The Matrix

Brace yourselves, my friends. You're about to read a post about the Toronto Raptors...

First and foremost, so long, Jermaine O'Neal. We hardly knew you, mate.

I think it's safe to say we all know of the deal by now. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo finally - no, mercifully - made a move, and O'Neal, along with Jamario Moon and a first round draft pick, is off to the Miami Heat. Your newest Raptors are "The Matrix" Shawn Marion, and some dude named Marcus Banks, who I've never heard of, but who makes more than $4 million a season.

I was actually going to post breaking news of the trade yesterday afternoon, when word dropped that the deal was done. But then I remembered that I don't really give a shit.

Sorry, it's the truth. I care about the Raptors. Not so much about the Craptors. And, make no mistake about it, occupying second-last place in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors are once again the Craptors.

If you're looking for analysis on the big trade, you'll find a small nugget of it here. You know this already, but the trade is all about cap-space. Colangelo is clearing the decks as, with each passing day, we get closer to the summer of 2010, when everyone and their mother becomes a free agent in the NBA.

That being said, O'Neal and his ridiculous salary - $23 million next year - had to go. With the emergence of Andrea Bargnani as a not-so-useless NBA centre, O'Neal, Colangelo's prized off-season acquisition, and his wonky 67-year-old knees, became expendable. Period.

In Marion, the Raptors get a guy who can rebound, and who is known to play defence. I know, imagine that. "The Matrix" is a free agent at the end of the season, and I'm not sure anyone is really expecting him to stick around, his ties with Colangelo be damned. But, hey, I'm sure we'll offer him the choice between the blue and red pill (sorry, I had to do it).

As for Jamario Moon and Marcus Banks, they're all but irrelevant. Moon is clearly happy to just be in the NBA. He doesn't seem interested in, you know, actually improving. Was there another player in Raptors history who so frustrated his coaches? And, Banks. Well, he's going to live up to his surname and get paid a fuck-ton of money to sit on the bench, so who am I to criticize what is, in all honesty, one sweet gig?

As I mentioned above, Toronto's first-round draft pick, between 2010 and 2015, is going Miami's way. All you need to know is this: whenever the Raptors make the playoffs again after this season, Miami gets the pick. And you also need to know this: it doesn't matter the sport, when MLSE makes a deal, it includes a first-rounder going the other way.

Based on some of the comments I've seen over at RaptorBlog.com, it's the addition of the first-rounder that is causing die-hard Raptors fans major angst. As a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I'm used to the trading of premium draft assets. So, I'm not about to get my boxer briefs all tied up in knots. Deep down, I know that if the Toronto Blue Jays could trade draft choices, they'd deal their first-round picks, too.

Know this, however, and boxers/briefs/panties beware. If Marion walks away this summer, the Raptors (read: Bryan Colangelo) will have traded T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, a first-round pick in the 2008 NBA draft (Roy Hibbert), and a conditional first-rounder between 2010 and 2015, for Nathan Jawai, Marcus Banks, and salary cap room (cap room that O'Neal would have provided in 2010, anyway).

Somewhere, Rob Babcock is smiling.

Imagine The Iguodala

A part of me understands that the NBA draft is a crapshoot. There's a certain element of luck involved. Sometimes a guy just doesn't work out. I get that. 

Another part of me wants to absolutely pummel former Raptors GM Rob Babcock for drafting Rafael Araujo over Andre Iguodala back in 2004.

Araujo. Over Iguodala. Oh, the humanity. All these years later, after I've bitched about it and bitched about it some more, I'm still bitching. It still smarts.

Iguodala was in town last night, along with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates, to remind us once more of what could have been. The 76ers were 2-5 coming into the game, and winless on the road, but they left the ACC victorious, of course.

The ghosts of Araujo, that useless lug, were in the air. Iguodala put on a clinic. He didn't have his best shooting game, going 5-for-13 from the floor, but finished with 18 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Andre Iguodala is one athletic mother sucker.

He is, to a mother fucking tee, what the Raptors lack: a presence on the wing, who can play either the two or three, that can take the ball to the rack. And defend. It kills me, absolutely kills me, to know that we could have had him. 

I don't think any of Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, and Jamario Moon are starters in the NBA. Not that there's anything wrong with that. All three would be more effective in a defined role off the bench. AP was 4-16 from the floor last night, Kapono was invisible in 30 minutes of action, and if Moon settles for another jump shot, I will kill him myself.

I think Bryan Colangelo knows that the honeymoon is over, and that he's got to fix the team's glaring weakness at the wing. We're not getting points, or defence, from the position. I just don't know what the hell BC can do about it. 

To add to mine and the Raptors' woes, it looks like Jose Calderon might be in civilian garbs on Sunday after he tweaked his hamstring yesterday. I was impressed by Will Soloman during last Sunday's snoozefest in Charlotte, but any injury to Jose has to be considered the Raptors' worst nightmare. It's typical, I guess. 

Seriously, though. It's one thing to err on a draft pick. It happens (see: Adams, Russ and Cereda, Luca). It's another to draft Rafael "Hoffa" Araujo over Andre Iguodala.

Fuck you, Rob Babcock.