speedythief

Mo had a very difficult year.

For starters, his iron man streak died. He missed at least one game for the first time in five seasons, and eventually sat-out nearly a dozen for the year. His shooting percentages dipped along with his playing time. He was less effective on both ends of the court and drew criticism for under-performing in a contract year--again.

Recently, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo was frank in his appraisal of Peterson. The GM claimed Mo didn't have a good year--by his own admittance--and that his future with the franchise was in the air. "Everybody really likes Morris," said Colangelo, "but there is a finite number of tools that we have to get better."

Peterson's elevated play in the post-season may have demonstrated his value to the team again, but whether or not that was enough to warrant serious contract negotiations in the summer is unknown. I think it is a given that Mo wants to return--and I think the fans, in general, want him back. But nobody wants to sign him and watch him ride pine for another season, including Peterson.

Colangelo is open to a sign-and-trade with Mo if something can't be worked out in Toronto. With four wing players under contract for next season (Parker, Graham, Dixon, and Jackson) and a lot of pressure being put on the franchise to improve in that department, it is hard to predict if Peterson fits into the equation, or if he is on his way out to make room for someone new.

That being said, many Raps fans are having pipe dreams right now of acquiring guys like Gerald Wallace and Rashard Lewis with the cap space and trade assets we don't have. In my humble opinion, odds are that if we do sign a small forward to fill the void left by Peterson, it will be an underwhelming signing of a former second-round pick or a journeyman, supposing BC isn't able to pull something out of his (hat).

Putting aside the fantasy of getting another $8-10M a year player, do you want Peterson back next year?

Crossword

Honestly, before the playoff series I was ready to part ways with Mo, even after supporting his re-signing virtually all season long. But even though it's just one series, and to be fair, only a couple games, I'd be damn worried about our playoff defense (the most important factor in the playoffs anyway) without either Mo or another player of the same caliber on that end.

Now looking at our team, I don't see Dixon's quickness or Graham's aggressiveness as strong enough adhesives to make up for Mo's defensive game, and losing him would create a much larger workload for Parker. Looking at the free agent pool, again, there's not much there that wows me on defense aside from Gerald Wallace, who will be sure to command much more than the MLE Mo is expected to garner. Of course we could downgrade to Posey or Wells, but both of them have way too many issues. I liked Wells up to last year's free agency, all his past baggage withstanding, but disappearing on his team? Yeah no.

It's safe to say that guys like Shard Lewis and Wallace are out of our range financially, and Nocioni is restricted and you'd better believe the Bulls are bound to bring him back. Furthermore, we know what Mo brings to the table, both offensively and defensively, so he's definitely the safe option and defensively, realistically, the best option out.

Another thing to note is that Mo always does horrible in contract years. His last contract year was a disaster under Kevin O'Neill, where he essentially just camped out in the corner all night and jacked up threes, no midrange game whatsoever. Incidentally, we saw quite a bit of that from his game this year, which is obviously a deterrent from re-signing him. Nevertheless, his two seasons prior to this one have been stellar, even though the team struggled. On the whole, I think he's the best option for us, working with what we have. Our problems really can't be solved through free agency, we should be more focused on trades.

lucky777s

Colangelo's comments indicate that he doesn't even want MoP back and would only see a limited role for him if he did come back.

BC must think he has something in the works for the wing spot. I don't think he sees Luke Jackson as our saviour there. Dixon is a bench guy.

Fans are down on Joey but this was only year 2 and Sam never really let him play through mistakes and get the PT he needed early. And Joey did start showing the kind of game we need from him late in the year when he finally got major minutes. But it doesn't look like he will be the answer at starting SF. Could be better than MoP in another year or so.

Turkish Delight

Unfortunately Mo Pete isn't coming back. It's pretty obvious isn't it? I mean, if Colangelo had any intention to re-sign him, I'm sure he would pressure Sam Mitchell to give him more minutes, especially down the stretch, where Mo Pete was glued on the bench. Mo Pete could very well be apart of a sign and trade.

shookem

See ya later MoP, I hope we can get something for you in a sign and trade. He'll be good on a lot of teams but he's time is long past done here in Toronto.

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Junkyard Dog13

he wants more PT I say grab Matt Barnes and maybe a low key vet.

