07.29
The Raptors’ roster for the coming season is now set.
Barring a trade, the look of the team is complete following yesterday’s free-agent signing of Will Solomon.
The addition of the 6-foot-1 Solomon, who appeared in 62 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001 and most recently played in Europe, brings the number of players under contract to 13.
With absolutely no more available money to spend, unless the Raptors want to exceed the luxury threshold, which will not happen, Toronto’s off-season officially is over.
Solomon was selected 33rd overall in 2001 by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He appeared in 62 games with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes.
Will Solomon, a 30-year-old guard who has been playing in Europe for the past six seasons, will be signed as the last man on Toronto’s 2008-09 roster.
“He’s really interesting from a standpoint of the experience he brings,” Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo said yesterday. “He’s played at a very high level in Europe for a number of years and has always been a winner.”
Solomon was being pursued by a number of Euroleague teams before deciding to sign with the Raptors.
“He was hungry to get back,” said Colangelo, who saw Solomon play last season when the GM was on a scouting mission to Turkey to check out potential draft picks.
The Raptors had been searching the free-agent camps and summer leagues across North America trying to find a third guard to play behind Jose Calderon and rookie Roko Ukic.
“No one we saw really had the kind of talent and experience that this guy does,” Colangelo said.
He’s coming off a solid Euroleague season with Turkey’s Fenerbache, where he averaged 17.9 points and 3.9 assists in 21 Euroleague games, stats that aren’t to be sniffed at.
He’s got some NBA experience – he was a second-round pick of the Grizzlies in ’01 and played in 62 games with Memphis in the ’01-02 season.
He’s been all over Europe, spending a season with each of Efes Pilsen in Turkey, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem and Aris Thessaloniki in Greece before playing the last two seasons with Fenerbache.
Signing Solomon likely ends all activity for the Raptors this summer. They’ll go with a 13-man roster that has a payroll just under the NBA tax threshold and is constructed pretty much just as GM Bryan Colangelo wants it.
He’s got three point guards – Jose, Roko Ukic and now Solomon; a quartet a quintet of wings – Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham and Hassan Adams; and five bigs – Chris Bosh, Jermaine O’Neal, Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai.
“When you look at the Raptors, they have a great reputation throughout the league,” Devlin said. “It’s a world-class city. It has an outstanding fan base. So, when you put those three things together, I just believe it’s one of the best jobs in the NBA.”
He also views Toronto as a good place to raise his three young sons. As well, Devlin and his wife, Erin, have relatives living in Toronto and Peterborough, Ont.
He said he will continue to work for U.S. networks as long as the assignments do not conflict with the Raptors’ schedule. In addition to his work at TNT, he has called baseball and football for Fox Sports.
Raptors viewers will notice a difference between Devlin and Swirsky, who was very much a hometown voice.
Devlin calls games as a network announcer, which is appropriate because the Raptors telecasts are seen countrywide.
“I take a straightforward approach,” he said. “I want to entertain, I want to inform, but ultimately it’s about the players on the floor. It’s about the game itself. It’s about the analysts you work with. And the game always dictates what you do within the broadcasts.”
Reviews of his work that have been posted on Bobcats blogs are mixed. On one, he was called hokey. Another described him as competent, but unoriginal.
Whatever the case, Hebb said he is the right choice for the Raptors.
“It’s really been a good fit and we’re happy to have pulled him in,” he said.
Devlin’s salary is likely to be similar to Swirsky’s compensation, which was more than $300,000 a year.
the Spurs drafted Printezis and as far as I can tell the Raptors currently hold his rights. In closing check out footage of him in a dunk contest with Qyntel Woods. At the very least watch Printezis’ first 3 dunks and try to tell me he has not seen some highlights from NBA slam dunk contests.
Solomon was a first-team All-ACC selection as a junior and a second-team selection as a senior before leaving school a year early in 2001. Solomon set 15 Clemson records over his final two seasons and led the ACC in scoring in 1999-2000 with a 20.9 average.
In addressing the weaknesses at the end of the season, Bryan Colangelo noted two particular problem areas – the need for a 20 point scorer (which was assumed to take the form of an aggressive wing player), and the need to improve defensively with an injection of toughness that he felt had been missing since they lost Garbajosa. So the blueprint moving forward looked fairly clear: add a couple of players through transactions and the draft. But for myself, as a fan, I was not hearing many names that made me feel like the puzzle would be closer to being solved. It was more like the feeling of satisfaction, shallow and fleeting, of getting one side of a Rubik’s cube a solid color. I really wanted the loss of the Garbajosa-effect to be addressed, and failing that, then I figured they might as well blow the Rubik’s pieces up and start gluing them back together as they were meant to be. I wanted a veteran presence who knew what it takes to win, could play physical, remain mentally tough and allow for real gains to be made with an improved defense. And Jermaine O’Neal represents just about the perfect player to fill that resume.
