Hey, they get mail all the way out here! (I keed, it's nice in B.C.)

Told you I’d get to this sometime over the week. And the 90 minutes or so on the picturesque ferry ride from Vancouver Island back over to Vancouver on a sunny, postcard-like Sunday morning was the perfect opportunity. Ocean air, nice breeze, mountains in the distance. A guy could get used to this.

Anyway, on with what mail there was before another walk on the sea wall and, perhaps, a downtown local to see Canada-Puerto Rico:

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Q: General question: does having a strong roster create a "virtuous circle" in the sense that training sessions are tougher and more intense therefore leading players to improve? Another quick and lazy question: how many raptors in the current roster have won an NBA title? Thank you and enjoy the wild west.

Matthieu B, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland

A: The west isn’t so wild; beautiful, as a matter of fact.

I do think practices, at least on those days when they can get some good work done, will be much more competitive than they were last year and that has to create at least the possibility for improvement. One thing it could also do is create genuine competition for playing time because if one guy’s killing another in practice, everyone on the team will know and that guy will have to see his time increase.

An anecdote: One reason teammates became so enamoured of Jose in his second season was that he was taking it to T.J. Ford in practice, players saw it and came to respect his work ethic, and game, that much more.

A word of warning, however: Once the season starts and the grind of the schedule commences – especially in those stretches of three games in four nights or four games in five – there isn’t a lot of time for intense, hard practices. Once Nov. 1 hits, look for times where there are two days between games, that’s when the most practice work gets done.

Oh, yeah, champions. Rasho’s got a ring from San Antonio, I believe, and that’s it.

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Q: Can you give me your scouting report on Carl English? As a guy from his home province I always hear stories of him when he played here, and I'm just curious as to how he turned out (I've seen a few games with him but I figure you'd know more). Also do you think he ever has a shot at being in the NBA?

Jeff L, St. John’s

A: The scouting report, from NBA scouts, is he’s too slow to be a two-guard, to short to be a three, doesn’t have the ball-handling skills to be a true combo guard and has a hard time creating his own shot. That said, he’s making a great living playing in Europe, where his skillset fits a bit better. His NBA shot has come and gone.

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Q: Big fan of the blog and your Raptors reportings. I'm a Raptors season ticket holder that's moving out to Vancouver to work for a year - any good sports bars you come across in your travels where I can catch my team in the late afternoon? Safe travels

Evan S, Vancouver

A: I don’t know, for sure. But someone reading this will know and, if they’re nice, they’ll drop a comment with some suggestions.

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Q: I know you don't like postulating about future possibilities, but as a journalist would anything in the last five seasons of Raptors basketball compare with the joy of covering a Raptors-Magic first round match-up?

Steve R, Manitoba

A: It’d be cool, no question; and while it would have more layers, I don’t know if it’d capture the raw emotion of the first Toronto-New Jersey game a couple of years ago.

It might, but that was something.

See ya in a little bit

All right, folks.

Time for a wee break over here, much anticipated and pretty much needed.

May be back with a travelogue near the end of the week, could have some time to do a mailbag for the weekend and, who knows, there could be news sometime but we’re on vacation vacation. Not sure when, or if, I'll get to comments this week but I'll give it a shot sometime; don't take it personally if it takes a little while.

Super Family’s done the Sea Wall and Stanley Park aquarium, two things I can knock off the list, but there’s a whole lot of Vancouver-Whistler-Seattle-Victoria left to do (including The Forks, which was the genesis for this entire endeavour thanks to the reading habits of others) so I plan to be a bit busy.

See ya later.

And along came the mailman

All right, here’s the weekly offerings you’ve sent and I’ve tried to answer.

Got the rest of the day to do nothing, the big bird goes west tomorrow; I’ll likely stop by to say so long in the morning but after that – poof! – I’m in the wind.

Have fun.

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Q: In your last blog you said that "Patrick O’Bryant is younger, longer and was the beneficiary of having a guaranteed contract for exactly the same money." Are you honestly telling me you think POB is better than Pops who became an instant fan favorite, gobbled up boards the second he got on the floor and played with incredible passion. Not to mention that he's like a billion times more athletic than POB who really has seemed to be a little indifferent to the game of basketball his entire career. If they could have gotten Pops at the same cost as keeping POB, I think BC dropped the ball on this one. Enjoy your vacation!

