After the post by Franchise we thought we would gauge the pulse of the HQ community on CB4's future.

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More photos » Mary Schwalm - AP

Yi....he's not so good. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

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WIthout Chris Bosh the Raptors went to the swamp a secured win number 30 on the season

The key reason for the 106-89 victory? Team play and an inspiring performance from Rasho Nesterovic.

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More photos » Tim Sharp - AP

Nate Robinson beat DeMar DeRozan in last night's dunk contest...although I am not sure anyone should have been crowned a "winner". (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

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I won't beat around the bush here - All-Star Saturday Night was a total snoozer and one that people will easily forget. 

From a one-hour H-O-R-S-E game to a bland dunk contest there was little to talk about after the "festivities" in Dallas.

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With the Raptors' next game not until Friday night, Franchise takes a moment to get away from the Bosh rumours and Indiana fall-out to thank the readers for a great 2009.

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Could Wright be defending the likes of Bryant as Toronto's starting 2 next year?

After yesterday’s Star-Trek related post, the title of this morning’s may suggest that I’m continuing with the sci-fi theme and using X Files as the analogy for today.

And while I was a big fan of the show, and even David Duchovny’s sleaze-filled performances in Californiacation, that’s not the case.

Instead, the title simply reflects that while I’ve been quite skeptical of Colangelo’s work so far this off-season, I hope more than anything that I’m wrong in my criticism. After all, it now sounds like he’s managed to extract two wing players from Dallas via last night’s convoluted sign-and-trade for Shawn Marion; something that seemed unfathomable just days ago.

To top it off, from the sounds of things and because of this deal, it also seems like BC now has regained the mid-level exception!

If this isn’t a stroke of genius I’m not sure what is frankly.

Marion looked to be a goner, the team was cash-strapped despite what the most ardent fans would have you believe, and as I wrote yesterday, after the top four guys, this team was essentially a Klingon (Evans), a member of the Borg (Humphries) and the security crew in red shirts from the original Star Trek series.

Now, things are starting to look quite different.

While neither are stars, both Devean George and Antoine Wright are upgrades over…um…nothing, which was in essence what Toronto was working with at the wing positions outside of DeMar DeRozan and Hedo.

Because of his size defensive abilities, I could even see Wright starting at the 2, suddenly giving Toronto a very big starting line-up, with spots 2 through 5 being manned by players 6-7 and over.

The possible arrival of Wright is ironic in fact considering that a) he essentially replaces Joey Graham as another forward from that draft class who has failed to live up to expectations and b) this was a player as one of our readers pointed out, who the master of condescension Doug Smith referred to as being essentially useless and out of the league this season.

Interesting then this morning that suddenly Mr. Smith is referring to him as "serviceable" isn’t it?

Now Toronto’s line-up (including the mid-level) could foreseeably look something like this:

PG: Jose Calderon, Roko Ukic, Marcus Banks
SG: Antoine Wright, Carlos Delfino, DeMar DeRozan,
SF: Hedo Turkoglu, Linas Kleiza, Devean George
PF: Chris Bosh, Reggie Evans, Nathan Jawai
C: Andrea Bargnani, Patrick O’Bryant

That’s a bit better isn’t it?

I plan on looking at the impact of these additions statistically once things become official but on paper, this is already a better scenario than 24 hours ago and don’t expect the Legomaster to rest on his laurels.

In fact looking at that roster, she’s a bit thin up front so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Toronto go after only one of Delfino or Kleiza, and use the rest of the mid-level on a respectable big man. (Rasho?)

I’d still like to see a bit more athleticism added into the mix and perhaps a real back-up PG, but it’s tough to complain much when Colangelo managed to rid the team of Humphries’ contract and fill some gaps all in one fell swoop.

Do I still feel that the team should have waited until next year to sign Andrea?

Yes, this is still something that I can’t understand.

