Mike Ball is in his third season with raptors.com and he knows what's going down on the court and in the locker room. You can read Mike after most home games, throughout the week, and as a monthy raptors.commentator.

by Mike Ball
--raptors.commentator
February 22, 2005

(TORONTO) -- Well, the 2005 NBA All-Star Game is now but a memory and in the Raptors dressing room, the team is gearing up for the home stretch of the season with an eye on clawing their way back into the playoff picture.

The trading deadline also looms large around the Raptors and in the hearts of fans. Across the league, players have their cell phones close by and their fingers crossed either hoping to stay put or awaiting a move to a new NBA outpost.

There's no doubt that Sam Mitchell wants to lead his team into the playoffs. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

Now I’d love to spin tales with quotes from unnamed sources within the dressing room, unnamed scouts for unnamed teams and nameless player agents with high-profile clients, but, as hard as I’ve tried, I just can’t find these guys. I swear they’re like ghosts.

So instead, you’ll have to deal unsubstantiated, uneducated and barely legible opinions from myself which, come to think of it, is about as valuable as the opinion of some of these “NBA Insiders” I keep hearing.

The biggest question on the minds of Raptor fans is; Who are we going to trade and what are we getting back in return? The answer to that one may seem pretty clear to a lot of people, but if you look at this picture closely, it only gets more blurry.

The biggest question really should be; What is management hoping for this season from the Raptors. Every player, coach and GM wants their team in the post season, but believe it or not, a post-season berth this year for Toronto could spell disaster in the grand scheme of things.

"Walter" requested that his face be obscured as to protect his multiple "sources". (NBAE/Getty Images)

So where does that leave the GM today? I spoke to one NBA Insider (my neighbor Walter who has no connection to the NBA whatsoever) and he told me this:

“It really depends on what Mike Babcock wants to do.”

“Rob,” I corrected.

“Huh?” responded Walter.

“Nothing. Continue Walter.”

“Well I was saying, if Babcock wants to get his team into the playoffs, then if I were he, I’d think about moving Marshall and Eric Williams.”

“Interesting. . .”

“But if I’m him, I wouldn’t be thinking about the playoffs, I’d be worried about the future.”

I was startled by this casual observer’s, I mean, NBA Insider’s astute understanding of the Raptors’ situation and he continued.

“Sure a package of Marshall and Williams can bring you back a couple of good contributors or a single high-priced player, but chances are the contracts coming in ain’t gonna help your salary cap in the future and the two contracts your shipping out, well one is expiring and the other is quite palpable, so if I’m Babcock, it sounds crazy, but I’m standing pat and waiting for the draft.”

“Palpable? Walter have you been reading books or something?”

Looking ahead to the draft, the Raptors could have either one, two or no first round picks this season. The first pick is their own, but it was traded with Michael Stewart to the Cavaliers in the Lamond Murray deal. However, as it was for the past two drafts, the pick is protected, meaning as long as the Raptors are out of the post season, they definitely hold onto this pick.

Decisions... decisions... (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

One of the first-rounders acquired in the Vince Carter deal is Philadelphia’s pick this season that is top-eight protected. This means that if Philly finishes out of the playoff picture and lands a pick in the top eight, they keep their pick. If they either finish out of the playoff picture or draw a lottery pick between 9 and 14, it comes to the Raptors.

So if both scenarios above were to play out for Toronto which is very likely, the Raptors will have a pair of high first-round picks to either keep themselves or turn into a solid player that can come in and contribute. If I were GM though, I’d be holding onto these like they’re my last penny and making sure there’s more than plenty of optimism swirling around Air Canada Centre (the kind that a pair of young lottery picks can bring into a training camp) as Chris Bosh starts to ponder an extension.

Therein lies the issue staring general manager Rob Babcock in the face this week.

He has multiple pieces he can move, but everyone in the league has had their eye on what’s transpired in Toronto this season and are looking to take advantage of a first-year GM. On the other hand, Babcock knows that he has no pressure to trade his most coveted assest, Donyell Marshall, because his contract expires at the end of the season and he is well aware of his cohorts' opinion of his situation.

If he can’t land a young prospect or a combination of a player and a draft pick, a deal is unlikely.

14 rebounds in an All-Star game? This kid knows effort. (NBAE/Getty Images)

Babcock has already taken more than his fair share of criticism from all sides for the aforementioned Carter trade, but as I’m saying to all the doubters these days, remember how the Pistons got “fleeced” by Orlando in the Grant Hill trade when they got two stiffs for the All-Star?

Well, Grant’s playing his first meaningful minutes since that trade and, last I checked, that Ben Wallace guy didn’t turn out to be such a stiff after all. Chucky Atkins (the other “stiff”) is the starting point guard for the Lakers.

It’s not just a line when you hear the GM say that this isn’t a trade that can be evaluated for years to come.

And while everyone is pointing fingers and throwing accusations about what went wrong in Toronto this season, real basketball fans will be looking to the court to a team that is starting to play the right way behind a player that is the future of the franchise.

Chris Bosh is a guy who plays the right way, says the right thing and doesn’t have the phrase “mailing it in” in his lexicon.

Losing, as a fan, I can handle. Lack of effort, I cannot and I haven’t seen a lack of effort from anyone on this team since, oh let me just pick a date at random, December 17.