Fairness is virtue, and the staff at the RR home office in Athabasca, Alberta fully subscribe to that as they present the Top Ten Bryan Colangelo Successes.
- Drafted DeMar DeRozan with the 9th overall pick in the 2009 draft. DeRozan was far from spectacular in his rookie year, was a little streaky but brings athleticism and an ability to get to the FT line. It’s too early to judge this move, but it does appear that DeRozan is on his way to being a good NBA player.
- In his second summer in charge, signed D-Leaguer Jamario Moon who nobody had ever heard of. Moon had a good season in Toronto as a backup and occasional starter, but as soon as he was promoted to the starting lineup in his second year, he struggled and eventually got thrown in as filler in the Shawn Marion trade.
- Traded Fred Jones to the Portland Trail Blazers for Juan Dixon. Jones was signed as a free-agent but failed to fire (39% FG with the Raptors), so Colangelo acted at the trade deadline and got Juan Dixon for him. In limited minutes, Dixon played the role of a tweener guard very well.
- Traded Rafael Araujo to the Utah Jazz for Kris Humphries and Robert Whaley. Araujo now plays in Brazil. With monkeys in the Amazon. Humphries turned out to be a serviceable player for the Raptors.
- Traded two future second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons for Carlos Delfino. Delfino wasn’t getting the playing time in Detroit and the Raptors nabbed him on the cheap. He turned out to be a solid player for the Raptors, albeit a little inconsistent. Later on he was parlayed into Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.
- Traded Charlie Villanueva to the Milwaukee Bucks for TJ Ford and cash. After stating publicly that Villauneva was part of the Raptors future, he traded him days later for Ford. The trade got mixed reviews but Ford was a key part of the Raptors division-winning 2006-07 squad.
- In Colangelo’s first summer, he dipped into the European market successfully once again and picked out Jorge Garbajosa, who brought much-needed grit and a defensive presence at multiple positions.
- As part of the Raptors early rebuild, signed Anthony Parker who was still at the tail end of his prime. The Raptors got one very good year, one decent year and one bad year out of him. Parker was the key wingman in the Raptors 2006-07 season as he shot a blistering 44% from three.
- Signed guard Jarrett Jack for the mid-level exception in 2009. Jack was perhaps the Raptors grittiest player this season and one of the few Raptors whose effort could not be questioned. Surprisingly, he led the team in 3P% at 41.2%, reduce his TO/48 and increases his A/48.
…and the #1 Bryan Colangelo success is…drum roll….
- Traded Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic to the Milwaukee Bucks for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems. The trade was made for Johnson with Weems as a throw-in. Weems turned out to be a much more refined player than originally though and is now widely considered to be part of the Raptors “core”. Sometimes you need to be good to be lucky.
