Is it time for the Toronto Raptors to make a trade?

       As the Toronto Raptors have not lived up to their expectations at least early in the season with a 3-7 record in 10 games, is it time for a change? Toronto Raptors are currently sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference and things won't be looking any better as they are about to face a brutal stretch of games because 10 of those 13 games will come on the road. They will only play 3 games at home in that stretch which are against the Spurs, Nets and Suns. Out of the 13 games and as of right now, the Raptors play against 7 teams who are .500 and above. The 10 games that Raptors will play away out of the next 13 games, the Raptors play 7 of those games against Western Conference teams.

      The Raptors have been dealing with a lot of injuries because Alan Anderson is out for 3-6 weeks, Kyle Lowry possibly out this week as he was expected to miss an additional 1-2 weeks and Landry Fields out for at least two weeks perhaps longer. With the tough stretch coming, the Raptors might not be at full strength this week which could also affect the outcome of the games they are about to face. The Raptors have also been struggling as they came out with a victory on Sunday against a team who is struggling. They've also been struggling to close out games or tend to fall behind early. For example, the game against Indiana, the Raptors scored only 5 points in the 4th quarter but luckily won 74-72 and same with the game against the Jazz as they went into triple over time. When the Raptors played the Celtics, they almost caught up when they were down 3 points at one point but then Celtics pulled away and won 107-89.

      If you look at Bryan Colangelo, his contract is about to end soon. With the way that the team is performing currently and if they continue to perform this way, Colangelo's job is no doubt on the line and especially because of the new ownership who are serious about winning. Therefore, Colangelo should pursue a trade to show that the Raptors are winners and he deserves to stay long term in Toronto. If the Raptors cannot rebuild and draft gems, they will get no where especially under Colangelo as he is  not a fan of rebuilding. My guess is that if the Raptors do not make the playoffs this season, Bryan Colangelo probably won't be the Raptors General Manager next year. Colangelo can spend money and make moves like he did with Turkoglu and therefore he should make a trade that will get the Raptors to the playoffs which could even secure his job in Toronto in the long term.

       Currently we have a good nucleus with Kyle Lowry, Demar Derozan, Andrea Bargnani and future star Jonas Valanciunas. All that remains is a big time impact player that can push the team to the playoffs and perhaps further. If the ownership believes in Colangelo, he needs to make sure that Kyle Lowry is going to be with the Raptors as his contract is expiring. Colangelo also needs to convince Lowry who is winner and contender that the Raptors can make the playoffs and become winners. However, if the Raptors cannot do that, Lowry definitely will not stay in Toronto and sign somewhere else.

       In my opinion, I think that the Raptors should acquire Rudy Gay and I'm pretty sure that most fans would agree with me as the Raptors have been interested in him for a while. Rudy Gay really addresses a lot of the Raptors needs. It might seem impossible to get Gay as the Memphis Grizzlies have been on a roll early in the season and are looking like they might make noise in the playoffs. However, with the Grizzlies financial issues, it might be possible that Raptors can snatch Rudy Gay.

Here are the things that Rudy Gay strenghts:

- Top 5 small forward
- Can score
- Versatile
- Perimeter defender and defend any position on court
- Snatches steals
- Has length and strength
- Averaging 19.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season

       Rudy Gay will definitely not come cheap but he is worth it for the long run. If I were Bryan Colangelo, I would throw in Jose Calderon, Terrence Ross who has barely gotten any minutes this season but looks a promising player and Ed Davis. I would even throw in a couple first rounders if the Grizzlies would ask. With Rudy Gay acquired, the Raptors would look like:

Kyle Lowry/ John Lucas III
Demar Derozan/Alan Anderson
Rudy Gay/ Landry Fields
Andrea Bargnani/ Amir Johnson
Jonas Valanciunas/ Aaron Gray

       All five positions would look solid and would definitely get the Raptors into the playoffs and even save Bryan Colangelo's job. Depending on the cap situation of the Raptors by the end of the season and into 2013 free agency, the Raptors can sign a couple players to make their even more solid. Would you guys make this trade for Rudy Gay or would you guys want to acquire someone else than Rudy Gay? Post your thoughts.

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Raptors Basketball: Toronto Raptors regular season process, other Canada Raptors related news, Vince Carter and more!

      This blog post will talk about Raptors progress into the regular season as they've already played 5 games. This post will also talk the latest Raptors important news, Vince Carter truth and etc.

