All right, it’s the offeason, but, as you know, there’s still lots going on with the Raptors. Some quick thoughts as free agency heats up:

The Draft. DeMar DeRozan was the right pick at that spot. He’s raw and he probably won’t contribute much right away, and he might never contribute anything - but he has the potential to be really, really good. And he plays a position (swingman), and has a physical dimension (athleticism, length, leaping ability) that the Raptors currently are lacking. Who was left on the draft board was a better fit? Who on the draft board was going to contribute right away? No one. (Heck, who was in this draft at all, besides Blake Griffin, that is going to contribute to his new team right away? Make no mistake, this is an awful, awful draft).

DeRozan is the right fit in every way. Whether or not he turns into anything remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt he was the right, and only, pick.

Carlos Delfino. I’ve said it about 100 times, Delfino wasn’t used properly his one year here and I am certain he will benefit from consistent minutes and a consistent role. He’s also a much better defender than Anthony Parker at this point in their careers. I also expect Triano will not be afraid to let Delfino initiate the offense, much as he did with Parker last year; for some reason, Sam Mitchell was afraid to put Delfino in that role, even though he’d done it for Argentina, one of the best basketball teams in the world. Does he start? I think so, though that of course still depends somewhat on who is starting at the three (Marion? Someone else?). I have no problem going in to this season with Delfino as the starting two-guard.

Shawn Marion. Very little word at this point on whether the Raps have offered anything, whether Marion’s asked for anything, whether other teams are calling… very quiet on the Marion front. I’m still super-torn on what to do with him. Yes, he fits the team well; he rebounds and defends from the three spot, something very lacking before he got here. He’s also the best on the team at moving without the ball. But, like everyone else on the team, he’s not a guy who can create/initiate his own offense, and the Raptors could really use that from the SF spot. And there’s the question of money… obviously the guy wants to get paid, but do the Raptors have the coin - and is he worth it? Especially at age 31? If he could be had super-cheap $3 million a year? Over 3?) of course he’d be worth it. But there’s no way he takes that deal. So I can’t say I’ll be thrilled if he comes back and is taking a large chunk of the salary cap.

Hedo Turkoglu. Word is he’s interested in the Raptors - and of course the Raps are interested in him - but there’s likely no way to work out the money situation (no, he doesn’t like us THAT much). He earned a big payday with his play this past year, and the Raps don’t have the coin. And frankly, I’m not sure he’s worth it. I’m not sure he can put up the same stats without that particular cast around him - including, obviously, Dwight Howard. He’s a year younger than Marion, and in many ways, Marion’s exact opposite - he can create his own shot and score from anywhere, but he’s a non-factor on defense. I’d be excited to see what the Raps could do with the starting lineup of Bargnani, Bosh, Hedo, Delfino and Calderon (wow, that’s the whitest, most international line-up ever) but I can’t get to used to the idea, because I can’t see it happening.

Trevor Ariza. Financially, a much better fit than Hedo (and maybe better than Marion too). And really, his skill set is right in between the two - not as good a defender as Marion, not as good a scorer as Hedo. And he’s young enough (24) that he has room to improve in both areas. The only question is, is he ready to come in and be a full-time starter and contributor to a winning team? Or will he just ride a solid playoff performance (11 points, 4 boards, 50% from the field, 47% from downtown) to a fat payday?

David Lee. Supposedly the Raptors are interested… really, another power forward who doesn’t play on the blocks? No thanks. Love his game, but not with Bosh and Bargnani already here…

Which brings us to this: Is Bryan Colangelo trying to trade Chris Bosh? I see the argument for it, I really do - Bosh has a chance to walk away next summer, and at this point - given the team’s lack of success - he probably will, and who will blame him? Thus the argument, trade him now so you can get something in return. But I don’t believe Colangelo will do that. For one thing, BC appears confident - and he should, I want a confident upper management - that he can surround Bosh with better players this year. He also seems confident he will be able to replace Bosh, should the time come. I like that in a GM. Also, trading Bosh would be admitting defeat - that he didn’t get the job done - and while I don’t know Bryan, he really doesn’t seem like the type to admit defeat.

And the fact is, even if you get some value for him, you’ll never get fair or equal value. Whether you truly think Bosh is a “franchise player” or not, he is this franchise’s franchise player - we’ve built our team and marketing presence around him, he is the face of the franchise. He may not be a “a” superstar in the broader definition of the term, but he’s “our” superstar. Can we get a superstar back for him? Not likely.

