FanHouse Bryan Colangelo

Bouncin' Around is NBA FanHouse's weekly insider notebook.

A little while back, the Memphis Grizzlies took a lot of heat when word got out that five of their scouts had either left or been let go.

At the time, general manager Chris Wallace downplayed the departures, calling it nothing more than a "restructuring," and adding that he prefers working with "a smaller group."

The Grizzlies, of course, were one of the worst teams in the league last season, which made it very easy to ridicule the move. But the fact of the matter is that the Grizzlies don't appear to be the only team trimming their scouting staffs.

As expected, the Indiana Pacers allowed Jarrett Jack to go to the Toronto, refusing to match the Raptors' four-year offer sheet for the emerging point guard.

"It was a very difficult decision because Jarrett proved last season what he can bring to a team," Pacers President of Basketball Larry Bird in a statement. "We thank Jarrett for his contributions to the Pacers, both on and off the court, and wish him the best in Toronto."

I like what Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo has done this offseason. It hasn't been as noisy as Boston, Cleveland or Orlando, but Toronto isn't in that threesome's class anyway.

So while Colangelo might not have turned the 33-win Raptors into a conference champion in one summer, he has given them an intriguing identity and put them smack dab in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

He's also put the ball in Chris Bosh's court.

Matt Steinmetz, Gary Washburn and Matt Watson empty out their notebooks from the NBA's Summer League in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS -- For anyone out there who thinks summer league is nothing but a well-attended pick-up game, Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan has some news for you: The competition is better than Division I hoops and better than he faced at USC. "You're playing against professional athletes," DeRozan said. "Guys are 24, 25 years old and some have been in the league. It's a much, much better game." ...

LAS VEGAS -- FanHouse has confirmed that the Toronto Raptors are set to sign Indiana's Jarrett Jack to an offer sheet, likely as early as Monday. CBSsports.com's Ken Berger initially reported the Raptors were considering the move.

Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo wouldn't comment on the possibility of acquiring Jack, but during the course of an interview acknowledged the Raptors would like to address perimeter defense and backup point guard.

Earlier in the day, Raptors coach Jay Triano said the team struggled last season at that position after Jose Calderon went down with an injury.

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

It's hard to blame the Toronto Raptors for taking a 7-footer with 3-point range and the ability to play three positions. That's what Andrea Bargnani presented as the No. 1 pick. There was no clear-cut top choice. The 2006 NBA Draft was filled with unproven early entries, a couple of seasoned seniors and raw big men looking for a big payday.

So the Raptors took the player they thought had the best upside. Hey, the NBA Draft is about development these days, right? Nobody in this supposed weak draft was supposed to be an All-Star anyway, right? No one told that to Brandon Roy, who was passed up by five teams and traded by another. Finally, the Portland Trail Blazers, still ringing from a reputation of bad guys, car racers and dog fighters, had a franchise player in their hands, and he was from nearby Seattle.

Sure, the NBA Finals aren't even halfway over (or are they? Orlando can win at least one game, right?), but the rest of the league is officially looking toward the future. The Raptors and 76ers have completed the first trade of the summer, sending sharpshooter Jason Kapono south to Philadelphia in exchange for bruising forward Reggie Evans.

Raptors prez and GM Bryan Colangelo announced the move this afternoon. From Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "We're changing the dynamic of our club with this move," Colangelo said. "This obviously addresses a few areas of need. ... [The Sixers] probably had too many bigs and we probably had too many finesse players."

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

"If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: 'It seemed a good idea at the time.'" -Rebecca West

Bryan Colangelo either laughs or weeps at this quote after the Raptors 2008-2009 season.

I mean, it DID seem like a good idea at the time, right? You're a playoff team, on the verge of contention. You have a legit superstar in Chris Bosh. You have an up and coming point guard in Jose Calderon, a core of veterans alongside sharpshooter Jason Kapono, and a young stud in Jamario Moon. All they needed was to jettison that black hole, T.J. Ford and minimize that bust Andrea Bargnani. And if they could do all that and upgrade their frontcourt with some muscle, that would be idea.

Enter Jermaine O'Neal. Enter the meltdown.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Nathan Jawai of the Raptors is the first indigenous Australian player in the NBA. His story is unique, having grown up playing rugby, not basketball, he is very quick on his feet for a big man. In this video he talks to us about dangerous encounters he experienced in the Australian Outback, including swimming nose-to-nose with a crocodile, one of nature's most vicious killers. We also hear from Anthony Parker, Nathan's teammate.

Check out the video after the jump.

Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail penned a solid profile of Raptors interim coach Jay Triano, illustrating just how excited folks in Canada are for one of their own to take over their country's lone NBA team.

It's a good piece, but what struck me was how even the recently deposed Sam Mitchell had good things to say about the man who replaced him. As Mitchell told Grange, though, he harbors no ill-will over Bryan Colangelo's decision:

"Fans, calls, e-mails, everyone's been great," he said. "I've enjoyed every minute working for the Toronto Raptors and I've enjoyed every minute of living in this city, I have no regrets and no complaints and everyone at MSLE, the owners, board of directors, Bryan, has treated me better than anyone deserves to be treated. You just have to move on."

I agree that the Raptors probably had to make a change, and while the timing seemed early, it's better than pulling the trigger too late. That said, I'd love to see Mitchell get another chance, or at least an invitation to move into the broadcast booth.