With the salary cap expected to fall sharply, I’m still bewildered as to why you pay Bargs $10 Million now, when you could probably get him for half that next year? It's not like he's going to be an unrestricted free-agent so Toronto can always up the ante to match and based on the league’s financial situation, I’d fall out of my chair if that amount ended up exceeding what they’re presently paying him.

Think about this for a second.

If the cap falls down to the $50 to $53 Million range, that means everything else, mid-level included will drop. This year's restricted free-agents are having serious trouble getting the offers they feel they deserve (see Lee, Millsap and Marvin Williams) mostly because of teams tightening wallets and over-spending on unrestricted free-agents with mediocre upsides like Ben Gordon.

So how bad is it going to be next year when names like James, Wade, Nowitzki and Stoudemire could be available unrestricted?

Does anyone really think that suddenly teams are going to throw $12 Million at Bargs knowing that Toronto could look to match? That scenario hasn’t unfolded this summer with much less talent on the market so I’m not sure why things would suddenly change next summer when there’s LESS money to be had!

Both with that and the Hedo signing I really think that Bryan Colangelo is rolling the dice here but I understand that at times as a GM that’s what you’ve got to do.

Sometimes it results in an over-the-hill Jermaine O’Neal, sometimes it results in drafting Amare Stoudemire.

It’s much easier however for me to swallow said gambles when other more sure-fire pieces are put into place around these moves. The proposed Marion sign-and-trade isn’t alleviating all my concerns, but it’s certainly helping.

In fact, you could argue I think that this could be Bryan Colangelo's best trade yet, one-upping getting something for nothing in the Hoffa deal.

Again, I want to believe that BC’s big moves are indeed shrewd maneuvers that take this team to the top.

He’s made some major changes to last year’s motley crew, and now I’m just hoping for a few more Lego pieces over the next while to really get me excited about next season.

FRANCHISE

Could the Raptors look to replace the Matrix with Barnes for cheap?

It’s been very interesting to read through the comments on the site the past few days.

Obviously the forthcoming Hedo Turkoglu signing has left Raptor-nation extremely divided, something that’s already being reflected in our latest poll.

But as many readers have noted, perhaps the best plan of action now is to sit and wait.

Tomorrow morning we’ll dig deeper into just what the Turkoglu signing means for the rest of the roster but until we see final financial details (not just for Hedo’s contract but also the new salary cap and luxury tax limits etc), there’s not much we can all do but speculate on what "might" occur.

A few quick hits though:

-Great financial breakdown here by TSN’s Tim Chisolm, one of my favourite writers in Raptorland. Key point; if the Raptors haven’t renounced their rights to the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions then unlike the Jermaine O’Neal situation, they still would have $8 to $10 Million to spend. If they have renounced the rights, that’s when BC is going to have to get very creative.

-Both the Orlando and local Toronto press is now reporting that a sign-and-trade deal involving Hedo is out of the question for various reasons. This means that while Toronto won’t be further upgrading Orlando with the likes of a Marion, they also won’t be getting any extra financial breathing room via such a proposed move.

-While it’s great to see Toronto getting the US exposure by Hedo’s change of heart, fans in Portland are not impressed. As a Blazer fanatic and friend of mine put it; We Portlanders have immense pride in our team and our lil city and to be made to look like fools and played so hard in the national media is something we don’t take lightly or forget easily...regardless of if you wanted Hedo or not." It’s funny but I think Raptors’ fans can really relate to this statement based on past free-agent experiences…

Moving away from the Raptors for a minute, our Canadian Hoops correspondent Ray Bala continues his look at the local basketball scene in our nation. Today, he talks to Paul Sir, coach of the IBL’s Edmonton Energy.

FRANCHISE

At the end of last year’s IBL season, the Chill blew out of Edmonton just as quickly as they blew in.

Despite having a great first season with a respectable record and a talent laden squad that included three league all-stars, the Chill were forced to cease operations thanks in large part to a shady owner that had taken the money and run.

With that as the prelude, the local basketball community banded together to resurrect the team. Now like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the Edmonton Energy has gone on to be the best team in the International Basketball League posting a league best record 17-3.

