Leaving the Vinsane asylum... by wongoz

Well, I'm more than a bit surprised that Apollo hasn't yet commented on the Vince Carter trade, but I'll take a stab at it now.

Some people have taken Raptors GM Rob Babcock to task for failing to get more for his most-valuable trade commodity. These same people are the ones who have been whining for a Carter trade for months, so what's it gonna be? Obviously, there's a reason why Babcock pulled the trigger on this one when he did, but he deserves the benefit of the doubt, no? Especially since we don't really know what other options he had (unlike his first-round draft selection of Rafael Araujo; doesn't 76er swingman Andre Iguodala look like he could improve this porous Raptors D? ).

So let's not play the "what if?" game and pretend that Babcock could've gotten Ray Allen (whom I would've traded Vince and whoever else for and Seattle might actually have done it), or that the rumoured Portland deal involving Shareef Abdur-Rahim was any better. Let's just see what we got from the deal, and figure out if Babcock got fleeced or not.

Obviously this trade hinged upon getting players back that would match up with Vince's salary. And of course, Babcock should've been trying to obtain players that actually had some value on the court (that is, trading for 10 guys making the vet's minimum wouldn't cut it either). I love Jalen Rose's inquiry upon hearing of the trade if the Raptors had acquired Richard Jefferson. Haha, AS IF.

So are Eric and Aaron Williams good enough on the defensive end to make up for Vince's offence? We will see. I've often heard that when Rose is on the floor, it's like the defense playing 4-on-5. With Vince too, it may as well have been 3 or 3.5-on-5. So if we can recover a few of those points on defense due to poor defending and rebounding, that should make up for any loss in point production.

Then of course, there's Alonzo Mourning, or rather, his contract. If Babcock can engineer some sort of buyout, that would be great, but if Zo actually decides to play for the Raptors, well, hey, that's a bonus. I don't think that's likely, and neither is the Miami rumour of a trade involving Mourning, Rose and Donyell Marshall for Eddie Jones and who knows who else.

The key is whether Babcock can turn the 2 first round draft picks into anyone productive. A lot of talk has gone about how the picks are crap because they won't be high picks, but a high pick doesn't guarantee anything except a contract. We could get a Chris Bosh, or we could get an Araujo. We could get a Lebron, or we could get a Darko. We could get a Yao, or we could get a Tskitishvili.

Some have said they're likely to be picks no higher than the 10th overall selection. With a bit of good scouting, Babcock could easily get some productive players. Players in recent years from that range of picks include Zach Randolph, Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Josh Howard, Tayshaun Prince, and Caron Butler. So all is not lost.

Only time will tell how the Raptors made out on this trade, if Babcock was indeed fleeced or not. New Jersey sacrificed some rebuilding components for a chance at glory in the here and now, and the Raptors have to make sure they maximize those rebuilding components for future glory. Then, and only then, can Babcock save himself from Araujogate.