Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo signs a multiyear extension agreement
The Toronto Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo signed a multiyear agreement extension with the team on Tuesday. Colangelo will continue his journey as an in-charge as the Raptors continue to rebuild.
Colangelo had been serving the only Canadian team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since the last five years. His pact was expiring at the end of June this year.
After signing the deal, Colangelo issued a statement in which he stated, "I'm very pleased to get this resolved and I look forward to following through on the next critical phase of rebuilding our basketball team. I am deeply committed
to the organization and our fans and I'm even more proud to call Toronto home."
Colangelo became the part of the Raptors on February 28, 2006, after spending 15 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, which was owned by his father. He served Suns as GM and also as the President.
During this year’s regular season, the Raptors finished 14th in the Eastern Conference and registered the third worst record (22 wins and 60 losses) in their history. The poor run however made them eligible for the NBA
draft lottery pick. With the new contract extension signed, Colangelo represented the Raptors at the NBA Draft Lottery in Secaucus, New Jersey on Tuesday night and ended up winning the number five overall pick.
Back in 2006-07 season, the 45 years old Colangelo was named the NBA Executive of the Year, when the Raptors matched their franchise record of 47 victories and claimed the Atlantic Division title. However, ever since Toronto were
eliminated from the 2008 playoffs, they have never been the same and are struggling until this point.
This was the third consecutive year when the Raptors failed to register a berth in the playoffs. Moreover, they lost the services of All-Star forward Chris Bosh last summer after he became a free agency.
Colangelo has made some mistakes during his tenure with Toronto. It was he, who hired Jermaine O'Neal and Hedo Turkoglu, but both players proved big busts for the Raptors. He also received criticism from the Raptors’ fans for selecting
the Italian big man Andrea Bargnani as the No. 1 pick in 2006 NBA draft. However, Colangelo learned from his mistakes and in the last few drafts; he successfully gathered some of the best young talents available.
Richard Peddie, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment said, “Over the past few months Bryan has worked on a winning plan for the Raptors. We look forward to seeing its success on the court."
However, there was no word yet regarding the future of Raptors coach Jay Triano. Colangelo had said in an interview earlier, that he was impressed with Triano’s work and that he had done well in the difficult circumstances. The
Raptors still have time to exercise the optional year on Triano’s pact, which is till the mid of June.
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