Gone is Anthony Parker who is off to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Raptors have a lot of young players to choose from at shooting guard. 25-year old Jarrett Jack likely will get a lot of time at both shooting and point guard this season. He played in all 82 games for the Pacers last season and he averaged 33.1 minutes, 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. When a taller player is needed at shooting guard the Raptors will turn to rookie first round pick DeMar DeRozan out of USC. He has the athletic ability that the Raptors love. 23-year old Marco Belinelli was brought in from the Warriors in a trade in the off-season. He played in 42 games for the Warriors last season and he averaged 21.0 minutes, 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He can really run the court and he is a good shooter so he should fit right in on the Raptors. 25-year old Quincy Douby comes off the bench shooting the rock. He played in 27 games for the Raptors and Kings last season and he averaged 11.1 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Douby won’t likely get too much playing time this year. 23-year old Sonny Weems is also with the Raptors this season. He played in 12 games as a rookie last season for the Nuggets in which he averaged 4.6 minutes, 1.6 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Don’t expect much out of him this year.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: C

Not too many teams can line up three points guards of the quality of Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack and Marcus Banks. 27-year old Jose Calderon will be the starter at the point for the Raptors this season. He played in 68 games for the Raptors last season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 12.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Look for similar numbers out of Calderon this season. 25-year old Jarrett Jack will likely get a lot of playing time at shooting guard also when the Raptors want to go small. He played in 82 games for the Pacers last season and he averaged 33.1 minutes, 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. His style at the point is different than Calderon’s as he’s a shoot first point guard. 27-year old Marcus Banks has never lived up to his ability. He played in 22 games for the Heat and Raptors last season and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 2.5 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B+

The Raptors have really brought in a ton of talent this off-season as the front office has been super aggressive. Jarrett Jack was signed to start at shooting guard for the Raptors and he’s a talented player who could easily run the offense if something were to happen to Jose Calderon. Hedo Turkoglu was brought in from the Magic in a huge trade. His shooting should help open up the paint more for Chris Bosh in the middle. The Raptors brought in some muscle in the trade market getting PF Reggie Evans from the Sixers and Amir Johnson from the Bucks. SG/SF Antoine Wright, SG Marco Belinelli and guard Sonny Weems are all running type players who should fit right in with the Raptors off the bench. SG/SF DeMar DeRozan was the first round pick of the Raptors and he’s talented but he will likely find minutes hard to come by as a rookie. The Raptors also re-signed power forward/center Andrea Bargnani and that was also a good move. The Raptors did lose six players in trades this off-season with Jason Kapono, Kris Humphries, Shawn Marion, Nathan Jawai, Roko Ukic and Carlos Delfino moving on. But the Raptors won’t miss any of those players this season as they look like a NBA Title contender.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE SO FAR: A