When Colangelo was talking about “concentrating talent” on the team earlier in the year I didn’t expect this degree of said concentration. After Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani and Jason Kapono, we are severely reaching for talent and ability. The “Big 3″ will need to produce at a very high level and with great consistentcy if the Raptors plan on hiding their weak bench, something which used to be their strong-suit only a year ago. Say what you will about Carlos Delfino but the man could come off the bench and spark the team with his offense and defense, albeit not with great consistency. Right now we’re asking Hassan Adams to fill that role which you would think would be a drop-off. We’re asking Ukic to make-up for TJ Ford which you would also think is a drop-off (at least next year). We’ve basically replaced Rasho Nesterovic with Jermaine O’Neal which by itself is a great imrovement but when you look at all the overall addition/subtractions, its hard to definitely say whether we’ve actually improved or not – especially considering the relative improvements other teams in the East have made.
(video) Will Solomon highlights
If you could turn Rasho and a disgruntled backup point guard for a potential defenseive player of the year who could average 20-10 would you make that deal? Yeah, me too! Jermain Oneal instantly make this team a contender for the east, and being able to re-up Calderon and letting Delfino walk also makes this a great offseason. However there are still some big question marks not named Joey Graham on this team, like for example, the back up point guard.
O’Neal’s ability to play on the block could be a key to the success of players like Kapono, fellow sharpshooter Anthony Parker and ultimately the Raptors as a whole.
When the Raptors signed Kapono last summer to a four-year, $24-million contract, he was expected to be another weapon in an already potent Raptors offence.
“He will contribute significantly to our team in a variety of ways . [in particular] his ability to knock down shots, which spreads the floor and opens up scoring opportunities in the lane on dribble penetration and post-ups,” Raptors’ GM Bryan Colangelo said at the time.
“It’s awesome to play with a dominant post player. I played with Shaq for two years and got a lot of shots,” said Kapono.
Although fellow Raptor Chris Bosh is one of the most dangerous forwards in the game, his success is predicated on speed. Typically, Bosh has already made his move before a double-team can be sent.
A combination of J.O’s low-post ability and Kapono’s outside shooting should create havoc for opposing defences.
“If [O'Neal's] playing well on the block, that’s going to help us out.”
“The more shooters and post players you have, you have the balance to create problems for the guys on the defensive end. [Defenders must] choose between helping out on the post or guarding guys who can make shots on the perimeter.”
“You can’t expect J.O to learn our system in two weeks. Obviously we are going to have a tough time in the pre-season and have a few bumps in the road.”
But Kapono is confident that the success will come.
“He’s a veteran. This is his third team now and I don’t see him having any problems or us having a problem with him.”
On a brighter note, I think I’m going to have a good time here because they have a few Americanized resrurants and a few spots that look kind of familiar to me. I just hope their McDonalds is the same as it is in the States and a couple of people speak English. If not, I’m in trouble because my Mandarin isn’t that great.
I’m sure some of you guys saw the game we played against Canada a couple of days ago. It was fun to get back out there and play some good ball. Even though we won in a convincing fashion, I think we didn’t play our best ball. We can do a better job of playing defense and taking care of the ball. We have to do those things if we want to wear those Gold Medals when it’s all said and done. That’s the challenge of the whole thing, but we can and we will get the job done.
Well… This is my first official day in China! I have my XBOX and movies so I’m ready. HOLLA!!!
Every time I read Chris Bosh’s blog entry, it makes me cringe.
Secondly, has anyone heard of the length or financial details of Will Solomon’s contract?
1 year plus team option for the minimum (ala Moon)?? Just hoping.
Spudzs last blog post..True at First Light | Ernest Hemingway
Unfortunately, this may now be a ‘Treadmill’ team, locked into the #5-10 spots in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future.
khandors last blog post..The Art and Science of Hoops
One good thing about this year’s (’08/09) Rap’s Team is all the negative comments and expectations, will be much happier when the Team is succesful, than last year when expectation were so high and they struggled when Bosh was hurt.
The kicker with this team will be, if they don’t succeed in the next two years, what are they going to do with the space left from JO’s expiring contract?
If we have a whole bunch more Kapono’s, Bargnani’s, Humphries’, Garbajosa’s, etc… things will be rough. We need a bunch of superior talent with a bunch of defensive re-treads willing to sacrifice money for championships, and we’ll be fine. Hopefully, we’ll get to the point where people will start accepting less to come here.
When JO is gone, if we don’t get an elite superstar and a semi-star (I doubt Bargs turns into one), we’re in trouble. $9million dollar a year Diaw’s DO NOT COUNT.
[Insert Granville's explanation of cap killing contracts here].
Spudz
Spudzs last blog post..True at First Light | Ernest Hemingway
Wonder where all the pompous people like Chunk, etc are now? Said I was talking out of my ass about the future of this franchise and how it was headed for a tailspin under Colangelo. Y’all can come kiss my feet whenever you are ready.
This roster is a joke, put together by the greatest scheister in the game today. I am personally hurt and the feeling of being mislead and taken advantage of still permeates my soul.
Where’s this tailspin y’all are talking about?