Is Agent Zero an Option?

That title probably should have read, "Is the Artist Formerly Known as Agent Zero an Option", but that was just way too long.

Now, I'm not saying they should, but...

The Raps have a full trade exception worth about $16 million from the Bosh disaster. Or the Colangelo disaster, depending on your view. The roster, as it currently stands, is, ummmmm, unimposing. Every road team in the league is looking forward to sampling the T.O. nightlife and then waking up and going through the motions for three quarters, and still coming out with the win.

That was harsh, I admit. But the Raptor defence is not. It is soft and toothless and inviting, like a celebrity rehab centre. Or Vesa Toskala.

And there is zero buzz surrounding this team (aside from their haircuts). Nobody in Toronto wants tickets. And why would they? This Raptors edition, even if it exceeds expectations, will still be awful. There are two tiers in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Tier one has nothing but good teams (Miami, Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Altanta, Milwaukee, Charlotte). Tier two (Toronto, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Indiana, Detroit) is a murderer's row of awfulness. Under no circumstance can any team from tier two possibly defeat a team from tier one in a seven game playoff series. Cannot happen.

Unless...one of them makes some sort of significant trade.

I'm not saying they should. Gilbert Arenas seems like a total moron. The gun charges last year were at best childish and at worst frightening. Faking an injury to sit out a pre-season game a few days ago was painfully ignorant for a guy in his position. And he makes a pile of money (3 more years and a total of $62 million left AFTER this year).

But he was very good. Arenas could still be a top 5 scorer who would absolutely fill a few needs for Toronto. Namely, putting points on the board and butts in the seats. Maybe a change of scenery is all he needs? Okay, maybe a change of scenery and copious amounts of counselling is all he needs?

And the Raptors could easily afford to roll the dice. The Bosh trade exception plus one other contract (Evans or Banks ) would very likely net them Arenas and potentially a first round draft pick. The Wizards are so desperate to get him away from John Wall that they'll be willing to bend over backwards to move him. Their first round pick next year will very likely be in the top five.

It's not like the Raptors are going to realistically compete this year or next anyway, so perhaps this would be the right time to take a chance on the ultimate reclamation project and net an excellent draft choice for their trouble?

I'm not saying they should. I'm just not at all excited to watch the jumper-fest that will be our 2010-11 season. At least with Arenas there would be a story, a reason to tune in. And if, or more likely when, it blew up in our faces, at least we'd have the top five draft pick to point to as a reason it was all worthwhile.

The Raptor Roller Coaster Ride

With nine games remaining in the regular season and the Raptors hanging onto the final playoff spot in the East by a thread, no one has any idea which direction this team will go in the immediate future.

Judging by the most recent post game interviews, the coach appears to be lost, the prized offseason addition is openly mocking the local media and the franchise forward is locked into 'don't go and get yourself hurt this close to free agency' mode (11 attempted free throws total for Mr.Bosh in his last three games). Not exactly a recipe for success.

A first round playoff sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Lebrons seems to be the most likely conclusion to this season, but the sixth and seventh seeds aren't totally out of the picture and neither is a ninth place finish that would leave the Raptors on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. All options are on the table.

As I noted in yesterday's Thought of the Day, this club had 'Dead Team Walking' stamped on them after they blew a 17 point second-half lead in Miami on Sunday night, allowing Chicago to close to within a half game of eighth place. Yet somehow the Raptors pulled together against a decent Bobcats team one night later and proved again that they are equally capable of rising or sinking to the level of their competition.

The best comparison is that this team plays like Marco Belinelli. Sometimes they're great, sometimes they're awful and sometimes they don't show up at all. You honestly never know what you're going to get.

We have seen, at times, what this roster is capable of when they truly compete. The Raps beat the Lakers at home and then narrowly lost to them in Los Angeles and have also gone 1-2 against Cleveland including an overtime loss. They've given the two best teams in the league all they could handle and held their own. But Toronto followed the last-second loss to Kobe in L.A. with two horrific performances in Sacramento and Golden State (a combined record of 45-103) and have collectively looked disinterested for the better part of six weeks.

And that's what has been most frustrating. It's not the losses, we as fans have been through that many, many times before with this team and continued to come back. It's the streakiness and lack of consistent effort that has fans tuning this particular edition of the Raptors out.

How can they go from looking so good to so bad so quickly? And vice versa?

Yup, Raptor fans have seen it all this year. From the .500 start that was encouraging based on all the new pieces, to the death spiral that left them at 11-17 in mid-December, to the inspiring surge in the new year that pushed Toronto to 5th place in the East, and finally the recent 4-13 stretch that included five 20-point blowout losses and another four defeats by 11+ points.

It's been a very bumpy ride that hasn't had ups and downs as much as mountains and valleys... and it's not quite over yet.