The All (Active) Ex-Raptors Team.

Watching the Spurs vs Magic game last night, I noticed that San Antonio has two former Raptors in their starting line-up, (Matt Bonner and Roger Mason Jr). Of course players move for a myriad of reasons, salaries, chemistry, redundancy, free agency, what have you. While we've all mused about all of the great players that have ever worn our favourtite team's uniform, how would a squad of current ex's fare against your squad's starting 5?

Here's a list of former Raptors players and their respective teams:

Lindsey Hunter, Chicago Bulls
Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets
Rafer Alston, Houston Rockets
Tracy Mcgrady, Houston Rockets
Maceo Baston, Indiana Pacers
TJ Ford, Indiana Pacers
Rasho Nesterovic, Indiana Pacers
Marcus Camby, LA Clippers
Brian Skinner, LA Clippers
Fred Jones, LA Clippers
Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks
Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets
Sean Marks, New Orleans Hornets
Morris Peterson, New Orleans Hornets
Donyell Marshall, Philadelphia 76ers
Juan Dixon, Washington Wizards
Mike James, Washington Wizards

My choice for a starting 5 from the cast-offs?
Chauncey Billups - PG
Vince Carter - SG
Tracy Mcgrady - SG/SF
Marcus Camby - PF
Rasho Nesterovic - C

Personally, I like the ex's chances, especially at the PG/SG/SF positions. More importantly, wouldn't you love to have some of these guys on the Raptors bench right now?

Iverson & Billups Trade = Raptors 4-0.

If you haven't heard, it looks like The Answer is coming back to the Eastern Conference. In a trade that has been agreed to in principle, the Nuggets will be sending Allen Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb. I will get into trade analysis later, but what this means for the Raptors is that we have a decent shot at 4-0.

Once this deal gets approved, I doubt Iverson will make it to Detroit, or Toronto for that matter in time for our match up on Wednesday. Thereby leaving the Pistons without their starting point guard, big man off the bench or Iverson. Call it what you will, but that's what good teams do, find ways to win. So while I'm not trying to celebrate too early, as long as the Raptors do what they're supposed to. We can keep our undefeated record intact.

Adidas' Brotherhood Bounces Back.

So Adidas has launched their new campaign for Basketball is a Brotherhood, definitely stepping it up from last year, they got T-Mac, KG, Chauncey, Timmy, J-Smoove, Dwight Howard, Jordan Farmar, and Bassy going at it on the court. While the squad isn't as stacked as Nike's, the non-playing footage is just as good, with Dwight Howard suggesting that KG call him "Superman".

What happened to McGrady though? He used to be the crown jewel of the 3 stripes, he's barely noticeable in this spot. Maybe they're waiting for him to get out of the first round of the play-offs before he gets shine?

Aside from what I've seen in the spot, the kicks look alright, however, if the good folks at Adidas want to send me a pair, I'd be more than happy to provide a review.

Chris @ SLAM Online, hipped me to the run, enjoy the Raps game in E-Town my man.