Is Chris Bosh the New Vince Carter

Toronto Raptors fans have that sinking feeling. The Raptors are about to lose their marquee player again. This is a road they have been down before. Whether it is Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and now Chris Bosh (likely), all the super star players that have worn the Raptors jersey have left the city and the franchise high and dry.

After being the 7th pick in the Damon Stoudamire had a great run as a Raptor. Time finally came in 1998 when the team felt it was time to move on and dealt him to the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, all the Raptors could get back was a couple of role players and some draft picks.

Then came Tracy McGrady. A high school phenom, the Raptors took a chance on the tall lanky, athletic shooting guard with the 9th pick in the 1997 draft. McGrady was a great asset to the franchise. He sold jerseys and became the face of the team that was building and starting to contend in the NBA. A year later he was paired with Vince Carter and the duo wrecked havoc on the rims at the Air Canada Centre. Unfortunately, McGrady didn’t like the idea of sharing the floor with the new star in town (and his cousin) Carter, so when free agency finally came calling for McGrady, he decided to leave for greener pastures in Orlando.

The Raptors fans felt slighted when McGrady decided to leave the Great White North for the Sunshine State. McGrady had been nurtured in Toronto as he developed from a high school player into a legitimate NBA starter and scoring threat. By teaming McGrady and Carter together the Raptors made their first playoff appearance and fans could see the tides turning on the franchise. With two marquee players and the cache of having two of the best dunkers, the buzz around the 2000 season was huge. Unfortunately, with McGrady leaving via free agency the Raptors could only manage a first round draft pick in a sign and trade with the Magic, this made fans just a little angry with McGrady. Upon his return to the ACC, he was greeted with a chorus of boo’s every time he touched the ball and the public address system paid hefty fines to the NBA so they could play baby crying sounds. It was fun to have an enemy on an opposing team, but then it happened again.

Only four years later the Raptors fan base had another dilemma on their hand. The team had been struggling, but at least they still had the excitement of Vince Carter. He was a scorer that could carry the team on any given night…that is until the 2004 season. Carter’s play tailed off drastically in 2004 and many thought this was because of he did not agree with the direction the team was taking in rebuilding. Management and fans were under the impression that Carter had quit on the team and then General Manager Rob Babcock pulled the trigger on a trade to New Jersey for – three players and a couple of draft picks. Of those players, not one actually ended up playing meaningful minutes for the Raptors. One of them, Alonzo Mourning decided to retire instead of joining Toronto (only to come out of retirement later). Again, Raptors fans were jilted by the franchise player and received nothing of value in return. Tracy McGrady was no longer the most hated Raptor, that designation now fell to Carter, especially after an interview he did with John Thompson were he said "In years past, no. I was fortunate to have the talent. You get spoiled when you're able to do a lot of things. You see that you don't have to work at it." This was taken by Raptors fans to mean he was not trying his hardest while playing in Toronto. Although, Carter has been gone for almost six seasons and moved teams, he is still booed loudly when he makes an appearance at the Air Canada Centre.

Toronto Raptors fans have been bracing for the summer of 2010 for a couple of years now, when the most recent franchise player, Chris Bosh could explore free agency and leave the team for a new start. So with it all but settled that Bosh will be leaving the Raptors this summer it comes with a couple of questions. Can the Raptors get anything back for their former star player? In the past, as we saw, the Raptors have not been successful in gaining any compensation for their players. This time fans are hopeful that GM Bryan Colangelo can get something in return for Bosh in a sign and trade. The best case scenario that are being floated around internet rumour boards is Joakim Noah from the Bulls or Michael Beasley from the Heat. The other burning question is how Raptors fans will treat Bosh when he returns to the ACC next season. At the moment he will probably get a mix of cheers and boos. Unlike Carter, Bosh tried right up until taking the elbow in the face, so that will earn him the cheers, and unlike McGrady leaving when the team was good, Bosh is leaving when the team is constantly rebuilding and without a real chance to win. Even though these are points in his favour, Raptors fans cannot help but feel like they have witnessed the development of an NBA superstar to again have him walk away in his prime.

So will Chris Bosh take over as the most hated Raptor player of all time, I don’t think so – that mantle will always belong to Vince Carter. Congrats!

Is LeBron Helping Chris Bosh Stay In Toronto?

I swear I wrote this before game 6 of the Cavs-Celtics series, just didn't have time to post it...you will actually see my wrong prediction of the Cavs winning game 6. Oops.



Although most Raptor and casual basketball fans have come to the conclusion that Chris Bosh won’t be playing in Toronto next season based on his recent tweets and his presence at the Lakers game, could Lebron James’s recent poor play actually be helping Bosh stay put?

Here is my outrageous theory…
LeBron wasn’t going to leave Cleveland if they won the championship or if he lost in the finals (he would need to redeem himself to Cavs fans). With the poo-poo platter (technical term) of a performance that he put in during game 5 and the series with Boston going to 7 games and a well-rested and playoff tested Magic team waiting if they make it to the Conference Finals, it looks like the LeBron led Cavs are going to fall short. These leaves the door open for him to take flight from Cleveland.

As everyone has concluded there are only a few potential destinations for LeBron and the other big free agents (Wade and Bosh) this summer. They could flee to Chicago, New York, New Jersey (new Russian billionaire/possible move to Brooklyn) and Miami. Contrary to some conspiracy theorists, I can’t any one of them taking less than the max to play with each other. This is there one time to cash in, and you better believe that they will.

