The Viewership Motive

You read about these trades and the analysis always comes down to one thing. Why?

Almost everyone agrees on the motives for this Marion O'Neal swap:

The Raptors: Athletic, defensive true SF who knows he can't shoot and cap space now.

Miami: Post presence, cap in 2010, shed Banks and some kind of pick.

But everyone has left out one other motive, the corporate motive or what I call, the viewership motive.

How many of you will watch on Wednesday with renewed faith? It's so bizarre how one move can inspire, how one move can renew our faith in a team that is beyond a one player fix. Yet we look on, hoping and believing that maybe Marion is our white knight. In the end, we, like all true fans are suckers for punishment. We watch always hoping that this is the one that gets them going. We believe so desperately that this game is the one, that this player is the guy. But how money would put your money where your hope is? If you do, then all I can say is, marry me.

Take this one step back and just reflect on the O'Neal trade again. When it first happened, I believe in Raptor nation that the true INITIAL reaction was we gave up all our assets for someone who WAS great and is likely to get injured. But as time went on, our small snowball of hope grew to a boulder. Yes his last good season was 3 years ago, but maybe, JUST MAYBE this is the year he's healthy and comes roaring back. Maybe he really is that one player solution when we all knew and recognized that with our pieces we needed 3 things, a back up pg, a defensive wing, and a solid scorer. But despite the fact that everyone recognized the gaps, we all believed, myself included that maybe if this works, none of those things matter.

Note to self, any deficiency you can see at first glance, MATTERS!

At the end of the day however, we were still happy, but do you know who was happier? With hope at its highest point in years, the bandwagons so full they might have to refuse passengers, MLSE was probably having the time of their lives. Whether the trade worked or not at the end of the day, people were watching and sadly, thats all MLSE wants. What's even sadder is that we can't help but buy in. Our love for our team, our hope to be part of something special is being exploited. We've come to exaggerate and overhype any move as time progresses much to the appreciation of MLSE. After all, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing. In fact, I bet so many people are talking and hyping this trade, that there is a contingent out there determined to see Banks solve our PG woes. Hopefully, the contingent believes enough to exist for the three years we'll have him. Ironically, it spreads to the players to. I couldn't help but notice Bosh's initial reaction being fairly mellow, but after a night of digestion, he was more convinced this would work, more excited. At least we're not the only suckers.

I'm right up there with the fans hoping that this will help us get over the hump but at the end of the day, a first round exit is still a failure of a season. Since thats likely to be the peak of our season no matter what, why bother with the trade anyways. The grass is much greener in 2010. An answer has to be the viewer motive. The trade that isn't about winning, not today, maybe not even for the future. In times of uncertainty, marketers use what is dependable and unfortunately for us, that is our hope. This move is a move to renew faith, gain interest, and with more and more vowing not to watch the Raptors again, the motive is simply get more people watching again.

Unfortunately it's probably on TSN 2 so we can't.

To Trade or Not To Trade

That is Miami's question. But in reality, that's every teams question and BC of all GM's is probably facing the most pressure. With the Raps sinking to second last in the conference, with the growing yet reasonable fear that Bosh has very little to stay for, pardon my French but BC has to pull some serious shit out of his ass.

In terms of the Marion trade, sources seem to indicate that the ball is in Riley's court so to say but I find that hard to believe right now. O'Neal has played two solid games stats wise but really, every game since hes been back he's played with high energy and doesn't seem to be worrying about his knee. If I was Riley I would have to believe his knee isn't the issue and it's more simply about getting conditioning and game timing back. That being the case, with Miami in the playoffs, for the Raps sake as well, it might be better to pull this trade off sooner than later and let their teams have more time to adjust. At the same time, Marion has yet to play since these rumors surfaced and if he is unfit to even suit up, while O'Neal is ready to go, how is it that Riley has the power over this negotiation. With Miller underperforming, O'Neal is definitely the best deal out there. Personally, as great a passer as Miller is, there is not enough talent or sharpshooters on Miami for him to pass to in the first place. Again, it seems the hold up is which is better, cap space now, or in two years?

From my standpoint, I think Miami is better off with making some big signing two seasons from now. Why? Because Wade has shown a much stronger commitment to Miami and winning his championships there, after all, he already has one and lets face it, Miami is probably a harder city to leave than Toronto. It's probably much safer for them to wait for the best free agency class in history and make a run at say Stoudamire or ..... yep, Bosh. From Toronto's side however, I think they have to do something this season or this offseason. They need to have talent here waiting to convince Bosh to stay, and more importantly, they have to do something with that talent.

I think from this standpoint, it's safe to say that O'Neal will not play another season as a Raptor. Even if this Marion deal falls through, the plethora of expiring deals we have and our 1st round draft pick has to be able to fetch us some valuable pieces and I think BC recognizes the importance of getting these deals done before training camp. In fact, I hope it doesn't, I'd rather see them use O'Neal to get multiple pieces from Chicago or Goldenstate and add to our depth instead of filling one spot. When next season approaches, Goldenstate may want to give up some of its long term deals to be able to play in the offseason while Chicago may decide to make O'Neal their big man, or use his cap space to finally get one. Both these teams would be able to offer two or three pieces that would play big roles on our team instead of getting one small forward, and one scrub in Banks. After all, the last thing the Raps need is another 13th man.

