[Shack]

Reading the boards it's clear that this has been a hot topic of signing James or not, perhaps sign and trade if possible and of course determining his value. To me this is Colangelo's biggest immediate challenge in how to deal with James.

My opinion is James would be great as a 6th man type player(occasional starter) but unfortunately it wont happen now in TO since he had his career year. I like his leadership, tenacity and hustle attitude but his selfish play at times is a real negative. For the money he will want, i think a sign and trade is best option for us. His worth on the market is as high as it will possibly be and getting something for him instead of walking is needed imo.

Anyhow, its been a honeymoon for Colangelo so far in Toronto. This will judge the marriage.

Your thoughts?

 

[speedythief]

Pretty ironic that we traded one crazy point guard for another crazy point guard. James just knows how to channel his crazy better.

I'm on the fence about James. If we re-sign him I'll be happy and if we don't re-sign him, and use the left over money wisely, I'll still be happy.

If we do trade him or let him walk, though, we're going to go back to being paper thin at the point guard spot. It'll be hard to work another PG into our system.

 

[adhir1]

may BC can screw over Atlanta like he did in Phoenix, and trade him for Smith or Pachulia and a few picks....i definately dont want him back on this team...

 

[Benis007]

Pretty ironic that we traded one crazy point guard for another crazy point guard. James just knows how to channel his crazy better.

I'm on the fence about James. If we re-sign him I'll be happy and if we don't re-sign him, and use the left over money wisely, I'll still be happy.

If we do trade him or let him walk, though, we're going to go back to being paper thin at the point guard spot. It'll be hard to work another PG into our system.

agreed on all points

 

[Marshall_42]

James only plays for the name on the back of his jersey not the name on the front of his jersey, and i understand why he does that. The guy has been traded like ten times but i can't stand having him as our PG.

 

[butr]

He is a real happy guy now, but he is getting burn and increasing his worth. What happens if he has to go back to being a 6th or 7th man as he probably should be?

I think BC knows how to deal with him. BC knows what it is to overpay and has learned from it. You do it for Steve Nash as a 30ish year old player, not a MJ.

The only thing I think would be bad for BC to do is overpay him. My threshold is 4 years and 5 per before I go nuts. If they let him go that is OK, but I really work the S&T angle. And with JJ, BC knows ALL about that.

 

[ballocks]

imo, mike james is being hated on way more than he deserves. way more. i've met some fans on the outside and they tell me how much they "hate" him, how he's a distraction for chris and things of that nature. personally, i don't understand how anyone could ever feel that way- especially at this juncture of his stay in toronto. you "hate" him? why? i just don't understand.

listen, i'm not mike's biggest fan. i'm sort of in speedy's boat in the sense that the value in what we do or don't do with him this summer is more important than re-signing him unconditionally. am i going to judge colangelo on that? yes. of course. is it going to make or break his tenure in toronto? don't really care that much.

but with mike, some of the things being said about him are, imo, the epitome of taking something for granted. seriously. he takes big shots and he certainly does take too many, but it doesn't end there. that is not all of mike james. if he weren't there, someone else would have to take the big shots- and then they'd get hated on for either not taking them or not making them. it's the same thing. at least mike understands that he is, at worst, the second scoring option on the floor and has no problems hoisting up mini-creations when he thinks they're needed. what's more, he has no problems missing shots. he also seems to have no problems missing especially big shots, and that's welcome in my world.

the culture around this team has been, imo, heavily influenced by mike's sheer presence. how else to explain it? i'm sure there are other factors but this team is not all that different from last year's in terms of personnel, yet competes on an entirely new level rather consistently. that should not be underestimated or underappreciated, imo. so when mike misses some important jumpers down the stretch of a couple of games, i won't be in line to hate on him myself. his value is bigger than that and i don't think we should use his occasional, obvious blunders as an excuse to vent our frustrations with losing.

peace

 

[trick]

I will never get why some raptor fans will continually hate on James when they are glaring holes on this game that has nothing to do with James at all.

Then again, Colangelo's rep and experience speaks for itself and I trust his decision on Mike James this offseason.

 

[trick]

Actually, I want Mike James to walk just so the haters can go back to cheering for point guards shooting 40% from the field and 25% from the arc.

