offer. Combining Juan Dixon and Darrick Martin in a deal would allow the Raptors to take back a player earning roughly $4-million (all currency U.S.). In other words, another tool for coach Sam Mitchell's toolbox rather than a difference maker.

The Raptors have long needed a rugged, scoring small forward (Ron Artest? Corey Maggette?) and a ball-chasing, floor-running big man. But they haven't added either yet because they sense that it's simply not their time yet.

In fantasy basketball, there might be a trade that could meet both needs without costing the Raptors some element of their young core – Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, T.J. Ford and Chris Bosh – but not in reality.

And without a significant addition at one of those spots, it's unlikely the Raptors will dislodge the Celtics or the Pistons – even LeBron James and the surging Cavaliers – this season.

As the arms race in the West proves, it would take a major talent infusion before the Raptors could truly consider themselves a threat to contend for an NBA title. Even then it would take time. Teams that go deep in the playoffs and challenge for titles are generally veteran groups with years of experience together.

Even Bosh seems to appreciate that.

“You would always want to get good fast, but would you age really quickly doing it?” Bosh said, with his general manager's hat on. “Your average age would go from 26 to 32 or something, do you really want to risk that? You can either build to be good in the future or you can be good right now and have to build up eventually.”

The Raptors can take comfort in residing in the mild, mild East. The only trade of significance to this point was the addition of veteran Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby to the young Atlanta Hawks, but that's a move more likely to earn them a seventh or eighth seed rather than bump them into the Eastern Conference elite.

While the first, second and third seeds are almost certainly out of reach, the Raptors' future appears to be the No.6 spot, if not No.5, where they are right now. Add the right piece and put together some consistent basketball, and they could battle with Cleveland for No.4 and homecourt in the first round of the playoffs.

Once in the playoffs, they have a chance to win a series if they happen to be shooting well from the three-point line. Keep that up and they might even throw a scare into someone in the next round.

In that scenario, a young club gains some valuable playoff experience and management gets a better sense of what it will take to keep the Raptors movin' on up to the NBA's more exclusive neighbourhoods.

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