Virtus Lottomatica Roma guard Roko Ukic is giving the Toronto Raptors options at the point guard position. In a pre season game against the Raptors, Ukic was impressive scoring 10 points and adding 9 assists in a 93-87 loss. The Raptors drafted Ukic out of the second round in 2005 and have kept a close eye on him since then. There is some dispute on whether or not he’ll be able to play the “nba” style, but there have always been question marks when it comes to European players playing in North America.
So what can the Raptors expect from Ukic? If all goes well with his development he could be in a Raptor uniform next season. What this does for the Raptors is give them a few options at point guard. Bryan Colangelo could trade either TJ Ford or Jose Calderon and get quality players in return. Calderon is an unrestricted free agent after this season and is rumoured to demand around five million a season. Ford is locked in for the next three seasons and is a crucial part of the Raptors offense.
So as a Raptor fan, what do you think Colangelo should do? He could resign Calderon and ensure quality at point guard for years to come; trade either Ford or Calderon for a quality big man and count on Ukic as a back up; allow Calderon to become a free agent and clear cap space for a big free agent signing in the off season. If you were Colangelo what would you do?
Technorati Tags: Roko Ukic, Jose Calderon, TJ Ford, Virtus Lottomatica Roma, Bryan Colangelo
October 9th, 2007 at 10:01 am
i forgot about ukic. kid was supposed to be a lottery pick if you remember. so he does have game. gives us options…im a big fan of options!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
It is nice that the Raps have options. I can remember only a few years ago when terrible nba players would log huge minutes for the dinos. now we have strong players battleing for minutes. I’m excited about Delfino…he had a quality showing against the Celtics; 31 minutes, 6 offensive boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 TO’s, 7 points(3-4). He plays solid D at either the sg or sf position.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I think as a franchise the best move would be to lock up Calderon to a long term contract before the season starts. there is a high demand for point guards so it wouldnt be hard to trade Calderon, Ford or Ukic if need be. The raps needed Calderon last year when FOrd went down and continued his strong play the rest of the season.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:24 am
at this point, i dont see them signing calderon to a long term contract. it is a contract year, no sense locking him up now.
if he plays really well, come trade deadline, people will come knocking, and we will be in a position to move him or ford. trading ukic at this point is not a good option because he is young, and will come cheap for his first contract.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
you can’t keep two starting point guards on the same team. i’m guessing calderon will be traded.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
there are too few pass first point guards in the nba. The raps have the luxury of having 2, which means that every minute of the game they have a floor general. i think that it’s important to sign him now before he has an unbelievalbe season and demands big money. Then if Ulic turns into a nba pg the raps have the option to trade 1 of their 3 guards.