Kleiza a costly loss for Raptors

The jury was always out on Linas Kleiza from the moment the Raptors dug deep into their wallets and offered the Lithuanian a handsome contract he simply couldn’t refuse to sign.

When the Denver Nuggets did the expected by not matching, Kleiza became Toronto’s property, a serviceable small forward who became the team’s starter almost by default.

When matched up against smaller defenders, Kleiza could take his man into the post and either score by getting off his own shot or defer.

When matched up against taller defenders, Kleiza could take his man away from the basket and had enough ball handling skills to put it on the deck or help spread the floor with his perimeter presence.

Defensively, Kleiza almost summed up the Raptors as a team in that he wasn’t quick enough to chase his man around screens and not physical enough to defend the post when a size mismatch was obvious.

But like any free agent, in Kleiza’s case a restricted free agent, the Raptors, given their place as a non-American team, had to overspend, forking over a four-year deal worth roughly $20 million.

It’s now questionable whether the Raptors will ever get the proper bang for their buck in the wake of the news that Kleiza has undergone microfracture surgery to his right knee, a procedure that involves a recovery ranging anywhere from nine months to a full year.

There was no hint of Kleiza’s long-term absence at Thursday’s practice, no definite timetable until the assembled media was informed of a release issued by the club.

In a nutshell, the release stated that Kleiza underwent arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday by Dr. J. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colo., “to address both a meniscal tear and chondral defect of his right knee ... Due to the nature of the microfracture procedure performed, the recovery time is expected to be nine to 12 months.”

It may take that long for the Raptors to repair yet another blow to their image.

By no means was it the club’s fault that Kleiza got hurt in the first place, but his extended absence and uncertain future do pose the big-picture question of the type of players Toronto has brought to town and the financial commitment that was necessary to attract a player.

During his time in Denver with the Nuggets, Kleiza was a decent role player coming off the bench, a guy who could score in certain matchups but had deficiencies on defence.

Before the Raptors extended their offer sheet, Kleiza was the talk of the Euroleague while playing in Greece and he certainly turned heads at last summer’s world championships in Turkey.

But European basketball and international play aren’t exactly on par with the NBA, where scorers must be able to create.

While Kleiza did emerge as Toronto’s best player following the pre-season, in hindsight all it really served was to expose the Raptors’ flawed roster.