Colangelo admits the obvious

[Mel_13]

During the interview, Coangelo revealed that Bosh has officially opted out of his contract. Coangelo then went on to say that he feels it is "likely" that Bosh will leave. Coangelo gave the impression that the Raptors are now hoping to lose Bosh in a sign-and-trade rather than free agency, but sounded less than confident that the Raptors will be able to do even that. At one point, a frustrated Coangelo revealed that he has had a difficult time even making contact with Bosh this off-season.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/06/bosh-officially-becomes-free-agent-coangelo-expects-him-to-leave.php

[toki9]

Is there bad blood between the Raptors and Bosh? What's the deal?

[Kai]

During the interview, Coangelo revealed that Bosh has officially opted out of his contract. Coangelo then went on to say that he feels it is "likely" that Bosh will leave. Coangelo gave the impression that the Raptors are now hoping to lose Bosh in a sign-and-trade rather than free agency, but sounded less than confident that the Raptors will be able to do even that. At one point, a frustrated Coangelo revealed that he has had a difficult time even making contact with Bosh this off-season.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/06/bosh-officially-becomes-free-agent-coangelo-expects-him-to-leave.php

I'd imagine he goes through sign and trade to a team with cap space for minimal compensation. Players like Bosh and Joe Johnson don't get a lot of money outside of their contracts, so getting the most out of their deals are a bigger deal than LeBron or Wade, who have loads of endorsement cash.

[Juanobili]

yeah I think it's obvious he's not coming back

I mean... it's definitely not happening lol

[Findog]

Should've traded him last summer or in February. Bosh is a bitch anyways. Very overrated tbh.

[ploto]

At one point, a frustrated Coangelo revealed that he has had a difficult time even making contact with Bosh this off-season.

Bosh hasn't even really been in contact with his own agent.

[HarlemHeat37]

Everybody in Toronto knew this months ago, pretty much all the fans hate Bosh at this point..he's moist..

[TD 21]

The fans in Toronto shouldn't hate Bosh; they should hate Colangelo.

Despite Bosh obviously seeking more attention and acclaim, I actually think he wanted to stay, because he liked the city and liked being the franchise player and clear cut go-to guy. But they've left him no choice but to leave. The guy isn't going to waste the prime years of his career on a team in one of the worst situations in the league, with an incompetent GM, who's in denial about where they're at as a franchise.

This team is in a terrible spot going forward. Their young core consists of Bargnani, DeRozan and Davis and they're hamstrung with awful contracts, such as Turkoglu and Calderon.

On top of that, the sign-and-trade options for Bosh are not appealing. Unless they're able to pull a third or fourth team in, it looks like Deng and Beasley are their options. Neither makes sense for their situation.

[Stump]

If Bosh leaves, does Toronto take the mantle of worst team in the league? Seriously, their best player is Bargnani and they're rife with bad contracts. I feel really bad for Raptors fans.

[HarlemHeat37]

Raptor fans now hate Bosh because of the way he has approached all of this..he's had constant Twitter messages begging to be loved, it's pathetic..he's called out the fans in Toronto many times, even though they're some of the more passionate fans in the NBA..Bosh IS a pussy, he catches feelings very quickly, and he's extremely sensitive..other than his defense, it's probably the main flaw in his game..

I would have to agree that the Raptors are in horrible shape, sadly..things looked promising when Colangelo was hired, he made some good minor moves, but it soured quickly..I criticized the Colangelo signing from the get-go, I argued with a lot of my Raptor fan friends about it, I always thought he was extremely overrated, but everybody in the city fell in love with him, now they all hate him..he's an average GM at best..

[TD 21]

If they hate him for reasons other than he left the Raptors, that's one thing, but I know they'll be a lot of them who hate him just because he left the Raptors. Those fans should look at it from his perspective. They gave him no reason to stay.

The problem with Colangelo is he has a massive ego and is more concerned with maintaining his over-inflated reputation and trying to keep the heat off of himself than he is building the team properly, so instead of admitting that they need to re-build, he's constantly trying to re-load and put band-aids on. He just won't admit that the core of the team is severely flawed (soft, defenseless, un-athletic) and that he overrated them.

[lefty]

Should've traded him last summer or in February. Dirk is a bitch anyways. Very overrated tbh.

[ambchang]

The Raptors are owned by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.

MLSE's goal is to make the most money.

The Raptors are 9th in attendance last year, despite being pitiful most of the year.

MLSE does not care about winning as long as they turn a healthy profit.

Bosh's goal is to win, with him as the main guy. Which isn't going to happen anyways because his defense sucks, and his offense could be easily shut down in the playoffs.

Bosh is not a big draw like Lebron or Wade.

Conclusion: Neither side has what the other side wants, and neither side are reasonable in their expectations.

Both sides are doomed.

