By Peter D. Walker

It looks like Maceo Baston will be making a second tour of duty with the Toronto Raptors and if he’s given his old number back, then Joey Graham should be very concerned. 

When Glen Grunwald signed Baston in March 2003 for sixteen, end of season games, during an injury-riddled campaign, he was handed jersey number 14.

Coincidentally, Joey Graham now owns that number. The question is for how long?

                       
                        

When Baston graduated from Michigan and was drafted by the Bulls, he was labeled as an NBA tweener. Not a true 4 and not a 3 either. Seems that scouts said similar things about Joey G, who played more 4 than 3 at Oklahoma State.  Both players are very athletic, which is NBA code for ‘can jump out of the gym’. Even though Maceo is more a PF than a SF, his lanky frame makes for some intriguing possibilities. 

With the log jam created at the small forward position by the acquisition of Jason Kapono, could it be that Joey Graham will be on the move? At stage in his career, Joey would not be happy being out of the rotation, which is how it looks now.

Baston wants to play in the NBA and he’s fine with being out of the rotation.

A couple of years ago, Maceo said this to an Israeli reporter, “I would prefer to be a player receiving a few minutes in the NBA than a star in Europe. Every basketball player has to test himself out against the best. I see players like Boris Diaw [Phoenix Suns] or Tayshaun Prince [Detroit Pistons] and I feel that I can play in that league. I have no doubt about it.”

Interesting that Maceo compares his game to that of Boris Diaw. Maybe Colangelo sees a little Boris Diaw in Baston and he’s trying to rekindle a little of his Suns’ magic?

Maceo is a first class team mate. He’s articulate and professional. Expect much the same off-court demeanor from Maceo as you see in Anthony Parker. 

           Watch Maceo Baston Fly Like An Eagle Mix (with some Anthony Parker)

Now Toronto is attractive to Baston because (1) he’s familiar with the city and team, (2) the Raps are a team on the rise and (3) there's a connection with Anthony Parker who was his team mate with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The Raptors are betting that a two-year deal in the range of $3.8-million will be enough to secure Baston from the Pacers, who have 7 days to match the Toronto offer. With the Pacers’ horrible cap situation, it is unlikely they would match.

While nothing is confirmed yet - if Maceo Baston becomes a Raptor again, I would not be surprised if it starts the wheels in motion for a likely trade of Joey Graham before the summer's end.


Baston was part of Raptors & NBA History in a bad way

Here’s a little 'indirect' Baston trivia. He joined the Raptors at the tail end of the injury plagued 2002-03 campaign, where the Raptors set two dubious NBA records:

(1) the only team in NBA history to not dress 12 players for a single game in a season
(2) the all-time high for man-games lost due to injury with 519, eclipsing the old record of 480 man-games lost

The good news was that the never ending string of injuries resulted in a dismal record and led to a trip to the lottery and the selection in June 2003 of Chris Bosh in the NBA Draft. That one worked out OK, don’t you think?

The Maceo Baston File

Maceo Baston is somewhere around 6'9" and 225 lbs, despite what he's officially listed.

Baston averaged 2.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 blocked shots while playing 8.6 minutes a game for Indiana in 2006-07, playing for the NBA minimum of $744,551.

Maceo won consecutive Euroleague titles in 2004 and 2005 with Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2005-06, Baston averaged 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and one block while shooting 66.1 %. In his best season in Israel, he averaged 15.8 ppg and shot a sizzling 79.5%, to lead the Premier League.

In his last appearance with the Raptors in 2003, Baston had career-highs of eight points and nine rebounds while tying his NBA career-high with three blocked shots. He had a total of 11 blocked shots in 16 games for the Raptors.

In 1998, Baston was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (58th overall) of the NBA Draft, after playing for the University of Michigan. Maceo finished his college career as one of only two Wolverines (along with Roy Tarpley) with over 1,300 points, 800 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in his career.

Like Chris Bosh, Maceo Baston was born in Texas and attended high school in Dallas.