So in a move that has to be considered strategic to keeping Bosh in Toronto, Brian Colangelo brought in Jarrett Jack (at 4 years, $20 million) to provide versatility, solid defense, leadership and of course, another reason for Bosh to stick around past 2010. Brilliant!
Now that they have joined forces once again, Jack has “already been working me” in Bosh’s words.
Jose Calderon is one of the best point guards in the NBA (I wish more people would recognize that), so Jack is not going to have to start at that position. However, because he is capable of manning that spot, he should be the Raps’ primary point-guard sub whenever Calderon needs to sit. That is, unless Roko Ukic develops into the player Toronto hopes he’ll be.
Jack will also be effective in splitting time with DeMar DeRozan at shooting guard. You don’t want to throw a rookie into a full-time starting job until he’s ready. Jack provides the perfect solution in that he can hold down the fort for half the game, but also get the rest of his minutes by switching to point guard when Calderon comes out.
A Jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none? Some rosters need that, and Jarrett will fit the bill just fine.
After it was mentioned in this space yesterday that Toronto Raptors free agents Carlos Delfino and Pops Mensah-Bonsu were no longer restricted because the team had to withdraw the Qualifying Offers to make the Hedo Turkoglu acquisition, a couple people questioned that information. And no wonder, since multiple media outlets still have both players on their free agent lists as restricted.
After double-checking our information with the Raptors, they confirmed that they did indeed withdraw the Qualifying Offers on both players, but they did not renounce their rights to either one. This means that they can still sign-and-trade either player, and they have the applicable Bird Rights for either one.
Colangelo extended a qualifying offer to Carlos Delfino back in June – and they are still interested in bringing him back to Toronto. But Delfino is currently signed within the Russian Super League with Khimki Moscow Region team, and he still has still more years left on the three-year deal he signed during the 2008 summer. Delfino is one of the highest-paid basketball players in Europe, as he’s getting paid $10 million dollars (US dollars), plus housing, a car and driver, and savings on taxes.
In his first-year with the team, he averaged a career-high 13 points her game. He also averaged 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in Europe’s second-level competition during the 2008-09 season. He is making way more money over in Russia than he made in the NBA.
I just finished watching Carlos Delfino on a midnight soccer talk show called "Gol de Media Noche". There were a few interesting points he brought up about Toronto and the NBA.
1. He wants to come back to Toronto. He has travelled around the US while playing for the Raptors, and for him Toronto is his favorite city not only to visit, but to live.
2. He considers Jose Calderon a true friend, which according to him is rare in the NBA..
