Debate in the Paint: Raptors Just Can't Escape Mediocrity

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is the Toronto Raptors, and whether they are moving toward being contenders in the East.

The Toronto Raptors never have won more than 47 games in a season, and they probably never will, which makes this whole debate kind of sad. It's a wonderful city with a lively international flair, but it has a franchise that is destined for a life of basketball mediocrity.

They should have stuck to hockey.

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Yes, the basketball fans are a little excited now because the Raptors wheeled and dealed all summer, thinking they were growing stronger when mostly they were just spinning their wheels, making noise and going nowhere.

The Raptors won 33 games last season and they'll probably win another five now, letting them contend for the eighth and final playoff spot before the inevitable happens next summer.

Chris Bosh is going to break their heart again, just like Tracy McGrady did in 2000 and then Vince Carter did in 2004.

American-born players love to visit Toronto. They just don't like to stay too long, which is a fight the franchise has waged since its inception in 1995. When Bosh becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, the lure of Miami, New York or even Cleveland will take him away.

The Raptors signed unrestricted free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu of Orlando to a five-year, $53 million deal. They signed restricted free agent Jarrett Jack of Indiana to a $20 million contract. Both were nice additions, but guess what? Their current teams didn't try to hard to keep them. That should tell you something.

The Magic figured they already had seen the best of Turkoglu, 30, and they weren't interested in watching him start the downside of his career with a fat, new contract. The Pacers could have kept Jack as easily as matching the offer, but they declined, deciding their future was elsewhere.

They Raptors gave their own Andrea Bargnani, the No. 1 pick in the 2006 Draft, a $50 million extension, still hoping he lives up to his potential. None of the three has been, or will be, an NBA All-Star, which means they spent a lot of money trying to compile a supporting cast for a player that may not stick around very long.

Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo knows that it's the international players who will enjoy Toronto the most. Turkoglu is a good fit culturally. Yet he won't be able to repeat his performance of the last two years when he had Dwight Howard clearing his path.

Bosh is outstanding, but he doesn't always make teammates better like Howard does now, or like Shaquille O'Neal used to do with his presence.

Toronto will improve, but so will almost everyone else in the East, leaving the Raptors no room to go. Rookie DeMar DeRozan might have been the most athletic player in the draft, but it will take him a couple years. They got Amir Johnson in that multi-team trade of Carlos Delfino, and they snagged Rasho Nesterovic again, but both are there just to provide depth.

The Magic, Cavaliers and Celtics all made major moves to improve and they have left the rest of the East behind. Atlanta will retain it's spot as the fourth best team in the East just by keeping it's team intact. Philly, Chicago, Miami and now Washington will slug it out for the last few playoff spots. Maybe the Raptors can jump into that mix.

If a .500 team gets the blood pumping, then the Raptors might get you excited. It's a great city, but building a great team there is an impossible task.