Raptors sign PG, Jose Calderon

[kobasew19]

Raptors sign PG


Anyone know a thing on this guy?

[CaramonLS]

No I have no idea... but that Assists per game stat he has is absolutely Horrific for a Point guard.

Maybe they play a totally different game in Europe... but wow.

[Mike__]

Calderon is one of the best players over in Europe. Probably top two. He is very young and that is the major reason for his low assist stats. He is still learning to play the point and knows he needs to work on it. One of the main reasons why he turned down a two year offer from Milwaukee. He has plenty of international experience also played for Spain in the olympics.

The guy can score. Look at is career FG %. Over 500. He plays like a SG. He is athletic, quick and can drive the basket with the best of them. He is fairly tall and has an NBA body. Not afraid of contact and is a great finisher. Some comparisons I would think are in between a Manu Ginobli and a less flashy Dwayne Wade.

Great pickup by Babcock, He is young and could turn out to be a great player in the NBA. Finally this team is stocking up on young players.

[octothorp]

The article fails to mention how soon after Toronto started courting Calderon, his Spanish team, Tau Ceramica, turned around and signed Raptors prospect Roko Ukic to a four year contract. It would have been great if Babcock could have kept both Calderon and Ukic over here. As it is, it isnt the worst possible scenario: Calderon plays behind Alston for a couple years until we can get rid of his contract, and then bring over Ukic.

[Trojan97]

Another thing about the low assist rate. In Europe they judge assists differently, apparently you have to basically make a pass that results in a layup to get credited with one. Babcock said on the few occasions that he watched Calderon play he counted around 9-10 assists each time however he was never officially credited with more then 3 from any of those games.

Tremendous Signing though. Calderon is much more NBA ready then Ukic at this point. Hopefully in a few years Ukic will have matured and will be ready to come over to either take Calderon's spot or join him in the back court.

[Cheese]

Originally posted by octothorp@Aug 4 2005, 01:47 AM
The article fails to mention how soon after Toronto started courting Calderon, his Spanish team, Tau Ceramica, turned around and signed Raptors prospect Roko Ukic to a four year contract. It would have been great if Babcock could have kept both Calderon and Ukic over here. As it is, it isnt the worst possible scenario: Calderon plays behind Alston for a couple years until we can get rid of his contract, and then bring over Ukic.

It was the other way around...they signed Ukic first which meant that Calderon freed up...he then signed with the Craptors.

[Mike__]

Originally posted by Cheese+Aug 4 2005, 05:21 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Cheese @ Aug 4 2005, 05:21 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-octothorp@Aug 4 2005, 01:47 AM
The article fails to mention how soon after Toronto started courting Calderon, his Spanish team, Tau Ceramica, turned around and signed Raptors prospect Roko Ukic to a four year contract. It would have been great if Babcock could have kept both Calderon and Ukic over here. As it is, it isnt the worst possible scenario: Calderon plays behind Alston for a couple years until we can get rid of his contract, and then bring over Ukic.

It was the other way around...they signed Ukic first which meant that Calderon freed up...he then signed with the Craptors. [/b][/quote]
Didn't Babcock also buyout Ukic's contract with another team?

[CaramonLS]

Ahh ok, wasn't sure about the Low assist totals, but thats great news to hear hes one of the best European players out there.

[octothorp]

Originally posted by Cheese+Aug 4 2005, 05:21 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Cheese @ Aug 4 2005, 05:21 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-octothorp@Aug 4 2005, 01:47 AM
The article fails to mention how soon after Toronto started courting Calderon, his Spanish team, Tau Ceramica, turned around and signed Raptors prospect Roko Ukic to a four year contract. It would have been great if Babcock could have kept both Calderon and Ukic over here. As it is, it isnt the worst possible scenario: Calderon plays behind Alston for a couple years until we can get rid of his contract, and then bring over Ukic.

It was the other way around...they signed Ukic first which meant that Calderon freed up...he then signed with the Craptors. [/b][/quote]
Calderon has been in talks with the Raptors for weeks, and at the time those talks were first known, Ukic was still talking about playing for the Raptors this year. A few days after the Raptors talks with Calderon became public, Tau gave a huge offer to Ukic. They basically made it clear that if Toronto was going to go after their PG, they were going after Torontos.