NBA Chat With Stephen Brotherston 2/13/12

Join HOOPSWORLD’s Stephen Brotherston for his weekly NBA Chat covering the Toronto Raptors and all things NBA every Monday at 3pm ET.

Three games into the home stand, the Toronto Raptors are 1-2, but that includes a win over Boston and a last second 2-point loss to the Lakers. Knicks arrive on Tuesday so Raptors fans should be in for another great game.

Get your comments and questions in now.

  1. Mark

    In the last 2 Knick games I’ve seen calls made by refs I’ve never seen before.

    1. Against the Lakers, two free throws were taken away by the refs because someone screwed up and recorded a defensive foul instead of a offensive foul. The mistake brought the Lakers over the foul limit and then all of a sudden the refs took two points away when they fixed it. The Lakers had possession of the ball when the play started. Should the Knicks have got possession of the ball at the very least if they took two points away?

    2. In the Timeberwolves game, Lin went in for a layup but there was a technical called on Rubio. Lin took one shot but the Timeberwolves got possession of the ball directly after.

    Are these just mistakes by referee’s or has there been precedence for these calls? I’ve seen a lot of calls this year that I’ve never seen before in a NBA season. There was one also a few a questionable calls a week or two ago in the last 2 minutes of the Bulls/Heat game.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Welcome to the Chat

      It’s been an exciting week of NBA ball – it is a good thing that the Knicks are relevant again – and its a better thing that the Knicks didn’t just go out and buy what made them relevant.

      7-game, 2-week home stand for the Raptors is nice too!

      I’m thinking the lockout affected the refs as much as the players – and there is little rationale not to believe it would not have affected them as well.

      I believe everyone has witnessed calls this season that has caused them to to say – Where That From -

  2. Jim

    Do you think KG and Ray will have their Celtic Numbers retired?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I’d be surprised – that’s been a very short career in a Celtics uniform by that team’s standards. They have had a big impact though.

  3. Mutang

    Can utah just use their TPE (10m I think) for Calderon? Raps dont seem to want him, Utah could really use him, and Raps also have said they want a TPE to use for Chandler. Possible?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Raps will be asking for more than just a TPE and the Jazz should be willing to offer more – possible – sure if Colangelo already has an unspoken agreement for that next deal – but that never happens in the NBA….

  4. Edward Lee

    Carmelo +Chandler+filler= Howard+filler?
    With Lin playing so great, NY doesnt need Carmelo anymore?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Does NY need Melo is the question of the day – may not – but that would be admitting trading away all that depth for 1 star player was a huge mistake – hard to see any GM admit that this fast.

      Plus after Melo forced his way out of Denver to go to the Knicks – I don’t see many teams lining up to say I’ll take for my star player in return.

  5. Mehdi

    If things don’t get better in Portland do you see portland trading the expiring deals of Wallace and Felton for assets and picks?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Give it the end of the month – if things don’t start improving – Blazers will be looking at options. Might do better than just “assets” and/or picks for Wallace to the right team – I’d keep him – Wallace will help make the Blazers a playoff team. Felton needs to play better or he’ll be tough to move for anyone worth getting – Lakers anyone?? Bet on Felton turning things around for now.

  6. Luke

    Why is Jamal Crawford not starting at pg and Batum at sg? those guys are playing much better then matthews and felton..Felton has been a very big bust this year

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Crawford really isn’t a PG – there is a risk he wouldn’t do well starting there. Batum will just have to wait until next season to start – and there will be a line-up of teams interested in offering him the job if the Blazers don’t want to.

      No argument here about Felton – but he can & should turn it around.

  7. JM

    Why so little love for Calderon? He seem to constantly be on the trading block because the Raptors are looking for “the point guard of the future”. Yet he has outplayed his competition every year(TJ,JJ,JB) and the notion that “They can’t play D with Jose And Andreas” has been proven wrong. He is supper efficient running an offense with limited teammate – all you need to do is surrender him with good P&R players and shooters.
    Yes, he is not a 20pps, take over game , franchise player type PG. But who said that you must get it from your PG? Plus, it is not like D-Rose type players grow on trees…

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Coach Casey loves him – that’s all that matters for now.

      Calderon should have 5 good years ahead of him and if he didn’t have that injury history over the past 3 seasons – no one would be talking about finding a PG of the future. But he did – and they are. Maybe by April – they aren’t.

      A healthy Calderon is a great PG

  8. JM

    How do the Raptors improve going forward? They seem to have a lot of depth in terms of good players or players with potential, but not enough allstart good players. Where do you find one and who do you cut?
    They are set in the front court with AB & JV. AJ & ED are good bench bigs. LK seems to be like a perfect 6/7th man. JJ shows a lot of potential. DD is here to stay, and I don’t think they can do better than JC at the PG in the near future. JB seems to be like a decent scorer to bring of the bench. That’s a 9 men rotation. Free agency is not a solution cause the best they can do is probably bring another decent player like chandler, not an allstar. (Is he really that much better than JJ, for 5 times the cost???)

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The Raps are running season long tryouts to decide what they need going forward. They aren’t going to rush – they don’t need to rush – unless a team puts a player they covet up for grabs.

