Carter Traded

Vince Carter is off to New Jersey. The Raptors get Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams plus two first round draft picks (one for 2005 and 2006).

I am sorry to see Carter go. Despite his lowered production and his penchant for being injured, he is still one of the best all-round players at his position. He demands special attention from the opposing team and is a good passer. Much of his lowered production this year has been due to his reduced minutes. If you factor in the minutes (about 7 minutes a game) then you can see he is actually pretty much on pace for his career average.

Having said that there is no second guessing Raptor's coach Sam Mitchell's decisions to sit Carter, Rose and others for not putting out an effort. I love Mitchell's attitude. The only important name on a jersey is the one on the front. Unfortunately, that is a tough sell sometimes to these millionaire ball players. But it is that attitude that makes college hoops more fun to watch. Every game means something and every player wants to win for the team. But I digress. A team attitude is also the best way for a lesser skilled team to over achieve. Make no mistake. The Raptors are lesser skilled.

As far as the trade being a good or bad thing for Toronto...I think it is too early to tell. Mourning may never show up. He may just retire (kind of like Olajuwon) did to the Raptors a couple of years ago. The two Williams will certainly beef up the front court and may improve the rebounding situation. But they won't command the kind of attention that a Vince Carter does so they won't make their teammates better. From that perspective, Raptor fans should get used to the style of scrappy basketball they have been exposed too lately. The Raptors will have to execute and beat teams on hustle and desire more than talent (not that they really ever had an edge in that department but at least Carter was a legitimate threat that freed up other players). So as far as this season and probably next season goes, the Raptors lost on this trade. But...(there's always a but) the draft picks could swing this in the favour of Toronto. The picks come from Denver and Philadelphia (I'm not sure exactly which year belongs to which team). I don't think either Denver or Philadelphia are poised to make a run at a championship (Denver can be good but in the West they are just going to be good not great) so the picks should be pretty good. They may be able to package one of the picks to make another deal that may fix or alleviate their salary cap woes.

Good luck in NJ VC. I hope he finds what he's been looking for the last couple of seasons. It will also be interesting to see if he gets some other nick name. Air Canada doesn't fit any more.