Ed Davis and the Off-Season

In N.B.A. Basketball by Brock Bourgase

It is difficult to feel excitement for an Association draft pick outside the top ten. The Toronto Raptors were merely presently surprised that Ed Davis dropped to the thirteenth spot in the lottery. Davis could fit in nicely, replacing U.F.A. Amir Johnson in a bench role and contributing rebounding and defence to a team that sorely needed it down the stretch. However, if the team does not retain Chris Bosh and Davis must start, it will be a disastrous downgrade. Davis has some post moves but he lacks the variety of manoeuvres and the outside shooting to be effective at the professional level.

This seems to be the year when economics has finally trumped talent throughout sport. Toronto drafts a player who could contribute valuable minutes and grow into a starting role but they will likely take a step back because it seems like they must lose their two starting forwards. The Chicago Bulls must deal Kirk Hinrich and a first-round draft pick to clear space for free agents. The Chicago Blackhawks had to deal clutch playoff scorer Dustin Byfuglien and defenseman Brent Sopel in order to resign their R.F.A.s and increase the salaries of their top players. The Stanley Cup winners have become much worse but they don’t have much of a choice.

Cap value is more important than ability and teams in both the N.H.L. and N.B.A. that are willing to take on salary have the ability to at least partially restock their roster. The concept of an elite team over an extended period of time seems to have fallen by the wayside. If the 1980s Lakers were playing today, the team would not have been able to support Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with key pieces like James Worthy, Michael Cooper, and Byron Scott.

Boston wishes to retain Ray Allen and extend Paul Pierce but they have only five players under contract for 2010-11. It’s quite possible that the team will not be able to acquire any solid contributors to come off the bench, leaving the team at risk for a middling regular season. The Atlanta Hawks will be dismantled, their greatest success several second-round losses. It is a far cry from the Eastern Conference of the 1960s and 1970s when multiple teams, like the Celtics, the New York Knicks, Baltimore Bullets, and Milwaukee Bucks engaged in intense playoff battles.

So the Raptors acquired an athletic draft pick with a potential for improvement and made a trade for a center to replace Rasho Nesterovic. They were unable to get a point guard to play on-ball defence and stop penetration and it is unlikely that they will be able to do so during the offseason. Two key players seem to want out of town and it is up to Bryan Colangelo to find the key pieces to replace them.