      We saw signs that Bargs could be a legit star player – no question he is talented. The team loves Jonas – based on the under-19 World Championships – they have the best rookie next season already. There will be cap space to add an impact FA – but as of now – I’d agree JJ looks like he’ll be as good as Chandler by the time the season ends.

      There will be moves – the guys who don’t develop will be moving on – just too soon to call next season’s rotation

  9. Brooks

    Couple Lakers questions:

    1. What do you think the Lakers can get from the Rockets for Pau? K.Lowry?

    2. The rumors about signing A.I., would that help the Lakers by giving us another scoring option?

    3. What move do you see happening for the Lakers before the deadline?

    Thanks!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Lakers aren’t getting Lowry…sorry

      Guys who have retired because of diminishing skills and age should stay retired.

      Lakers will be looking for guard or wing help – they need more scoring and play making out of that bench. But I do like their rookie Goudelock. They should take a run at Felton in about 2 weeks.

  10. ALEX

    Great chat. Any FA.will be targeted this summer by BC. How much can he spend and what he will do with JOSE?
    THANKS

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Colangelo hasn’t committed to any course of action – he really is seeing what he has before deciding what to do.

      If Jose can get through this season without the injury bug affecting his game – Casey might just fight to keep him. Jose is a very stabilizing influence on a young team – its going to depend on who’s available.

  11. devonte

    how far do you think the knicks will go in the eastern conference? do they get past atlanta?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Right now – no the Knicks don’t get past Atlanta – The Hawks are a really good veteran team.

      Melo and Stoudemire come back and fit in with Lin and Lin keeps playing like a legit starting PG – now the Knicks can challenge them – but that’s a lot of ifs.

      But this is a lot better situation than 2 weeks ago when the Knicks where going to be a lottery team – now there is real hope for a 2nd round playoff appearance – can they become a team fast enough? Maybe….

  12. Newmarket Brian

    At yesterday’s Laker game, Jose made 2 early turnovers, both of them on passes to Aaron Gray – who wasn’t where he was supposed to be. While Gray is an OK rebounder, he can’t stay on the big team if he can’t run the playbook. It’s not like he’s a scorer or passer. What do you think of him?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Aaron is a role player – if he sticks next season – and I like him – he’ll be off the bench plugging up the middle in limited minutes and specific situations – and filling a useful role.

  13. Jazzfan

    Do you think Ty Corbin is legitmate candidate for Coach Of The Year? considering he took over for Jerry Sloan unexpectdly in mid season last year then loses DWill almost immediatly after, then there’s the lockout and the shortened training camp with little time to implement his system, they get off to a horrible start with the blowout losses and then turns it around and has us in playoff contention and were doing better than most “experts” expected us to.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Corbin is in the mix – I’d say he needs 40+ wins to be in contention (equivalent to 50+ wins normally). Jazz are right there.

  14. Edvardas

    hello,

    why there is no trade at all? nobody wants to make team stronger? thank you.

    p.s please post my question. 2 times before you ignored me..

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Not sure which team you follow but the trade deadline is still a month away and most teams aren’t feeling the pressure to do a deal just yet. They are talking – just not acting on it.

  15. Bhagdeep

    Hey Stephen,
    What about this trade between Raptors and Lakers close to the trade deadline. Toronto sends Barbosa (7.6M), Bayless(3M) and Amir (5.5M) to LA for Steve Blake(4M), Josh McRoberts(3M), Trade Exception(8.9M) and 2 first round picks in 2012 draft (LA and Dallas Pick)? Lakers get backcourt help and scoring off the bench with bayless and barbosa (both expiring deals) plus a solid big in Amir Johnson. Toronto gets 2 late first round picks for next years draft that they could flip for a mid rounder to grab a PG like Teague or Kabongo in addition to their own high pick. Toronto also clears up a logjam in the frontcourt next year when Jonas comes over by shipping out Amir.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      TPE rules are a little complicated but I believe that deal nets the Raps 2 exceptions – 1 for LB and 1 for the difference in the other salaries.

      Raps are in no rush to ship out LB – they like him. I could see Bayless and Amir for Blake and McRoberts – but it doesn’t do a lot for Toronto beyond moving out salary.

      Lots of talk that the Raps should pick up another 1st – but 3 rookies in next year’s rotation would make the Raps look more like the Wiz than the team Colangelo was envisioning for next season.

      But nothing is off the table in Toronto this year.

  16. Mr

    What is the Raptors record with Bargs? And do you think he would have made the AllStar if he was healthy?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      6-7 record.
      Bargs would have to beat out Bosh (and then the snubbed Josh Smith ) + the Raps would have be at least a .500 team – was possible.

  17. Drew

    I know JR Smith is coming back this month and of course he is looking at the big cities (LA Clips/Lakers, and NY) but wouldn’t Minny make more sense for him now and long term? We need a SG and can give him his shot to be the go to Guy. Where he will not have that shot in NY or LA. Plus we have Rubio setting him up and FA $ to spend come next year where those markets don’t. What are the chances he comes?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Minny would be a very good career move for JR – It seems like his friends are in LAC – but his best future could be further north.

