Just a quick good morning to get the news rolling

This is going to be one heckuva day.

And without question it will be the greatest day of Bryan Colangelo’s tenure as president and general manager of the Raptors.

As I mentioned late last night, the Shawn Marion deal is a four-teamer but not only does it allow Toronto sign Turkoglu and deal Shawn, it gets them a serviceable player in Antoine Wright, a veteran in Devean George AND it preserves the mid-level salary exception they can now probably use to sign Carlos Delfino or someone like that.

Or Anthony Parker, of course, although I hear he’s committed to Cleveland. No that verbal agreements can’t be broken, right Hedo?

What I've been told by a most-trusted source is that, yes, it's four teams, Shawn goes to Dallas, and the Raptors can sign their own free agents (Parker and Delfino) and still have the $5.5 million mid-level.

The cost? Well it appears to be Hump and Quincy Douby, which is too bad in that both seem like good guys but it’s not as if they were leading Toronto to any championship or anything.

Anyway, here’s Marc Stein’s story, which is the best one out there at the moment.

I’m off to visit my friends at Starbucks before I finish off the morning blog.

Just thought I’d get this one up here.

Trust me, it was a wild, wild day.

Comments

[Kevin]

I would assume that this helps Chris Bosh approach the season with a positive outlook. Now if they can just get all the new pieces to gel on the floor...

[jon]

Haters beware...that is just an awesome feat. George is way past his prime but act the role of AP. Doug, what do you know of Wright?

Blogger's note: At the moment, very little

[jon]

Rasho & Kleiza on speed dial?

[Chris]

my head hurt reading about that detail on espn.com

one question - does Orlando end up with anything but the exception?

Blogger's note: No, I don't believe so. And my head's been hurting since about 1 p.m. yesterday, I know the feeling.

[Mitch]

Hey Doug,
Great coverage, as usual.
So as I understand it, as it's a SAT with Orlando for Turk, the Raptors no longer need to renounce their free agents. Will they then attempt to resign both Parker (by the way...you called him Paker) and Delfino, and then target Kleiza with the MLE, or is that too many mediocre swings?
Thanks and keep up the good work.

Blogger's note: That's a lot of mediocre swings and don't forget about Devean George. I'l fix the Paker now

[Yasir]

wow.... this is incredible! BC just turned a whole bunch of nothing into two serviceable bench players and a potential starter in Delfino. Will they need the entire MLE to sign delfino? Or will they use part of it to sign someone else (maybe a Rasho..)?

Blogger's note: I bet the departure of Hump means the return of Rasho; Delfino's a restricted free agent, I don't be he'll cut into the mid-level but they have to now start thinking about the tax level and how much of that mid-level they can actually spend

[renato]

Hi, you have made a statement and negate it, can Delfino and Parker be signed without using the MLE or is the MLE amount that have to be used for the purpose?

Blogger's note: They can, but Parker's probably committed to Cleveland at too rich a deal for Toronto.

[Geoff]

Not to quibble, but - though I liked him coming out of college - Wright is a bit of a train wreck. He is one of the lowest PER players in the league who plays consistently. He takes a tonne of threes and has terrible percentages.

[Paul]

Bosh has to respect this!!! EOY!!!

[k.e. slickke]

Hard to believe BC could pull this off. My head was swimming, reading the intracacies involved. Then you get to the Raps benefits. Wow. Bang goes the dynamite. What more could a fan hope for ? Bosh must be impressed too. This off-season sets up the team for 09-10 and the future. Again, wow.

[Ren]

Do we expect a press conference for Turk today?

Blogger's note: Still unsure; will depend on when the conference call with the league officials on the trade is done. I know they hope to get it wrapped up this afternoon, Bryan's got to get to Vegas and the summer league

[Roscoe]

does Devean George have a no trade clause? wasn't he the one who held up the deal to new Jersey?

Blogger's note: He did. He signed a new deal after that

[Mohammed Jamal]

I was always a Colangelo supporter, but we somehow get access to the mid-level, he will have outdone himself.

But I thought the only way to get the exception was to do a sign and trade with Orlando? Or was another way to deal Hump/Douby?

[yertu damkule]

i thought wright wasn't supposed to be in the league this upcoming season...

;)

[Carl Jr]

Doug...you have to admit that you were dead wrong in dismissing questions about the mid-level exception...I think you owe some of your comment-writers an apology for being so dismissive. But great coverage, I admire your dedication in getting us updates regardless of the hour.

Blogger's note: As a matter of fact, I wasn't wrong. I said the only way they could get it was with the involvement of Orlando and as of yesterday morning that wasn't going to happen.
But thanks for pointing it out

[anon_e_moose]

wow. masterstroke. brilliance. genius. if he pulls this off...

I dont know if im allowed to post links, but heres one to the courtsurfing blog talking about Whats G? and is BC the definition of it.

http://my.thescore.com/courtsurfing/archive/2009/07/09/what-s-g-we-were-all-just-witnesses.aspx

[s]

Bryan Colangelo I Love You!

[jon]

it should be noted, given recent dust-ups with amateur bloggers, that this is excellent reporting: good sources, dedication, quick and generous posting. a good day for Smith as well

[Jonathan]

Let's say as a hypothetical that as a result of this the Raptors can sign Delfino and/or Nesterovic. Then at some point the Raptors have a squad on the floor consisting of any 5 of Calderon, Ukic, Delfino, Turkoglu, Bargnani, Jawai and Nesterovic. Would that be the first time in NBA history that a team didn't have a single American on the court?

Blogger's note: Not sure. Check a San Antonio roster, imagine it could have happened there. Or maybe Dallas when Nash and Nowitzki were there?

[imran]

I thought you mentioned that there was no scenario under which toronto could improve their salary situation? Am i wrong?

Blogger's note: Not without the involvement of Orlando, which was in doubt until late last night

[Tony]

If this trade nets us nothing else but Carlos Delfino, this will be a succesful season with a decent bench.

[O.J.]

Hey, Doug. I don't mind Rasho as a backup center but I don't know about Delfino, too inconsistent. Do you think B.C. might want to pursue some new players, instead of ex-Raptors, with the MLE? i.e. Barnes or Dahntay Jones? or maybe a veteran PG or a different veteran big man since we now have some back-up wings?

Blogger's note: Right now, I have no idea what he'll do

[Derek H]

Confusing how the cap rules work. To still be able to sign Parker (although may be gone) and Delfino and still have the mid-level.

If they were to sign Rasho would it be under the mid-level exception or is there some rule that they can sign him to the veteren's minimum (assuming he takes a minimum) that does not count against the mid-level? Also, if they don't sign Rasho would Pops be a fall back guy now that it looks Hump is gone?

Blogger's note: They can either go into the mid-level to get Rasho or sign him to a veteran minimum contract and I'm not sure which way they'll go.
Pops? A fall back guy at best

[doug]

anyone that slags BC now is just wrong, dead wrong the man should win executive of the year again ...he has completely rebuilt, re-tooled this team with basically 10 million in cap space he had going into the FA period....I am truly impressed by him, and the amount of respect, goodwill he has around the league is also noteworthy....he is just truly a class act and it shows in how both players, and other G.M's are willing to deal with him....are you kidding me Wright, George, Hedo, maybe Delfino...and he has Hedo,Barg's and Calderon signed for 28 million for the next few years, stability, a plan, for both the present and the future, Bosh should stay just because of BC...

[Peter]

I am totally speechless...
BC is god.