[resistanze]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Raptors-boss-Chris-Bosh-likely-to-leave-Toron;_ylt=AiK6DeXj_sLDhyEZcvaMUcm8vLYF?urn=nba,25 2233

Raptors boss: Chris Bosh 'likely' to leave Toronto

By Kelly Dwyer

Sometimes you get one good chance. One proper attempt. If you're lucky, you can weather the storm and grab a second, but usually it just boils down to one sterling opportunity to make things work in this league.

Most GMs, be they new hires or incumbent holdovers, are usually afforded one franchise-type talent in their attempt at the ring. These talents don't have to be as prominent as a LeBron James(notes) or come as hyped as a Greg Oden(notes), but there are enough talents to go around, and give each of these personnel bosses one with which to work. Then, with the patience of ownership and a short window of cap space and pre-contract expiration for the star in question, the GM gets one chance to get it all right.

Bryan Colangelo didn't get it all right with Chris Bosh(notes). Actually, he got most of it wrong. And this is why Bosh, in Colangelo's own words, is "likely" to leave Toronto sometime this summer.

Which is a shame, because Toronto itself didn't really do anything to deserve losing its best player without compensation. The Raptors fans remain rabid and intelligent; a good decade after quite a few of them remained, well, rabid. Playing at the Air Canada Centre, even if you're pulling down one win for every two tries, seems like a pretty worthwhile experience.

And those crowds took to Bosh in an instant. Perhaps in part because of Vince Carter's(notes) thoughtless reaction to Bosh's drafting in 2003, wishing publically for veteran help instead of a green 19-year-old. After three years of disappointments, whatever doesn't work for Vince, Raptors fans likely concluded, definitely works for us.

Bosh was a star. Sure, he had issues on the defensive end, and wasn't contributing offensively at a level like James or fellow 2003'er Dwyane Wade(notes), but the guy could score from a position that's hard to fill. And with former Suns GM Bryan Colangelo taking over in 2006 and a whole host of eventual cap space and high draft picks with which to work, Bosh seemed as likely as anyone to start playing two or three postseason rounds per year.

The problem was Colangelo's execution, and the seeming arrogance that came with it.

The guy has more or less been revealed. And as damning as his big moves have been, the smaller ones tell nearly as big a story. The hiring of bit players whose names had been tossed around the NBA for a while, but ones that any scout with any salt tossed over his shoulder (or, perhaps, an understanding of advanced pro basketball statistical metrics) would have run far, far away from.

Luke Jackson(notes). Juan Dixon(notes). Cezary Trybanski. Fred Jones(notes). Even T.J. Ford(notes). Jermaine O'Neal(notes), though you can understand Colangelo's attempt at giving the former Pacer another chance. Jake Voskuhl(notes). Like the guy, but come on -- in 2008, Jake Voskuhl?

And, yes, the big moves were damning. Taking Andrea Bargnani(notes) first overall in a weak draft isn't the worst thing he could have done, but bidding against himself to offer Bargnani an eight-figure yearly (once averaged out) contract extension, years before he had to? That's pretty bad. And arrogant. Handing Jose Calderon(notes), a fine player, nearly the same? With a trade kicker tossed in?

The O'Neal trade? Rare is the deal that sees you send out two centers who arguably (at least on a per-minute level, with defense thrown into the mix) outplay the one they're traded for. And in O'Neal's lone half-season with the Raptors, Rasho Nesterovic(notes) and Roy Hibbert(notes) (down in Indiana) were pretty close to that on most nights.

The killer was Hedo Turkoglu(notes). One of the worst deals of the decade, tossed at a 30-year-old (red flag) who was willing to leave a championship contender for a few extra million (there's another red flag), who ducked out of a verbal agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers (so many of them, flappin' in the wind), and who should have accrued a history of red flags in terms of production throughout his career. He was never nearly as good as Colangelo thought him to be, least of all not in a season that would see him turn 31 halfway through.

And with that, Colangelo blew his one chance with Bosh. Toronto isn't completely devoid of talent. The Raptors are a nice team that will see a little bit of hopeful cap space next summer, and while they don't reek of stardom (or even starting-dom, if I'm honest), kids like DeMar DeRozan(notes), Ed Davis(notes) and Solomon Alabi(notes) could help down the line.

Bosh, though, won't be around for it. Never a dominant superstar, despite a pretty impressive turn to start last season, he'll likely get to work his trade as the NBA's finest second fiddle this side of the Staples Center. We should all be so lucky.

And Colangelo? He'll have a little cap space to work with, and possibly the chance to do something great in a sign-and-trade with one of those average-sized expiring contracts he has on hand. But if he's going to turn out in Toronto, he'll have to take a step back and take a good look at the hubris that came with some of these moves.

He'll have to. It's not "likely," but it doesn't mean he doesn't have to.

[greensborohill]

Wow!! You mean the Raptors don't want to let Bosh leave for nothing? And Bosh actually wants the extra 30 million dollars? How can that be? Toronto will NEVER get back equal value when they trade Bosh!