      So far, the Toronto Raptors have played about 5 games into the regular season and have a compiled record of 1-4 (maybe we should fire Dwayne Casey?), just kidding. The Lakers fired Mike Brown so early into the season as the team had a 1-4 record even with all the big pieces they acquired in the summer. Anyways, going back to the Raptors, they have been dealing with a couple injuries and have lost two straight. We all know the season is young and the Raptors have fresh faces, so here's hoping that they will get out of this slump and will get there game straightened out soon.

      The Raptors have not been playing well and I think the reason to that is there defence. There defence has been worse this year than last year when Casey adapted the defence first philosophy. As Casey has said, the Raptors have not been controlling the paint and getting back into transition. You could see that in the game as the Toronto Raptors were out rebounded 31-13 in the first quarter against the Mavericks. Another problem with the Raptors are bad starts because they dig themselves deep in the first quarter as they allowed the Mavericks to score 36 points on 60 percent shooting. Then the Raptors tried to make a come back at the 4th quarter but fell short like they always do.

Other notes  

       Dwayne Casey should be looking at shaking up the line up as the Raptors have been struggling. He should definitely be giving Terrence Ross extra minutes to show case the rookie and see what he can do. Terrence Ross played about 14 minutes against the Thunder and had 10 points. By the way, do any of you guys have NBA 2K13 and have used Terrence Ross? I've used him many times and he is such a CLUTCH player because its so easy to knock down 3 pointers with him and scoring from the perimeter.

       Remember how I said earlier in one of my blog posts that John Lucas III was playing so well that he could have easily placed Calderon if he got traded? I take that back because he has been a different guy into the regular season. He's been struggling with his shooting and I also noticed that he was chucking a lot of shots when the Raptors played the Thunder.

Vince Carter wanted to stay put in Toronto

       I'm pretty sure that you guys have probably heard about this that Carter wanted to stay in Toronto the day before he got traded. I find this kind of shocking and makes me hate former Raptors GM Rob Babcock(worst GM ever) even more because he traded Vince Carter the day before he said he wanted to stay and acquired two scrubs, Alonzo Mourning who didn't even want to stay in Toronto and a couple 1st round picks which wasn't even going to help our future. Babcock shouldn't had even pulled the deal because we would have been an all-star team back then with Bosh, Carter and who else at that time.

       What makes me even more mad and stupid and has probably made other fans feel that way is that we booed at Vince Carter when he was with the Nets because we thought he requested a trade to be out of Toronto when he clearly wanted to stay. Vince Carter has done many things to the Toronto Raptors that made them recognized in the league. Therefore, I  think that the management should be open to make Vince Carter a Raptor again (hopefully retires as a Raptor) but that all depends on if he still has the same feelings that he did before the sour goodbye. 

Philadelphia 76ers v.s Toronto Raptors preview

       The Toronto Raptors will play against the 76ers on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre at 7PM and you can watch it on TSN if you live in the GTA. If you're going to the game tomorrow, the Raptors will be wearing there camouflage jerseys to honor Canada's veterans. This is going to be a critical game for the Toronto Raptors as they are 1-4 and it is a game time decision for Kyle Lowry as he is dealing with a sprained ankle that he sprained in the OKC game. However, Kyle Lowry was not wearing a walking boot or had a limp in yesterdays practice and that might be a good thing. This team needs Kyle Lowry back as he has been averaging astonishing 23 points and 7 rebounds per game and has just been a machine. Andrew Bynum won't be playing for the 76ers as he's been dealing with his knee injury and that will hopefully make it a easier night for rookie Jonas Valanciunas.

      Landry Fields is also questionable for tomorrow's game as he has been dealing with discomfort with his right hand and he saw a hand specialist to diagnose his hand. Most likely, Alan Anderson or Dominic McGuire will start for Fields. Perhaps Fields injury is to blame for his poor performance with the Raptors as he has been unable to hit open shots and missing easy layups.

      After this game, the Raptors will be off to face Utah Jazz on Sunday and then they will have more tough games as they will be facing the Celtics and Pacers.

       In conclusion, this blog post talked about how the Raptors have been struggling in the beginning of the season, how Vince Carter wanted to stay put in Toronto and also a preview of the Raptors game against Philadelphia 76ers tonight. If you like what I'm posting on my blog page, please check out and like my Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest and links are posted below or you can click my the gadgets on the side. Feel free to subscribe to receive daily updates of my blog! I've also posted videos below for convenience Thanks and stay tuned!

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