Each NBA team’s greatest free agent signing in franchise history

Toronto Raptors: Jose Calderon, Point Guard (2005-13)

For most basketball players, the NBA is the ideal landing spot professionally. That was not the case for Jose Calderon, who from 2000 to 2005 was spending time in Liga ACB overseas. It wasn’t until previous Toronto Raptors general manager Rob Babcock did some convincing that the Spaniard decided to take his game to the highest level.

The move turned out to be pretty beneficial for Calderon. Having experienced pro-level basketball while entering the league at 24, his feel for the game was better than most, and it only got better over time.

After needing two years to acclimate his stroke to the NBA line, Calderon would also become one of the deadliest 3-point shooters and near automatic from the free-throw line. To this day, he still holds the record for the single highest free-throw percentage in a season with a mark of 98.1 percent back in 2008-09.

Overall, Calderon would spend roughly seven and a half seasons with Toronto, trying to help the Raptors in the prime of Chris Bosh’s career. They would make the playoffs in consecutive seasons in 2007 and 2008, but neither would have them advance past the first round.

The Spaniard’s numbers were consistent through most of his tenure, with total averages of 10.0 points and 7.2 assists per game. His passing skills were vastly underrated, and they were enough to vault him all the way to No. 1 all-time in assists in Toronto franchise history.

Calderon could have stayed in his comfort zone close to home and carved out a solid international career. In coming over to the states, he took a risk that was well worth it for both himself and the Raptors organization.