The Energy have made their best attempt at making the Chill experience a distant memory and the force of the team both on the floor and in the board room has been local basketball stalwart Paul Sir. Coach Sir has been a fixture in the provincial and local basketball scene for what seems like forever and has helped to keep the now first-year IBL franchise at the top of the league standings. I had a chance to talk to Coach Sir about last year, this year and the future of the Energy.

Ray Bala: There was a pro basketball team Calgary last year. How does this season compare to last season?

Coach Sir: From a team standpoint, last season the players were good but we are a better team this year. We have a better mix of players this year than last, but we were still a very good team last year. (They’re all) just a great group of individuals to work with.

The problems we had were off the court with an owner who was less than honest and honorable who at the end of the year had left town with people’s hard-earned money. After the season was over I spent a great deal of time dealing with the problems that existed. We saw last year that there was a great connection with the team and the community so we got an ownership group together this year of very good business people who were committed to the team and we decided that it was important to rebrand the team and not go with the Chill. We came up with the Energy and we’re excited to have the team going again and we’re looking forward to finishing the year up and preparing for next.

RB: Now was there a transition with getting people back on board with the Energy after last season? Was there a period where people were still skeptical of the team?

CS: Oh yes, to a certain extent people still are (skeptical). Minor league sports, that in itself raises skepticism for good reason. Last season we had the Edmonton Cracker-Cats Golden League baseball team that was very poorly managed. So you (essentially) had two minor league franchises that failed (the same year). I think we’ve gone a long way this year in building the community trust in what we’re doing (this year).

RB: How do you feel the public have come out to support you guys this season?

CS: Our crowds have been disappointing, to be honest. We’ve been surprised but we feel this is all correctable. We know we have made some mistakes in terms of marketing the team and we’ll review all of our systems and process at the end of the season. Our website has had over 600,000 hits on it and that’s astronomical. But for some reason we have not connected with the public to get them to come to the games in numbers that we would like to see. Now having said that, 300 to 400 people are at every game and that by some standards for minor league sports is not bad. We envision one and two years from now where there will be many more people when we apply the lessons we learned this season from our experiences.

RB: Now you mentioned two and three years down the road. Was there long-term planning since the team’s inception this season?

CS: Yes. Everyone who got involved made a commitment to make this (team) a long-term part of the Edmonton sports community.

RB: With the team in mind, how do you balance the role of businessman/GM with basketball coach?

CS: I think I have the good fortune of being number one, old, and that means that I have a lot of experience. My background is in business, I have owned my own business for 20 plus years, so I have a lot of business experience. And during that time me and my wife were balancing my life coaching at various levels of basketball. Eventually I phased into coaching university basketball so I don’t have a difficult time seeing both the business and coaching side of it.

RB: That’s great! Having that background obviously helps you with whatever you have to do when it comes to decisions for the team or the players. Most people don’t have the balance of basketball or business when it comes to a dual role in a minor league franchise and that tends to doom a lot teams from the start.

RB: Was it hard for you to find or even get local talent to come out for the Energy for this season?

CS: In terms of wearing the GM hat, the foundation of the team is local talent. Players like Steve Sir, JR Patrick, Andrew Parker, Alex Steele, these are all players that born and raised and have come up through the Edmonton basketball system. Then trying to build around them with more Canadians who can contribute and then bringing guys who compliment them. Kevin Shand was a friend of a fellow who assisted the team last year, Lunzaya Nlandu works out here in Edmonton and the wild card was Skousan Harker. Skousan was good friends with Will Funn who he played with in England who plays with us. I feel fortunate and proud because I think the pieces I’ve picked have managed to come together.

RB: With regards to last year’s team, are there any holdovers from last season’s squad?

CS: We kept a strong nucleus together from last year [Note: the Energy have six players from the roster that the Chill had last season] and we made it better with the additions of Kevin and Skousan. Now we did lose Rashaun Broadus who but he had a great year in Romania. He did intend to come back for this season though.

