As expected, the Indiana Pacers allowed Jarrett Jack to go to the Toronto, refusing to match the Raptors' four-year offer sheet for the emerging point guard."It was a very difficult decision because Jarrett proved last season what he can bring to a team," Pacers President of Basketball Larry Bird in a statement. "We thank Jarrett for his contributions to the Pacers, both on and off the court, and wish him the best in Toronto."
The Pacers have already planned for life after Jack by agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with veteran guard Earl Watson. He can't sign a deal until Friday, seven days after his was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Indiana also drafted for Connecticut guard A.J. Price to come off the bench.
Jack averaged a career-high 13.1 points last season for Indiana after being acquired in a draft-day trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. Jack could fill in at the shooting guard position or backup Jose Calderon at the point.
The Raptors have added DeMar DeRozan, Hedo Turkoglu, Devean George and Antoine Wright to a revamped roster. Anthony Parker signed with Cleveland while Shawn Marion and Kris Humphries were traded to Dallas.
If anything, the Raptors will be a different team next season and the addition of Jack, a close buddy of Chris Bosh from their lone season together at Georgia Tech, could play a factor in whether Bosh re-signed with Toronto. General manager Bryan Colangelo has yet to make the expected impact in Toronto and wholesale changes were in store for a club that has been downtrodden since the departure of Vince Carter.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-21-2009 @ 5:35AM
aleksthethird said...
'BC has yet to make the expected impact' - 'a club that has been downtrodden since the departure of VC' - what?
VC was traded early 2005, BC arrived mid 2006. Toronto had records of 24, 33, 33, 27 wins in the years 2003-2006. In the VC era, the best regular season was 2001 with 47 wins, plus three playoff appearances. After BC arrived, the Raptors matched the franchise record of 47 wins, reached the playoffs twice, and BC was Executive of the Year. The only 'downtrodden' season since BC arrived was the previous one.
I'm just stating obvious facts here, but platitudes like the one quoted above are ridiculous. BC's made mistakes, but his activity in 2006 is the main reason why the Raptors had reason to be disappointed last season.
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