The Extinction of the Raptors . . .

Canada's lone NBA team is one sports-related topic that I've yet to comment on in this blog. I feel as though it's time to share some thoughts on our floundering Dino-buddies, late on this Friday afternoon and in the wake of a just-completed Raptor's trade.

This afternoon interim Raptors GM Wayne Embry finally completed the much-needed trade of Jalen Rose to the New York Knicks in exchange for the expiring contract (not to mention the expiring skills) of Antonio Davis. After reading some of the comments on TSN.ca's "It's Your Call" I'm convinced that sports fans in TO have to be the biggest group of simpleton's this side of the nuthouse. I mean, if this was NBA Basketball for Playstation 2 then I'd say no way would you trade Rose for AD. But this is reality folks and there's a lot more to consider when making a trade then just what the talent levels are.

This is a GREAT trade for the Raptors! This is not the debacle that last season's Vince Carter trade was.

When assessing this trade you can't base it's success or failure on name value. Sure Jalen Rose is a bigger "name" player than Antonio Davis. Sure Jalen Rose has a higher skill-set than Antonio Davis. Sure Jalen Rose was more media-friendly and Canada-friendly than Antonio Davis. BUT, the acquisition of Antonio Davis ='s the resigning of Chris Bosh to a long-term deal + the resigning of point guard Mike James + money left over to FINALLY go after a proven big body.

Davis' contract comes off the books after this season. Rose was on the hook for a cool $17 mil next year. There's no money to keep the highly underrated James or to lock in Bosh to the type of long-term deal he deserves (we're talking maximum $'s for the Bosh-man here people).

Sure the Raptors may have downgraded skill-wise for this year but SO WHAT? They weren't going anywhere with Rose this season or next. Having him on the books was only going to keep the franchise in the Eastern conference basement for this year and next. There was no room for improvement as long as Jalen Rose was eating up so much of the payroll.

Are Raptor's fans dillusional? Do they not realize that this season is already over?The best thing the Raps can do now is to start putting themselves in a position to build the type of roster for next year that will get them back to a competitive level again.

Chris Bosh is the centrepiece. No doubt about it. This is a special player and the Raps have got to start building around this kid. This trade signifies that they see that and that they are doing what needs to be done to put players around him that will help him- both on and off the court (like Mike James).

Raptors fans are also griping about the fact that Embry added a 1st round draft pick into the mix as well. So what? In exchange for that draft pick the Raptors have cleared every cent of Rose's bloated contract off their books and the Knicks salary woes only escalated. Do you think that first round pick is going to help the Knicks be better next year? No way. That team is full of Jalen Rose-type players- mid-level skills with elite player salaries who no one will want to trade for. The Knicks' payroll gets larger while their skill level stays at a B or C level.

The 1st round pick belongs to the Denver Nuggets, a team most likely to make the playoffs this year, which means that the pick will be a low first rounder. It's already well known that this year's draft is nothing special. Add to the fact that the Raptor's have enough young talent on this team with Bosh, Villanueva, Calderon, Pape Sow and Joey Graham (I won't put Araujo in this list because I said young "talent"), and it's clear to see that the Raptor's really don't need to add two more young players to the mix. They'll keep their one first rounder and get (hopefully) a nice pick somewhere in the top 10 and that'll be enough for now.

Giving up the extra first rounder in exchange for the Knicks eating all of Rose's salary is a no-brainer in my books.

This is an all-win situation for the Raptors provided they follow this deal up with other smart moves over the course of the next 6-8 months. The foundation has definitely been laid and the early indicator's suggest that we won't hear the next Raptors GM suggest that the team will be worse than they were the year before. Poor Rob Babcock- what were you thinking?

Raptors fans need to take a moment to step back and look at this trade from all angles and realize that winning basketball games in real life takes a lot more smarts than winning basketball games on Playstation 2.