Kevin Shand is one of the reasons for the Energy's on-court success this year...

RB: Now looking at the team you have, this looks like one of the better minor league basketball teams out now. The Energy has a lot of star power and the team looks like it’s coming together. It’s good to see that there’s a minor league franchise that’s being successful in Canada because so few of them do get to this point.

CS: I appreciate it very much. That certainly has been our goal and objective. I really wanted to do everything I could that was based on fundamental business practices but with a team that was truly a team. I have always liked tougher, grittier kinds of teams, teams made up off people with character who put team and community first. We’re really trying hard to entrench this team into the community. We want this to be something that kids look up to and say "I want to be like that someday."

RB: Now after last season, the team has overcome some challenges as far as the situation last season with the Chill. Now have there been any other challenges that you feel you’ve also overcome?

CS: I think you summed it up well. I think it’s the progression of taking baby steps to rebuild something that we knew was very positive for the community. But also having the willingness of the ownership group to take on that challenge and risk and then work in tandem to give it a foundation from a business standpoint to allow me to put the team together and for the team to go out but not only play on the court but also reach out to the community. I think that we’ve laid in many respects solid groundwork to progress in the future.

RB: And the future definitely looks bright, by record alone. Now I’m wondering what goals you’ve set for the team this year and have you hit them?

CS: I think we’ve hit our goals to date. Our goal is to win the IBL championship this year. But the way we believe we have to prepare to that is to lay track every day and do our best on that given day to be a better player individually and a better team collectively. Now we’ve tried not to get ahead of ourselves and tried to not interpret our success in any way other than it being a part of a bigger plan. Our record is great but going into the next game the only thing that matters is the 48 minutes. That’s our philosophy and the guys have bought into this.

RB: What are your hopes for the team going forward after the season is done?

CS: The hope for the team is that this helps prepare guys for their pro careers next year. And beyond that the planning will start and then the execution of that plan for next season. Raising the profile of the team and keeping the name in the community, build momentum up. Once again we’ll be looking to compete at a high level again next year and fill the stands.

RB: Thanks for taking the time Coach. We’ll look forward to hearing great things from the Energy in the near future.

For more on the Edmonton Energy please check out www.edmontonnrg.com or www.iblhoopsonbline.com

RAY BALA

Summer League Action Soon Begins

There is no rest for the weary.

As general manager’s around the league continue to play a game of cat and mouse with many NBA agents they also need to prepare for the upcoming summer league games which are just around the corner.

The Raptors released their roster yesterday and here is the press release:

July 2, 2009

RAPTORS ANNOUNCE 2009 LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday their 12-man roster for the 2009 Las Vegas Summer League presented by EA Sports. First-round draft pick guard-forward DeMar DeRozan will join guard Roko Ukic, guard Quincy Douby, forward Nathan Jawai and centre Patrick O'Bryant for five games at the Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas from July 10-17.
DeRozan was selected ninth overall by Toronto in last month's NBA Draft and will become the third first-round draft pick to participate in the Las Vegas Summer League, joining Andrea Bargnani (2006) and Joey Graham (2005). This summer marks the third time Toronto has participated in the Las Vegas Summer League since its inception in 2004.

Ukic will get his first taste of summer league action after appearing in 72 regular season games during his rookie campaign. Jawai also suited up for the Raptors during six games last season, in addition to participating on last year's summer league squad. Both Ukic and Jawai will return to their respective national teams (Croatia and Australia) at the conclusion of summer league action. A total of five players on the Raptors summer roster have experience in international competition, including Newfoundland native Carl English, a three-year veteran of the Canadian national team, Ekene Ibekwe, who represented Nigeria during the 2006 FIBA World Championships, and David Doublas, a member of Spain's 2001 Under-20 national team.

Other notables on this year's summer league roster include two-time NBA D-League Slam Dunk contest winner Brent Petway and NBA veterans Paul Davis, Smush Parker and Demetris Nichols.

