Building the Raptors, Part Two

The Raptors beat the 2005-06 NBA Champion Miami Heat tonight! Only Haslem missed the game for "personal reasons," Shaq and Kapono were traded, White Chocolate can barely lift his elbow, let alone pass off it, Posey signed with the Celtics, Mourning shredded up his leg and Dwyane Wade is coming off body reconstruction surgery. Still, a win is a win.

Or is it? Because a loss isn't just a loss. When the Raptors lost to New York and Indiana over the last two weeks, I found myself reading the RealGM boards and, with a hood-eyed, mouth-breathing Bargnani nod, vaguely agreeing with a few "fans" calling for the firing of Sam Mitchell. Luckily, a sapient contributor from Orlando noted: "The sky is falling Toronto. You're 32-27 and you've lost a few games in a row without your star player." Then I remembered that the Raptors were 27-55 just two years ago. Loren Woods played regularly and a guy named Eric Williams - who we acquired as part of the Vince Carter package - was in street clothes thinking, "If I can't even dress for this team, maybe my career's over."

Also, I remembered that the Pistons were beat by the Knicks (by 25 points), and lost all three of their meetings with the Chicago Bulls this season. My heart rate steadied and life went on.

Patience. It should be written on centre court at the ACC; it should have been the 2007-08 Raptors' marketing slogan; it should be the word most often used by Sam Mitchell. But sports fans aren't patient (I'm not patient). Here are a few reasons Raptors fans should be, though:

As stated in "Part One," the Raptors have $21,719,184 in expiring contracts next year, here's how they break down:

• Rasho Nesterovic - $8.4 million


• Anthony Parker - $4.5 million


• Jorge Garbajosa - $4.3 million


• Joey Graham - $2.4 million


• Maceo Baston - $1.9 million

This doesn't put them under the cap by any means, but it does give Bryan Colangelo flexibility as Doug Smith mentioned here. BC knows more than anyone that the Raptors need an above-average two or three that can slash and temper the team's current rebounding deficiency. A team may be tempted to take an expiring contract + a guy like Moon or Kapono because of their skills and upside before the season starts. Of all the names that Smith mentions, I find Josh Smith, Richard Jefferson and Jason Richardson the most intriguing (and least likely to pry away).

Barring a pre-season trade, expiring deals look more and more attractive as teams near the trade deadline. What got the Lakers Pau Gasol (other than Jerry West's corruption)? Hint: it wasn't Kwame Brown's tiny hands.

If you'll indulge me, and pretend, like I do every time I talk to my friends or post on this meager blog, that Bryan Colangelo loosens his collar at night in front of the Raptors' blogosphere and thinks, "Let's see what Andrew has to tell me tonight,"allow me some words of advice: Don't get too patient with Bargnani.

Part Three will explore why having Calderon and T.J. under contract is completely tenable and how much Delfino might command this off-season. In the meantime, here is Vince Carter being a total fucking idiot.