Well, that didn't take long, did it? 13th man is here

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Ladies and gentlemen, your 13th man.

The Europification, if that’s a word, of the Raptors continues.

Unable to find anyone on this side of the Atlantic to fill the 13th man role, the Raptors are about to sign Will Solomon to a contract and finish off their summer shopping season.

(Of course, you regular readers – as regular as this morning, in fact – will know I thought this signing my drag on until late August but guess not).

Spies here and in Israel (my man Eran comes through again, and it wasn't even P.J. Tucker-related), where Solomon once played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, say the 6-2 combo guard is destined to be the next player from overseas to join the Raptors. No idea when the official announcement will come – there’s always paperwork to be done – but it’s a done deal as far as I can glean and could be finished as early as today.

Solomon does seem to have a bit of what the Raptors want in their final player.

He’s 30 years old so he’s been around.

He’s coming off a solid Euroleague season with Turkey’s Fenerbache, where he averaged 17.9 points and 3.9 assists in 21 Euroleague games, stats that aren’t to be sniffed at.

He’s got some NBA experience – he was a second-round pick of the Grizzlies in ’01 and played in 62 games with Memphis in the ’01-02 season.

He’s been all over Europe, spending a season with each of Efes Pilsen in Turkey, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem and Aris Thessaloniki in Greece before playing the last two seasons with Fenerbache.

Signing Solomon likely ends all activity for the Raptors this summer. They’ll go with a 13-man roster that has a payroll just under the NBA tax threshold and is constructed pretty much just as GM Bryan Colangelo wants it.

He’s got three point guards – Jose, Roko Ukic and now Solomon; a quartet a quintet of wings – Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham and Hassan Adams; and five bigs – Chris Bosh, Jermaine O’Neal, Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai.

Comments

[yertu damkule]

yeah, i do think you would have dismissed the idea...as would i, and, i assume, pretty much everyone else. i wasn't being critical. you're a little defensive...i think you need a break.