Eric Hughes has been assigned summer league head coaching duties for a second consecutive year. He will be joined by assistants Micah Nori and Alvin Williams. Toronto opens its summer league schedule against the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, July 10 at 8 p.m. (ET).

It’s an interesting squad, but not necessarily one that I am all that impressed with.

In terms of Raptors currently under contract having DD, Ukic, Jawai, O’Bryant and Douby in Vegas makes sense. I actually hope this will be the team’s starting five for the upcoming games.

It’s great to see Ukic on the roster given the rumours about him being unhappy in Toronto. This is an opportunity for him to lead a team and should give the Raps coaching staff a better sense of what improvements he has made since the season came to an end. If Ukic plans on making strides similar to Calderon in his sophomore season, this is his first chance to show it’s not only possible but likely.

Having both DeRozan and Jawai on the squad is not surprising. Given last season was a total wash for the Australian big-man, Jawai needs to get some game action under his belt. Jawai was, and continues to be, a major project for the Raptors coaching staff. This is just another small step on what looks to be a long road. For DD, this will be his first opportunity to show the Raps staff what he can do when there are real bodies on the floor rather than pylons and chairs.

O’Bryant and Douby continue to work hard this off-season and it’s great to see both these guys on the roster. Both players have been frequent visitors to the Raptors facilities during the course of the off-season and hopefully their hard work starts to pay-off. Remember what BC says about O’Bryant at the end of the season – this may be his last chance.

Now what about the rest of the roster?

Let’s just say it is a little underwhelming.

Out of the remaining guys on the roster there are really only two players who interest me, Smush Parker and Demetris Nichols.

It wasn’t that long ago that Parker had a significant role on a very solid Lakers team. Since his time in LA however, the wheels have fallen off and Smush now finds himself looking for an NBA roster spot. It will be interesting to see how he performs as compared to Ukic. If Parker really shines it is possible that he earns a roster spot. Parker may have some red flags but he has proven that he can play.

Nichols is the guy who intrigues me the most. He is a very solid offensive player who absolutely filled it up in the D-League this past season. The 6’7" second round pick has always been known for his solid shooting stroke and ability to score but in the D-League he really did it all. Outside of averaging 20+ points a game and shooting great percentages from the floor, including from beyond the arc, Nichols put up good rebounding and assist numbers. He also averaged more than one steal and one block per contest. Nichols also has a huge wingspan and is a decent defender. The Raps still need to add more athleticism to the wing position and Nichols could be that guy.

Outside of Parker and Nichols however I am left wondering what the Raps think they can get out of the likes of Carl English, David Doublas et al. and why the team didn’t take a flyer on some of the players who found themselves undrafted last month. Unfortunately for us at the HQ Jerel McNeal is going to be playing with Sacramento. You can find a complete list of summer league rosters here, and I have to say some of the rosters are rather impressive including the Spurs, Sacto and the Wizards.

The one guy who isn’t on the roster, and probably should be, is Marcus Banks. Banks is a guy that, despite the contract security, needs to be playing in Vegas. After another poor year Marcus needs to be getting some PT in an organized setting. He has essentially done nothing to warrant the contract he has and if he is not careful, will soon find himself in a position much like the aforementioned Smush Parker…on the outside looking in. His absence is even more surprising given where Summer League is taking place. Banks, the former UNLV student, is known for spending the off-season in Vegas. I would be surprised if the Raps didn’t ask him to partake in these games.

Nevertheless the Raps summer league roster is made up and most, if not all of the players have something to prove. These games may not show the Raps coaches who can play at the next level but they will definitely show who can’t.

HOWLAND

Franchise can't see Alvin and AI on the same team next year...

And they’re off.

At 12:01 this morning, the NBA’s free-agent frenzy kicked off with a bang...

...or should I say the sound of crickets.

Unlike past years when NBA teams jumped out of the starter’s block to sign players, this year was quite different.

