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| Colangelo's contract has a team option for next season with the Raptors, but it may be declined if the team heads in a complete rebuilding mode |
I wrote back a few weeks ago that the Toronto Raptors were pursuing Phil Jackson for team president, a new role for the title-winning head coach. But now, with current president and general manager Bryan Colangelo facing a team option to determine his future role with the Raptors, the franchise–out of the playoffs for the last five seasons and 34-38 in the 2012-13 campaign–has a choice to make: Either keep Colangelo around and risk the continuing of futility or cut him loose, go all-out for Jackson, and drum up some more interest in the team if not improve it significantly.
As Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun notes (note: In the column, he refers to the Nets as being from "New Jersey" still, not Brooklyn. Newspapers, I tell ya), the new president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (the parent company of the Raptors), Tim Leiwecke, probably wants to distance his reign over the Raptors from the previous one by replacing the president and GM that fans of the team associate with the franchise's recent cold spell in terms of playoff appearances and overall success, of which has nose-dived since Chris Bosh left Toronto to join up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami with the Heat.
And that's why Zicarelli mentions that a decision on Colangelo's future may be made on Monday, the franchise-altering move that could either shut Phil Jackson out of a front-office job with the team or leave a gaping hole in the franchise's executive structure that P-Jax could easily fill. But nothing is known right now about how Leiwecke and others at MLSE will rule with regards to Colangelo's team option.
That is to be found out soon, of course, when the information is released by the team. Just looking at all the evidence surrounding the Raptors right now, it's tough to see how Colangelo could be brought back for another under a new boss (Leiwecke), especially when looking at his track record the past five seasons.
This can be summed up in this passage from Zicarelli's piece:
What the Raptors franchise needs is clarity in the executive suites and results on the hardwood, not exactly the hallmarks that have characterized the club in recent years.
