Heading into this season, the Toronto Raptors had gone 52-87 since Dec. 17, 2004, when then-general manager Rob Babcock traded superstar swingman Vince Carter to the New Jersey Nets for virtually nothing in comparable NBA talent and two first-round draft picks. A 2-8 start to the Raptors' 2007 campaign did little to build confidence that Toronto had successfully transitioned from the Carter era, which saw the franchise's only three playoff berths.
Behind the play of forward/center Chris Bosh and the shrewd acquisitions of president and general manager Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors recovered from their early season slide to claim their first ever Atlantic Division title Friday night, finally turning the page on the disastrous Carter trade.
Six-foot-10-inch Bosh, the fourth overall pick in the heralded 2003 draft, has emerged as the best big-man in the Eastern Conference this season. Heading into last night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the former Georgia Tech star, rewarded with a three-year, $40 million contract extension in the offseason, had posted career highs of 22.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, while contributing 1.3 blocks per game. Bosh has double-doubles in his last eight contests and has already eclipsed former center Antonio Davis for the most double-doubles in team history.
Bosh has benefited from the play of a supporting cast Colangelo assembled through a flurry of moves in June and July 2006. On June 30, Colangelo was widely questioned when he dealt 2006 Rookie of the Year award runner-up Charlie Villanueva to the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard T.J. Ford, who missed the entire 2004-05 season with a spinal cord injury. Villanueva has been victimized by injuries this year, however, while Ford has posted 14.1 points and 7.9 assists per game in 70 games.
Colangelo also dipped into the overseas market in the offseason, bringing in European stars who have transitioned well into the NBA. The most notable of these acquisitions was guard Anthony Parker, a standout on Maccabi Tel Aviv. The older brother of University of Tennessee star Candace Parker, Parker has shot 43.9 percent from three-point range and has been instrumental on a team with few reliable swingmen, as Morris Peterson is averaging the fewest minutes of his seven-year career.
Joining Parker were Spaniard Jorge Garbajosa and Italian Andrea Bargnani, both of whom will miss the remainder of the season with injuries after posting productive 2007 campaigns. An 11-year veteran of the Euroleague, Garbajosa averaged 8.5 points in just 28.4 minutes, while the six-foot-ten Bargnani, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, made 99 three pointers in his rookie season.
In stamping his mark on the team, Colangelo, a lock to claim Executive of the Year honors in 2007, has helped the Raptors put Babcock's forgettable year-and-a-half tenure as general manager behind them. Besides botching the Carter trade, Babcock used the eighth pick in the 2004 draft to select Brigham Young center Rafael Araujo ahead of budding stars Andre Iguodala and Al Jefferson. Araujo, who Colangelo traded to the Utah Jazz on June 8, 2006, has averaged fewer than three points per game in his career.
If the Raptors hold onto their narrow two-game lead on the Miami Heat for the third seed in the East, their likeliest playoff opponent would be the Washington Wizards, who have lost two of their top three scorers, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, to season-ending injuries. In four games against the Wizards this year, Bosh has averaged 30.0 points on 60.3 percent from the field.
There is still an outside chance, however, that Toronto could face Carter and the Nets in the first round. New Jersey sits three games back of Washington for sixth in the East with six games remaining, including a Tuesday night clash against the Wizards, and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Washington. If the Nets climb to the sixth spot and face Toronto in the first round, Carter will be a major factor in determining the outcome of the series. The Nets and Raptors have faced off 10 times since Carter was traded. In New Jersey's six wins, the eight-time All Star has averaged 31.5 points, while in Toronto's four victories, Carter has been limited to just 16.5 points per game.
