The Good, But Mostly The Bad With Some Ugly
2008
Jose Calderon (5 years, $40M) – Point guard Jose Calderon was certainly a favorite of the fans, selfless workaholic who delivered his all to the team. But his all was nowhere near worth the contract price, particularly in light of his poor defensive play. (Bad Signing – Overpay)
2009
Hedo Turkoglu (5 years $53M) – After what amounted to a panic play in an effort to keep power forward Chris Bosh, Bryan Colangelo traded for small forward Hel Turkoglu in a four team mega deal, and then immediately extended him on a five year deal averaging over $10M per year. The small forward ended up being a bust, did not work hard, did not care for the city, and was obviously not productive for the Raptors. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns a year later. (Ugly Extension)
Jarrett Jack (4 years, $20M) -A solid reserve point guard at a reasonable $5 Million /year. Did not crack the lineup to make a larger contribution for the team, despite the potential to do more. Eventually traded away to the New Orleans Hornets in a five player swap which had the Raptors giving up Jack, Marcus Banks, and David Anderson for guard Jerryd Bayless and forward Peja Stojacovic. (Good Signing)
2010
Linas Kleiza (4 years, $19M) – A horrible contract for the Raptors to a player who never truly delivered. This was a clear indication of Colangelo’s reactive style, signing an offensively minded restricted from agent from the Denver Nuggets, while ignoring the team’s need to bolster the defense. Kleiza was one of a string of players who tried a hand at the three slot, but never seemed to get it right for the team. He was waived under the amnesty clause in 2013 to get the Raptors below the luxury tax threshold. (Bad Signing)
Amir Johnson (5 years, $34M) – The deal was more of a matter of trusting potential of the player than giving the player a FMV contract on his production. His previous stats – averaging just 6 points and 5 rebounds per game, were not the type of production you look for in a 5 year deal averaging $6.8 Million per year, but this truly was a deal that paid dividends. He grew each year into the contract he had signed. He was the first man off the bench behind Chris Bosh, and added minutes in the vacuum of Bosh’s departure. (Good Extension)
2011
Anthony Carter (1 year. $1.35 M) – A move to fill the roster, but essentially a one year deal as Carter was waived by the team in March 2012. (Bad Signing)
Rasual Butler (1 year, $1.23 M) – Another move to fill the roster, but Butler was also waived by the team in March 2012. (Bad Signing)
Gary Forbes (2 year, $3 M) – Another short term move. The team signed forward Gary Forbes to a contract which netted him $1.5 Million for one year’s work before trading him the following July to the Houston Rockets for Kyle Lowry. (Good Signing – Let to Lowry Trade)
2012
Landry Fields (3 years, $19M) – In an effort to block a feared New York Knick’s run at free agent Steve Nash by signing Fields. The belief was that the Knicks were likely to offer guard Landry Fields to the Suns in a potential sign-and-trade for Nash, so Colangelo made a preemtive offer to Fields at a surprisingly high premium for a three-year, $19 million contract far beyond Fields value. Colangelo hoped that signing Fields would make it impossible for the Knicks to sign Nash. But Steve Nash turned the tables and elected $9 Million less to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers so that he could be closer to his children who lived in the Phoenix area. Fields, as a result, was simply a guy who was paid handsomely to sit on the pine. (Ugly Signing)
Next: Aftermath