Is being traded to Toronto the worst thing ever for a good player?

[ItStaysYang]

By good, I mean someone who gets paid well and/or deserves it. A notable player, more or less. Case in point, Monta Ellis.

Personally, if I was in his shoes, woke up one morning only to find out I was traded to Toronto, I would be sick to my stomach. Not only is the team a joke, but I can't imagine moving to Toronto would be enjoyable in any way.

Sounds like a nightmare to me

[bfrombleacher]

Not liking Canada might be an American thing. The US and Canada are pretty comparable in quite a few aspects.

Gay might have changed things with his move, too:

Q.: How have you been received by fans in Toronto?

A.: It’s been great. The fans really come out. As of right now this has been a blessing in disguise for me. I want to build something here. With DeMar (DeRozan) and Kyle and Andrea (Bargnani) the sky is the limit.

[ItStaysYang]

Not liking Canada might be an American thing. The US and Canada are pretty comparable in quite a few aspects.

Gay might have changed things with his move, too:

Q.: How have you been received by fans in Toronto?

A.: It’s been great. The fans really come out. As of right now this has been a blessing in disguise for me. I want to build something here. With DeMar (DeRozan) and Kyle and Andrea (Bargnani) the sky is the limit.

Just to clarify - I don't dislike Canada.

Interesting quote though

[Smutzy#9]

I heard Toronto and Canada are much like Melbourne/Sydeney and Australia, if thats the case then movie there wouldnt be too bad

[LooseCannon]

In terms of latitude, Toronto is somewhere between Concord, New Hampshire and Montpelier, Vermont.

[Eja117]

it is for taxes

[jambr380]

it is for taxes

Honestly, I would think this would be by far the worst reason for going to Toronto. I get that the talent pool isn't all that wonderful, but in terms of a city, Toronto is actually pretty fantastic. It sure beats out going to a place like Salt Lake City or Oklahoma City - at least to me. I also understand that the weather isn't necessarily wonderful, but as has been mentioned, it's not like it's up near Edmonton - Minneapolis and Seattle are both north of Toronto.

[scaryjerry]

Toronto is pretty much the nicest city of all NBA cities...the team sucks but I'd rather be there then milwaukee like Monta.

[BballTim]

By good, I mean someone who gets paid well and/or deserves it. A notable player, more or less. Case in point, Monta Ellis.

Personally, if I was in his shoes, woke up one morning only to find out I was traded to Toronto, I would be sick to my stomach. Not only is the team a joke, but I can't imagine moving to Toronto would be enjoyable in any way.

Sounds like a nightmare to me

  Compared to having to move to Cleveland or Detroit?

[Celtics4ever]

Taxwise, I think it's brutal up there compared to some other cities.

[CFAN38]

By good, I mean someone who gets paid well and/or deserves it. A notable player, more or less. Case in point, Monta Ellis.

Personally, if I was in his shoes, woke up one morning only to find out I was traded to Toronto, I would be sick to my stomach. Not only is the team a joke, but I can't imagine moving to Toronto would be enjoyable in any way.

Sounds like a nightmare to me

Toronto is a beautiful city, I personally would much rather live in Toronto than alot of US citys.

As a team they are definitely on the rise. They played 50 ball after getting Gay. They have a decent young veteran core in Gay, Deroza, Lowry, and Amir Johnson to go along with developing youth in Jonas and Ross.

[SHAQATTACK]

would be for me,

I love warm weather and the ocean.

[bdm860]

Have you ever been to Toronto?  Awesome city.

Population wise it's bigger than every USA city except New York and Los Angeles. (Most players seem to want to play in a lively city, which it is).

And it's one of the most diverse cities in the world, which is something I would think a black or international player would appreciate.

Very low crime rate.

But probably has the unfair reputation of being the extremely cold, even though it's pretty similar in weather to places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc.

Tax rate, bad.  Currency flucations can be good for them though.  Plus those taxes get you free healthcare  Never really sure about athletes taxes though, as they're taxed differently (and also have the best accountants).  On the bad side, every city/state a player plays in taxes a player, not just the home team, for example Kobe Bryant has to pay New York taxes for the 2 games (and maybe 3-4 days) he spent in NYC.  But on the good side (and with good accountants), you have guys like Derek Jeter who claims he lives in Florida so he doesn't have to pay NYC taxes, probably can be done for Toronto too.  Though I really don't know how much taxes matter to players, or else I'd think we'd see the Texas and Florida teams as more popular destinations than they are (though I know that's comparing federal to state taxes). I would really like to see someone like Chris Bosh's tax returns and see how much of a difference it really makes.

From Shaq:

Shaquille O'Neal had this to say on U.S.-born players not wanting to play in the one NBA city north of the border, in an interview with AskMen.com:

It’s not that. It’s the double taxes that deter players from going there. Also Bosh obviously couldn’t handle the pressure, so he had to go join two other people to help him out. Listen to what I tell you Toronto is in the top three NBA cities for every NBA player. Trust me on that, brother.

There's a lot of NBA cities I'd much more hate to live in than Toronto.  Persoanlly, it's probably upper-middle of the pack for me on where I'd prefer to live (not considering quality of team).

[slamtheking]

The fans are supposed to be really good and appreciative of their team.  the city has a reputation as a great place to live also.

on the downside, I believe the contracts are in canadian money (heard that somewhere when the franchise was first created, not sure if that's really true or if agents haven't wised up to make the contract payable in US dollars) and the taxes are pretty high. 
one other thing I found interesting as someone who's looked into buying property in Canada, although you can buy property there, you can only stay in Canada for 6 months a year if you're a non-citizen.  student-visas may be the exception

[bfrombleacher]

Google'd for some comments on the Canadian tax system vs. the US's tax system.

The Canadian tax system is more progressive, which indeed would mean those guys suffer.