Bosh signs with Miami

Well, after months of speculation us Raptors fans now know where Chris Bosh is going: The Miami Heat. Bosh, the all-time leader in both points and rebounds has been the face of the franchise for about 6 years now, since the departure of the basketball anti-Christ that is Vince Carter. A few random thoughts;

1. Unlike Vince, I can't blame Bosh for leaving. He loves the city, and if the Raptors were any sort of serious contender he'd stay. And it's not like the Raps didn't have their chances. They could have drafted Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Rudy Gay instead of Andrea Bargniani. They could have done better than surround him with a soft-euro style team that made him the only rebounder and primary scorer. In the end, unlike Vince, Bosh was a good company man and was screwed over by mediocre management.

2. Boy, are the Raptors in trouble. Check out this starting line-up. Calderon/DeRozen/Hedo/Bargniani/Amir Johnson. Is that even a 30 win team? Is there anyone left to sign? The best front court players remaining might be Carlos Boozer (who may be Chicago's #1 target now) and David Lee. A David Lee/Andrea Bargniani front court? Meh, defense is boring anyway.

3. I'm a little bummed that Bosh chose to go to Miami instead of a place where B-Ball means a bit more to the city. Sure there are some big advantages (no income tax, living on South Beach, playing with D-Wade), but the Heat are notorious for having the worst fans in the league. After playing in front of rabid Raptors fans I was hoping fan support would mean more to him. 

4. For the first time since that narrow window when the Raps traded Damon and had yet to draft Vince, the Raptors are without a big marquee name. While I like Bargniani, it's pretty clear that he's little more than a good offensive role player at this point, and no more. Sigh.