Toronto Raptors: Bryan Colangelo Signed to Multi-Year Contract

Today, on Tuesday May 17, 2011, right before the draft lottery, which will be a huge deciding point in the Raptors future, the Toronto Raptors signed Bryan Colangelo to a multi-year contract extension. This signing will keep Colangelo as the Raptors General Manager up until the end of the 2012-2013 NBA season.

Colangelo has done a very good job with the Raptors in my opinion. Many people still criticize him for drafting Bargnani before Lamarcus Aldridge, or the fact that he barely got anything from the Chris Bosh trade, but considering all of the other things he has done, he has done a very good job and has made this team an up-and-comer in the league.

Colangelo started his career as the Raptor's GM in 2006, the same year they got the first overall pick in the 2006 Draft. With this pick, Colangelo picked Andrea Bargnani, who has shown to the entire league that he is one of the hardest players in the league to guard on offense, but has yet to prove he is able to defend and rebound the ball well.

The same year, he made some other changes which led the Raptors to win the Atlantic division for the first time in franchise history. Their success would be short lived for only two years though. The team has not made the playoffs since the 07-08 season, but it was actually a good thing for the Raptors if you look at it in a positive way.

In the 2009 NBA Draft, Colangelo picked the future of this Raptors team, which turned out to be DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan was picked with the ninth overall pick. This, surprisingly, is the same pick that Bryan Colangelo used to draft Amare Stoudemire. DeMar has the potential to be a great shooting guard in this league. He needs to improve his jumper right now, and he can be a 24 PPG guy in the next season.

Just last draft, Colangelo picked Ed Davis form North Carolina. This was most notable because it was a hint to everyone out there that Chris Bosh was out of Toronto. Davis has shown upside, especially on defense. His offensive game needs some much needed improvement, but near the end of the season, Davis players his greatest basketball, showing everyone that he can be an 18-point and 11-rebound guy every season consistently. He can also be a great defensive player for years to come.

Colangelo has had his ups and downs when it comes to July first. He has made horrible deals such as the Hedo Turkoglu one, but has fortunately turned those into better situations. one example would be trading Hedo for Leandro Barbosa. Hedo is still having his struggles while Barbosa is back to his old sixth man of the year form.

It was a good move by the MLSE to keep Colangelo, and with the 5th pick in the NBA draft this year, he might just be making some moves to make this team a better one.

Thanks for reading!