Jack, 25, is a defensive standout, capable of guarding both backcourt positions well.
He would likely be the sixth man, backing up Jose Calderon at the point, while also seeing some minutes beside him.
Jack is also a close friend of Chris Bosh, dating to their season together at Georgia Tech.
The offer might be too rich for the cap-conscious Pacers, who still have point guards Ford, Travis Diener and A.J. Price on their roster.
Adding Jack at the very least puts pressure on Ukic, the second-year Croatian guard who has been spotty during two games in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and suggests that Marcus Banks, who was acquired by the Raptors from Miami along with Shawn Marion, isn’t likely to be on the roster come training camp.
The Raptors sill have about $7-million to spend before they bump up against the luxury tax. It’s expected their next priority will be to sign a veteran big man, with former Raptor Rasho Nesterovic an oft-mentioned target.
Henry Thomas, who represents Wade and Bosh, said his clients are looking forward to evaluating extension offers from their teams.
"You can editorialize about the numbers that you’ve heard from the NBA as far as what they projected the cap will be," Thomas said. "I’m aware of what the NBA has projected. They say that’s a good-faith projection. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. But everything relevant to the guys making the decisions whether they should extend their contracts now or not is going to be evaluated."
When we put the whole picture together, it appears the Raptors will employ the following starting line-up in 2009-10: Calderon (PG), Wright and/or DeRozan (SG), Turkoglu (SF), Bosh (PF), Bargnani [C]. Last season the NBA veterans in this line-up combined to produce fewer than 30 wins. So unless these players improve dramatically, or the team finds very productive players off the bench, it’s hard to see how this team improves dramatically. And that’s true even if Delfino returns to Toronto (although if Evans returns to what we saw in the past there might be some hope this team can get past 40 wins).
It would appear that Bryan Colangelo is recruiting some former Georgia Tech stars to make Chris Bosh happy. Reports are circulating that the Raptors have offered former Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack a contract. I guess this is what you do when trying to sell your franchise player that he should stay in the city that drafted him for the long term. It always amazes me that the organizations sell their souls for certain players, when in actual fact it should be the other way around. I imagine when there were fewer professional sports jobs available, players would go the extra mile for the organization and be happy that they were getting paid to play a sport that they loved.
He would be a major upgrade for the team and though they have multiple players who can play the point, none seem to be candidates for the job over the course of a 82 game season. Indiana was already flirting with the tax limit and may be handcuffed at this point unable to match the offer. The Pacers did try the tandem PG strategy with Jack and TJ Ford (a scenario that had played out in Toronto previously with Ford & Calderon) and by seasons end Jack had won the starting spot. Going forward though, seeing that they have a ton of money tied up with Ford and Tinsley, it’s very unlikely they pony up the cash to keep Jack in Indiana.
Ok, this team is asleep. Calderon got hurt, Jermaine O’Neal was completely ineffective on both sides of the ball, they couldn’t go inside, they KINDA went outside, with Calderon out they couldn’t execute, they fired their former Coach of the Year, and this team de-railed. I could not have been more wrong about this team. But my man-crush on Chris Bosh persists… I really want him to come to Detroit.
Once again there is further proof that the Canadians are trying to become the dominant country in North America as news reaches us from the “Associated Press“. The Toronto Raptors have reportedly signed restricted free agent guard Jarrett Jack to an offer sheet said to be for 4 years and worth $20 million. Jack just finished season number four in the NBA his first with the Indiana Pacers. He spent his first three seasons playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Jack put up the best numbers of his career this past season averaging 13.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds a game.
Nesterovic, 33, spent last season with the Indiana Pacers (averaging 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game) after being dealt from Toronto in the Jermaine O’Neal-T.J. Ford deal. He knows a role here would be as a backup and he’s fine with that; he also knows there will be no rush to get things done. "I know the first week (of free agency) is to get the stars done and the big names," he said. "I can wait."
The Raptors have offered Pacers guard Jarrett Jack at four-year, $20 million contract.
The money is a tad rich for a player who would likely not even be a starter in Toronto, but overpaying a bit is necessary, or else the Pacers will match the offer sheet for the restricted free agent.
Here are some pros and cons and interesting facts about Jarrett Jack:
Toronto’s Summer League team is one of the worst I’ve had the pleasure of watching up close and personal these past few days and it’s a bit scary to think that several of its members played key roles for Toronto last year. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise then that the Raps failed to make the playoffs and struggled when they had to rely on their bench group.
BC is trying to remedy this situation and hopefully he’ll be able to complete the task without blowing the bank too much. With the salary cap expected to drop further next year, Toronto’s management team will have to be wary of this when making contract offers and I therefore wouldn’t be surprised to see many front-loaded deals.