The word around the league is that there are talks going on, but aside from Kobe Bryant, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur deciding not to opt out, so far we’ve got tumbleweeds.

On the Raptors side of things, the same is true.

I expect Bryan Colangelo has been talking with Shawn Marion and his agent, and perhaps a few other names as well, however I wouldn’t be surprised to not see anything transpire today, or even tomorrow.

However with so much discussion on the site yesterday regarding potential free-agent targets, while we wait for BC to make his move(s), I thought it might be good to take a closer look at some of these names.

For this purpose, I’ve bucketed players into several categories categories.

The Good – Linas Kleiza and Walter Hermann

I think Kleiza is one of the more realistic options out there for Toronto. Why? Well for starters he could play the 3 and 4 so kills two birds with one stone there. Plus his arrival would negate getting another big in case the Jawai-O’Bryant experiment doesn’t work out. Second, you could probably sign him to a reasonable deal considering he’d have a much bigger role with the Raptors. Add on the fact that he’s still quite young, has nice upside, can stretch the floor with his shooting, and has the size and toughness this team needs. More Kleiza!

I left Fabio off yesterday’s list only because with Michael Curry gone, I think Detroit will attempt to retain Hermann. If not, he’s a bit like Kleiza 1.0 on my list, another player who can hit the outside shot, play the 3 and 4, and bring toughness and intensity. If Detroit doesn’t want to ante up for him and the price is right, he’s another player I hope BC takes a close look at.

The Bad – Channing Frye/Nate Robinson/Ben Gordon

In this group I’ve bucketed players who I’d rather not see in a Raptors uniform next year, not because they don’t have talent, but more because I don’t think it’s a great fit. Frye to me is a player who still has some upside, and probably didn’t get enough playing time with the Blazers. However isn’t he simply a better version of Patrick O’Bryant? Neither are great rebounders, and both are face-up shooters in the paint, not low-post presences. To me, Frye would be a much better option off the pine but with P.O.B. working with the coaching staff and expected to be on the Summer League roster, my bet is that he’ll be coming off the bench next year, not Frye.

Nate Robinson and Ben Gordon are quite similar in terms of their size and offensive prowess, with Gordon being the superior shooter and pure scorer, and Robinson being the athletic marvel. Toronto could use doses of both of what these players bring to the table, but Gordon will probably be too expensive (and will want to start) and I think the Knicks will let Lee walk based on their draft day moves, and therefore look to keep Krypto-Nate.

The Ugly – Allen Iverson/Rasheed Wallace/Rashad McCants

Let’s start with AI. Allen Iverson is one of my five favourite players of all time. Is he a proven winner? Not exactly. But pound-for-pound he’s one of the toughest and most competitive players in NBA history. While that sounds like exactly the type of player Toronto needs, I can’t see how this would work. Time and time again Iverson has shown that to be effective, he needs to be in a system where he can dominate the ball and control the offense. That’s problem number one for a Raptors’ team apparently looking to move the ball more on offense and get out in transition. Secondly, we all know about Jose’s defensive issues, so is playing Iverson at the 2 even an option? And just how long would it be before both Bosh and Bargs started to complain about Iverson’s ball-hogging ways?

The shame of it all, is that if Iverson was content to come off the bench, he would be an amazing asset for a team, Raptors or no-Raptors. He can still get to the rim with ease, and is relentless offensively. However between his need to start, his shot-happy style, and the over-zealous financial contract he’s likely seeking, I think we can put this one to bed.

Rasheed Wallace is somewhat of a similar situation; malcontent behind the scenes when not starting, trigger-happy at times, and probably not someone the Raptors want to take a chance on. Frankly if Toronto was going to invest in a long-range shooting power-forward off the bench, I think Charlie Villanueva is a lot higher up on their list. That’s not even taking into account that I doubt Wallace would even consider heading north, especially when rumours abound that championship contending clubs have their eyes on him.

