Back in white, I hit the site, it's been too long, I'm glad to be back

Note: You’re looking at the new look – or non-look, as it were – of RaptorBlog. I’ve stripped this site down to its essence, set up a Blogger account, and I’m going to post here whenever the mood strikes me.

Most of us would agree that finding a solution at small forward is the number one off-season priority for the Raptors. Jorge Garbajosa is a good guy but even if he returns to 100% after his leg heals, he really isn’t a starting-quality SF. So as far as the wish list has gone for Raptors fans, here are the three big names that have been tossed around.

Gerald Wallace – He would be perfect, for reasons that I’ll explain further along in this post. Unfortunately, the Raptors only have the mid-level exception to work with this off-season (somewhere between $5 and 6 million) and Wallace is going to command more than that, probably in the range of $10 million per season. He might be available in a sign-and-trade, but there’s no way one of either T.J. Ford or Jose Calderon isn’t going to Charlotte as part of that trade, and I’m simply not prepared to trade either one of them until we see what their respective ceilings are. Tell me you thought Jose Calderon would improve as much as he did last season. What if he continues to improve? And what if T.J. continues to develop his outside shot? Neither one of these guys is at their highest trade value yet.

Andrei Kirilenko – The Jazz aren’t trading him right now, and as we’ve witnessed in Utah, he can’t remain happy when he’s the fourth or fifth offensive option in the lineup. In a lineup with Bosh, Bargnani, Ford and Parker, I can honestly say that AK47 is the last one I want with the ball. If he was willing to accept that role without going all emo on us, then of course I’d love to have him. However, who do the Raptors have that Jerry Sloan wants and we’d be willing to give up? I’m pretty sure the conversation would begin – and end – with Bargnani.

Rashard Lewis – I need to come clean here. The real point of this post was to address the irrational attraction some people have to Rashard Lewis as our potential saviour at small forward. On the surface, what’s not to like? 22 points, 7 rebounds? Yes, please! Here’s the problem: the Raptors don’t need more offence. They already had the ninth-best offence in the league in 2006-07 with 107.2 points per 100 possessions, and with the continued progression of Bargnani and Ford/Calderon (Bosh is probably already at or close to his offensive ceiling), they figure to improve in that area over the next few seasons.

So what’s wrong with adding even more offence? Well, offence is a finite resource – there’s only so much of it to go around. There’s only one ball and so many shots to take. If you bring in Lewis and his 17 shots per 40 minutes, who is he taking those shots away from? Probably not Bosh, who will remain the big dog on offence for at least another season or two. After Bosh, the two regular players who had the most shots per 40 for the Raptors were Ford and Bargnani. And since Ford brings the ball up, guess who would suffer the most?

Basically, I’m saying that bringing in Rashard Lewis – even if it were feasible financially, which it isn’t – would probably stunt Bargnani’s growth. Bryan Colangelo did not take him first overall so that he could be the fourth offensive option.

Bonus option! Shawn Marion – Well, shit. Of course, The Matrix is our wet dream for SF, and rumor has it that he’s available. I figured somebody might bring him up so I might as well get this out of the way. If Suns’ GM Steve Kerr (aside: Steve Kerr! What the hell?) is really looking to shed his contract, we might be able to entice him with a package of Rasho Nesterovic, Andrea Bargnani, Juan Dixon and a future first round draft pick. Still interested? Some of you Bargnani-doubters probably are. Anyway, this is a non-starter. Bargnani is untouchable, possibly even more so than Bosh going forward.

So who does that leave? Well, lots of guys, I guess, but none that really grabbed me until I saw this stat line by a player on the last game of the regular season: 37 minutes, 10-14 shooting, 20 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks. Then I looked a couple of games back and saw that the same player had dropped this stat line: 35 minutes, 3-12 shooting, 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 6 blocks. Before those games was a virtual wasteland because this sophomore player was in the D-League all season, where he averaged 35 minutes, 62 percent shooting, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks.

This mystery player is a 20-year-old restricted free agent buried in his team’s system because the starting lineup ahead of him was too strong to crack, and he has too much potential to sit him on the bench rather than letting him get some floor time in the NBADL – where some have christened him the greatest D-League player of all-time.

I’ll end the suspense. I’m talking about Amir Johnson, a six-foot-10 combo forward with the Pistons. Joe Dumars drafted him out of high school with the 56th pick in the 2005 draft, and he might be a key part of the Pistons’ future if they can keep another team from out-bidding them for his services this off-season. His situation was the reason I was actually rooting for the Pistons to go all the way this season so that they would be more likely to keep their veteran core together. If they won the title and kept both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess around, would Dumars really match a mid-level exception offer to a guy who would be lucky to see 10 minutes per game?

Johnson is raw, without a doubt. He has no outside shot and he’s foul-prone like a lot of young players. On the other hand, his upside appears to be a longer version of Gerald Wallace. He’s a great athlete with the ability to be a lockdown defender at either the 3 or 4 positions, as well as mention a prolific shot-blocker on help defence. While he can’t shoot, he can finish in transition. And frankly, I don’t think a lineup including Ford, Parker, Bosh and Bargnani needs help in the shooting department. They need an elite defender.

Tying back into my Rashard Lewis comments, offence is a finite resource, but defence isn’t. A great defender isn’t taking away “defence” from a team mate – I’ve never heard a player complain because they’re not forced to work harder on defence. The Raptors finished 12th in the NBA in team defence with 105.8 points allowed per 100 possessions, and it’s safe to say that this team is unlikely to crack the top five in that department anytime soon unless they add a potential elite defender into the mix. The way I see it, a top-five offence (which I think could happen organically with this group) plus a top-five defence (which will not be achieved without a Kirilenko, Wallace or Marion-type player) equals a championship contender.

So, if I’ve managed to get you excited about Amir Johnson, now you’re wondering how realistic it is that he actually becomes a Toronto Raptor next season. Well, even if we assume that Joe Dumars won’t be willing to match a mid-level offer – and I wouldn’t assume that for a second ‘cuz Joe D. ain’t no dummy – I don’t know if Amir Johnson is a Bryan Colangelo kind of player. Like I said, he can’t shoot (yet) and I have a hard time imagining BC paying mid-level money to a 20-year-old SF/PF with 163 career minutes and no outside shot.

Ideally, Johnson would come to Toronto next season and get his feet wet playing 20-25 minutes per game while backing up Garbajosa at SF and Bosh at PF while he works on his shot. Of course, the long-term goal would be to groom Johnson into the starting SF alongside Bosh at PF and Bargnani at C. That’s a young, long, athletic and very unorthodox frontcourt that would be hell to match up against on a number of different levels.

If it seems like I’m going a bit overboard for a kid who has barely played in the big show, here are a trio of links (here, here and here) that back up what I’m talking about. From what I’ve read, the Pistons are hoping that nobody will be willing to pony up the MLE for such an inexperienced player. I’d do it, and I’d force Joe’s hand to decide if he’s willing to pay him that much. Look at it this way, if Joe does match that kind of offer… well then I must have been on to something, right?