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If any two Raptors could be blamed for last season's meltdown, Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon would draw plenty of votes. The 28-year-old Calderon, a five-year veteran out of Spain, watched his numbers fall dramatically as coach Jay Triano turned more frequently to Jarrett Jack, a better defender at the point guard position. Calderon is two disappointing seasons into a five-year, $38 million deal, fitting (with Turkoglu) the apparent post-Bosh mold of middling players making massive salaries.It didn't take long for Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo to reverse that trend, though. Turkoglu, as reported Sunday, is off to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa, while Calderon and roleplaying big man Reggie Evans will be moved to Charlotte for forward Boris Diaw and center Tyson Chandler. The contracts of Barbosa and Diaw expire in 2012. Chandler and Evans have contracts which expire next summer.
In the moves, Colangelo managed to knock out almost $33 million in total future commitments. And with Diaw able to fill Turkoglu's small forward position, Chandler likely to team with Andrea Bargnani up front and Jack ready to take over for Calderon, it's hard to argue Toronto got much worse with this new set of trades.
Certainly, the new Raptors are much better suited to play defense than the last collection was. Ironic, considering recently departed star Chris Bosh always whined about needing tougher teammates. Chandler is precisely the sort of frontcourt mate Bosh always wanted; instead, Bargnani gets him for dirty work duties.
But the key here is in cleaning up the mess Colangelo created over the last few years, and kudos on that. Diaw and Barbosa as assets are imminently more desirable than Turkoglu or Calderon; should the talent mix not work out this season, Colangelo could be playing the summer market again.
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