|
This headline got your attention, didn't it? No, I don't have inside information about Chris Bosh's fate this off-season. But if Chris Bosh isn't willing to sign an extension with the Toronto Raptors after this season — and since there are no indications that he plans to do that — then the only logical thing for Bryan Colangelo to do is work out a trade this summer where he agrees to extend his contract with the destination team.
By this point, it should be obvious to even casual Raptors observers that Bosh is not the caliber of player to lead a championship team. Even if Bosh would agree to re-sign with the Raptors, he simply isn't worth one-third of the cap space on a team where he is expected to be the best player. A team like the Magic can apparently get away with overpaying a guy like Rashard Lewis because he plays next to Dwight Howard. Unfortunately for Raptors fans, Dwight Howard is not walking through that Raptors dressing room door anytime soon.
It's almost become fashionable for fans to hate on Bosh during this disappointing season. While he remains an excellent offensive player, his rebounding and defence are average, at best, and it's unlikely those attributes are going to improve significantly at this stage in his career. With Player Efficiency Ratings of 22.2, 23.8, 22.6 and 23.2 over the past four seasons, it seems as though Chris Bosh is about as good now as he's likely ever going to be — and if you expect him to be the leader of a true contender, that's just not good enough.
I've never thought it was fair to blame Bosh for this. It's not like he's lazy and doesn't try to improve his game. He just has physical limitations that prevent him from being an impact player on a level with LeBron, D-Wade and Howard. He's more reasonably compared to Pau Gasol, who has found his niche as second banana to Kobe on a very good Lakers squad.
Next year's Toronto Raptors are unlikely to fare signicantly better than this one if Colangelo keeps this current core together. I can't imagine Bosh would feel compelled to stay in Toronto after seven seasons where they never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. If Bosh cares at all about winning, Colangelo should be realistic about the strong possibility that the Raptors could lose him for nothing after next season.
Even if you're one of Bosh's biggest fans, it's time to come to terms with the fact that the smart move for Colangelo would be to swing a deal this off-season that moves Bosh to a team where he has a chance to thrive while the Raptors build for the future. This means that you should probably make sure you tune in for tonight's game against the Wizards and Wednesday's season-closer against the Bulls — because they might very well be Chris Bosh's last two games as a Toronto Raptor. 
|
