Derozan will be expected to do a lot more than most no. 9 draft picks. He is penciled in at the moment as the starting shooting guard and should receive his fair share of minutes throughout the season. With the loss of Shawn Marion the athleticism that Derozan brings becomes even more important. He is going to be asked to create his own shot, run the floor and will often be given tough defensive assignments. That’s a lot to ask of a 19 year old kid fresh out of one year at USC.

But this isn’t your average kid.

Born in Compton, California he led his high school team to championships with his gifted ability to score. After being one of the most heavily recruited high school players in 2008 he had a slow start at USC. He then reeled off an impressive run of games that helped lead the Trojans to the Pac 10 championship which cemented his decision to take a chance on the NBA. He is a noted “gym rat” and prides himself on improving his game. After the NCAA tournament Derozan headed to the gym in Oakland California to prepare himself for NBA workouts leading up to the draft instead of soaking in the sunshine and basking in his tournament success.

Toronto Raptor fans should note his impressive attitude and desire to improve his game. These are the characteristics of a veteran, not a 19 year old rookie.

Raptor fans have had a brief glimpse of Derozan at the this years summer league where he led the team with a 17ppg average. More impressive than his offensive output was his desire to improve. Derozan played hard on defense and did not get too “shot happy” even though one could hardly blame him for such behaviour. He was one of the only NBA ready players on the Raptors squad but was not afraid to play a team game and pass up opportunities to score in favour of getting better looks for his team. Many of his baskets came from layups and dunks and he didn’t miss too many bad shots.

Not only that but according to thescore.ca’s Holly Mackenzie: ‘DeRozan arrived to the gym before everyone else each day, staff included. And it was only DeRozan, who would be available long after the game had ended when everyone else had departed to the hotel.’

Derozan continues to work out over the summer getting himself ready for what should be a very successful first season. He has also found friends and mentors in Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack whom he was able to meet and hang around with during his recent time in Toronto. In fact, he is spending so much time with Bosh that he has become a regular “Tweet-er” like the franchise player himself.

If Derozan can continue to focus on improving himself during the season and learns from his coaches and veteren leaders on the team, then he should show the ACC crowd why Chad Ford called him ‘a player with as much upside as anyone in the draft’. Perhaps Air Canada is ready to take flight once again.

Under-reported and and under-appreciated this week is the signing of the big Slovene.

Sure, it may not be as dramatic as a Hedo Turkoglu signing, or as exciting as the drafting of the second coming of you know who. But it’s big. Like 7 foot big.

Why? First off we know exactly what we’re getting. No games. No guessing.

He’s the first big off the bench. He’s a defense guy. He’s a great locker room presence. And he’s a great mentor to one Andrea Bargani.

And yes, he’s cheap. Really cheap. At 2 million, for one year, he stands as the most economical move for BC this off season.

Thank God he loves it here. Otherwise he’d probably be making more money for a better team.

The question I have, and I’m no capologist, is why a one year deal? Why not sign for multiple years at the same price? The lower cap comes to mind. But with no young bigs on the horizon (goodbye Hump and Jawai) why not lock him in for at least three years? We’re going to need him. And the way he talks about Toronto, he’d be more than happy to sign on the dotted line.

Gotta love this guy. Everything about him.

Welcome back to Toronto Mr. Nesterovic.

Right. Why the hot girl? I’m not sure. I typed in Rasho Nestrovic into Google Images and she popped up.

The good natured combo guard has landed in Toronto

On Tuesday the Raptors announced that Jarrett Jack is the latest piece in Brian Colangelo’s off season  re-tooling of the Toronto Raptors.  Colangelo has been the big noise maker this summer as he successfully courted Hedo Turkoglu, the biggest free agent available on the market this off-season,  away from the Trail Blazers and then he went out and orchestrated a mammoth sign and trade to net him a couple of bench players (Antoine Wright and Deaven George) and cap space to spend on free agents.

Was Point guard the right position to sure up with that money? Doesn’t this mean Demar Derozan, a rookie, will be our starting shooting guard?

Not so fast.

