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I assume most Raptors fans already know this, but Raptors President/GM Bryan Colangelo is in the last guaranteed year of his contract with the organization and MLSE has an option to extend him for another year. According to Adnan Virk on the Raptors NBA TV blog, Colangelo told him that all indications are that his option will be picked up and he will back to run the Raptors next season:
"He has an option after this season ends which is not his own but told me that everything he's been told by the bosses is that it will be picked up and Colangelo will return for next season and beyond. As he‘s said many times, he’s committed to building a winner in Toronto and on the basketball side of things, business is operating well."
While Colangelo has polarized Raptors fans with some of the moves he's made since he took over the franchise four seasons ago, I still think that we should be happy he wants to stick around to try to turn this team into a contender. It's easy to point out the trades and signings that haven't worked out, but the fact remains that he's still one of the most successful and well-respected executives in the league and I'm convinced that his replacement would be a downgrade.
If you're a Colangelo-hater and you want him fired after this season, ask yourself this: Can you name 10 NBA general managers that are quantifiably better than him? And even if you can, what makes you think any of them would want to leave their own successful team to run the Raptors?
I've been as critical of Colangelo as pretty much anyone out there. I hated the Turkoglu acquisition and I continue to wonder if Colangelo knows how to or cares about putting together a team that can play the kind of tough defence you need to go deep in the playoffs. But the fact remains that there isn't a single available GM who I would consider to be a definitive upgrade over him. R.C. Buford, Danny Ainge, Daryl Morey, Sam Presti... those guys aren't coming to Toronto, folks.
So when I learned that Colangelo is apparently going to continue running this team for the forseeable future, I felt neither elation nor disgust. I felt relief. I mean, honestly, look at the assclowns that have run the other Toronto sports franchises over the past few years. We could do A LOT worse.
Footnote: The timing of this news coming out a day after incoming Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov was rumored to be trying to lure Colangelo to take over his team is interesting, to say the least. 

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