Well, Bryan Colangelo’s impressive fast-tracking of the rebuilding job in Toronto just took a hit. A day after apparently finding a taker for José Calderon’s slightly onerous contract in the Bobcats -- as well as getting two useful players in Boris Diaw and Tyson Chandler in return -- the deal is reportedly off. According to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has nixed the deal between Charlotte and Toronto, meaning Calderon (and Reggie Evans) will have to awkwardly return to the Raptors after bidding their farewells, with Diaw and Chandler doing the same in Charlotte. The trade between the Raptors and Suns of Hedo Turkoglu for Leandro Barbosa, which was part of a three-team deal with the Raptors-Bobcats trade, is unaffected, however.
Michael Jordan Cancels Jose Calderon For Boris Diaw And Tyson Chandler Trade Between Bobcats And Raptors
Jordan was reportedly hesitant to trade Chandler, who when healthy is a defensive fixture for Charlotte, per Yahoo!‘s Adrian Wojnarowski. Chandler’s contract also expires after this coming season, making him quite a valuable commodity to cost-cutting GMs around the league, which was half of his appeal to Colangelo and the Raptors, who are looking for the financial flexibility to remake their team after making a series of ill-advised signings the past few years.
With former Bobcat point guard Raymond Felton now a New York Knick, expect Charlotte to look for other alternatives to fill their hole at point guard, assuming coach Larry Brown still disfavors incumbent D.J. Augustin, a former lottery pick. As for the Raptors, expect them to creatively look for ways to move Calderon’s long-term salary in a bid to get substantial cap room two summers from now. And at the very least, they’ve still managed to unload Hedo Turkoglu’s seemingly untradeable contract.
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