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With the Toronto Raptors celebrating their 20th anniversary season in 2014-15, Josh Lewenberg and TSN. James Carpenter Jersey .ca take a look back at the franchises first two decades with weekly Top Five lists, counting down the standout and signature players and moments in team history. 1. Sent Vince Carter to the Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning and two first-round picks - Dec. 17, 2004 (Rob Babcock) Most of the trades youll find below are really only bad in hindsight. The other four deals on this list share a commonality - theyre all home run swings that just, for various reasons, didnt connect. On the cusp of reaching the next level or in danger of taking a step back at the time, they were bold, yet shortsighted moves made in the hopes of expediting the building process. Then theres the Vince Carter deal, an all-timer, that stands out (and man, does it ever stand out) in its own right. The haul Babcock got in exchange for Carter, a disgruntled superstar, was never highly regarded, to put it mildly. Whatd we get?, asked Jalen Rose after hearing about the trade. Richard Jefferson? Even a decade later, Rose - now a broadcaster - still cant believe Torontos return for the best and most important player in its history. Well, the way he was overcome by emotion and the way he shed a couple of tears, said Rose, back in Toronto earlier this season, shortly after Carter was honoured by the franchise. Thats how I felt when we traded him for Aaron, Eric [Williams] and Alonzo Mourning who never was deciding to make the trip. Hes the greatest Raptor in team history. Babcock insists this was the best offer out there and, given Carters diminishing worth at the time, that may have actually been the case. It shouldnt have come to that - selling low on a player, a 28-year-old, who held top five (top seven or eight, at worst) value just a few years prior. The result: Carter would go on to revive his career with the Nets, while Mourning was immediately cut - per his request - and the two Williams combined to play less than 100 underwhelming games in Toronto. One draft pick turned into disappointing forward Joey Graham, while the other was sent to the Knicks as a sweeter in the Rose salary dump a couple years later. It will go down as one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history. 2. Sent T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston and the draft rights to Roy Hibbert to the Pacers for Jermaine ONeal and the draft rights to Nathan Jawai - July 9, 2008 (Bryan Colangelo) The Raptors had failed to make it out of the first round for the second straight season, taking a small step back after winning their division the year before. Looking to upgrade at the centre position and pair Chris Bosh with an elite defender in the frontcourt, Colangelo gambled on ONeal, a former all-star coming off a down and injury-plagued season. Toronto sent Ford and Nesterovic, two starters from that division-winning club, to the Pacers along with the 17th overall pick, who turned out to be the player they were looking for all along. In the years to come, Hibbert blossomed into an all-star and the anchor of Indianas defence while ONeal never panned out the way Colangelo had hoped, playing just 41 games for the Raptors before being traded once again. 3. Acquired Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi from the Grizzlies for Jose Calderon, Ed Davis and a second-round pick - Jan. 20, 2013 (Colangelo) On paper, this seemed like a coup for Colangelo. Looking to make a big splash and jump-start a middling team in the final year of his deal, the Raptors GM added a talented scorer in Gay without giving up a player of his caliber (Calderons contract was expiring and he was splitting time with Kyle Lowry, Davis is a third or fourth big). Without question, the Raptors upgraded the talent on their roster as a result and the initial returns were positive, albeit unsustainable. The Raptors won six of its first eight games after the trade and would finish that season with a .500 record. But Gay was not a fit with the group already assembled in Toronto, evident in their 6-12 start the next year. The problem: too many cooks in the kitchen. Gay and DeMar DeRozan occupied similar real estate on the floor, while Lowry was underutilized playing alongside two ball dominant scorers. Gay was repackaged less than a year later and the rest is history. 4. Acquired Hedo Turkoglu, Devean George and Antoine Wright in a four-team sign and trade for Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai and a second-round pick - July 9, 2009 (Colangelo) Praised at the time it was consummated, this is another trade that looks a whole lot different in hindsight. While scoring the leagues top free-agent prize, Colangelo engineered a rare four-team deal to avoid hitting the salary cap ceiling. Coming off a career year and a Finals appearance with Orlando, Turkoglu - like ONeal before him - was thought to be the missing pierce, the perfect compliment to Bosh, who was due to become a free agent the following summer. The good vibes did not last long. Turkoglu arrived out of shape, underwhelming on the floor and appearing lazy and disengaged off of it. The Raptors narrowly missed the playoffs that year and Turkoglu was sent packing shortly thereafter. 