hockeywiz542
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- May 26, 2008
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Koreen: Increased parity is fun, but it will make trade...
All this compelling competitiveness might have a negative affect on the Raptors, too. For those hoping for a roster upgrade — maybe on the wing, where the Raptors have been plagued by inconsistency — it is shaping up to be a seller’s market. The five teams out of playoff position will dangle their inessential veterans, but with so many teams unwilling to admit defeat, the queue will be long in the buyer’s lineup before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. That will also impact the post-deadline buyout market, too.
All of which will raise some complicated questions for the Raptors. Look around the rosters of the likely sellers: Who is necessarily raising the bar for this team? Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore? Cleveland’s Rodney Hood? If Brooklyn and Miami determine they are out of it, Jared Dudley or Wayne Ellington? Are any of them definitely better than the players the Raptors have on the bench? And would you throw in a future first-round pick, along with some combination of C.J. Miles, Norman Powell and Delon Wright, to get any of them even if you think they do? It feels like a steep price, even if the Raptors have more motivation to go for it given Kawhi Leonard’s pending free agency.
Over the next six weeks, more teams will, uhh, adjust their priorities. Still, the increased parity will make swinging a deal more costly for contenders — and that includes the Raptors. At least it should make the day-to-day churn of the season more interesting.
