Title: Team RR Collaboration: Who Should the Raptors Pursue in Free-Agency?
Date: June 30, 2011
Original Source: Raptors Republic
Synopsis: Arsenalist from Raptors Republic took the opinions of multiple RR writers regarding the Raptors’ free agency plans. My segment is shown here, but click the link for the full piece.
Blake Murphy: Tough to formulate free agency comments when the landscape for this summer is so bleak and vague. Still, I must participate in the exercise. Let me first qualify my free-agent selection by saying that with only one draft pick, one who will not be in the league this year, the Raptors should be a team scouring the NBDL-wire or undrafted rookie lists to try and land an under-the-radar player to fill out the roster (tough without a Summer League, but definitely doable through training camp). In terms of NBA talent, the most glaring need is a defensive center to supplement the big-rotation of Bargnani/Davis/Amir(/Alabi).
I don’t think it’s prudent to offer a multi-year deal to nearly anyone unless you can get a top-tier guy for cheap (unlikely, with the free agent crop being led by Nene, Chandler, and Oden, and thinning out after that), so my focus would be on a temporary stop-gap, similar to what Reggie Evans was intended to be, but hopefully with a bit more versatility and defense, maybe at the cost of rebounding. A Chuck Hayes would be decent on a 2 or 3-year deal, but more likely options appear to be Kwame Brown or Joel Przybilla, guys who may be forced to accept shorter deals under a stricter CBA. My apologies….”a few words” turned into “a rambling paragraph,” and really I just spun my wheels…the same thing all NBA teams will be doing until there is some more certainty about 2011-12.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 