5. Acquired Hakeem Olajuwon from the Rockets for a first and second-round pick - Aug. 2, 2001 (Glen Grunwald) Sensing a theme here? With the Raptors coming their best season at the time - 47 wins and a semifinals appearance - Grunwald went all in on the group that had taken them there. Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams and Jerome Williams were all awarded new deals and the finishing touch was a future Hall of Fame centre by the name of Hakeem Olajuwon. A free agent after 17 legendary seasons with the Rockets, Olajuwon opted to team up with Carter and company in Toronto before calling it a career. To get him in a sign and trade, Grunwald parted with two draft picks, including one first-rounder. As it turns out, the Raps could have used that pick. Olajuwon was hobbled and ineffective in his only season as a Raptor, which coincided with Carters injury troubles and the teams untimely collapse. Houston selected journeyman Bostjan Nachbar with the Raptors 15th overall pick in 2002. Toronto won 24 games the following season. Honourable mention: Acquired Chris Childs and a first-round pick (Kareem Rush) from the Knicks for Mark Jackson and Muggsy Bogues - Feb. 22, 2001 (Grunwald) Acquired Lamond Murray and a second-round pick from the Cavaliers for Michael Stewart and a first-round pick (Jared Dudley) - Sept. 25, 2002 (Grunwald) Sent Chris Bosh to the Heat in a sign and trade for two first-round picks and a trade exemption - July 9, 2010 (Colangelo) Sent Tracy McGrady to the Magic in a sign and trade for a first-round pick - Aug. 3, 2000 (Grunwald) Leonard Williams Jersey . -- LeGarrette Blount wasnt satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history. Chris Ivory Jersey .com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.SHANGHAI, China -- The British Open is moving away from 36-hole qualifying, instead using 10 tour events from five continents to determine 32 spots in the field. The only 36-hole qualifying that remains for golfs oldest championship will be 12 spots available from four links courses just before the British Open. They will become permanent sites. Players who fail to get in the British Open off their own tour can enter those final qualifying sites. Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson said Monday the reasons for the change include building more interest in the weeks leading up to the British Open to give players a more rigorous test over 72 holes at a tour event instead of 36 holes of qualifying. The new system will be called the "Open Qualifying Series," and it starts next month at the Australian Open. On the PGA Tour, instead of the 36-hole qualifier outside Dallas that offered eight spots, the British Open will take the leading four players not already eligible from the top 12 and ties at the AT&T National and The Greenbrier Classic. One spot will be available from the John Deere Classic, a week before the Open. On the European Tour, the 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale will be replaced by offering three sports at the Irish Open, the French Open and the Scottish Open. Dawson said the configuration was different for the American tour -- four spots at two events, one at the John Deere -- to avoid the scramble of getting to Britain at the last minute. Three spots will be available in AAustralia and South Africa, and four will be offered at the Mizuno Open in Japan and in Thailand on the Asian Tour. Curtis Martin Jersey. The British Open is July 17-20 at Royal Liverpool in England. "There were not in any way problems with the qualifiers. They werent the cheapest to stage," Dawson said. "We just felt we werent getting in the media the buildup in the Open. And the fact these events are on television, and theres going to be an Open qualifying leaderboard, we think it will give the Open more anticipation." The U.S. qualifier near Dallas had been held in May for the convenience of players, nearly two months before the Open. Dawson said the golf schedules around the world were getting more crowded, another reason why he felt it made sense to blend in tour events with qualifying. Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Lee Chang-woo and runner-up Shohei Hasegawa earned a spot in final qualifying for the British Open. They will take part in the Open Qualifying Series in Thailand. International Final Qualifying began in 2004, offering 36-hole qualifiers in America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Previously, the Local Final Qualifying was held on four courses near where the British Open was being playing that year. Starting next year, the R&A selected four permanent sites in various regions of the country to help with travel -- Glasgow-Gailes Links in Scotland, Hillside in northwest of England, Woburn in central England and Royal Cinque Ports on the eastern coast of England. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' ' wholesale jerseys free shipping
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