It’s official, Jarrett Jack is a Toronto Raptor and I couldn’t be any happier. I’ve been a big Jack fan since the first time he played with Bosh, in his freshman season at Georgia Tech. Not only does Jack finally give the Raptors a reliable backup point guard but with his size, 6′4 190 lbs., and consistent mid range jumper he can also fill a need at shooting guard.
When people look back at this offseason for the Raptors, most will remember the Hedo Turkoglu signing as the most important move for the team, but I think Jack is exactly what [...]

It’s official, the Raptors have extended Jarrett Jack an offer sheet. Now unless the Pacers match the offer, which has been reported to be near the MLE, Jack will be on the Raptors roster next season. This is great news for Raptors fans who witnessed first hand what it is like to have a great starting point guard but no legitimate backups.
Last year the Raptors were at their worst when Jose Calderon, the Raptors leader at point guard, was on the bench with a leg injury. Ukic and Banks struggled to lead the offense and the rest of the team [...]

The concerns after the reported signing of Hedo Turkoglu was that the Raptors wouldn’t have a reliable bench. With more than 10 million a year tied up in Turkoglu, there would be next to nothing left under the cap for the Raptors to sign free agents to add to their shortened bench. Raptors nation was in a frenzy, everyone and their grandmother were flipping shit, even yours truly was a little nervous. But if today’s trade has taught us anything, it’s to trust Bryan Colangelo, the guy is a fucking genius.
The Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors, living up to the [...]

When Adrian Woj says something is going to happen you can bet that he is right. Well just now he reported that Turkoglu has backed out on a deal with the Blazers and is most likely joining the Raptors next season.

Free agent Hedo Turkoglu has backed out of his commitment to the Portland Trail Blazers and could be signing with the Toronto Raptors, a source close to the talks told Yahoo! Sports on Friday night.
Turkoglu had agreed on a five-year, $50 million deal with the Blazers, but changed his mind and could be headed for a five-year, $56 million deal [...]

I’m going to keep this short because it’s not official yet, but it seems like Marion is close to signing with Toronto through the ‘12/’13 season. Rumors in Toronto were ablaze just 2 days ago: first it was Marion, then David Lee, then an offer to Turk for $60 mill, then back to Lee and Ariza, and now today it seems like we have come full circle. Rumors have surfaced that Colangelo is nearing a deal with Shawn Marion worth a reported $32-$34 million for 4 years.
First things first: the latest word is that the three-year, $21-million deal that has [...]

Yesterday I was very concerned with the rumors that were swirling around the NBA. There were several sources that confirmed the Raptors made a $60 million offer to Hedo Turkoglu, the Turkish small forward who was in Orlando last season. There are a number of reasons that Hedo would not work out in Toronto, which I mentioned in yesterday’s article, but the biggest reason for concern was the bevvy of young talented players at the position that were still available, and for less money at that!
Breathe a sigh of relief Raps fans, the Turkoglu offer is gone. This morning Raptors [...]

With yesterday’s news that Joey Graham wasn’t extended a qualifiying offer, the experiment with the athletic forward from OK State is most likely over:
Graham all but gone.
The Toronto Star reports the Raptors extended a qualifying offer to Pops Mensah-Bonsu, making him a restricted free agent.
The team did not offer one to Joey Graham and he is now an unrestricted free agent.
- Raptors Forum

There were a few brief moments when we thought Graham might have finally tapped into potential that he showed at OK State. But every time that Joey ever showed glimpses of improvement, he would quickly fall back into [...]

 After yesterday’s Doug Smith rip job, I feel obligated to point out that today’s column is actually quite a good read.  It usually is, by the way, and although I was a bit fired up yesterday over what I perceived to be a lack of appreciation for this great game, I still read Smith’s column daily, and more often than not I enjoy it.  Today’s is particularly good for an offseason effort, as he touches on a few subjects that are going to become a big deal starting tomorrow, when Free Agent negotiations begin.
First and foremost amongst those is Shawn Marion.  [...]

Now that the first phase of the Raptors offseason, the draft, is over its time to start thinking about the next phase, free agency. Bryan Colangelo has already addressed two of the major offseason needs for the Raptors. First, by trading the 3-pt specialist Jason Kapono for Reggie Evans, a grinder at the 4 position and maybe one of the dirtiest players in the league, Colangelo added some strength and rebounding under the hoop. Then, in the draft, Colangelo selected the high flying DeMar DeRozan, who will be the future star at the off guard position.
News came in today that [...]

In the NBA there are a lot of what ifs, especially when it comes to the draft. So with the draft less than 2 days away we will discuss the questions that Raps fans think about all the time.
What if…
- Rob Babcock wasn’t hell bent on getting a center in 2004, when he selected Rafael Araujo, and instead selected Andre Iguodala who was considered to be a much better prospect.
- the Raptors selected Danny Granger, from small conference school New Mexico, instead of the athletically gifted Joey Graham who everyone is still desperately hoping will have his breakout season this [...]