ploto
05-18-2007, 10:43 AM
Mitchell close to new deal with Raptors, sources say
May 18, 2007 04:30 AM
DOUG SMITH
Sports Reporter
Sam Mitchell is closer today to returning as head coach of the Raptors than he was when the season ended.
According to league sources, talks between Mitchell's agent and Raptor president and general manager Bryan Colangelo are progressing well enough that a framework is close to being in place for a deal that could be finalized next week, keeping the 43-year-old with the franchise he's coached for the past three years.
The head coach, whose contract expires on June 30, was a guest during ESPN's broadcast of the Detroit-Chicago playoff game last night and sounded optimistic that he'd return to Toronto with a new contract, saying he expected to return to the team he led to a division championship this season.
It was the most emphatic he's been about his future since leading Toronto to its first post-season berth in five years.
Colangelo maintained his long-held stance of not commenting on the specifics of negotiations with his coach but said last night he remains "optimistic" that Mitchell would return.
The general manager has already denied one unnamed team official permission to discuss its coaching vacancy with Mitchell and dissuaded another that make an official inquiry into the timeline.
Colangelo did say last week that the May 29 start of the NBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando would be a key date in talks with Mitchell's agent.
Mitchell's future has been the biggest cloud hovering over the Raptors since the team was eliminated from the playoffs earlier this month.
While both the general manager and the coach expressed optimism that a new deal could be reached, the presence of other potential suitors and the financial terms of a new deal were complicating factors.
Mitchell is finishing a three-year deal worth less than $6 million (all figures U.S.) a season, a salary that puts him far down the list of NBA head coaches.
It's been widely speculated that he would be looking for something along the lines of a four-year deal worth more than $16 million.
Mitchell and Colangelo, in the one year they worked together, conspired to turn the Raptors from a laughingstock into an Atlantic Division champion. The team won 20 more games this season that it did in 2005-06, Mitchell was the league's coach of the year and Colangelo was named the executive of the year.
Mitchell Deal (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/215351)
Another paper says it is going to be a three-year deal at about $12M.
May 18, 2007 04:30 AM
DOUG SMITH
Sports Reporter
Sam Mitchell is closer today to returning as head coach of the Raptors than he was when the season ended.
According to league sources, talks between Mitchell's agent and Raptor president and general manager Bryan Colangelo are progressing well enough that a framework is close to being in place for a deal that could be finalized next week, keeping the 43-year-old with the franchise he's coached for the past three years.
The head coach, whose contract expires on June 30, was a guest during ESPN's broadcast of the Detroit-Chicago playoff game last night and sounded optimistic that he'd return to Toronto with a new contract, saying he expected to return to the team he led to a division championship this season.
It was the most emphatic he's been about his future since leading Toronto to its first post-season berth in five years.
Colangelo maintained his long-held stance of not commenting on the specifics of negotiations with his coach but said last night he remains "optimistic" that Mitchell would return.
The general manager has already denied one unnamed team official permission to discuss its coaching vacancy with Mitchell and dissuaded another that make an official inquiry into the timeline.
Colangelo did say last week that the May 29 start of the NBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando would be a key date in talks with Mitchell's agent.
Mitchell's future has been the biggest cloud hovering over the Raptors since the team was eliminated from the playoffs earlier this month.
While both the general manager and the coach expressed optimism that a new deal could be reached, the presence of other potential suitors and the financial terms of a new deal were complicating factors.
Mitchell is finishing a three-year deal worth less than $6 million (all figures U.S.) a season, a salary that puts him far down the list of NBA head coaches.
It's been widely speculated that he would be looking for something along the lines of a four-year deal worth more than $16 million.
Mitchell and Colangelo, in the one year they worked together, conspired to turn the Raptors from a laughingstock into an Atlantic Division champion. The team won 20 more games this season that it did in 2005-06, Mitchell was the league's coach of the year and Colangelo was named the executive of the year.
Mitchell Deal (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/215351)
Another paper says it is going to be a three-year deal at about $12M.