I honestly think it’s better to play it out and either try and re-sign him, or sign someone else, next summer. There’s a good chance the cap space you’d get next year is more valuable than whatever package you can get for him in trade right now. There’s going to be plenty of FAs available, after all…

And if the team does have a great year? If the promise of Bosh, Calderon and Bargnani materializes into a 50-win team? Then I have confidence Bosh’ll stick around, and that we’ll all be better for it.

All right, it’s been a busy couple weeks in the personal life, but things are rolling for the Raptors. Five straight wins? Two of them against playoff teams? Outrebounding the opponent in every single one? Not bad, not bad at all!

Of course, it’s ultimately meaningless since the playoffs are a practical impossibility and other than Orlando, none of these teams are particularly talented; Oklahoma City, the Clippers, Chicago and Milwaukee are all under-.500 teams, and only Chicago is playing meaningful games. And let’s not forget that right before this little streak, this team lost nine of 10, including two absolutely disgusting stink-bombs to the Bobcats.

But, there is something to be said for finishing on a positive note, especially for a guy like Jose Calderon, who’s playing extremely well after playing poorly for 60 games. If he can play like the Calderon of last year for the final few weeks games and get his confidence up for next year, that’s huge; it’s never a good thing to have a bad year and then have nothing but negatives to think about for a whole summer.

Same can be said about Bosh, and even Marion; both are playing well after having bad stretches. Meanwhile you’ve got guys like Joey Graham and Pops Mensah-Bonsu playing for contracts, their play of late has probably ensured they’ll at least be in the league next year.

Then there’s Andrea Bargnani. Has any one Raptor ever had such a big turnaround in a single season? I mean, the home crowd was booing this guy in December when he missed free throws! Now he’s become one of their most effective all-around players and a go-to guy? Unbelievable, but true. Check out these stats:

December: 24 MPG, .346 FG%, .273 3PT%, 3.4 RPG, 8.6 PPG
Jan-Feb: 36 MPG, .454 FG%, .420 3PT%, 6.5 RPG. 18.9 PPG
March: 33 MPG, .518 FG%, .519 3PT%, 5.9 RPG, 20.3 PPG

And the numbers don’t even tell the whole tale. For one thing, he’s added (or if not added, is suddenly using) things we haven’t seen before – pump-fakes, crossovers, pull-ups – and the latter is most significant since it’s helped him avoid all those charges he used to get called for.

On defense, he’s not picking up as many cheap fouls (except for the Orlando game, where he was brutalized by the referees) and his defensive improvements that we saw earlier in the year, in terms of moving his feet and boxing out, have remained solid.

He’s certainly not perfect – he’s still averaging 1.75 turnovers to only 1.1 assist, and he could definitely get those rebounding totals a bit higher – but the improvement in only a few short months is remarkable. I remember back at the end of January, when the improvement first became evident, we all said, “let’s wait to see him do consistently for a while before we say he’s back on track.” Well, it’s been almost three full months of solid, consistent play, so I’m saying it. He’s here, he’s on track, he’s doing what we need, at the position he is best suited for, on a regular basis.

Of course, for most of those three months, the Raptors were routinely terrible so it’s hard to say his improved play has had any impact. But once again, it’s a huge positive going forward, and as we all know, Bargnani is probably the only player that is guaranteed to be here next year, so his improvement is a definite positive.

As for what this team might look like… who knows? It’s pretty much all up in the air. Bargnani will be back; I think Calderon will be too. Ukic, Humphries, yes; maybe Pops. But Bosh? I think Colangelo will talk to him and unless he’s convinced that Bosh will re-sign, I think BC will quietly try and move him. If he goes, Colangelo had damn well ensure that one or both of Marcus Banks and Jason Kapono are packaged with him.

I suspect Graham will be gone; I like Joey, but let’s be honest, he hasn’t really worked out here. I think he deserves a chance to give it a try somewhere else.

Parker is a big mystery. I love the guy, you know that. But he can’t be the starting two guard on this team, he can’t be playing 35 minutes a night. He’d be a great steadying influence off the bench… you know, provided there are actually quality starters ahead of him. If you can bring him back for two years at 1.5 per year? I’m OK with that.

