Kyle Lowry v.s Jose Calderon

     With preseason just a couple days away, coach Dwayne Casey will get a chance to evaluate his group and determine who will start on opening day. Coach Casey will definitely keep a close eye at the point guard position to see whether point guard Jose Calderon or newly acquired point guard Kyle Lowry deserve to start on opening night.

As it was announced that the Raptors had acquired Kyle Lowry in the summer, point-guard Jose Calderon was not impressed with the trade. Various sources of media reported that he requested a trade as he was expecting to be the starting point guard for the '12-13 NBA season. Colangelo also said that he has no plans of moving Calderon. Therefore, there will no doubt be competition as to which one of the point guards will deserve the starting role on opening night. Below are the strengths and weaknesses that I found of Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowry to give an idea of who deserves the starting role on opening day. 

Kyle Lowry

Strengths:

- Young (26 years old)
- Good scorer and is able to find ways to score to the basket (15.9 points per game last season)
- Great rebounder (5.3 rebounds per game last season)
- Good work ethic

Weakness:

- Lacks experience as a starting point guard (starting point guard with former team Houston Rockets for only two seasons)

Jose Calderon

Strenghts:

- Pass-first point guard
- Able to make plays for his teammates (8.8 assists per game last season)
- Experience (started 293 games for the Raptors since 2005)
- Valuable (expiring $10 million dollar contract)

Weakness: Poor defender

Based on this comparison, I would want Kyle Lowry to start as he is young and would fit with the young, energetic and fast core squad (Demar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Jonas Valanciunas, ED Davis and so on). Also, Lowry is pretty young and his hard work and energy will help anchor this team to be energetic and fast paced. In my opinion, coach Casey's plan to make his team more defensive should easily give Lowry the starting role because I think his double dribble penetration defense and pressuring the ball against his opponents will be an advantage over Calderon's poor defense.

What do you guys think? Should Kyle Lowry deserve the start over Jose Calderon or vice versa? Feel free to comment on your opinion and there will be more posts to come!

Part 2 review of Toronto Raptors 2012 off-season

Other off-season moves by the Toronto Raptors:

- The Toronto Raptors finally signed Centre Jonas Valanciunas this year to a rookie contract who was selected 4^th in the first in 2011 by the Raptors as his team agreed to a buyout. Valanciunas is a promising big man with his strength for rebounding and blocking shots which the Raptors really need in the post. 

- Raptors choose not bring back Jerryd Bayless as they removed his qualifying offer of about $4 million who then signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. Bayless did express interest to remain with the Raptors. However, due to the acquisition of point guard Lowry and having Calderon as a point guard would have made it costly for Raptors to keep Bayless

- Raptors traded James Johnson for a 2^nd round pick as we all knew it would happen because of reported conflict between the management 

 

- Raptors signed point guard John Lucas III to a 2 year 3 million dollar contract who is a very good option as a 3^rd string point guard

- Raptors signed veteran Alan Anderson who can provide support to the bench. He was also signed late last season when multiple Raptor players were injured

- Raptors brought back and signed centre Aaron Gray who can be one of the mentors to Valanciunas

Raptors also brought Canadian centre and Torontonian Jamal Magloire, a veteran who has played 12 NBA seasons will be a key mentor to Jonas Valanciunas

- Raptors signed forward Dominic McGuire who played with Golden State warriors last season and appeared in 64 games

     To sum up the whole offseason, it was a good one for the Toronto Raptors. Although they are not likely to win the championship this season, they are heading towards the right direction and getting to the playoffs this season should be their main priority. However, the team must be able to mesh and it could days, weeks or even months.  Please stay tuned to my blog as I will be blogging more about Raptors related news in a couple days!