RaptorBlog.com featuring Scott Carefoot

"Ball."
- Hedo Turkoglu








New Jack City

7/13/09
by: Scott
Permalink
RSS feed for RaptorBlog.com

Regardless of what you think of Bryan Colangelo's transactions so far this off-season, there's no denying that he has been a man of action. His latest move was to sign Indiana Pacers combo guard Jarrett Jack to an offer sheet reported to be in the range of four years, $20 million. Jack's a restricted free agent and the Pacers have until next Tuesday to match the offer. Since this contract would put the Pacers in luxury tax territory, they're not expected to match.

If Jack does end up with the Raptors, they'll have a significant upgrade at the backup point guard position compared to last season's Solomon/Ukic shitshow. Unlike Ukic — who may never develop the shot or the control to play consistently at an NBA level — Jack is a solid all-around player who can man both guard positions capably. He doesn't excel in any one area (besides durability — he's played in all 82 games in each of the last two seasons) but he's sure to be the best defensive point guard on the team.

Jack actually played the majority of his minutes at shooting guard last season. At six-three, 200 pounds, he has the size and quickness to defend most point guards and smaller two-guards. He's an example of the kind of versatile player Colangelo likes for his backups. For the $5 million per season he's being offered, I have to assume that Colangelo and Jay Triano see him playing 25 minutes per game and splitting those minutes between the two guard positions.

Assuming the reports are accurate that Indiana probably won't match the offer, this signing will likely spell the beginning of the end for Roko Ukic in Toronto. In summer league action, he doesn't seem to have made any improvement in his shot selection or court vision — attributes that you really need from your point guard. He can be fun to watch and he showed flashes of near-brilliance last season, but his .380 FG% and .177 3P% simply don't cut it at this level.

Jack was a college team-mate of Chris Bosh's at Georgia Tech but that surely wasn't a determining factor in the decision to make him an offer. Then again, it doesn't hurt. If Bosh isn't impressed by the full-court press Colangelo is applying to convince him to re-sign beyond 2010, then I'm not sure what would make him happy, 

Bookmark and Share

 

(Comments are moderated)

Join the discussions in the RaptorBlog Forums

Return to the home page


 



 

This website is a Toronto Raptors fan site and is not affiliated with the Toronto Raptors or the National Basketball Association. This is not an official news source and, as such, information on this site should not be considered as fact. More specifically: I'm only kidding, so don't sue me. All content and images on this site, excepting that which has been attributed from another source, are copyright © 2002-2009 Scott Carefoot and RaptorBlog.com.