I for one can't wait for the trade deadline to come. Not to see what happens or doesn't happen, but just so we can stop expecting ONE PLAYER to come on a white horse and save the season for us. We need more depth, we need more than Jesus, we need his wise men too!

Was That DNP A Sign?

Short post tonight. As I watched from the stands and saw Humphries struggle to contain O'Neal, my mind drifted to the other O'Neal. He played against Indiana without injury did he not? My first thought was that this was a sign that he was going to be traded. After noticing that Kapono was not there as well, I thought maybe they were both involved. After all, there was no reports about injuries in practice or from that game. Anyways, life went on, but then as I glanced through the box score for the Miami game, things got even more interesting. Shawn Marion, after picking up his stats over the last 10 games, was another DNP. Coincidence? I think not. In Jermaines case, it is definitely possible that perhaps he is sore after returning to action, what really seals the deal in my mind is Marion. He has performed exceptionaly well over the last span of games for the Heat and there has been no mention of any injuries lingering or new. I am unfamiliar with whether trades occur over the weekend, I've never really paid attention to it, but I have to think, if trades only happen during business days, then prepare to read about a trade within the next few days, if not tommorow morning.

The Matrix Revolutions

Since its all the hype right now, lets talk about this seemingly very real possibility of the Matrix himself, Shawn Marion, coming to Toronto. I don't like his character. I know he is very talented athlete and player, he can do wonders for our defense and fast-break, and of course, add something the Raptors severely lack in - athleticism. BUT, again, I don't like his character. This guy was living a dream playing in Phoenix with Steve Nash and Stoudemire, and as Bill Simmons once said in one of his articles, Shawn Marion should be thanking God every night that Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni ever walked into his life. Instead, he started whining about not being in the spotlight enough and even more ridiculous - that he also should've been considered an MVP candidate. Are you kidding me? Steve Nash brought out the best in him with his run-and-gun style and selfless team play. Amare Stoudemire would warrant more of an MVP vote than Marion. So he cries about not getting enough touches and didn't wanna play second, or I guess third banana on a team and then goes to Miami. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Marion can't create his own shot for shit.

Now don't get me wrong, again, he's a GREAT piece to have, if he can open his eyes and see that he's not a #1 option, or #2 for that matter. He brings a lot to the table, and I'm hoping he realizes now that "hey you know what, I'm not that prolific scorer that I thought I was."
Acquiring Shawn Marion for Jermaine O'Neal is a good or bad deal depending on what Colangelo is trying to achieve. Is it just for salary purposes, and to experiment and see if this works out? If so, then fine. But Shawn Marion is far from the answer for our glaring need of a scoring small forward. Dude can't create his own shot and his jumpshot makes Jamario Moon's look smooth.

There's further rumours that after getting Marion, Colangelo is looking to trade Calderon for Nash. Are you out of your fucking mind? This is the equivalent to Cuban trading Devin Harris for Jason Kidd last year. No, I'm not saying Calderon is anything close to as good as Harris is, but you get my point - trading a young, promising point guard for an old, about-to-be-out-of-the league one. For all his defensive discrepancies, Calderon is one heck of a point guard. Yes, you're right, he probably couldn't stop Robert "Tractor" Traylor from blowing by him, but he's still one of the more top-tier pg's. Which brings us back to the Matrix. Marion's strength offensively is fast-break, and we all know Jose isn't that type of point guard. So what, you're gonna get Nash just so we can run that for a year...maybe 2? The whole point is to grow into a contender with our young, promising squad and have a bright future, correct?

I'm all for Marion coming to Toronto for the right reasons. But if Colangelo and co. are seriously expecting him to be that slashing wing we so desperately need, than he needs to get off the crack. And that's as much on Marion as it is on Colangelo; if Marion's attitude has changed then this may work. And I guess with the shitstorm of a season we've had, why not try it right? It just looks gloomy, naturally, for us Raptors fans. The Matrix Reloaded in Miami, and has been a disappointment there so far from what I've read, and coming to T.O would be the Revolution.

Bulls, Heat Interested In J.O.

J.O. doesn't fit with the Raptors and I just can't see any way in which he could. I hate to say it, but after waiting three years for Bargnani and seeing what he's accomplished in the last month, I guess I will have to cease my daily routine of putting him in the trading block.

And if this is the definite direction the Raptors are willing to go, then I don't see Colangelo trading J.O. for other short term solutions. So forget dealing with the Bulls, unless we really want to crowd our team with contract problems. I could see Marion with the Raptors, but only because it gives the team an option to let him go or resign him in the Summer. But isn't Marion another short term solution? Yes and No. But the fact is Marion fits and J.O. doesn't. With Marion, the Raptors get a much-needed wing player, who could also rebound (9.2 RPG this season).

I mean, come on! Who wouldn't love to have "The Matrix" in their team?