In which we observe NBA items of interest and give them a lion face (RARR!) or a lemon face (Ooh!). For reference:

In this episode? We look at Raptors (RARR!) and Bucks (Ooh!).

LION FACE (RARR!): Raptors

I touched on this over at FH. The Raptors are currently in the lead for Pet Team of 2009-2010. It’s a close race with Charlotte (flawed) and Milwaukee (pathetically plucky), but enough to say it’s theirs to lose. You have to admire the guts of Colangelo here. He’s morphed into some sort of odd combination of long-term development manager and “WIN NOW, WIN HOWEVER YOU HAVE TO IN ORDER TO KEEP BOSH” disciple. He invests in Bargnani, who no one likes right now because he doesn’t rebound and that 10 foot leaner in the lane doesn’t look invaluable yet. But that investment signals a long term commitment to the youth bedrock of this team. He lands Hedo, saying “we’re going to get the very best in order to win now.” He lands Jarret Jack and creates options in the backcourt. He trades Delfino and Ukic, abandoning projects that take a long time to develop. If you’re not good once the cork is opened, you’re not to be left on the table to breathe. He knows he’s weak on defense and rebounding, so he brings in Johnson, who’s either a flawed prototype still built of high tech material or a hybrid disaster that should never have been set free, depending on who you talk to.

The lineup flexibility, as I noted is what kills me. That’s probably where I’m going to be getting my kicks next season, because like never before, there’s going to be some seriously demented lineups. My favorite I came up with for the raps? Jack-DeRozan-Bosh-Johnson-Bargnani. It’s obviously a GO BIG counter, but I like the idea of keeping Johnson at that four spot and still keeping your two best scorers on the floor. You’d have to play zone because Bosh man-up at the three would be a disaster, but then, putting Bargnani on seek-and-destroy is probably a good idea anyway.

I keep forgetting Hedo’s on this team, and that’s probably because he was such an integral part of Orlando’s rise to prominence for me. Howard was what you expected, but Hedo was who helped define them, more than anyone. The amount of silliness that now exists in Toronto with he, Bosh, and Bargs is just absurd. I only wish Jamario was back with them to complete the sillyfest. Still, they need flip cams on them at all times.

As it is with most teams that are contending, even the minor deals seem huge. Antoine Wright gives them a great team defender with length and upside. Bellinelli is either a flash fire waiting to happen or an artillery dud. But that still makes them more fun to watch than Anthony Parker or a Graham bro.

You have to wonder what Colangelo has targeted as the ceiling for this team. He can’t realistically think this team is going to win a championship. It needs to make the playoffs, that much is clear from salary alone. With Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston at the apex, does he believe they can get the 4 seed? Hope to make a push in the semis, and possibly get lucky with playing a banged up team that sparks them to the Finals (the Orlando plan)? Or is the goal just to contend, to be relevant, to be fun? Colangelo was part of something special in Phoenix by thinking outside the box and creating something new. Maybe this multi-positional rubix cube he’s created is his next masterpiece that changes things without ever bearing fruit.

LEMON FACE (Ooh!): BUCKS

I talk this team up a lot, so the fact that they get a lemon face might be confusing. Let me explain.

I don’t blame this team for the decisions they made. No one is in a worse financial situation than the Bucks. No one. They were valued at the bottom in the Forbes thing a few years ago and I doubt much has changed there. They’re handcuffed to two large contracts (Redd and Bogut), one of which they had to make in order to maintain any level of non-Grizzlie-ness. They play in a pretty old arena that they mostly use because rent is free and they know there’s no freaking way Milwaukee is springing for new digs, and since Kohl is actually a person with a soul, he won’t sell if there’s even the slightest chance they might move. He’s put too much into them.

Now, I would have put Redd out there on discount pricing to a contender for expirings, but then, I saw flashes of decency from them last season. And trading Redd for expirings may have pushed Villanueva’s contract so high he wouldn’t re-sign with them anyway. But I still would have pursued that first. Heck, I’d still pursue that now. Since they’re likely to lose Villanueva, Jefferson, Sessions, and Amir Johnson all in one summer, this presents a great opportunity to clear stars off to build around Jennings-Bogut with Mbah A Moute (who I think is terrific; length, motor, and a ridiculous name) and Warrick fun plug-and-play pieces. But Redd stands in the way of all that. Not that Redd’s not a warrior and not that he doesn’t mean a lot to the franchise, but he’s a veteran shooter with an expiring contract and those guys are ripe for the move. Then again, the Bucks may be handcuffed by the injury situation and just the fact that Redd’s been The Guy. It’s hard to let go of the most talented guy on the team. And look what happened to Memphis. They just traded for Zach Randolph, for God’s sake.

The main reason they get a Lemon Face is that they seem to be going in two directions. Jennings is the future, but Bogut is the franchise, but Redd is the leader, but we’re building for the future, but Luke Ridnour has a chokehold on our point guard spot but Roko Ukic could be great with some time but we want to win now but we want to win a championship but we’re also filling in holes like with Warrick.

I love Warrick’s game, it just feels like letting V-Nuv go and signing Warrick was too much of a ‘replace Salsa with tomato sauce’ move. The ingredients are still there, but it’s not salsa. And moving for Delfino seems more and more like they don’t know what they want to do, so they got a guy who can do a couple of things. Which means either Mbah-A-Moute is less in their plans, which is a waste, or they want to limit Jennings’ time, which is a waste, or they want to put Jennings/Redd at 2, Moute/Warrick at the 4, and run Delfino at the three, just means you’ll constantly be undersized and outrebounded.  And nobody likes that. Except Detroit, apparently.

There’s still hope for the Bucks, if they can turn Redd into something good, take on whoever is the young guy that doesn’t get enough time guys before people notice. I recommend calling the Warriors early and often. But if this is the rebuilding plan, stocking young talent while filling in the gap with mid-level support around two unreliable veterans, things will continue to be dark and gloomy for the Green and Red.

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