Raps Drop Season Opener

The Raps played fairly well for the game, but couldn't pull off a victory against the new-and-probably-much-better Amare'e's (that's a lot of apostrophes) Knicks. For the game, there was no one particular reason the Raps lost. However, it will probably be the trend of games this season where plenty of players will play well (or solidly enough) but the lack of a go-to scorer and leader will hurt in key situations. Bargnani had a big game and will most likely put up big numbers this year, but it seems unlikely he has the makings of a franchise offensive talent (though he could very well be a secondary or tertiary scorer on a very good team).

NBA.com recap

Player of the game:
Il Mago did not seem lost in his first game as the face of the Raptors. While he struggled somewhat from the field (8-21) he did not lose his outside touch over the summer hitting five threes in eight attempts. Bargs finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds and complemented that nicely with 2 blocks. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect pretty similar season averages for Drea this year.

Notables:
Reggie Evans (0 points on 0-2 shooting, 16 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 fouls) did exactly what the Raptors brought him in to do. He picked up 4 offensive boards, hustled like crazy and was a menace down low.
Linas Kleiza (13 points, 5 rebounds). The Destroyer of Worlds took a backseat to Bargnani's chuck-it-up ways last night, but the after offseason - Worlds, preseason and now the opener - it is clear that Kleiza has come back from Europe a better player, and could be a valuable trade chip for a contender.
Jarrett Jack (16 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) played a nice all-around game as the starting point guard. He played his trademark solid defense and showed good playmaking ability. Jack could also bring back some useful pieces in a trade, if BC chooses that route.

NBA.com box score

Stat of the Game:
Wilson Chandler torched the Raptors off the bench to the tune of 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists in just 29 minutes. The Raptors' perimeter defense was not good last night and Chandler made the Raps pay.

Raps Roll into Beantown

Coming off a manhandling of Phoenix in Vancouver to begin the preseason, the Raptors arrive in Boston to face the 2-0 Celtics at 6PM today. The Celtics will hope to contain Linas "Destroyer of Worlds" Kleiza, who dominated the Suns to the tune of 20 points in 20 minutes (on blistering 7-9 shooting, 4-4 from three), with 5 boards and 2 steals. While it's not really fair to draw positive nor negative conclusions, as it's only the preseason, Kleiza's definitely trying to show that his ownage of the Worlds during the summer was no fluke.

Other encouraging performances were had by DMDR, who dropped 16 points in 21 minutes, Jarrett Jack (10 poitns, 7 assists in 17 minutes), and interestingly, Joey Dorsey, who had 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and 2 assists to boot. He had some monstrous slams and showed great energy, while - this is important - not playing outside his skill-set. Hopefully the Dino brass will look to his performance and not sign Ericka Dampier (get it? Cause he plays like a girl) for far too much money and far too little performance.

Year One A.B.: Kleiza Signing Officially Announced

It's been public knowledge for a while now, but all necessary paperwork has been cleared by the NBA and the Raps have announced their signing of 26-year-old Linas Kleiza to a multi-year deal. Raptor team policy dictates that financial details were not disclosed, but it's believed to be a 4-year deal worth about $20 million, or a large chunk of the Raps' mid-level exception.

Kleiza is an interesting signing. He spent 4 seasons with the Nuggets and was a pretty effective role player, backing up Carmelo Anthony. He's a totally different look from Melo - much more of a below-the-basket player and not necessarily in a bad way. Ignoring his rookie season, he put up very solid numbers: from 2006-09, in about 20 minutes per game he averaged around 9.5 points and 4 rebounds, shooting 45% from the field, 34% from three and 77% from the line, meaning his per-40 numbers are impressive: 19 points and 8 rebounds (though extrapolating stats is dangerous in his case, as he mostly played against backups and was never the offense's focal point).

After dominating the Euroleague to the tune of 19.7 points (2nd in the league) and 7 rebounds per game, he returns to the NBA. He figures to start at the 3-spot and will provide a very different look to Sonny Weems just like in Denver. He's not going to score 25 points every night or tear down the rim with rim-rattling dunks, but he's a very solid player to have around. It's very possible that we'll see Kleiza outperform his contract, especially heading into his prime 27-30 years.

Raptors Extend Offer to Jack; More Rumours

According to the front page of Raptors.com, as well as a report from RealGM, the Raptors will (or already have) extended an offer sheet to restricted free agent guard Jarrett Jack of the Indiana Pacers. This means that while the Pacers can match any offer (in this case, it appears to be around 4 years, $20 million), RealGM reports that they are unlikely to do so as it will put them close to the salary cap.

Jack (see his player file) is a 6-3 combo guard out of Georgia Tech who was teammates with Chris Bosh on the Yellow Jackets. He enjoyed a solid season in 08-09, posting 13.1 PPG, 4.1 APG and 3.4 RPG with a decent assist to turnover ratio of nearly 2:1 (2.24 TOPG). As well as being an efficient scorer (45 FG%, 35 3P%, 85 FT%), he's a good defender and gathered 1.1 steals per game last year. He figures to assume the backup point guard role, relegating Roko Ukic to third-string duties, but he may also play off-guard at the same time as either Roko or Jose Calderon if the Raps choose to go small (in that case, DeMar DeRozan or Antoine Wright could play the 3). The contract is not an overly bloated one, as he's shown solid consistency since his rookie season and has played an average of 80.5 games over his four NBA seasons. Jack should be able to earn his contract, especially since he will get spot starts if another Raptor gets injured. Additionally, it ensures that the Raptors will have a backup 1 locked up long-term (no more merry-go-round of Will Solomon, Darrick Martin, or Milt Palacio).

Of course, Bryan Colangelo is not done yet. He has shown interest, as noted before on this blog, in Carlos Delfino as well as Denver Nugget RFA Linas Kleiza. However, rumours are swirling that BC has interest in acquiring another former Raptor, Rasho Nesterovic.

Rasho would provide a veteran presence in the middle as well as in the locker room. However, with the acquisitions of Devean George and Reggie Evans, the Raps have a logjam at the bigman positions, and it's possible Rasho would be the odd man out.

Kleiza, on the other hand, seems to be a very sensible signing - he backed-up Carmelo Anthony effectively, as he would be doing for Hedo Turkoglu, putting up around 10 PPG and 4 RPG each of the last two seasons. He's a big (6-8, 245) bruiser at the 3-spot, and would provide a great change of scenery from Hedo's finesse and offensive leadership.

Delfino's return seemed to be a sure thing a couple weeks ago. However, after the blockbuster trade that brought in Turk, George and Wright, as well as the imminent arrival of Jack, the Raptors have sorted out their lack of depth at the guard positions, and Delfino's services may not be needed. That said, he was quite effective in the Raptors' swingman-by-committee of two seasons ago, posting 9 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 1.8 APG. If BC elects to bring back his versatility, he will likely see minutes at both the shooting guard and small forward positions.

What are your thoughts on the (supposed) signing of Jack, and who would you like to see the Raptors acquire to help bolster their bench? Let us know in the comments.

Raptors Set Sight On Kleiza

According to the Toronto Star, the Raptors are now focusing their attention on forward Linas Kleiza, as apparently the Raptors have fallen out of the running for Hedo Turkoglu and Charlie Villanueva has been swooped up by the Pistons.

Kleiza, 24, averaged 9.9 points per game and 4 rebounds per game last season while backing up Carmelo Anthony.