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Raptors NBA TV is about as useful as HGTV during the summer months. But that's about to change with yesterday's announcement of the 2009 Preseason Television Schedule, which will see five of the Raptors' eight preseason games air exclusively on Raptors NBA TV.


The preseason will be a great opportunity to check out the new-look Raptors and see where their big free agent signing, Hedo Turkoglu, is health-wise. According to Doug Smith, no one connected to the team expects Turkoglu to have any lingering issues from the knee problems that are giving him trouble in Poland. Although, this is the same thing we heard about Jose Calderon last summer, and look how that turned out.

Another reason to look forward to the upcoming season? Raptor Claws.

Heading into the 2009-10 season, the Legomaster is confident he's made all the right moves during the offseason. You might even say that some of his moves were underrated. SLAM says don't sleep on Toronto... even if they don't like the Andrea Bargnani extension. And TSN.ca's Tim Chisholm ultimately predicts a return to the postseason for the Dinos.

RaptorBlog uses Adjusted Plus/Minus to look at the Atlantic Division, and sees the Raptors fighting with the Philadelphia 76ers for second place. Personally, I think the lack of proven point guard is going to leave Philly a lot lower in the standings.

How do the Raptors stack up to the rest of the East at PF/C? Arsenalist at Raptors Republic has an answer.

Dime Magazine likes budding reality TV star -- and possible starter at shooting guard -- DeMar DeRozan as one of the top five contenders for NBA Rookie of the Year.

The top 10 rebounders and 10 best sixth men of the decade contain some current and former Raptors.

Completely unrelated to the Raptors, but awesome nonetheless: Kanyegate.

Tristan Thompson leads the next generation of Canadian ballers while Canada's future queen of the court is a 16-year-old from Guelph. Meanwhile, the Quebec Kebs of the Premier Basketball League (PBL) have hired Alejandro Hasbani as their new head coach.