Heading into this season, the Toronto Raptors could not have had a more glorious opportunity to embrace the limelight in not only Toronto but all of Canada. With the NHL lockout, hockey fans nationwide are starving for another form of sports entertainment and that’s where the Raptors come in — or should have came in. Instead, the Raptors started off the season terribly, discouraging fans from staying away from the Air Canada Centre altogether. Lately, however, they’ve been better — and that’s most likely thanks to the absence of one player in particular.
While they weren’t as hyped as the Los Angeles Lakers or the Miami Heat (and for good reason), the Toronto Raptors were supposed to improve on their 23-43 record last season, mostly because they were led by former first-overall Andrea Bargnani who, now in his seventh season, should have come into his own already and be the consummate leader everyone expected him to be.
With Bargnani in the lineup however, the Toronto Raptors were a dismal 4-18. As unfortunate as it is to admit, things began to turn around when the Italian was sidelined with an elbow injury. After losing their next game following his injury, the Raptors pulled off four-straight wins suggesting that maybe Bargnani’s days in Toronto are numbered. If that weren’t enough, Bargnani’s comments last week may have solidified his exit out of town.
In a recent interview with an Italian newspaper, Andrea Bargnani called the Raptors “pretty much the worst team in the NBA.” That’s certainly not what fans or teammates expect to hear from a supposed team leader. Of course, being that the interview was conducted in Italian, there was the issue that Bargnani’s words were lost in translation. Teammates may have given him the benefit of the doubt but I’m not certainly not that lenient because, let’s face it, calling your team the worst club in the league doesn’t leave much room for interpretation. How anyone can misunderstand that is beyond me. Whatever the case may be, the Raps were 4-19 when those comments were made and they have since won four-straight games. You can draw your own conclusion from that.
So far, the Toronto Raptors averaged just more than 106 points allowed in their 19 losses; not exactly a team that’s run by a supposed defensive specialist in head coach Dwane Casey. In Casey’s defense however, this is just his second season in Toronto and he’s still coming into his own as a head coach. With that said, I can still give the Raptors’ bench boss the benefit of the doubt. The same unfortunately cannot be said for Bargnani — and even their general manager, Bryan Colangelo.
After a disastrous tenure with the aloof Rob Babcock at the helm, the Raptors decided to go in a different direction by hiring Bryan Colangelo in February 2006 as the club’s new president and GM. He was put to the test right away as the Raps were awarded the first-overall pick in that June’s draft. While he received offers from other teams to trade the pick, Colangelo kept the number-one selection and chose Bargnani.
After increasing his points total in each of his first five seasons, Bargnani suffered a setback as injuries limited the seven-footer to just 31 games last season causing his production to be limited to 603 points and 61 assists, his lowest totals since his rookie season. Now in his seventh season, patience has worn thin with the former top pick.
The Raptors’ cupboard is, for all intents and purposes, bare. After winning Executive of the Year after his maiden season in Toronto, Bryan Colangelo hasn’t done anything worthy of making the Raptors even a playoff contender. Some have used the excuse that players would rather not come to Toronto simply because it’s not an American market — but that’s just what that is: an excuse. While some players may feel that way (cough Bosh cough), the futility of the Raptors isn’t about drawing the best players as much as it is just a case of bad management. I don’t blame Colangelo for selecting Bargnani first-overall in 2006 as that year’s draft class wasn’t the strongest, after all. Of all the players picked in the first two rounds that year, only three became All-Stars (LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy and Rajon Rondo). Having said that though, that’s where my good graces end with the Toronto GM.
In the summer of 2008, Colangelo traded TJ Ford to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal. Aloud, I questioned the trade considering how productive Ford had been during the two years he wore a Raptors uniform. While his 12.1 and 14.9 points-per-game in his two seasons in Toronto don’t exactly jump off the page, Ford did help guide the Raptors to back-to-back playoff appearances including finishing atop the Atlantic Division in 2006-07. As effective as Ford was, I remember how great Bargnani played alongside him. But once Ford left town, so did Bargnani’s impact on the court.
With that said, I give kudos to Bryan Colangelo for taking such a risk. Jermaine O’Neal may have been better than Ford on paper but he was more prone to injury than Ford. O’Neal lasted just 41 games before being traded to Miami midway through the 2008-09 season.
After his prestigious honour following the 2006-07 season, Bryan Colangelo had mismanaged the Raptors and it showed on the court.
After going 41-41 in 2007-08, the Raptors have yet to finish a season at .500 much less above it. Following the 07-08 campaign, the Raptors have had a winning percentage of .377 and that’s not even counting this season. While I’m willing to give Colangelo and the Raptors the benefit of the doubt for all their injuries thus far, most notably off-season acquisition Kyle Lowry, there isn’t much justification behind such a slow start given that the Raptors were expected to be much better this season.
Bryan Colangelo took a huge risk right before the season-opener re-signing Demar DeRozan to a four-year, $38-million deal plus incentives. DeRozan is a fine player. In fact, he went from averaging 8.6 points-per-game in his rookie season of 2009-10 to 16.7 points-per-game per game last season. But to fork over $9.5 million for a good (not great) player is lunacy and it underlines how far Colangelo has fallen since being named Executive of the Year just five years earlier.
In any sport, whether it seems fair or not, the million-dollar question is: What have you done for me lately? Despite his building a great team around Vince Carter and Antonio Davis over a decade ago, then-GM Glen Grunwald struggled to get the Raptors to the next level which led to his eventual dismissal. Bryan Colangelo may have done some good for this franchise but that was eons ago. It’s time to make a change because realistically, the Raptors have nowhere to go but up and after several attempts, that’s just not happening with Colangelo at the helm despite their recent success. They don’t have to be competing for the championship at season’s end but if they can rid themselves of Bargnani and Colangelo, the Toronto Raptors can at least show everyone that they’re big enough to cut their losses and start fresh.
It won’t be easy but like any successful franchise, the Toronto Raptors have to start somewhere.
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Ryan Cowley is a writer at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter @RyanACowley.
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