Does anyone see how bright the Raptors future is?

[Michael Jordan]

So hypothetically speaking, Bosh resigns.

When does a player hit the prime of his/her career? I would say about 28ish.
Look at the age of all these players

Chris Bosh- 25
Andrea Bargnani-24
Jarret Jack- 26
Amir Johnson-22
Antoine Wright-25
Sonny Weems-23
Demar Derozan-20
Marco Belinelli-23

Looking at our core I say it has a bright future. Something Bosh would consider in 2010. 4 years from now this will be a very experienced team and by that time many veteran teams will lose their core. San Antonio, Boston, Lakers, etc.

Looking at these guys I think we could be a great team. Who knows maybe Wright will go from a good defender to a great defender, Bargnani will become a better rebounder, Derozan will become a young VC.

And hypothetically if we didn't make the playoffs and got John Wall, that would be ridiculous.

[bena2005]

We will make the playoffs.

only thing im a little disappointed on is hedo's contribution so far.. he regressed from his orlando numbers.. i think that's because bc pushed him too much on being the 2nd leader of this team... which he wasn't in orlando...nor spurs and kings

[timdunkit]

Thats why I started this thread ... viewtopic.php?f=32&t=973402

But I agree ... Many people call us a treadmill team but I think we are a young treadmill team and for a young team, thats a pretty good accomplishment ...

[Jakay]

So hypothetically speaking, Bosh resigns.

When does a player hit the prime of his/her career? I would say about 28ish.
Look at the age of all these players

Chris Bosh- 25
Andrea Bargnani-24
Jarret Jack- 26
Amir Johnson-22
Antoine Wright-25
Sonny Weems-23
Demar Derozan-20
Marco Belinelli-23

Looking at our core I say it has a bright future. Something Bosh would consider in 2010. 4 years from now this will be a very experienced team and by that time many veteran teams will lose their core. San Antonio, Boston, Lakers, etc.

Looking at these guys I think we could be a great team. Who knows maybe Wright will go from a good defender to a great defender, Bargnani will become a better rebounder, Derozan will become a young VC.

And hypothetically if we didn't make the playoffs and got John Wall, that would be ridiculous.

Okay, you started this thread great. "Look I caught a big fish!"

You made a good point. "See? This is a tasty fish"

Then you blew it with that last paragraph. "But it is a fake fish".

Seriously though, you're main point is good. There's some good young pieces here, and some great pieces to build long term with, whether or not they're all here for the long haul. None of these guys are in their prime yet.

[decu21]

wasssup wit the john wall hype, shouldnt new jersey has more chance with him. i must say this team is deep, can become young team like portland in couple of years. btw memphis starting to look goood, i like them

[CapeCrusader]

I agree..if we can shop Turk and Jose then we'll be that much better.

[A Space Cow]

You fail to take the salary cap and expiring contracts/UFA's into consideration.

This team does not have a bright future.

Calderon/Hedo/Bargs/Jack = 34M and rising of a 51-56m soft cap. If Bosh walks, we got nothing but the mid-level for many years. There's a good chance we can't pay Amir enough to keep him. Wright stretches the term "basketball player" almost to its breaking point. Weems is overrated. Belinelli is playing terrible and I've blindly supported him for a long time but it's getting hard to keep justifying patience with him.

[Southward1]

If Derozan improves the way he should (A 17ppgish scorer by year 3) I don't see why this team won't be winning 50 games consistently every season. That's if Bosh stays.

[A Space Cow]

Winning long-term in the NBA is about salary cap management.

[Southward1]

wasssup wit the john wall hype, shouldnt new jersey has more chance with him. i must say this team is deep, can become young team like portland in couple of years. btw memphis starting to look goood, i like them

People on these boards always overrated prospects. ALWAYS! I remember people saying Beasley was going to be 25ppg monster, and how we should trade Bosh for Oden, and blah blah blah.

And onto this team, it's a decent core. If Bosh stays and Derozan improves the way he supposed to. I could see this team winning 47-52 wins by 2011-12, and consistently doing so afterwards.

[BryceMaxJames]

Bunch of overrated players and garbage coaches. Sorry to be so negative but it is what it is. BC screwed us with the $$$. 50mill for a 30 year old past his prime. 9 mill to Joses for the upcoming years. BS, next he's gonna give belli 8mill a yr for 4 yrs. BC is overrated.

[BryceMaxJames]

Winning long-term in the NBA is about salary cap management.

agreed and BC gets a D-

[positivetension]

You lost me when you put down Antoine Wright. I agree though, this team has upside.

[Nolan]

Winning long-term in the NBA is about salary cap management.

Yep and thats something this team definetly doesn't have. Its not about acumulating talent its about retaining it.

[inrapscity]

how bright is it? 1-2 2nd round playoff appearances at most for the next 5 years?

[positivetension]

how bright is it? 1-2 2nd round playoff appearances at most for the next 5 years?

2nd round playoff appearances are pretty decent. Only 4/30 teams make it to the conference finals and it's pretty hard to do without a Duncan/Kobe/Lebron/Howard.

[timdunkit]

Winning long-term in the NBA is about salary cap management.

agreed and BC gets a D-

BC is probably the best GM at creating flexibility or did you not witness that last year?

The worst contract on this team is by no doubt Hedo and he will be the hardest to move. But unlike most teams, Hedo is an 11 mill that produces rather then the 7-8 mill of garbage that most teams have anyways. People tihnk we can't retain players? Well first of, Jose can be easily traded for expirings either this season or next season. Banks/Evans come of the books next season which gives us some leeway between the lux tax. If we retain Bosh, its a good chance that MLSE eats a bit of tax in 2010/2011 but acknowledges taht there will be savings. With so many teams coming under the cap and tax, the money that is distributed from teams that pay the tax might not be that much of a gain to begin with anyways. DD is on a rookie contract and JJack is on a very good contract. You retain Amir and keep the cheaper and the cheaper of Wright/Weems and maybe bring in a vet for the min next year.

People are acting like we have 11-20 mill of dead weight ... As long as a player can produce, he has some value in this league and by the time Jose contract is up (if we keep him for the entire tenure) DD wil be up for an extension. As far as I'm concerned, the only deadweight contract is Reggie Evans and Marcus Banks (despite his good play recently) and they both become expirings next year ... Most teams operate with 3-4 guys making a bulk of the money anyways ...

[timdunkit]

how bright is it? 1-2 2nd round playoff appearances at most for the next 5 years?

I'll take 5 years of 1-2nd round exists over 5 years rebuilding ....

[ZKS_STAL]

meh, you're going on the very large and erroneous assumption that nothing will change with the raps or any other team - the season before boston picked up kg and ray allen you could've said their future looked like garbage - soon after they were champs.

so yea, as of today the raps have a bright future but that could change with a trade tomorrow.

[roundhead0]

In 3-4 years I suspect most of these players will be gone. Salaries keep going up and so you have to keep recycling players to manage the cap.