The Toronto Raptors are currently scheduled to play a basketball game against the Golden State Warriors tonight at 10pm. It is occurring in San Francisco, which is quite far away. My cousin once went there and said the fog is very persistent, much like a zone defense that you cannot shoot your way out of.
Being on Sportsnet at such a late hour feels like a test of character for everyone involved. The 10pm start time is designed for people who do not have early morning responsibilities or people who simply enjoy watching Scottie Barnes while eating a third dinner. I usually fall into the latter category, though the dinner is mostly just toast.
The Search for a Tall Person
There is a lot of talk about the team needing a new center (a rotation-level big, as the professionals say). Apparently, the plan is to use Ochai Agbaji and his six point four million dollar expiring contract to find one. It is a very specific amount of money, roughly the cost of a several thousand high-end blenders, or one person who can rebound a basketball.
It is interesting how we view human beings as expiring contracts. One day you are a young man playing a game, and the next day you are a mathematical tool used to balance a ledger. My uncle says that we are all expiring contracts if you think about it long enough, but he also thinks the Raptors should have never traded Primoz Brezec.
The Price of Despair
Some people are worried that we might overpay for this hypothetical center because other teams know we are desperate. Desperation is a difficult thing to hide in the NBA, much like being seven feet tall. When you walk into a room and everyone knows you need a person who can stand near the rim, the price of that person tends to go up.
Getting taken to the cleaners is a funny phrase because dry cleaning is actually quite expensive and risky. You hand over a nice shirt and hope it comes back the same size. Trading for a center is the same process: you hand over a first round pick and a young player, and you hope the new guy actually knows how to set a screen without fouling.
Late Night Outlook
The Warriors are still the Warriors, and we are the Raptors. Draymond Green will probably say something that makes me want to stare at a blank wall for twenty minutes. Steph Curry will hit a shot from the parking lot, and the announcers will react as if gravity has ceased to exist.
I will be watching, or at least my television will be on while I wonder if we should have kept Bismack Biyombo for the third time. Basketball is a strange sport when you stay up past your bedtime to witness it. We are all just looking for a rotation-level big to fill the empty spaces in our lives.