So, what do you think about other destinations?
“A team like Miami, for example, who you just mentioned. I would say there’s almost no chance of Chris Bosh getting signed and traded to Miami, unless something new appears that we don’t know about. Because the idea of taking back Beasley and Chalmers, which is really all Miami can offer in a sign and trade, has no real value to the Toronto.”
“With the Bulls, for example, there has been talk of Luol Deng, but Loul Deng doesn’t fit into the longer term plans of this team. While not officially on record, I have spoken to several sources who have confirmed that the Raptors don’t have an interest in Deng and that any sign and trade with Chicago is really focused and revolved around Joakim Noah, which of course just got reported by Chris Broussard today on ESPN, but is something that I wrote on Raptors Republic five weeks ago :chuckles:”
“It’s really Houston that he (Colangelo) is most interested in making a deal with. Houston and the Lakers appear to be the two most feasible trading partners.”
“If LeBron stays home, which is a really good chance it’s gonna happen, maybe there is a deal to be made there. I think that Cleveland would have to make another deal first to find a little bit more enticement for the Raptors to take on a trade.”
In your opinion, where does Bosh ultimately end up?
“I think it depends on where Chris wants to go. Once he makes his decision of the team he’s going to go to, then it comes down to hammering out the details. I think Toronto is more than willing to sign and trade him, will quite happily sign and trade him, and always have been since the very beggining, providing that there’s something that comes back to help the Raptors. I think what happened is over the last five or six weeks it got a little bit out of control and there was this idea, especially in mainstream American media like ESPN, who we do a lot of work with, that believed that Chris Bosh held all of the cards in a sign and trade and that the Raptors would basically sign and trade him anywhere and would take back any ridiculous piece from David Lee to Chalmers and Beasley.
I think what we’re starting to realize more now, especially with Colangelo’s more recent comments, is that the Raptors want to do a sign and trade, they want to help out Chris Bosh, they want to do the right thing for the franchise and for him… but never at the expense of hurting the franchise moving forward. I certainly think the option is there, but then again it depends on where Chris Bosh signs. If he wants to go to Miami, I think he’s gonna have to leave that extra year on the table.”
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