So let’s say, LeBron does leave, my guess is he plays in Chicago. Couple of reasons;
- Nike would love this. Jordan and then LeBron. Lots of advertising would work
- LeBron is already planning on changing his number because he knew he couldn’t wear 23 in Chicago
- Gets to play with a great point guard in Derrick Rose and a bunch of talented young stars
- Chuck Swirsky would break out a new closing slogan ‘Put the deep dish in the oven this one is over”

Wade is staying in Miami. He has won his championship and will hopefully retire a Heat player.

This leaves Bosh out in the cold, literally with the choice between NJ, NYC or Toronto. The Knicks obviously appeal to him, but knowing that he would be in charge of bringing basketball back for New Yorkers without the help of LeBron, no cap flexibility, no draft picks, makes his best move (and the one that pays him the most) to re-sign with Toronto.

So, there you have it…Toronto sports fans get ready for 6 years and $127 million worth of 42-42 basketball.

More Twitter Talk: Bosh Asks The Fans

Over the weekend, the worst nightmare (or in some cases, dream) of Toronto Raptors fans came true.

Chris Bosh took to his twitter page to ask fans where he should sign in the off season. Now, to most outsiders this would look like he is definitely moving on from the only franchise he has ever known, but this question to fans also gave those in Toronto the chance to show their appreciation for Bosh and to convince him to stay north of the border.

Bosh obviously craves media attention. His most attention grabbing stunts, like the video to gain all-star votes, his war of words with Shaq and now this are what he wants and he just doesn't get enough coverage in Canada. TSN is more concerned with hockey and The Score and Cabbie are too in love with Kobe and the Lakers.

So where does Bosh end up, where the media is the biggest and brightest - NYC. A sign and trade for David Lee and some other minor parts sounds like a possible scenario. Lee will become a fan favorite on a .500 team. Another possibility would be the LA Lakers. Not shy to spend money, having Bosh would almost guaruantee a championship and the return to Toronto would probably be Andrew Bynum which might be a good fit in Toronto.

Management in Toronto have tried there best to accommodate their superstar. This season in particular with the signing of Hedo Turkoglu and bringing in 7 other new players. All those new players weren't what Bosh and the Raptors really needed every year. They have never had a take charge point guard since Damon left or a serious scoring threat at shooting guard or a true centre. With none of those factors ever being addressed, I can't blame Bosh for wanting to explore his options.

Now we wait until July 1 to see the outcome.

2010 Watch: Chris Bosh Edition

The following passage is from Dan Shanoff over at the Sporting News, during his "wake-up call" article yesterday (November 24/09)...

2010 Watch: Chris Bosh is definitely leaving the Raptors, and here's my pop psychology why: Bosh deeply resents that he is virtually anonymous playing in Canada, while other NBA stars have blown up playing in the States.

Bosh WANTS, desperately, to be a well-recognized star, and that will only happen if he is playing in New York, or alongside LeBron or Wade. LeBron and Wade may stay with their current teams; Bosh will join them -- or grab the limelight for himself in NYC. And if the Knicks accept that LeBron and Wade aren't coming to them, they should focus on Bosh, playing to his interest in being a star.

That is a mouthful and shouldn't really surprise any Raptors fans. It isn't a well-kept secret that Chris Bosh wants to test the free agent market next summer with the likes of LeBron, DWade and Joe Johnson among others, but I don't really think that they are for the reasons that Shanoff speaks of here.

Chris Bosh is not anyonymous playing in Toronto. If he was, he wouldn't be an All-Star, he wouldn't have made the USA basketball team, and he wouldn't have gotten into a war of words with Shaq.

Bosh really understands how to market himself (twitter, youtube videos) and he does it extremely well. He might have the desire to be "star" in the basketball community and that is why he does all this marketing, but it has worked. He is a known commodity and he has done it while playing basketball in Canada.

CB4 will probably end up signing with the Knicks so he can be the centre of attention when LeBron stays put in Cleveland, but he won't be any happier. What affects Bosh the most is his desire to win. Bosh only talks of leaving Toronto when the team is on a losing streak or after a bad loss when he puts up exceptional numbers, but doesn't get the support of teammates.

Bosh knows that to be more marketable you need to play for a winner and if he signs with the Knicks he will still be years away from being on a winning team. Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo has tried on a couple of seperate occasions now to put the pieces around Bosh to help him win in Toronto. This would bring the spotlight of the playoffs to him, which apparently is what he craves. Unfortunately, these experiments have failed to date (Marion, Jermaine O'Neal, Kapono). Colangelo has tried again this year, adding nine new players.

Teams vying for his service in 2010, including the Raptors, have to decide if Bosh is actually a star player who can guide a team deep in the playoffs or is he just a supporting player to a bigger star - basically, is he better suited to play Robin to Batman, instead of being Batman.

Bosh understands what being the centre of attention is like. He shares a building with the beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. He sees the hockey-crazed city and how it has treated its star players Mats Sundin and now Phil Kessel. He knows there would be a lot of pressure put on him to win when he arrives in his new destination. As much as he loves the spotlight, how would he react to getting booed at the Gardens? Could he handle the microphones being shoved in his face? Being on the back of the NY Post with the negative headlines? Those are things that are reserved for the hockey team in Toronto, not the basketball team.

The headlines he apparently craves would arrive with wins, no matter what city he is playing in.