Is Amir Johnson Or Ed Davis The Odd Man Out In Toronto?


Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

As the regular season nears, it’s apparent that the Toronto Raptors will not be able to keep both power forwards Amir Johnson and Ed Davis on their bench. Both of the talented big men contribute to the massive log jam at the power forward position for the Raptors, and it doesn’t make sense to keep them both of them with starter Andrea Bargnani and new addition Quincy Acy at the four spot. Both players deserve over 25 minutes a game, but this is nearly impossible given the current Raptor frontcourt situation.

Simply put, there isn’t enough minutes to go around for both big men to fully reach their optimum output, and it’s time to part ways with one of them in order to receive a usable asset at another position. A package of either Amir or Ed along with Jose Calderon could net the Raptors a valuable starting small forward, or at the very least, give them cap relief.

The big question that Bryan Colangelo faces is whether he should move Johnson or Davis. Davis is a better shot blocker and defensive rebounder, however at times Davis plays lazily and shows his inexperience. Amir is a much better offensive player, help defender, offensive rebounder, and is known as one of the hardest working players on the team. By his teammates, Amir is considered the ‘workhorse’ and isn’t afraid to bang bodies and do the dirty work. Guys like that are essential to a team, and this is something that makes Amir quite special. Overall, I would say both guys are quite even but the edge currently goes to Amir.

Davis, 23, has more upside than Amir, 25, however the Raptors already have two young big men in Jonas Valanciunas and Quincy Acy. It is also likely Davis’ market value is higher due to being the 13th overall pick in the 2010 draft and a college standout.

It’s become apparent that Davis is the odd man out here. Davis has a chance to be something special, but it is unlikely he reaches his full potential behind the talented Toronto big men. Amir is much more seasoned, and has already grown into one of the better bench big men in the league.

Trading Davis should be able to net the Raptors a solid, usable asset that will further improve the team. It’s only a matter of time before Colangelo swings a deal and one of these two are gone. It could come down to which big man he receives a better offer for, and personally, I would be completely satisfied with that because both Amir and Davis are high quality big men to have.

Follow me on Twitter @Thesachman and ‘Like’ Raptors Cage on Facebook for more updates