"The Toronto Raptors and other short stories..." (November 21, 1997)

Unless you were hiding under a rock, you probably heard about Isiah Thomas leaving the Raptors. It probably came as a surprise to those living outside of Toronto. It came as a surprise to those living in Toronto as well. Ok, maybe not that big of a shock. I'm sure there are some people who are going to give you a long drawn out time line explaining why Zeke left, from his first days as GM to his last. What I attempt to do here is basically vent my personal frustrations at everyone. I don't like anyone. It's easier that way. Besides, I'm a L.A. Clipper fan so a) I don't really care about the Raptors b) I know what it feels like to like a losing team c) I know what it feels like to have an important member of the team/front office leave unexpectedly (ie. See Larry Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Ken Norman, etc.) Here's the quick version of the story (or at least as short as I want to write it): Zeke and co., led by John Bite unexpectedly win the rights to the Toronto expansion team. This group has the least financial backing but made the greatest impression to the NBA expansion committee. Bite hosted the World Championships of Basketball in Toronto in 1994. Last year, John Bite is forced to sell to Alan Slaight. This puts tremendous financial pressure on the new majority owner and his minority owner, Isiah Thomas. The Raptors are building an arena. They can't get the Toronto Maple Leafs to join in the arena. They are stuck with a building they are committed too with only a single major tenant. The NBA is breathing down their backs because they were the only group to tell the NBA that they would be the owners of their own building and wouldn't share ownership with the Leafs and would be the number one tenant. Leafs have a truckload of cash. Zeke tries to buy the Raptors but can't negotiate a price (more likely, couldn't get solid financial backing to by the Raptors, since it's a poor short term investment. Bankers tend to frown on investing in sports teams. Look at the Celtics stock price. It sucks even with Pitino.) This is the beginning of the end. Words are thrown back and forth in the media. Zeke is either pushed out the door or wants to leave, no one really knows. The Raptors are now up the air. (I did miss some details. Be free to add them if necessary.) So here's my opinion about the whole thing. First, if the Raptors had traded for Larry Johnson, then everything would have been ok. Larry is a relative bargain at $5 million a year. He could have been the franchise player the Raptors are looking for. And if you believe this, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I've been trying to sell. The players (namely, Doug Christie, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers and Damon Stoudamire) are fiercely loyal to Zeke. Since the first three just signed long term deals with the team, they are stuck with the Raptors. The latter, Damon, is a free agent. Will he bolt? Good question. The Raptors do have the Larry Bird, salary cap exemption. There are some
teams that could throw some money his way, but the Raptors can really empty a dump truck of money on his door step. If it's about money, he'll stay. If it's about winning now, he'll go. Since his ties lie with Zeke, he's gone. Remember, the Bulls will have huge space under the cap at the end of the year. Most of the team are free agents and there are few free agents who will command $100 million next year (Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith, Scottie Pippen (but he won't sign a 7 year deal) and Damon). There are others too. Now back to the money. If  the Raptors are having financial troubles then how can they expect to pay Damon that much? I don't know. If Slaight gets an equity partner, which he is expect to do soon, they'll be ok. If the Raptors get an IHL team as a secondary tenant, they'll do even better. If they get that WNBA they are bucking for, they might actually get 100 nights a year guaranteed. Not bad. What does this whole thing mean? The Raptors are no different than any other NBA. They have players. They have a front office. I expect no significant change this year. Lets face it, the Raptors have talent but without any big bodies they are going to get pushed around up front like a hooker does by her pimp. At least the hooker can shoot better than 50% from the floor, unlike the Raptors. Is Isiah Thomas the brilliant GM and tactician that some people think he is? I don't know. He has raised the talent level of the team, although you wouldn't guess it by their 1-8 record. My guess is Zeke will go to NBC wait a couple years, move back to the NBA and take over a team, get a big contract and make another power play to buy the team. This won't work with some teams with solid ownership like the Knicks, the Lakers, the Jazz, etc. But he could do it with some other teams like the Nets, Bullets or Clippers (even though Donald Sterling uses his team more as a tax write off and comic humor.) Is Isiah Thomas the devious mastermind who failed in his attempt to buy the Raptors? Or is the owner, Alan Slaight, a tight fisted businessman who didn't majority ownership of Raptors and now is running this team into the ground? I don't know. I figure it's a bit of both. You can't run a team like a true business looking only at the bottom line. But at the same time, you can't just dump millions of dollars into the team without any return, that just isn't good business. Just remember one more thing, weeks before Zeke took the job as GM of the Raptors, he was supposed to take a position in the Pistons front office and become a part-owner and be a "Piston-for-life." That didn't happen. It leads me to believe that underneath that sweet exterior in an Armani suit, lurks the baby-faced assassin that played on the courts for so many years. Now he's just moved from the back court to the front office.