Linkage for Jul 21 11pm through Jul 24 7am:

• Mediocre Forever – A Toronto Raptors Blog: Carlos Delfino speaks on Argentinean Television Show “Gol de Medianoche” about Toronto and the NBA I just finished watching Carlos Delfino on a midnight soccer talk show called “Gol de Media Noche”. There were a few interesting points he brought up about Toronto and the NBA.1. He wants to come back to Toronto. He has travelled around the US while playing for the Raptors, and for him Toronto is his favorite city not only to visit, but to live.
  2. He considers Jose Calderon a true friend, which according to him is rare in the NBA.
• MyHoopsLink.com: The Raptors are still interested in Delfino after extending a qualifying offer, and even though he’s signed to a Russian team for the next two years Colangelo extended a qualifying offer to Carlos Delfino back in June – and they are still interested in bringing him back to Toronto. But Delfino is currently signed within the Russian Super League with Khimki Moscow Region team, and he still has still more years left on the three-year deal he signed during the 2008 summer. Delfino is one of the highest-paid basketball players in Europe, as he’s getting paid $10 million dollars (US dollars), plus housing, a car and driver, and savings on taxes.In his first-year with the team, he averaged a career-high 13 points her game. He also averaged 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in Europe’s second-level competition during the 2008-09 season. He is making way more money over in Russia than he made in the NBA.
• Dr. Trade: Musings on Nash, Jack, Barnes, & Magloire | Bleacher Report Jose Calderon is one of the best point guards in the NBA (I wish more people would recognize that), so Jack is not going to have to start at that position. However, because he is capable of manning that spot, he should be the Raps’ primary point-guard sub whenever Calderon needs to sit. That is, unless Roko Ukic develops into the player Toronto hopes he’ll be.Jack will also be effective in splitting time with DeMar DeRozan at shooting guard. You don’t want to throw a rookie into a full-time starting job until he’s ready. Jack provides the perfect solution in that he can hold down the fort for half the game, but also get the rest of his minutes by switching to point guard when Calderon comes out.

  A Jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none? Some rosters need that, and Jarrett will fit the bill just fine.

• Jack already “working” Bosh « Beware The Claw So in a move that has to be considered strategic to keeping Bosh in Toronto, Brian Colangelo brought in Jarrett Jack (at 4 years, $20 million) to provide versatility, solid defense, leadership and of course, another reason for Bosh to stick around past 2010. Brilliant!Now that they have joined forces once again, Jack has “already been working me” in Bosh’s words.
• T.Jose Caldesports: Toronto: The worst sports city in North America???
• RF Radio Offical Launch and Date
• Carlos & Pops can be signed and traded – HOOPSWORLD
• The Ultimate Raptors Team: A Look Through The Years At The Best : T.O. Sports
• The NBA’s Eastern Conference Offseason Report Card | Bleacher Report
• Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack – The NBA’s best point guard combo? | Toronto Sports Media Blog
• 2 Roster Spots Open for Raptors « The Inside
• The Musically Challenged Raptors : T.O. Sports
• The Secret Chris Bosh Project – Day 2
• T.Jose Caldesports: Going in a completely different direction
• Dino Nation Blog: Canada Heavy Edition Of DNB
• Court Surfing – Summer League Report Cards – DeMar DeRozan
• Doug Smith’s No news but that doesn’t mean there are no goodies to read
• Filling the Gaps: Mensah-Bonsu vs Delfino – Raptors HQ Instead, if you haven’t guessed by now, I would much rather see the Raptors take their money and spend it on Pops Mensah-Bonsu. By starting to offer $3 million a year and going no more than the $4 million a year, the Raptors will address some of their athleticism and depth questions. As a player who helped change the energy level on the floor at times, Mensah-Bonsu would give an almost Jerome Williamsesque presence to a team that last year suffered from lethargic play on many a night. As a cheaper alternative, Mensah-Bonsu addresses depth issues that are prevalent on this roster without affecting their remaining exeptions, allowing the Raptors to still spend their money to further strengthen their front-court with free agents.
• FAN590 – Scoop On Pops – Toronto withdrew their Qualifying Offers to both Mensah-Bonsu and Delfino but did not renounce their rights.- When the Qualifying Offers were originally issued, both players became RESTRICTED free agents. However, once those Qualifying Offers were withdrawn, both players returned to UNRESTRICTED free agent status. Buuuuut …

  - They are still, technically, “the Raptors’ UFA’s” until they sign with another NBA team or Toronto renounces them.

  Again, that info comes straight from the Raptors … and from folks with deeper knowledge of the league rules and the CBA than you or I will ever have.

  Of course the bigger question is … Will either player be on the Raps’ roster this season?