Marion? Well, what’s his value? Who knows? Anyone have any interest in him? I still think he thinks he’s worth a lot more than anyone else does. I have no interest in him at anything more than 6 million a year. And even then, that interest is tempered by what else is out there; in other words, if there’s anyone better to throw that money at, we need to be aware and not just give it to Marion.

There’s also Carlos Delfino to consider. The Raps still have his rights. I like Delfino; I didn’t think he was utilized well last year. Mitchell jerked his minutes around too much, and he never had the opportunity to initiate the offense, something he’s proven in international play that he can do. I think with consistent minutes and a better defined role, he’ll be much more effective, and he won’t feel the need to jack up threes. But how much is that worth? 4 mil, maybe 5… anything above that, I’m not biting. Not in this economy.

Anyway, there’s only a couple of weeks left, then we can forget about the Raps for a while we watch what should be an exciting 2009 playoffs. Come June we can start to think about what’s gonna happen this summer.

For the next few games, let’s just hope they’re as exciting as the past few!

So, it’s the Raps’ final game on the West coast tonight, on TSN2 for us all to not see. Sigh. (I’m so tired of this ridiculousness, I don’t even have the energy to say “Fuck you, TSN” anymore, so I’m simply calling it TSNFU.)

Steve Nash remains questionable - he turned his ankle Tuesday and did not play last night, a 132-106 loss to the Lakers. Clearly, they’re not the same team without him, but I don’t think you can say this makes the Raptors’ job THAT much easier - a team trotting out Leandro Barbosa, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, and Jason Richardson, not to mention the Big Shaqtus, still has more talent than the Raptors. And I will not soon forget how well Jared Dudley played against us in Charlotte, either, and in fact, I seem to recall more than a few second-tier (or lower) players having big nights against us the past two seasons, so look out for one of Alando Tucker, Louis Amundson or Robin Lopez to have a career game.

Gee, I’m not at all pessimistic, am I?

Still, even I have to admit, if ever there was a chance for the Raps to steal one from the Suns, it’ll be tonight. The Raps look to be as close to healthy as any team is this late in the season, only missing Humphries and maybe Joey Graham; and even though it’s a road game, they’re well-rested, having arrived Wednesday, while the Suns played on the road last night. The Suns have been team turmoil the past couple weeks, what with nearly trading Amare, nearly trading Shaq, firing their coach, and losing Amare to injury, while the Raps are finally starting to settle in with Shawn Marion, and have won two straight.

So yeah… this isn’t as hopeless as say, the last four trips to Phoenix, where the Raptors are 0-4 and have lost by an average of 14 points. The last victory? February 10, 2004. Vince Carter led the Kevin O’Neill Raptors to a 101-94 victory with 29 points, and MoPete added 7 three-pointers. (Ah, the good old days. That 101 may well have been a season-high in the O’Neill era!)

In fact, that game was the last victory against the Suns, home or away. Steve Nash rejoined the Suns following that 2004 season, and they’ve won nine straight against us since. Do we subconsciously lose to the Suns, in order to make Canada’s greatest basketball player ever look better? Well, if that’s the case, maybe his absence tonight will make a difference.

For the Raps, Shawn Marion has played well the past four games, doing a lot of little things while not making a huge impact on the score sheet. I think it’s been enough time that he’s ready to take more of a role in the offence; I know he can run the pick and roll with Calderon, and he actually, you know, does the “roll” portion of it (whereas, 95% of the time, Bosh and Bargnani just pop, rarely ever rolling to the hoop). If Shaq gets into any sort of foul trouble or needs a rest, the Raps should have a lot of open lanes to the hoop tonight. I know we’re not the Lakers, but LA dropped 60 points in the paint on the Suns last night, so Bosh, Bargnani and Marion should be able to get a lot of short-range opportunities.
For the Suns, it’ll either be Steve Nash or Leandro Barbosa at the point, and either one is obviously going to be a big concern for the Raps; Nash is Nash, he’ll be great, and Barbosa’s as fast as they come. Given José Calderon’s, um, “suspect” defense, I fear a lot of drive-and-dish for Nash or a lot of Barbosa blow-bys-for-layups tonight.

Either way, dribble penetration is going to be the key. If the Raps can limit it, they’ll have a chance. It’ll be a challenge - as you know, it’s a huge weakness for the Raps, and in Barbosa, J-Rich, Barnes, and even Hill, the Suns have guys that can break down a D off a dribble. But if the Raps can limit it, and not have an off-shooting ngiht of their own… is the upset possible?