And that brings us to McCants. At face value, Rashad seems like a very interesting option. He’s a bit undersized, but is gritty, can shoot the ball, and can be a very able defender when he wants to be. Hell, before last weekend, I would have thought offering him part of the mid-level was a good idea too.

Then last Friday night in New York, a former North Carolina alum who now writes for the Nets, gave me the goods on McCants. Let’s just say he makes Iverson and Wallace seem like Grant Hill and Kyle Korver. I won’t go into all the gory details but here’s one perfect example of how McCants simply lives by his own rules:

At North Carolina, the writer’s friend, also an aspiring journalist, had set up in advance an interview with McCants. The idea was to simply go through a few questions to get a feel for the team, especially since this was a Tar Heel squad that looked to be on the brink of an NCAA Championship. So to that end, the writer’s friend had prepared 50 queries, just to ensure that if the first 10 or so went too quickly, or didn’t provide much depth into the team, he had back-up options.

Well…the writer’s friend used all 50.

Why?

Because McCants decided he was going to answer every question with "yes" or "no," and made the writer sit through this whole charade until every question was done.

Yep, great guy.

I know the Raptors need some more grit, and even some edge, but let’s not confuse "fight" with "I live in my own world."

The "Not Going to Happen" Group: Trevor Ariza/Lamar Odom/Chris Andersen

The three names in this bucket would all represent big boosts in talent for Toronto, but I’d fall out of my chair if any of them were in a Raptors uniform anytime soon. Let’s start with Mr. Ariza.

I’m first off going to say that I don’t even like talking about Ariza, mostly because this is a player Toronto could have easily had years ago. As a Knick, Ariza was tops on Howland and I’s off-season list as a high-upside player the Raps should go after. He was languishing under then-coach Larry Brown, and seemed ripe for the taking. Unfortunately, the Magic did the taking when they acquired him and Penny Hardaway in a deal for Steve Francis. Ariza didn’t move any mountains there either, and was largely forgotten until being dealt to the Lakers, where he then began to break out.

Yes, Ariza in a perfect world would be the top option for Toronto’s off-season dollars. He’s athletic, can defend multiple positions, has improved his ability to put the ball on the floor, and is now a threat from long distance. Essentially what the Raptors desperately need in the starting line-up. But there’s no way LA lets him go.

Odom isn’t quite the same lock as Ariza and while another team might outbid LA for his services (Detroit, Cleveland etc), I don’t see him in red and black in the next few days either.

Andersen, much like Ariza, was a player I wanted BC to take a chance on last summer when he was reinstated by the league. He stays within his designated role, is a huge boost defensively off the bench, and provides a level of energy and intensity that’s rare in the league. And for those reasons again, I’d be shocked to see Denver let him go.

The "I Don’t Understand It" Group: Rasho Nesterovic/Charlie Villanueva

Next, we come to two former Raptors whose names have been mentioned in Raptors’ free-agent rumours for quite some time.

And personally, I don’t want to see either with the club next year.

I like both of these guys, CV in particular who I defended from the moment Rob Babcock plucked him in the 2005 draft. However isn’t Villanueva looking to start for a team next year? In Toronto at best, he’d be coming off the bench behind Bosh and Bargs, a luxury for sure, but probably a pricey one. And it sounds like Detroit and other teams who could offer him more money and playing time are coming a calling.

As for Rasho, yes, great locker-room presence and basketball IQ, but with Reggie Evans on board and Hump still around, unless he could be had for an extremely reasonable deal, I’m not sure how useful he would be except in a sort of Darrick Martin role. Of course if Hump is dealt, then this makes more sense but right now, there are other bigs I’d prefer the Raptors to take a look at like Zaza Pachulia and Marcin Gortat.

So with all that said, what do I think the Raptors’ roster will look like next year? Well I think Marion and Delfino will be part of the rotation, but filling out those final spots, I’m not sure I have any idea which way BC is leaning.

However how about the following final line-up?

