| Ask and Thou Shall Receive Authored by Aaron Bronsteter - October 3, 2006 - 1:43 pm
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Some Raptors fans on our very own RealGM forums are surprised about this and I simply cannot imagine why. The Raptors’ franchise player is Chris Bosh and if you don’t surround your franchise player with a supporting cast that they desire, there can be very distressing results, just ask Kevin Garnett.
If your franchise player makes a realistic request that a GM can follow through with, then it should be done at all costs. Charlie Villanueva ended up being the casualty, but with Andrea Bargnani being drafted first overall, last year’s rookie of the year award runner-up was expendable.
Critics of the trade cite trading a big man for a smaller player to be an unwise strategy, but those critics fail to note the obvious:
a) Since high school, Ford has never been on a team that has failed to make the playoffs
b) The Raptors have seldom had a legitimate pass-first point guard
c) Ford is one of the league’s three fastest players according to almost anyone involved with the NBA who is ever asked the question.
Villanueva is a heck of a player, a solid offensive option with the versatility to play three positions, but he has never shown any progress with his defensive game and was redundant to the team.
The idea of “never trade big for small” is ludicrous – any idiot knows to trade Adonal Foyle for Delonte West.
In Ford, the Raptors land a player who will compliment Bosh’s game, who he is familiar with and has known for many years. When the Bucks came to town, Bosh took Ford out for dinner and vice-versa and off the court chemistry is often just as important as it is on the court.
Since the departure of Vince Carter, the Raptors finally have playoff aspirations and if they get there, the team’s success will almost surely be attributed to Ford as much, if not more, than Bosh.
The jury is out on whether the Raptors trade of Villanueva for Ford will end up in their favour, but whether or not Colangelo did the right thing by giving the team’s franchise player his way should not be in question.
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