The Suns are tired and shorthanded; the Raps are well-rested. As long as Toronto comes out looking energized - no 16-point deficits in the first quarter, please - I actually think they’ll be able to take this one. Raptors by 12.

Well, it’s official, the summer of 2008 has gone down as one of the worst in Raptors history. Every player BC acquired (Adams, Solomon, O’Neal) is now gone. Didn’t even last a season. Unlike Ukic, a Babcock draftee signed this year, remains). As I was saying the other day, when BC makes a mistake, he cuts the cord, damn quick. Well, as long as that mistake’s name isn’t Andrea Bargnani.

When you consider that Jason Kapono has also been a complete bust, is it now fair to say that every move Toronto has made since the end of the ‘06-07 season has made the team worse? Obviously, the summer of 2006 was a winner - our step up - but the last two? Duds, our two steps back.

Let’s take a look at the moves, and also note, this is just a list of transactions, and doesn’t include the most ridiculous thing the Raps did in the summer of 2007: Allowing Jorge Garbajosa to play on a broken leg for the Spanish national team in an Olympic qualifying tournament (even though Spain had already qualified for the Olympics). Argh.

• Bad: Re-signed Sam Mitchell. Should have brought in his own guy when he had the chance.
• Bad: Let MoPete walk away
• Good: Traded for Delfino, but bad because he couldn’t be re-signed
• Bad: Signed Kapono
• Good: Signed Jamario, good, only because of the size of the contract - they absolutely got their money’s worth. It’s not Jamario’s fault that a CBA cast-off was the best option the team had at SF and he was forced to play 35 minutes a night.
• Meh: Picked up option on AB
• Meh: Picked up option at Joey, although we could have used that $2.5 million last summer
• Meh: Signed Hump. Not a bad deal for an 8th man
• Meh: Dixon-for-Brezec
• Bad: Bought out and released Garbo and his expiring contract. Bad. Awful. Terrible. Worst move he’s made.
• Bad: Traded Rasho, TJ, Baston and pick for O’Neal; not a bad deal at the time, but this grade is based on final results, and the results are a 21-34 record during O’Neal’s tenure. Very bad.
• Meh: Drafted Jawai; don’t expect much from second-rounders.
• Good: Signed Jose, although if he can’t stay healthy, this’ll change.
• Bad: Signed Adams; as a result of O’Neal’s fat deal, this is what they were limited to. But Adams couldn’t even play.
• Bad: Signed Solomon; but he was terrible and cost them at least two games single-handedly.
• Good: Signed Roko Ukic. Couple mil for a promising young PG, can’t go wrong.
• Bad: Fired Sam Mitchell. About a year and half too late, and this just made it obvious Sam was never his guy, so… why re-sign him?
• Meh: Signed Jake Voskuhl
• Meh: Dumped Adams
• TBD: Traded O’Neal, Moon and a pick for Marion and Banks.
• Meh: Dumped Solomon for O’Bryant.

So in the final analysis, he’s made about 21 moves; I think it’s safe to count about 8 of them as the “non-impact” type moves that teams make all the time (like signing Hump to an extension): the “Meh” moves, that neither hurt nor help the team.

As for the others? Some may have seemed good at the time, but in the end, there’s only four that I count as good moves - and two of those are no longer with the team. (Not only that, but Delfino and Jamario both got bad raps - Delfino never got consistent PT and had his minutes jerked around, and Moon had to play so far over his head, he ended up hurting the team as much as helping it.)

Four moves, out of 21, that made the team better. Eight that had no impact. And eight that made them worse. Oh, and one TBD (the Marion trade).

Now, obviously, no GM has a perfect record and I don’t expect BC to have one either - not every move is going to work out. Some will fail, that’s the nature of this thing. And of course his record in his first year was pretty good. But still… you wanna be batting at least .500, don’t you? This is not good, folks.

