That Raptor Guy, Bargnani
When Bryan Colangelo arrived on the scene in Toronto, he had an opportunity to select the Toronto Raptor’s selection, the first pick of the 2006 NBA Draft, where he chose Italian Center Andrea Bargnani.
The Raptors had a stellar power forward in Chris Bosh, and Colangelo attempted to match him with a rim protecting center. While Bargnani was less than stellar, the gamble paid off as the Raptors jumped straight into the playoffs the following year, jumping to 47-35.
The team made the huge improvement on defense, going from a team surrendering 104 points per game down to 98.5 points per game.
The Raptors failed to build further as they did not have a first round draft selection the following year. In 2008, the Raptors traded T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, and their first round pick Roy Hibbert to the Indiana Pacers for center Jermaine O’Neal and the Pacers second round pick (41st overall) used to select Nathan Jawai.
The team did land a new cornerstone piece in the 2009 NBA draft in shooting guard DeMar DeRozen at the ninth slot, but by that time the Raptors were on the last year of Chris Bosh’s contract, and Bosh bolted to sign with the Miami Heat.
But the Raptors team was descending. Focussing on building around a mature Bosh forced the team to value veteran seasoned players, at the expense of developing talent via the draft. By the 2010-2011 season, Bargnani was scoring 21.6 points per game, but Chris Bosh was gone.
It’s not just finding talent, but synchronizing it to peak simultaneously.
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