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Long-term price for O'Neal deal?

January 24, 2009 11:32 AM | Posted by   Paul Jay  

Trade rumours in the age of the blog come and go, but there's a rumour floating around the Toronto Raptors these days that refuses to go away.

In the proposed deal, discussed many places, the centre-starved Miami Heat would send forward Shawn Marion and a spare part, in many versions little-used point guard Marcus Banks, to the Raptors in return for Jermaine O'Neal, the missing piece who has been more missing than anything for Toronto.

It certainly makes sense. For Toronto, it's a do-over, a chance to get out from under O'Neal's behemoth contract after this season and maybe have a bit of money to spend next summer getting some players - particularly shooting guards or small forwards - who would fit with Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon, the only three players on the team worth discussing as building blocks beyond this season, which despite Friday's win in Chicago, is fast slipping away.

For Miami, they take the same chance Toronto did, getting a big man who might help their playoff push, and it would cost them a player they really had no intention of resigning, and whose expiring contract wouldn't have put them in a good enough financial position to make any serious moves anyway. Plus they could unload a guy they don't need in Banks, whose contract pays him about $9 million for the next two years after this year.

I'm of two minds on this possible trade for Toronto. On the one hand, it's a sign of a good executive to not dwell on mistakes and try to, if possible, get at least something for your troubles. Joe Dumars in Detroit is the king of this: he drafted Darko Milicic when Bosh, Miami's Dwyane Wade and Denver's Carmelo Anthony were available, but he later traded him for a pick that he used to select Rodney Stuckey.

O'Neal hasn't worked out, his absence has made a player out of Andrea Bargnani and, most importantly, the team has other, more pressing holes to fill.

But on the other hand, making a trade that would stick them with the contract of Banks is almost always a mistake. It reminds me of how former general manager Glen Grunwald used to dig himself out of trouble by taking on bad deals to get good players, and how it ultimately sunk him in the end.

You might recall in the 2000-01 season how the Raptors, the year after Tracy McGrady bolted and Doug Christie was traded for Corliss Willaimson, struggled mightily out of the gate. They had signed Mark Jackson to run the point, but he was a poor fit and was outplayed by the younger Alvin Williams.

Yogi among bear-ish past deals

But Grunwald made three trades to shake thinks up, two in particular which hurt him. He dealt Kevin Willis and some spare parts for the athletic Keon Clark, but he also had to take on the contract of Tracy Murray, which had another three years on it. He traded Williamson to Detroit for Jerome Wiliams, but he also had to take on the contract of Eric Montross, which didn't expire until 2005.

Murray and Montross didn't make big bucks, but they didn't contribute much either, and when combined with the already overpaid Michael 'Yogi' Stewart, they formed a three-man DNP-CD (Did Not Play - Coach's Decision) tag team at a cost of about $9 million a year.

Later, Grunwald tried to get something from nothing by taking on even longer deals, trading Stewart for Lamond Murray and Tracy Murray for Lindsey Hunter, so by the time the 2003 season rolled around, when injuries struck players like Vince Carter and Alvin Williams, the Raptors had so many roster spots taken by players who couldn't play or were hurt, they were stuck not only that season, but for seasons to come.

Isiah Thomas, Grunwald's mentor of sorts, did the same thing in New York, and only now are they starting to clear the dead wood from that fiasco.

One of the things that has defined current Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's tenure has been that he hasn't saddled the team with too many long-term deals. Only Jason Kapono's contract, which pays him about $13 million combined for the next two seasons, is a bad deal, and only Kapono, Jose Calderon and Kris Humphries have contracts that run past 2010, the summer when Bosh and a bevy of big-name free agents are expected to go shopping for new teams. Sure the Raptors aren't nearly as good as they thought they were, but at least they've got flexibility to make a change or two.

Adding a guy like Banks, who has never proved he deserves regular time, and who also makes coin until 2011, would add another bad deal, and further crimp any chances the Raptors have of fielding the best team possible in 2010.

But if this trade were to happen, it would happen for next year, not 2010, because Colangelo and the Raptors don't have the luxury of time. With Bosh a free agent after 2010, Toronto needs to build a team around him now, not later. But before we celebrate the potential of renting Marion for half a year and then spending like sailors on new teammates in the summer, it's worth noting that quick fixes often come with a price, payable later, and with interest.

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