Colangelo explains the Jack trade

Colangelo did what he had to Jose Calderon has lived nine lives in Toronto. Over the years, the Raptors have tried to find a more talented replacement for the Spanish point guard. And each time, they failed. They even had a deal done with Charlotte for Tyson Chandler, but Bobcats general manager Michael Jordan backed away.

Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo continued his policy of honesty by saying the Calderon deal would have improved the team. When it fizzled, Colangelo said he hoped Calderon and Jarrett Jack, the latest potential replacement, would improve their relationship and eliminate the need for another major move.

But they couldn’t get along, and Colangelo moved Jack to New Orleans last month. Very rarely are general managers so brutally frank about player relationships. We credit Colangelo for detailing why he wanted to trade the productive Jack — because he was the most marketable commodity. Calderon is a liability defensively and is a better 3-point shooter than 2-point shooter.

“We came to the conclusion last year that one of either Jose or Jarrett had to go,’’ Colangelo said. “And I made that proclamation that I would trade one of the two, if not both.

“We went into training camp with the notion that maybe it was going to work and maybe it would play out to be a favorable situation, and if you look at the whole premise of why we got Jarrett Jack, we needed arguably a better backup point guard. We needed a player that would complement the rest of the team, which we got [in Jerryd Bayless].’’

Sometimes the best-laid plans of general managers never pan out. Some players are unable to overcome personality clashes. Sometimes there is resentment sparked by the competition. And it’s the responsibility of the GM to make the tough call. Colangelo did

“Whether it was competing agendas, one player up, one player down, it never seemed to have a good chemistry or flow there, because there was something that obviously wasn’t working,’’ he said. “Some of that [leadership] is overplayed. The locker room was void of leadership at the beginning of the year. And I can’t say that any one person has stepped up.’’