Talent? Coaching? GM? How do you save Raptors?
You knew it was bad when Amir Johnson snapped in the strangest way, wrestling for a dead ball with a referee in yet another loss, then tossing his mouthpiece after being ejected. Johnson is the good soldier, a locker-room favourite, a cool head. Of course, the Toronto Raptors were already on their way to being 4-18. You knew it was bad, regardless.
No, the question is what happens next in a season that has spiralled into a desperate place. The goal this year was to improve off last season’s 23-43 season, maybe make a run at a playoff race, play some games that weren’t development seminars, that kind of thing. General manager Bryan Colangelo, whose contract is not guaranteed past this season, spoke of accelerating the rebuild.
“It seems like the work that’s been put in over the last two years and the patience that’s been exercised over the last two seasons is paying off,” he said in late October, just before the season began. “It seems like this is a little bit of a turning point, if you will.”
Well, it has turned. The team has gone from losing in heartbreaking fashion early in the season to experimenting with collapses, and has lost 10 of 11 games. With the NHL lockout on and Toronto to themselves, the Raptors are trashing the place.
Colangelo, meanwhile, is danc- ing as fast as he can and spent the weekend on an all-out media blitz. He said the record “is not a talent issue,” which shifted the blame directly onto coach Dwane Casey. Colangelo blamed “a lack of focus” and “attention to detail.” He called the situation “unacceptable.” When I asked him directly on Toronto’s TSN 1050 radio Monday whether Casey’s job was in jeopardy, Colangelo said, “No. A change at the top in terms of coaching has not been contemplated at all to date. We think he’s earned the right to see this thing through.”
There are those who insist Casey’s status has been discussed, including sources within the organization, but Colangelo flatly and unequivocally denies it. Regardless, something needs to change. It seems unlikely that Casey lost his ability to coach one season after somehow dragging this team to eighth in the NBA in field-goal percentage allowed — which, in a historical context for this franchise, is a little like teaching a horse to change a tire — so the roster is the next step.
And the roster, clearly, is a mess. It is both young and lacking superstar promise; there are no future all-stars on this team, unless you think raw rookie Jonas Valanciunas can become Joakim Noah in a few years. Point guard Kyle Lowry looks like a guy who doesn’t trust his teammates and hasn’t figured out how to make them better. DeMar DeRozan is OK, but he’s not much more OK than he has been the last few years. He’s just playing more minutes on a bad team. It’s a pile of flawed youth and the pieces don’t fit.
Then there is Andrea Bargnani, Toronto’s windy avatar of dissatisfaction. He is finally being shopped, which means even Colangelo is giving up the ghost. But right now, there are no takers.
Of course, if the Raptors do somehow manage to be the worst team in the league, with a draft pick that is only protected if it lands in the top three, there is about a 65 per cent chance they would keep the pick, and a 35 per cent chance they would ferry it to Oklahoma City to complete the deal that brought Lowry here. So you can’t even tank with confidence.
Whatever the proposed solution, the new owners of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment need to decide right now whether Colangelo is the man they want deciding on the future of the Raptors, because this cursed franchise is at yet another crossroads. Either you let him choose yet another route, or you take his hands off the wheel. It’s come to this: Will this franchise let Bryan Colangelo save himself? Should it? And if so, why?