Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Bryan Colangelo may or may not be exhaling.
The Toronto Raptors team president has yet to see his option for a contract extension picked up, and recent weeks have seen a scuttlebutt emerge about the franchise’s interest in Phil Jackson for the very position that Colangelo currently occupies. Colangelo possesses plenty of great bullets on his resume — from building the seven-seconds-or-less era for Phoenix Suns or earning Executive of the Year in 2007 — but the most currently relevant fact is that Toronto has not earned a playoff bid since 2008.
“Obviously at the beginning of the year I felt like we were all hopeful internally to possibly make the playoffs, knock on the door, but at the end of the day it didn’t happen,” Colangelo said after the season, via The Canadian Press. “I believe where we are is a much greater place, a much more developed team, much further down the path then a number of people in the media seem to think. And that’s not to be defensive or take offence to what’s being said, but we are pretty much exactly where I thought we would be with respect to the roster make-up.”
“I believe three years ago year one we won 28 percent of our games. Year two it was 35 percent and this year we won 42 percent. The next step is obviously to get to the point where you exceed 50 per cent and guarantee yourself a playoff spot.”
The Rudy Gay trade was viewed by many as a desperate last-ditch effort for Colangelo to hold onto his job despite the future issues that Gay’s ridiculous contract will cause. As it currently stands, after the team’s 30-30 finish post-Gay trade, it could be the best chance to save Colangelo’s job. That is if he even survives this offseason.
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
