http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/carter ... uljay.html
Here's an excerpt:
No, the trade of Carter to the New Jersey Nets for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two first round draft picks brings cold reality to the value of a player once thought of as a league standard-bearer. What is Vince Carter worth? A couple of solid veterans, a couple of draft picks and an aging big man of suspect longevity. That's it.
Here's what is amazing about this trade: it's actually a good deal for Toronto. But that has more to do with Carter than who Toronto received.
Carter has taken a heap of criticism over the years for everything wrong with the Raptors, and some of it was unfair. He wasn't tough enough, they said. Reporters who must have minored in physiology reported that Vince had a "low pain threshold" and often compared him unfavourably to Alvin Williams, the team's point guard who insisted on playing on knees that lacked cartilage. Alvin, now gone for the season and possibly for his career, was lauded for continually damaging his legs, while Carter was lampooned as a "momma's boy."
This year, however, Carter finally proved his critics right. From the moment he asked to be traded during the summer, he mentally checked out. If you looked closely as he loafed on the court in a state of permanent ennui, you might have been surprised to note that his eyes were indeed open, for if anyone could be accused of sleepwalking through games, it was Vince.
He didn't even try to play defence. His shot selection, never a strong suit, became almost flippant. Increasingly he spent the fourth quarter on the bench. He spent more time hugging the opposition than his teammates. He played 20 games like this before finally crying ouch and taking a seat on the bench.
So for Toronto, Carter's departure was as inevitable as it was necessary.