Again, I’m not calling for Colangelo to be fired or Bosh to be traded or any of that crazy crap. I just consider it a slump, albeit an extended one; I have confidence that he will break out of it and start making some solid moves. And enough with the “we don’t have anything to make moves with!” Look at the Knicks, one year after Isiah left - a completely different team and who the hell wanted anyone from that crap pile? It can be done. It will be done. That’s what this summer is all about. In the meantime…

Well, in the meantime, we’ve got 26 games remaining in this here season. Each loss puts the playoffs further and further out of reach, and even though, technically, the Raps are still only five-and-a-half games back, realistically… there’s no chance. Look at the next 10 games:

@New York
New York
Minnesota
@Phoenix
@ Dallas
@ Houston
Miami
Utah
@ Philly
Detroit

Sure, the Knicks are struggling and the T-Wolves are not very good, so three straight wins isn’t impossible - although I think a split with New York is more likely.

But then it’s seven straight against +.500 teams. Yikes. Sure, the final 16 are a little easier - only 3 against +.500 teams - but still… that’s tough. I’d say the Raptors need to beat NY twice, Minny, Houston, Miami, Philly and Detroit to have a chance. That’s right, they need to go 7-3.

Yeah, that’s not happening. Throw in the fact that the Bulls and Knicks - both currently ahead of the Raps - improved their teams on deadline day, and Milwaukee and New Jersey are chugging along at slow-but-still-better-than-the-Raptors paces…

I can see Charlotte and Indiana falling back behind us, but the rest? That is one tough, uphill climb.

Anyway, enough about all that. Back to the action! It will be nice to finally see Marion play, and to see the Raps with their full lineup, and to see, well, the game - it’s on regular TSN! Hallelujah!

First meeting between these teams this year, and the Knicks, although they only have one more win than the Raptors, are a feel good story because no one expected them to win much at all (whereas the Raps are a huge disappointment). Donny Walsh has done a good job of acquiring players that fit D’Antoni’s system, much the same way that Colangelo did in Phoenix (conversely, since we have no system here, it’s harder to find the right kinds of players!). They run, they score, they’re aggressive in transition, and well, those are things that the Raptors are weak at. Could be a long night!

I just have to hope that the injection of Marion, and the Knicks’ lack of defense, can keep the Raptors in this one. But in the end, it’ll be the Knicks. By 9.

Finally, it’s official (well, almost, pending league approval): Jermaine O’Neal is off to Miami, Shawn Marion is headed to the T-Dot. We’re also getting Marcus Banks and losing Jamario Moon.

This was surely the most anti-climactic trade in recent memory. I can’t remember a trade ever taking this long to happen. Unfortunately, too much time has passed - when this was first reported in mid-January, the Raptors still had a shot at climbing back into the race. Now? Way, way too late. 27 games left, and how many will it take the new team to gel? And how badly is Bosh hurt, and will Jose ever get healthy? Nah, it’s too late. You’d need to add Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan to this team to help it make the playoffs.

As for next year, well… it remains to be seen what Colangelo will do in the summer, but he now has a lot more options. Instead being ~$10 over the salary cap, the team will now be about ~$10 under the cap (even with Marcus Banks). That not only means they have more cap space for free agent signings (welcome back, Mr. Delfino) but also, and perhaps more importantly, they are free to make trades that don’t require the “salaries must match between 20%” rule. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what’s out there, what’s available, etc., but I have regained some trust in Colangelo. Yes, this season was a waste, but he’s realized his mistake and no goes from weak bargaining position to a strong one next summer.

Will he get enough talent to make a deep playoff run, the only thing that will keep Bosh around past next summer? That is the question. Here’s the list of free agents for next year but as I said, keep in mind the key may be the trades BC is now able to pull off.

As for Miami, well, good thing Pat Riley isn’t actually coaching or he might have Jamario whacked after the 19th time he shoots a three with 18 seconds on the shot clock, which should be sometime next week. But O’Neal, well, he’s a Riley type player through and through. If he can stay healthy, he might help vault Miami into fourth place in the east and make them a tough out in the playoffs - but as Toronto fans now know, that if is a big one.

Overall, the O’Neal era in Toronto can only be classified as a disappointment. He played well - not great, but OK - when he was in there and in the groove. The problem, obviously, was that he missed too many games, and with each block of games (including the very start of the season) he needed to work his way back into shape. If he was making 8 million a year, that kind of production would be OK, but, unfortunately, you need to get a little more from the guy taking up a third of your salary obligations. The Raptors will miss his intensity, but again, for a guy that only played in a third of your games, that’s not enough.

And I still don’t understand why he couldn’t sit on the damn bench for games! I’m sorry, I know this shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I see Bosh out there every game, even on the road, why the hell wasn’t O’Neal there? Now that he’s gone, will the real story finally come out?

