[Toronto16Participant]

Hey could anybody who has ESPN insider PLEASE post the offseason buzz about the Toronto Raptors?

PLEASE. Thanks.

[yimstreParticipant]

No team made more moves or spent more money than the Raptors this summer. If all the new additions are on the opening-day roster, they will have seven new faces: Marco Belinelli, Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack, Reggie Evans, Quincy Douby, Antoine Wright and rookie DeMar DeRozan. Even the coaching staff has been restocked, with assistants Marc Iavaroni and Alex English joining coach Jay Triano, whose interim tag was dropped. All this was meant to convince one old face, F/C Chris Bosh, to re-up next summer.

To see which player is taking off, which is crashing to earth and which name you’ll need to know for the 2009-10 season, you must be an ESPN Insider.

Trending up: Chris Bosh

Last season: 22.19 PER
2009-10 projection: 22.80 PER

Bosh can opt out of his contract and become a free agent after the season. Oh, you’ve heard?

Well here’s something you might not know: He’s still getting better, making him an even more desirable commodity. If the Raptors falter out of the gate, speculation about Bosh’s future will only pick up steam between now and the trade deadline. If they play well, it might happen anyway. The only way to quell the rumor mill is for Bosh to sign an extension before the season, and he doesn’t appear inclined to do so.

Regardless of where he plays, he’ll produce when he’s on the court, and based on his youth and year-to-year history, his numbers could jump again. With the additional offensive weapons Toronto imported, the increases may arrive more in the form of higher percentages than in higher per-game totals, but don’t be shocked if his PER lands in the mid-20s this year and his name gets mentioned in first-team All-NBA discussions. — Hollinger

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Trending down: Hedo Turkoglu

Last season: 14.80 PER
2009-10 projection: 13.56 PER

Turkoglu inked a five-year, $52 million deal to join the Raptors, a signing that technically became a sign-and-trade after the fact when Orlando agreed to cut a deal. His acquisition should be of some benefit to the Raptors in the short term, but a horror in the long term. Turkoglu is 30 and he’s not even that good; last year he ranked below the league average in PER and it’s not like he’s out there for his defense. In that sense, his deal is reminiscent of the Hornets’ signing of Peja Stojakovic, providing immediate help but becoming a massive liability toward the end of the contract.

For now, however, we’re in the “help” portion. Toronto badly needed a shot-creator on the wing, and Turkoglu fills the void. His ability to shoot and pass will help all the other floor-spacers the Raps accumulated too, with the net result being a similar one to Orlando’s where he plays point forward for much of the game. Therefore, his numbers in Toronto probably won’t be much different than they were a year ago. — Hollinger

The pick-and-roll artistry of Turkoglu and Dwight Howard appeared to be the driving force behind Orlando’s surprising run to the Finals last year. The team not even trying to re-sign him, then, was just as big a surprise. Innuendo from the Magic front office is that he’s not a cornerstone-type guy; specific areas of concern haven’t been identified, but how he left Portland at the altar to sign with the Raptors did nothing to quell the whispers.

The question for Toronto, of course, is whether he can be just as effective running the P&R with Bosh as he was with Howard. Bosh is a far more versatile scorer, but he doesn’t have Howard’s pick-setting girth, nor his explosiveness at the rim. Nor does Toronto have Orlando’s array of 3-point shooters after dealing Jason Kapono to Philadelphia.

There’s also the contract. Turkoglu was appreciated because he was arguably Orlando’s MVP while being paid half of what Howard and Rashard Lewis were making. Now he’s No. 2 on the pay scale behind Bosh, and how well he lives up to that rank could determine whether No. 1 sticks around. — Bucher

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Bucher’s name to know: Andrea Bargnani

The Raptors just locked him up with a pricey five-year, $50 million extension, meaning Bargnani now has to live up to being a No. 1 pick and landing a hefty contract. Of course, if the Raptors are borrowing from Orlando’s recipe for making it to the Finals — as they seemed to in snaring Turkoglu with a five-year, $53 million deal — Bargnani is Italian for Lewis, as in Rashard, as in Turkoglu’s former sidekick, another excellent 3-point shooting big man with below-average rebounding ability.

Their numbers for last season aren’t that disparate (17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds for Lewis; 15.4 points, 5.3 rebounds for Bargnani) and the Italian actually averaged 19 points over the past four months of the season, thanks to Jermaine O’Neal’s injury and his subsequent trade to Miami.

The perimeter shooting, though, is where the similarities end. Bargnani has to defend one of the power positions and, ideally, the toughest matchup to keep the gangly Bosh out of foul trouble. Can Bargnani do that and still have the legs to knock down 3s? If he can, his new deal, compared to Lewis’ monstrous contract, might just be a bargain. — Bucher

[Toronto16Participant]

Thanks man

I’m hearing all these reports saying Chris Bosh is so excited about the Raptors this season, and he would be willing to talk extension. But yet those biased idiots at ESPN can only say Bosh is already out the door.

[thaprodigyParticipant]

What up with the Raptors there’s other teams you know.

[JNixonParticipant]

I’m also a believer Turkoglu is vastly overpaid and he will prove to be a contributor, but 10.4 mil/yr is way too much for him at this stage of his career (he’s dangerously close to his downside). And I agree that this situation being just like Peja Stojakovic’s, he will be good for the very short term (I’d say 1.5-2 years) but when he’s 33-35 years old he may prevent the team from making moves because of his cap number and he will be a much less effective player than his salary would indicate.

[nepaliman_7Participant]

yimstre, can you also post the hornets’ offseason buzz? thanks

[jcl249Participant]

Can anyone put the Dallas one.Thanks in advance.

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