 

[Benis007]

i don't think overpaying for James makes any sense.

i would rather have to start fresh with another younger FA PG. than overpay James.

 

[lucky777s]

The James signing and how we fill the C spot next year will be two very important factors on which to judge BCol. The third will be the draft. Bosh would likely re-sign regardless of who the GM was. Makes no sense for him to risk injury next year without having a 6 year guaranteed deal. Nene made that mistake.

Even if Roko and Jose are legit Mike James would still be extremely important, and our starter, for the next 2 years. After that he would be a key bench player for another 2 years, bringing instant offense and solid D in limited minutes. If the team is a contender at that point MJ would be happy in that role.

The 5th year is the problem. Too much of a gamble. Even though James has relatively low mileage on his body.

20-24 mill is acceptable over 4 years. Anything close to 30 mill and 5 years we should not match.

 

[shookem]

Yes, any move or non-move the GM makes, I will judge them on. MJ included.

As long as Mike's not asking for the world, I'd sign him in a second. He's been nothing but clutch for this team this season.

 

[Turkish Delight]

Who would be running the point this season if we didn't have Mike James? A better quesiton would be, who will run the point for us next season if we don't have Mike James? Jose Calderon has proven that he is not ready to get consistant minutes at the point, let alone be our starting PG. If we just let go of Mike James without a S&T at the very least, we are going to be in a lot of trouble next year. The only free agent PG this off-season that I can think of is Speedy Claxton, and I would easily rather have Mike James. Mike is shooting almost 50% from the field, and is 3rd in the league from beyond the arc. It baffles me when people start jumping on him just because he missed one or two big shots, even though there have been many times this season where he's brought us back into games, or even won games for us with those shots.

Make no mistakes, I don't want BC to act like a drunken sailor if he signs Mike James this off-season, but I think he's being heavily undervalued by a lot of people right now. Four or five years from 20 to 28(at most) would be the range that I'd be content with.

 

[ATLien]

may BC can screw over Atlanta like he did in Phoenix, and trade him for Smith or Pachulia and a few picks....i definately dont want him back on this team...

*my turn to play offended homer*

How exactly did Atlanta get screwed when Joe Johnson is a Top 5 SG and the pick's are protected?

 

[GuelphRaptorsFan]

There are three ways this could go:
- he signs James for reasonable dollars, reasonable length
- honeymoon is still on
- he lets James go and somebody else signs him for too many dollars or for too long
- honeymoon is still on
- he lets James go, somebody else signs him for reasonable dollars, reasonable length and we get a reasonable replacement from outside the system (draft, free agency)
- honeymoon is still on
- he lets James go, somebody else signs him for reasonable dollars, reasonable length and we don't get a reasonable replacement from outside the system (draft, free agency)
- sorry dear, but we just had our first fight
- he signs James for too many dollars or for too long
- sorry dear, but we just had our first fight

Neither of those last two things is grounds for divorce, mind you, but the bloom would be off the rose.

 

[Turkish Delight]

*my turn to play offended homer*

How exactly did Atlanta get screwed when Joe Johnson is a Top 5 SG and the pick's are protected?

JJ is a great player there is no mistake in that. But I doubt the Suns would have matched the Hawks offer in the first place.

That deal would have looked a lot better if the Hawks could have moved Harrington, and gotten a true PG to play alongside JJ.

 

[ATLien]

That deal would have looked a lot better if the Hawks could have moved Harrington, and gotten a true PG to play alongside JJ.

You mean, like Mike James? :laugh: C'mon. That was a fine deal, helped out both teams. You just hating. Hasn't Joe Johnson been averaging 25 and 8 since the All-Star Break? Ok, then.

 

[arcade_rida]

*my turn to play offended homer*

How exactly did Atlanta get screwed when Joe Johnson is a Top 5 SG and the pick's are protected?

Woaw. Joe Johnson is a top 5 SG?

 

[ATLien]

http://basketballboards.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3337448&postcount=39

He is according to speedythief.

 

[speedythief]

http://basketballboards.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3337448&postcount=39

He is according to speedythief.

And Diaw is a top-10 small forward, too.