The Jarrett Jack acquisition is beneficial for many reasons not least of which is the fact that Jose Calderon can get some real rest during games for the first time in over a year.  Jarrett Jack will not simply be a bench player and a back-up point guard  He will be brought into the game at key situations, sometimes as a SG and sometimes as a PG.  He will be asked to finish games that Demar Derozans’ inexperience will sometimes not allow him to do.   He may even be asked to start games at SG depending on future signings this summer and the development of Derozan.  Jack also does something that has been missing in the lineup since the days of “you know who”.  He drives the net.  That penetration will open up the Raptor shooters for open jumpers or allow the Bargnani’s, Bosh’s and Reggie Evans’ to park themselves under the basket and get a rebound.

We would also be fooling ourselves if we did not think Jack was here partly because of his strong friendship with the face of the franchise, Chris Bosh.  This move almost surely indicates that Brian Colangelo will approach Chris Bosh this summer and offer him, once again, a contract extension.  Jack is signed for four more years and you can bet he didn’t come here to play with Chris Bosh for one season.

This move was not just about adding bench depth and a dual guard that will play point and the 2.  This move was designed to tell Chris Bosh that he is the franchise and that this club is willing to put the pieces in place that will compliment him.  The Jose-Bosh chemistry was the reason Jose was extended last year, Bargs was moved to centre to ensure Bosh played his natural position and now his best friend has been brought in.  This move tells Chris Bosh that he is the centerpiece.  His opinion is foremost in the franchise’s mind and they will do anything and everything to please their star.

Jarrett Jack is simply a pre-cursor to bigger Raptor news.  It’s like the Hakeem signing all over again.  Chirs Bosh is up next folks.  The Raptor news only gets bigger from here.

Bryan Collangelo waved his magic wand this summer

The Raptors have only been in existence for 10 years but in that time one has to look at this off-season as the single greatest any Raptor General Manager has ever been able to achieve.

What Bryan Colangelo has done, with a limited amount of options, has been nothing short of miraculous.

And the miracle is extensive:

• They got their guy in Jay Triano; a young and talented coach who has the players’ ears. Not to mention he also Canadian.
• He signed the assistant he wanted n Mark Ivaroni; A defensive specialist from the Phoenix Suns’ glory days.
• He turned a under producing pure shooter in Jason Kapono, into Reggie Evans, a tough as nails, lunch pail worker – something the team surely lacked in 2008.
• He got what some would call is the biggest steal in the draft in Demar DeRozen. Filling a much needed gap for athleticism.
• He signed Andrea Bargnani to a very modest 10 million a year.
• He signed Hedo Turkoglu arguably the biggest free agent on the market.

However, the signing of Turkoglu essentially put the team right at the cap with many holes to fill. Leaving the Raptors up a shallow creek and many critics to cry foul.

But not so fast.

Colangelo somehow convinced Orlando (and Memphis and Dallas) to complete a complicated sign and trade deal involving  Shawn Marion and the Big Turk, and in doing so allowed the Raps to obtain both their MLE and LLE, essentially freeing up an additional 12 million dollars in cap space to sign whoever they want. On top of that, the team received Devon George and Antoine Wright in the transaction.  two very serviceable players filling in the holes at the shooting guard and small forward position.

Wheeew!

What that all mean? Essentially they traded Shawn Marion (and Nathan Jawai) for Hedo Turkoglu, Devon George, Antoine Wright. Jarrett Jack, and Rasho Nesterovich.

Toss in Carlos Delfino to sign with our Bird Rights and ladies and gentlemen we have one of the deepest teams in the league with a significantly talented starting five.

Hello Mr Colangelo. Thank you for coming to Toronto.

Where does that leave the Raptors moving forward? Well, if I were a guessing man, and I am, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see Bryan Colangelo re-approach Chris Bosh with a contract extension this summer. Particularly if BC is able to wiggle Jarrett Jack away from the Pacers (Chris Bosh’s best friend in the league).

Given the economic climate and the league’s prediction that the cap will fall significantly in one years’ time, Chris Bosh will listen. He’d be foolish not to.

If Colaneglo is able to re-sign Chris Bosh you might as well award him Executive of the Year now, that and the keys to the city.

Catch that fish (all 6 foot 10 of it) and we can all sit back and relax. The Raptors would have a very solid core, locked in place for several years to come, surrounded by some very tradable assets.

We’ve been die hard fans since day one, right when Issiah walked out from behind that old Raptor logo, and we’ve always wanted to pen down some thoughts. So feel free to come back, check it out, and hopefully one day we’ll turn it into a full website.

Cheers,

Jeremiah McNama