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ballocks

i like mop for a variety of reasons. above all, i think he's an outstanding raptor- and raptor rep. i think there's value in that. he's travelled the long road with all the fans and deserves (at least) as much as we do to see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. i think the fans would like to see him see it, and if this game is about entertainment, that would be entertaining, it would be fun, it would be everything.

of course, you have to draw the line somewhere. we drew the line with alvin because we had to. do we have to draw it with mop? certainly not to the same degree but you could make the argument. BC'll have to decide who wins.

in terms of team performance, now, mop's merits as a raptor extend beyond just himself: what are the alternatives? would i let him walk if we don't plan to use our MLE in free agency or replace him with someone other than luke, joey and/or juan? not a chance. you don't improve your team by getting rid of morris peterson- not at this stage, imo. he's not an "addition by subtraction" player. the only thing you improve is your financial outlook- and i think that's what will motivate colangelo more than anything.

bosh and ford's extensions are kicking in now, bargnani's on the way up and we have no expiring deals for some time- save for mop. if we're trying to stick to a budget that had planned for maintaining team salary at some level, peterson will probably be the first cut. if that's true, i hope it's something that had been considered before bosh and tj inked their deals, i hope we weren't blindsided by this, and i'm sure we weren't. you just have to trust that colangelo and the team valued mop contributions to the team and the franchise properly back then, and didn't just give him the wrong grade. if so, i have to trust them. if not, that sucks.

this team will now improve primarily from within, and i think we planned for that, but i think it's an issue that should've been discussed last summer by everyone: "we're now putting (almost all) our eggs in the bosh, bargnani and ford basket. will that be enough to become a championship contender?" the question's yet to be answered, of course, but i hope it's not being debated for the first time today. it's been on the table for almost a year already.

as it pertains to this thread, we should've made our decision on players like mo peterson a long time ago- and we probably did. but if we didn't, that could pinch us in the butt.

peace

lucky777s

I've already said we should offer him a 2yr/10mill deal or a 3yr deal at 7, 4, 3 so he doesn't hurt our cap situation at any time and is easily traded in year 3 if needed.

But I don't think $$ is the big issue.

PT is the big issue. MoP doesn't like sitting on the bench. If the money was equal and Mo thought he had a bigger role somewhere else what would he do? He would probably go. So do we pay more just to keep him? No.

Years on the contract may also kill any chance of him coming back. If some team gives him a 5 year deal its over. BC won't go past 3 years and ideally would only want 2 years on a MoP deal. That is why frontloading a 3 year deal might work.

I just don't know what kind of interest Mo will get around the league. The only great fit I see is Miami, and I could see MoP jump at that opportunity even for less money. Replacing Posey and EJones. Great fit with Shaq and Wade.

Last time Mo got one mediocre offer. Will he get much more this time? He might be back. Unless BC already knows who is going to replace him.

ballocks

i'm still wondering why we wouldn't want mop back ourselves. i keep seeing us talk about how some contender might want to sign him or, in some absurd alternate universe (?), how we'll manage to s&t him in july, but i'm like, if we don't want him, why would anyone else? moreover, is he not exactly what we're looking for this summer? if he's not good enough for our team, why would anyone else think he's good enough for theirs? and how could we expect that they would?

i guess i don't understand. i wouldn't let him walk unless we had another guy in mind. that simple. and i'd put a deadline on it, too- because i wouldn't want to be stuck without either mop or our targeted recruit in the end. we would almost need one of the two given how we're going to be well over the cap now for several years.

peace

seifer0406

I think you would have to examine how the team roster is built to make that judgement. There are quite a few teams out there that could use Mopete more than the Raptors, and Mopete's services would be more valuable to them than to us. I don't mind the Raptors signing Mopete for 3-4 mil a year, but anything higher would be overpaying for him. There are probably going to be teams out there that are welling to pay the MLE for Mopete, but he just isn't worth that much to the Raptors right now. With Delfino here, I don't think Mopete's status will have any conflict with our target recruit as BC is supposedly to be looking for an athletic slashing wing that can start for us. With or without Mopete the Raps will need to fill that void.

If I am BC, I would continue to look for S&T opportunities for Mopete and if nothing appears, offer Mopete a cheap contract at the end of the summer if nobody is interested in him. If not, just letting him walk wouldn't hurt that much either.