I agree with Kelly Dwyer on the positive side of the Raptors’ 94-87 loss in Boston:

Toronto hasn’t been through this sort of wringer before, and this can’t
help but aid in the team’s growth. And give the cats credit: Toronto hung in
there. The ball was moving. Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono were nailing
impossible shots. Jose Calderon didn’t back down. Jermaine O’Neal tried. They
were just up against the champs.

[...]

This team now has something to build on. The goal, and EXACTLY what there
is to overcome … it’s become clearer.

Toronto knew before this game that they had to overcome Boston in order
to take that next step. Now they know how. That doesn’t mean the Raptors will be
able to do it, or that the team is any closer than it was before Monday’s loss.
But at least the blueprint is there. That’s significant.

As Doug Smith said, tongue in cheek, Raptors fans can now look forward to an 81-1 season. While I don’t see it as all downhill from the 100-93 loss to Detroit, it does make me wonder what the options are come next summer, particularly at the shooting guard and small forward slots. Let’s head on over to ShamSports’ handy dandy salary table.

2009/2010 salaries (in $ mils):
PF/C Jermaine O’Neal 23.016 (a Player Option he’d be crazy not to pick up)
PF/C Chris Bosh 15.779912 (with PO for the following year)
PG Jose Calderon 8.219008
PF/C Andrea Bargnani 6.527491
SF/SG Jason Kapono 6.21296 (with PO for the following year)
PF/SF Joey Graham 3.441104 (Qualifying Offer)
PF Kris Humphries 3.2 (with PO for the following year)
PG Roko! 1.35
SG/SF Hassan Adams 0.825497
C Nathan Jawai 0.73642
TOTAL 65.867288

SG/SF Anthony Parker, SF Jamario Moon and PG/SG Will Solomon will be Free Agents; in other words, swingmen are moving, but there’s not much money to spend on new ones. We’re looking at trades, lower-cost free agents and the draft to fill the void. But, like the Pistons, we have lots of cap space come the whoop-de-doo summer of 2010 (only $37,440,683 in committed cash).

Interesting side-point: The only one currently signed beyond the 2010/2011 season is Calderon.

And by the way: I love the wit of sites like ShamSports (rated R) and RaptorBlog (rated PG-13 or worse), but their profanity really keeps me from reading and promoting them. They’re like the Family Guy among basketblogs.

BTW #2: funny that the Blog Rater doesn’t seem to mention finding the four-letter words. Shouldn’t those be the key words to look for?