Jose Calderon said on his personal website that he wants to be a starting NBA point guard, which is the same position coveted by T.J. Ford.
Calderon’s posting was his first public declaration that he wants the No.1 job. “I want to be a starter and be in a team that aspires to everything,” he wrote. “I will not be on a team in which I cannot be an important contributor.”
The president and GM said he has yet to have any serious contract discussions with Calderon’s agents and he hasn’t reached out to Ford to see if the issue can be resolved.
“I’ve always said I found it a positive that T.J. felt he was a starter in the NBA,” Colangelo said yesterday. “Jose has obviously displayed he’s capable of having that attitude as well as being willing to make sacrifices.”
The GM, recently returned from a scouting trip to the EuroLeague Final Four in Madrid, said he’s letting a little time pass before he sits down for discussions with the players and their agents. Colangelo said at the end of the Raptors season he would “explore everything we can in terms of making it work with both of them. A short 12 months ago, it was our greatest strength, but I’m not ready to throw it out until we’ve completely exhausted that process.”
The Raptors launched a multi-million lawsuit against the Spanish Basketball Federation over an insurance claim regarding Jorge Garbajosa’s leg injury and season-ending surgery, but the president and GM met with Spanish officials last weekend to try for a settlement.
“We’re working toward a resolution and I’m hopeful the meetings were received as productive,” Colangelo said yesterday.
Carlos Delfino has been tapped for Argentina’s preliminary 10-man roster for the Beijing Olympics.
“Chuck is one of the best broadcasting people I’ve been around,” said Babcock, now an assistant general manager with the Timberwolves. “He has an unbelievable work ethic and his passion for the team and the organization was second to none when I was there. The charity events he would MC, the community appearances he would make – he would do whatever he could. In most cases the broadcasters do their broadcast and that’s it, but he developed that role into a true ambassador for the franchise. If he was available to do something, he’d do it.
“And on a personal not he’s a genuine, good, guy who really wanted guys to do well.”
Calderon, though, clarified that his deal will not be about just his money.
“What is clear is the fact that if I have to choose between a sports offer versus an economic offer,” Calderon said, “I will opt for the first.”
Calderon added: “Maybe to think about the ring is an excessive aspiration but, of course, this is not a team that can only aspire to lose in the first round of the playoffs.”
The Suns have refused to give D’Antoni permission to speak with the Raptors, for whom former Suns executive Bryan Colangelo is the general manager. Suns managing partner Robert Sarver doesn’t want to see Colangelo reunite with his buddy Mike D.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean D’Antoni can’t wind up in Toronto. D’Antoni could quit if he had assurances via backchannels (i.e. his buddy) that Toronto would give him the job.
But Colangelo would first have to get Donnie Walsh to give assurances that he would hire Sam Mitchell, a Walsh favorite, who then would have to quit in Toronto before D’Antoni was hired.
Round and round she goes….
In this scenario the Suns get out of paying D’Antoni the $8.5 million left on his contract and the Raptors get out of paying Mitchell the final three years of the extension he was given last summer.
And the Knicks get an experienced candidate who fits more of the mold Walsh is looking to set for the franchise.
In Toronto, I posted a daily blog of NBA thoughts and opinions, and answered e-mails pertaining to the team or the league in general, including non-basketball items of interest, at Raptors.com. I love to interact with fans and that will certainly be the case here in Chicago with the Bulls.
My goal is to include you as often as I can with questions/answers on the site and during our radio broadcasts. In fact, when October rolls around, I want to solicit requests from you to enter your name and community for a three-ball shout out. When the first Bulls’ player nails a three-point field goal I will announce:
“Ring it up from downtown [player’s name]; that goes to [your name!] listening tonight on ESPN 1000!”
It proved to be a popular element to our programming in Toronto. I want you to feel ownership of CCI: Chicago. Any suggestions are welcomed.
Before I formally introduce myself to you, I would like to thank Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for allowing me to return to Chicago. Toronto Raptors ownership and management are class people. It was a pleasure working for them and with them. I will never say one negative word about my ten years in Canada. It was a pleasure.
Those words, written right there, are the quintessential beliefs of a Man who is capable of leading HIS team to an NBA championship, one day in the not-too-distant future, as a main-frame PG.
Will he get that chance playing for the Toronto Raptors?
Only time will tell … but, if you’re an astute NBA observer AND a Raptors’ fan, you sure do hope so.
If the Raptors follow the 10 steps listed below, I firmly believe they will win the NBA Championship next season. Despite consecutive first round playoff exits, the team is not that far away. Here are the 10 moves that need to be made in my opinion:
Toronto Raptors Vice President Maurizio Gherardini talks about the season just ended, and about future plans for bringing reinforcements to a team that has not yet been able go beyond the first round of playoffs.
For those unfamiliar with Chuck, he was an extremely animated, unabashed homer, which made him relatively polarizing to Raps fans. Those of us at FCL who still possess the capacity to love and be loved (i.e. everyone but Butter Chicken) loved the Swirsk for this very reason. And for many others.
Below is an incomplete list of some other things we will miss about this happy little maniac. Regardless of who replaces him, rest assured we have sworn an oath to boo him for at least the first month of next season.
Halifax owners want the team in the D-League for the 08-09 season. That ain’t happening. One thing I can tell you about Reed, the guy doesn’t rush into anything. He’s going to make sure that any move the league makes is at the right time, the right pace, and in optimal conditions for growth. He hasn’t lost a franchise on his watch yet, and I don’t think he intends to. Furthermore, it would make for some really funky divisional lineups next season, because there’s no way to get a fourth team available in six months. So they can kiss that dream goodbye.
By getting rid of Ford, Colongelo can then acquire a desperately needed wingman who can fill the offensive void often left by power forward Chris Bosh when being dominated by a player like Dwight Howard. The Raptors suffered both in the regular season and especially in the playoffs from the ills of not having another true offensive threat.
If Colangelo’s unwillingness to make changes results in another mediocre campaign, he’ll find himself, and the security of his own job on the axles of the rumour mill come next April.
Maybe the best way to accommodate Josh Howard, who clearly doesn’t have any desire to stick around with the Mavericks, is to get the Toronto Raptors on the phone.
The Raps have some good young talent, and taking a chance on T.J. Ford or Jose Calderon, plus maybe something else, probably is a fair return on Howard.
Oh, what’s that? You don’t think he wants out of town?
Then he sure as heck did a great impersonation of a guy who wants out with his words and deeds of the postseason.
Surely the laws in Canada about marijuana are more relaxed than they are here. Isn’t everything more relaxed north of the border?
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thanks for making it one stop reading each day.
just wanted to add this one.
http://cuzoogle.com/2008/05/09/who-will-be-captain-of-the-raptor-ship/
cuzzys last blog post..Rolling a blog joint – May 9
For a guy who always stresses the team and winning, it’s hard to imagine what Jose was thinking when he posted on his blog that he wanted to be the starter. How does that help us at all? This is not something that will help BC get the most value in the moves he will now have to make. Of course he wants to be the starter.. what player doesn’t? But telling the whole world about it isn’t exactly going to help us either!
Coded message. Translation: “Please make me an offer in free agency.”
Granville Waiters Ghosts last blog post..Wee baby AltRaps
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