It speaks to his currency with the Canadian sports fan and media that there is no middle ground with Steve Nash . Either you line up to protect him he is Our Steve, after all or bash him for using the weakness of the Toronto Raptors and Bryan Colangelo for leverage.
Either way, in orchestrating a sign-and-trade deal between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers, the Victoria native dealt Canada s only NBA franchise something deeper than a flesh wound. Colangelo s backup plan swapping a lottery-protected first-rounder and forward Gary Forbes to the Houston Rockets for point guard Kyle Lowry won t sell jerseys or drive up television ratings or bring people back to the Air Canada Centre. Oh, the diehards will buy in, but for the majority of fans in Toronto and across the country, the Raptors will remain something that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment uses to pay the bills between Maple Leafs games.
BasketballLanding Nash wasn t a shortcut to an NBA title, but it was a shortcut to relevancy. The Raptors theme song will be Landry Fields Forever and nobody will be listening.
How Toronto sports executives spent their summer
Paul Beeston - Blue Jays
Saw baseball team s pitching staff disintegrate with injuries as the Jays fight it out with the Boston Red Sox for last place in the American League East. At least the offence is coming on.
Brian Burke - Maple Leafs
Traded defenceman Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers for winger James Van Riemsdyk. Made more noise when he marched with the PFLAG contingent in Toronto s Pride parade on July 1 than with signings of NHL free agents.
Tom Anselmi - Toronto FC
Fired Aron Winter as coach and replaced him with Paul Mariner, whose squad is unbeaten (1-1-4) since he took over but the Reds are still in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
Bryan Colangelo - Raptors
Made a strong pitch for free agent point guard Steve Nash , which was rebuffed, but appears to have landed Kyle Lowry. Not Captain Canada, but not bad.
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