In any event, it’s onward and upward. The Raptors have a much improved (on paper) starting lineup for the next 27 games and a much improved salary cap situation for the summer. I won’t call the trade a blockbuster win or anything, but I’d say the Raptors are in a better place today than they were yesterday.

Well, another in a series of very entertaining games for the Raptors. Funny, though, how quickly things change.

By taking a very good team - Boston - down to the wire and overtime a week ago - on the heels of winning four of their previous six - I thought maybe - just maybe - the Raptors were about to turn a corner. Yes, it was another loss, but it was a tough loss against a good team and if they could use the experience as fuel going forward, you’d be able to look at that loss as a turning point.

But my worst fears were realized; the Raptors, mentally weak all year, were that again in their response to that loss. They came out flat against Chicago, and while they evened that one up before halftime, they couldn’t hang on, and lost. Ended up being a very enjoyable back-and-forth game, featuring a career performance from Andrea Bargnani and a stellar showing from Derrick Rose in his first game against Toronto, but in the end, another loss.

They came out even flatter against Indiana, and were down 24 points after three quarters. Once again they fought back, staging a furious fourth quarter rally, but fell short. The game looked to be one of the worst of the year through three, but that fourth quarter was, frankly, riveting.

Seeing as how that was the halfway point of the season and the Raptors were nine games under .500, I declared that moment the final death knell of the Raptors playoff hopes. All I could really hope for now were more entertaining games like the past three.

Sunday, the Raptors and Suns did not disappoint. Nobody played a lick of defense, which is frustrating for basketball purists, but man, was it fun to watch. Every Raptor starter had at least 15 points, Joey Graham had a career day and Anthony Parker made a very successful debut as a point guard. But Steve Nash was masterful, getting all of his Suns teammates involved and taking over down the stretch.

A week ago I’d say, “hey, this team is close, they were short-handed and took the Suns to the final seconds!” Of course, I’d also be right pissed that they let one get away.

But at this point, there’s just not enough time left in the season for it to matter, so I didn’t get too high or too low about yesterday’s game - and it was kind of liberating. I wasn’t thinking about their record or what this does to their playoff chances. I was focused only on the game, and it was fun. All that matters to me is that the Raptors play hard every game; if they do that, if they give a good effort and the games are close, I can still enjoy watching the team on a game-to-game basis, even if the season as a whole is a colossal disappointment.

Anyway. Fun game, and as always, if you’re gonna lose, Steve Nash is a guy you don’t mind losing to. As usual, he was fantastic to watch and humble in victory, even apologizing to his friend Jay Triano for the loss. You gotta love Steve Nash.

On to the other big news of the day, Jermaine O’Neal sitting out to “rest his knee” - or because a trade is imminent. (Either way, shockingly, he did not appear on the bench with his teammates. Sigh.)

Now, multiple newspaper stories - not just Web rumours - have “confirmed” that a trade with Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks is “in the works” and “imminent.” Marion also sat out last night, adding fuel to the fire.

I’m never one to believe anything until it’s official, so I’m not holding my breath, but this one has been rumoured for a while.

If it happens, it appears to be beneficial to both teams, at least on paper; the Heat are need of a big man, the Raptors are in need of a small forward. Unfortunately, it’s too little too late for the Raptors, who are chasing a playoff dream. Marion definitely helps the perimeter D and rebounding, but not enough to help them go on the seven or eight game winning streak they need.

Miami is sixth in the conference right now, and shoring up their front line should, at the least, keep them in the race, if not vault them ahead of Detroit and Atlanta.

Financially, well it looks to help Miami more than Toronto since O’Neal’s contract expires in the key summer of 2010, whereas Marion’s is off the books this year. Can Toronto sign anyone of value this summer? Will they have anything left to sign Chris Bosh? Or does this mean Bosh is headed to Miami in 2010?

League offices are likely closed for Martin Luther King day, so chances are the earliest this could happen is tomorrow. That means the most interesting thing going in to today’s Raptors game in Atlanta will be whether or not O’Neal plays. According to Doug Smith he’s with the team; but is that just ‘cause Miami’s a much closer flight from Atlanta than it is from Toronto? Will O’Neal sit again (and not appear on the bench), or will he get 15 minutes to show Miami and Pat Riley that he can play?

All very intriguing, and all the action comes your way today at 2:00!