      JR isn’t saying

  18. maestro

    Okay I have to admit the Chris Paul trade is not looking as bad for the Clippers as I thought it was. How pissed are the other owners at Stern now? Clippers # 2 team in west, gordon been hurt all year, and the t-wolves lotto pick looks like its going to be between the 9-14 pick.

  19. Scott

    Who could bring more to help out the Raps next season:
    Barnes? MKG? or Sullinger with his 280 lb beef + interior scoring (which I don’t feel like Raptors have enough of)

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Barnes is the proven mid-level vet the Raps shouldn’t spend there money on.

      This season is all about deciding who the team needs in FA and the draft – Sullinger is a possible solution but it means several moves need to go down – Colangelo won’t bench a high draft pick.

  20. Justin

    Does Toronto have a chance to sign Wilson Chandler ? Does denver have enough money to re – sign him ? If not do you see Toronto making any moves IE: Trading jose or making any sort of moves at the deadline ?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Chandler probably doesn’t escape China in time to sign with anyone but Denver – maybe in the off season.

      Toronto will be looking at deals at the deadline – Colangelo loves to do trades

  21. bullzfan

    are the bulls one of the many teams interested in JR SMITH considering all the injuries on the team?

  22. Josh

    Bill Ingram made mention that he would like to see a Rondo to Utah Jazz team. I like that as well. Who would the Celtics want, Millsap or Jefferson? My offer would be Jefferson, Harris and GS Pick for Rondo and Oneal. Jefferson and Garnett would be a great offensive duo and Jazz would have a lineup of Rondo, Bell, Hayward, Millsap, and Favors.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Cs would need a PG back – Harris? plus they are in win now (and luxury tax) mode – ask for Millsap. Jefferson makes too much.

      Can see two motivated teams here.

  23. Josh

    Hi SB! Cavs fan here – Who says no – TWolves get Andy Varejao and Alonzo Gee – Cavs get Derrick Williams and Tolliver (filler) – Wolves get a center that would flourish with Rubio and Cavs get williams to build with Irving

  24. Zach

    Since lin is going to be a restricted free agent and can only make about the mid level exception because of the Gilbert arenas rule is he going to get a one year deal and then try to cash in the year after? (assuming he keeps up the stellar play)

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The Knicks can only offer about the mid-level but I believe they can match an offer sheet so if things stay the same – he’ll see a better deal than that. Larry Coon is the right guy to ask this one to.

  25. Jeff

    Please tell us that Raptors are planning to build, build, build, and not go out this summer and sign middling free-agents.

    We’d prefer a top 5 pick this season and next.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      My biggest worry would be a veteran FA with no upside or star qualities too – but I don’t believe that’s where the team is headed.

      There is no way I’d put this fan base through the lottery next season – its been long enough.

  26. John

    The BEST thing the Raptors could do is land a top 3 pick in the draft and i hope they trade away Barbosa and Calderon to ensure that happens. Right or wrong?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Best thing for the Raptors is the continued development of JJ. LK knee is 100% and he finds his FIBA legs. ED gets back on track – slowly happening. See a trend here – player development.

      Raps have a great rookie coming over already – I know the wants to have 2 rookies in the rotation – and if he’s a stud that great – but I’d rather see big steps out of the guys they already have than a top 3 pick.

  27. Freddie

    Are you hearing any Raptors trade rumors? Wilson Chandler appears to be headed back to Den.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      No Raptors trade rumors as yet. Still a little too soon for serious discussiions

  28. Dante

    Do you think Lakers will sign Arenas anytime soon?

  29. don

    what about this 3 team trade..

    lakers- tony parker, richard jefferson, and tyrus thomas

    spurs- d.j. augustin, worldpeace, and gasol

    bobcats- james anderson, ebank, steve blake, blair

    throws picks in there if you want.

    bobcats get good young talent to help rebuild, spurs get a amazing frontcourt to help tim out, and lakers get there point guard? you thoughts please.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I’m thinking the Spurs are going to be a contender as constructed and won’t be without Parker.

  30. Ahad

    Hey, why aren’t the Lakers taking a look at Calderon? Maybe trade the Odom Exception, Ebanks,Picks, or some combination of that sort. I really think he can fill that PG slot in LA.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The Odom TPE is too small for a Calderon deal. Its too bad the Lakers don’t have the assets to acquire Jose – I believe he’d make them an instant contender. Maybe a three team deal?

  31. Jeff

    Stephen,
    I hear what you are saying about not wanting Raps fan to suffer yet another lottery season, but seriously, Raps fans just want it done right. A core or 2012 Top 10 pick, Bargnani, Jonas and DD is certainly never going to be a Championship team.

    They need to get lucky in the draft this year and next, and then *maybe* they will have the talent it takes to compete at the top.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      That’s all for today. Thanks for all the great comments and questions.

      Don’t assume next season’s roster is fixed – but most good teams only have three guys who really stand out from the crowd. Bargs, Jonas, the draft pick or FA – if they all work out – is enough to build a contender around with some good vets to support them.

      The risk is they don’t work out – but I like the odds with the current coaching staff developing the players.