PG: Jose Calderon ($8,219,009)
SG: Carlos Delfino ($2.5M)
SF: Shawn Marion ($7M)
PF: Chris Bosh ($15,779,912)
C: Andrea Bargnani ($6,527,490)

Bench 1: Jarrett Jack ($3.2M)
Bench 2: Linas Kleiza ($2.8M)
Bench 3: DeMar DeRozan ($2.5M)
Bench 4: Reggie Evans ($4,960,000)
Bench 5: Roko Ukic ($1,350,000)
Bench 6: Kris Humphries ($3,200,000)
Bench 7: Quincy Douby ($855,189)

DNP: Nathan Jawai ($736,420)
DNP: Patrick O’Bryant ($1,620,000)
DNP: Marcus Banks ($4,464,000)

It’s not the Cavs or Magic, but if healthy, it has the makings of a very well-rounded top 10, with some options beyond that.

I’ve put the salary of each player in brackets, and regarding a returning Marion and the other new additions, the salary I expect each of these four to command. This is by no means a sure thing, but considering that the Raptors are reportedly going to offer Marion about $7 Million and Delfino should be available for around the $2.5M mark, I don’t think that’s too far off. With those two under contract, Toronto’s total committed salary would sit at about $60,012,020, putting the team a few million above the salary cap, and thus able to use the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions.

With the mid-level, expected to sit at around $6M, hopefully BC could split things up between Kleiza and Jack. Their new salaries in brackets would represent a fairly substantial raise over their previous deals ($2,002,623 for Jack and $1,824,493 for Kleiza last year), but both could of course make more than this on the open market.

Kapono won't be in Raptors' red (or green) next year, but how about Jack?

My hope is that the economy forces things down a bit, and so both would be happy to take raises, and bigger roles with the Raptors. We’ve talked about the benefits of Kleiza in depth but Jack I feel would be a big asset too. He’s a steady point guard, so a huge boost behind Jose, but also a player who’s big enough to play some 2 and who can score and defend both the 1 and 2 spots.

That would put Toronto’s total salary count at about $66 Million, so a few million under the expected luxury tax should it drop from about $71M to about $68 M, and thus giving the team some wiggle room and still allow them to hold the bi-annual exception.

Again, this is far from academic but the point of this exercise is more to provide a visual of what the Raptors are faced with financially.

You’ll notice that Pops Mensah-Bonsu is not on this list, and while I’d love to see him retained over the likes of Hump, Jawai and O’Bryant, the Raptors really haven’t given any positive signals that they want to retain him.

Marion is obviously priority A1, and as Michael Grange of the Globe broke down yesterday, things really start with the Matrix. From Grange:

Keeping Marion or doing a sign-and-trade with another team would mean the Raptors would stay above the NBA’s salary cap threshold, which in turn would enable the Raptors to use the mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception – available only to teams above the salary cap – to sign additional players which in a buyer’s market would allow the Raptors to add at least one and possibly two rotation players.

This is a huge point and one that I negated to mention yesterday.

If Marion walks for nothing, suddenly the Dinos are in a very precarious position. First and foremost, the price to acquire Marion was steep (Marcus Banks, 14th on ESPN.com’s recent "Cap Killer" list, and a first-round pick), and second if he walks for nothing, there aren’t a lot of great replacement options. Toronto might be forced to overpay for a player who isn’t as good a fit, and that of course would again leave last year’s depth issues un-addressed.

In fact, I think the reality in this whole free-agency situation is that regardless of the moves Toronto makes, for this team to get back into the playoffs, improvement need to come from inside.

If Jose and CB4 stay healthy, if Andrea continues to develop, and if the Raptors receive an unexpected boost from the likes of DeRozan, Jawai, Ukic or even Delfino, then maybe 40 or so wins is within reach.

However as I mentioned to one of our HQ team yesterday, that’s a lot of "if’s" and the bottom line is that regardless of what transpires over the next few days, you again have to question if this club’s core is simply good enough, or if a major overhaul isn’t needed.

FRANCHISE