RAPTORS EYE PIETRUS (
Thursday, February 21, 2008
update..no trades...Pietrus is still a GSW
Damm Juan Dixon I remember him from Maryland
http://torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2008/02/21/4864134-sun.html
The Raptors, meanwhile, also are working the phones in advance of this afternoon's trade deadline. There were rumblings last night that Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo has been talking with his Golden State Warriors counterpart, Chris Mullin, about sending Juan Dixon and Joey Graham to the Bay Area for swingman Mickael Pietrus.
The 6-foot-6 Pietrus certainly won't help the Raptors much in the rebounding department, the club's biggest need, but he is a slasher and a solid defender at the small forward position, and they definitely could use another defender. The Raptors sit fourth in the Eastern Conference and are a sure-bet to make the playoffs, but they are fighting for homecourt advantage, which could mean the difference in advancing past the first round.
A solid defender and a player of Pietrus' talents would go a long way to get them there. But Colangelo is not going to do anything hasty. He realizes that his team is a year or two away from challenging for an Eastern Conference title, so there's no point pulling the trigger on a trade that will only help the club this season.