Hooped Up

Morris Peterson remembers the day, two years and two months ago. It wasn’t the end of the world as we know it, but for a basketball team, it was about as close to rock bottom as you can get.

“To see him leave, that wasn’t easy,” said Peterson. “He wasn’t happy. He didn’t want to be here any more for whatever reason, but he was still our best player. You don’t want to lose that.”

Two years and two months later, Chris Bosh is going to the all-star game as a starter and Vince Carter is going, but having not been voted in. Two years and two months later, Bosh hears the chants of “MVP” from the ACC crowd, a chant that Carter got caught mocking on television cameras. The guy is, after all, nothing but class.

And yet, his absence may have had unintentional benefits.

“You can’t know if Chris develops like this if Vince is here,” Peterson said. “Chris was just a kid when Vince was here. When Vince left, a lot of us got opportunities we might not have had had he stayed.”

Carter left. The Raptors paid $10 million US for Alonzo Mourning not to show up. Eric Williams and Aaron Williams played like Anson Williams. Graham was drafted when the Raptors could have had Danny Granger. As lousy trades go, this one gets worse as the Raptors get better.

President Rod Thorn suggested in an interview on Wednesday that the team expects Carter to become a free agent.

Canoe