• Don’t Expect Jack To Be Content With Backup Role « The Raptor Salute I think it’s also important to note the fact that the two times Jack was confronted with the issue of starting, the former Pacer did not say he planned on being a reserve. In fact, when asked by Adnan Virk of RaptorsTV about whether Colangelo had gone into any specifics about his role, Jack was honest with his answer.“He didn’t go into any specifics. I think he’s going to leave it up to coach Triano and myself.” Jack replied. “And come training camp, everybody will let the chips fall where they may.”
• Double De Delivers
• RaptorBlog.com PER and Loathing in Las Vegas
• Is bringing back Pops a Rash(o) decision? « Raptors Report
• Raptors return to the playoffs. – Raptors HQ
• Bosh laughs at idea of Knicks – Knicks Blog
• RAPTORS: Matt Devlin’s Blog
• 2008-09 Win Charts for every NBA team – Bucks Diary
• Jarrett Jack… More than Bosh’s friend… « the rev.elation
• Court Surfing – Raptors’ Busy Off-Season Continues
• NBA At 2: SPL Grades Pt. 2 – HOOPSWORLD
• The Salami & Cheese: …Now what?
• Dino Nation Blog: It Costs A Lot To Look That Good
• Hedo Turkoglu’s Rap Debut | Dime Magazine
• Raptors vs 2010/11 Luxury Tax « nbaroundtable
• Now playing in Raptorland – New Jack City | Cuzoogle
• Doug Smith We’ve Got Names and We’ve Got Numbers
• Is Marcus Banks the Key to the Season? – Raptors HQ
• Delfino Not Satisfied: That Sounds Familiar | FanSided.com So as I’ve read more and more at different places about Delfino’s Russia-NBA saga I’ve come away with the opinion that Delfino was never really satisfied with playing in the NBA, and was never truely hell-bent on proving that he even had the goods to stick with the big boys for the long haul. That’s what I’ve been most irritated by since the end of the Delfino era in Detroit. It’s not so much that he’s not playing in the best league in the world, it’s about how he conducted himself while in the NBA that has always irked me.
• Jack Can Officially Call Toronto Home « The Raptor Salute Jarrett brings a number of intangibles to the table. His versatility (able to play both guard positions) and his durability (has missed only 6 games in his career) are two aspects Toronto has always seemed to be lacking. One also can’t ignore the fact that Jarrett Jack shares a close relationship with Chris Bosh. With the possibility of Bosh leaving in 2010, bringing in one of his best friends should play at least somewhat of a role in CB’s final decision. At the end of the day, regardless of how productive JJ can be, this can certainly be viewed as a good fit for T.O.
• Raptor Report: Heels on the Airwaves « Heels on Hardwood I haven’t had a chance to put out my thoughts on the Jarrett Jack signing but plan to get to that sometime today. I did though, get a chance to be a guest on the Fan590 last night to talk about the Raptors.
• Raps get Jacked up « That’s what I’m saying, guy…
• Ball in Europe – Stefano Mancinelli packing up for the ‘States Rumor has it that at least three NBA teams are currently pursuing Mancinelli: the Toronto Raptors, who are seemingly interested in every European player that comes down the pike; the Los Angeles Lakers, especially with Lamar Odom still in free-agency limbo; and perhaps his most likely destination, the Portland Trail Blazers.
• Raptors officially welcome free-agent signee Jarrett Jack to team – NBA – SI.com “I just remember coaching and calling out plays, he was picking up our guys and looking over and stealing plays and relaying them back to his teammates and always talking,” Toronto coach Jay Triano said in Las Vegas, where he is working with USA Basketball this week. “He just showed me he was very prepared for the games, very much a leader with his team because he really communicates.”
• TheStar.com | New Raptor Jack spreads generosity around Bosh, who made a cameo appearance at Jack’s introductory news conference, said he’s impressed with the moves president and general manager Bryan Colangelo’s made but remained non-committal.”For sure, I’m really excited about next year,” Bosh said. “Not too excited to the point I was last year (when he and Jermaine O’Neal were supposed to be a dominant frontcourt duo) but just looking at it, I think we have the chance to have a good team if we do the right things.”

  Jack would seem to be a perfect fit for the Raptors roster, a combo guard who could spell Jose Calderon at the point or whoever wins the starting shooting guard position.

  “The moves that have been made have been systematic and well thought out,” said Colangelo. “This is another piece of the puzzle.”

• He’s got durability | Toronto Sun If Jarrett Jack has proved one thing in his three years in the league and his college career, it’s that the concept of a day off is foreign to him.Jack is one of only 11 NBA players that has not missed a game in two consecutive seasons. In his rookie year in Portland, he played in 79 of the 82 games, which means he has missed just three games his entire pro career. He also started every game of his Georgia Tech career except on Mar. 5, 2005 against Clemson.

  As it stands now, Jack likely is looking at a sixth-man role in Toronto unless 19-year-old rookie DeMar DeRozan isn’t quite ready to fill the hole at shooting guard.

• Raps happy to land Jack | Toronto Sun Jack pledged to do his part to ensure that Bosh, who could jump ship after this season, returns. He was asked if he thought he would be able to keep Bosh around longer than the one year at Georgia Tech before Bosh opted for the NBA draft.”I hope so man, but the last time I played with him and he left, we went to the championship without him so he might be the one holding us back,” Jack joked before adding, “I think with what we do this year, we can put a lot of pressure on him to come back.”

  That’s quite a turnaround for an organization that was contemplating the worst just three short months ago.

• Jack joins Raptors for $20M
• Ed O’Bannon Taught Us The Fans Aren’t Always Right | Toronto Mike’s Blog
• NBA Draft Pick DeMar DeRozan
• Bryan Colangelo – The FAN 590 Toronto – Audio on Demand
• Chisholm: Raptors did well to acquire Jack
• Toronto Sun: Jack aims to be a good teammate
• Chris Bosh Party