On Wednesday, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors basketball team took care of some unfinished business.
Bryan Colangelo made a huge trade, to get superstar player Rudy Gay.
It all started back in 2006. At that time, Colangelo held the “number-one overall draft pick.” That meant he could choose any eligible player and add them to his team.
He travelled around the world, looking for the perfect person to add to the Raptors.
He found two players he liked: Italian superstar Andrea Bargnani and University of Connecticut star Rudy Gay.
On draft day in 2006, Colangelo chose Bargnani. But he never lost interest in Rudy Gay.
Two days ago, Colangelo completed a complex trade in order to get Rudy Gay. It involved three teams: the Raptors, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons.
They traded a number of players to each other, and in the end the Raptors got Rudy Gay. However, they lost one of their biggest stars and most popular players: Jose Calderon. Calderon will play for the Detroit Pistons.
The Raptors also traded talented rookie Ed Davis.
Rudy Gay is excited to be reunited with one of his best friends in Toronto, Kyle Lowry, who is on the Raptors.
However, it may be a sad week for many Raptors players–and fans, too, who have enjoyed watching and cheering for Jose Calderon and Ed Davis.
In a statement, Calderon explained his sadness about leaving the Raptors:
“It’s been my home for eight years. I’ve done everything possible for this team. The fans have been with me since day one. It’s tough.”
Now the question remains: what will Colangelo do next to improve the team?
Rumours continue to spread that the Raptors’s general manager will make at least one more trade before the Feb. 21 trade deadline.
Additional players and draft selections were involved in this trade. For further trade details visit www.nba.com
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Jose Calderon expressed sadness about leaving Toronto. If you were in his position, how would you feel about being traded? How do you think professional athletes cope with the reality that they may be traded at any moment?
Reading Prompt: Purpose
Many people enjoy not only watching sports, but also reading about them. What type of information do articles and books tell about sports that watching them does not?
Primary, Junior, & Intermediate
Identify a variety of purposes for reading and choose reading materials appropriate for those purposes (OME, Reading: 1.2).
Grammar Feature: Proper Nouns
A proper noun is the specific name of a person, place, or thing (noun). Today’s article is full of proper nouns! In fact, the names of all the players, teams, and cities mentioned are proper nouns. One easy way to tell a proper noun from a regular noun is to see if it is capitalized–all proper nouns begin with capital letters.
Put the letters “pn” beside each proper noun and the letter “n” beside each noun in the list below. For all proper nouns, rewrite the word beside it and change the first letter to a capital.
1. miami _________________________
2. policeman ______________________
3. lebron james ____________________
4. basement ______________________
5. paper _________________________
6. asia __________________________
7. mickey mouse ___________________
8. time __________________________
9. new york knicks __________________
10. skateboard _____________________
