Toronto Raptors: Jose Calderon’s Return Sparks Another Point Guard Controversy
Jose Calderon practised in full on Tuesday, and is expected to start on Wednesday night.
It appears to be the T.J Ford vs Jose Calderon debate all over again. Except this time, it seems that Calderon will be the odd man out.
Jerryd Bayless appears to have an odd syndrome where he performs well when he’s inserted into the starting line-up, but is mediocre coming off the bench.
At the end of last season when Jose Calderon was shut down with an injury, Bayless averaged 18.1 ppg and 6.7 apg, but it appears that his stellar play was forgotten when the veteran Calderon was handed the starting job this offseason.
This year as a starter, Bayless has averaged 17.8 ppg and 5.3 apg, and during his recent stretch with Calderon’s injury he’s averaged 21.8 ppg on .543 shooting with 7.6 assists per game and has locked up his man defensively. Playing defence is something Bayless has failed to do his whole career, but he’s starting to develop in that area as well.
Obviously, Jose Calderon is the more polished point guard. He’s a stellar playmaker and an elite pick and roll point guard, and is posting career high’s in virtually every category. But in a rebuilding year, is it beneficial to start the 30 year old Calderon?
People seem to forget that Bayless was a lottery pick, and that he’s only 23 years old. He took advantage of his opportunity, yet reports have indicated that Jose Calderon is returning tonight and will be starting. Bayless continues to develop as a starter, but the Raptors are taking away from his development by sending him to the bench.
So what’s the answer to what appears to be a never ending debate in Toronto? As I’ve said before, it’s time to let Jerryd Bayless take that starting role for good. The Raptors didn’t pursue a trade for Calderon due to his injury at the deadline, but this offseason, Bryan Colangelo needs to realize it’s time to part with point guard he brought in 7 years ago, and give the reigns to the young and upcoming Bayless. Considering the Raptors will likely get good value for Calderon, they should absolutely deal him and extend free-agent-to-be Bayless’ contract, because it is highly unlikely that they will re-sign Bayless for a reserve role.
Another possibility is to start both point guards, and play a small lineup. However, this often didn’t bode well for the Raptors against bigger teams and could pose many problems.
There’s evidently pros and cons for both point guards, but at the end of the day, Bryan Colangelo is building towards the future, not the present, and the future is Jerryd Bayless.
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