Michael C, Montreal

A: See, this is what sometimes irks me, and please don’t take this personally, it’s far more than just you.

Where, oh, where, do you get that I am saying anyone’s better than anyone else? Seriously, where? What I said, as you point out quite accurately, is that O’Bryant is younger (true), longer (also true) and the beneficiary of having a guaranteed contract which, rightfully or wrongly, virtually guaranteed his return.

Look, neither Patrick O’Bryant nor Pops Mensah-Bonsu are going to be significant players on even marginally good teams. O’Bryant is going to be the fifth, and perhaps sixth, big man on a team where two of the guys ahead of him (Bosh and Bargnani) are likely to play about 38-40 minutes a night. Pops? Who knows what his role will be on a Houston team that will be life and death to make the playoffs.

Yes, Pops jumped high and played with energy; yes, O’Bryant looked lethargic.

But, here’s the thing: They could not get Pops at the same price as O’Bryant, it wasn’t an option, couldn’t happen, was not in their mindset from the end of the season. So no one “dropped the ball” and the next time you try to interpret my words to make your point, please read what I’ve written a bit more closely.

End of rant.

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Q: So some quick questions about the trade.

1. Since the Raps didn't need to fill the spot and it costs them 3 million at least, is this a favour to Carlos? (I know that Amir may turn into something but for the fifth or sixth big man? - Joey would have done it for a million.)

2. Ukic is a separate trade. Bucks really wanted him or did BC just want him gone? (I would have kept him, as I said, the Raps signed and traded a guy and put Ukic in to get two guys who may never see the floor.)

3. Talk about the starting two, who is the summer favourite?

Bruce M, Winnipeg

A: Some quick answers:

I don’t think “favour” is the right word but they did help out a guy who wanted to come back and got the kind of guy – deep rotation big – that they needed. Joey Graham was not – repeat, NOT – an option.

They needed to structure the trade in two separate transactions to satisfy CBA requirements but it doesn’t happen if Ukic isn’t included.

If you listen to the coach, it seems DeRozan is, but it’ll be a competition at camp.

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Q: I was wondering, what happens to the money the NBA gets from fining a player? And for the matter when a team fines a player over an internal issue what happens to that money?

Ryan M, Ottawa

A: League fines go to the NBA’s charitable organization and I believe most teams do that as well. Sometimes they players put it in a fund and dole it out to charities as well, I’m told.

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Q: With all the flurry of summer activity for the Raptors and many new faces, do any examples come to mind of teams that acquired a large number of new players and were very successful the upcoming season?

Gideon B, Richmond Hill

A: To tell you the truth, it would take going back through too many teams and too many media guides to come up with an exhaustive list.

I will point out the huge difference between the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 Orlando Magic. The former, a collection of low-paid journeymen that Doc Rivers got to a 41-41 record, was blown up for what was at the time the greatest free agent class ever, got Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady and won a couple more games.

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Q: My only issue with the Carroll trade is that it leaves them with only 2 legit NBA PGs which could be an issue if injuries occur to the Top 2 (and Calderon has been known to get hurt!)

Lep DB, Toronto

A: That’s the role they have for Quincy Douby or, in emergency, Hedo Turkoglu. I would suggest that going into this season, the group of Calderon-Jack-Douby or Turkoglu is exponentially better than Calderon-Will Solomom-Roko Ukic.

Oh, and the shot at Calderon: Missed 14 games last season, none the year before, five the year before that.

Of Rockets and the confusing world of business. Or, and some DWTS

Some storm, no?

I don’t know where you all are, but in these parts, the light show and thunder production and torrents of rain were pretty shocking. Violent even.

As a guy who once, in a former life as a newshound, had to cover the aftermath of tornadoes that hit in the Barrie area way back in the day, the pictures in the paper and the video on the news were shocking.

Hope everyone’s safe.

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Wow.

This is how the news of the day played in the Houston paper?

What kind of way is that to treat a guy? Seriously, I hope Pops goes on and has a long, productive and financially lucrative career in the NBA.

It just was never going to be here. It was apparent from the day the season ended through conversations I had with people all over the organization that it was a longshot – a huge longshot – that he’d get more than cursory interest from Toronto and was, at the very best, a fallback position if a lot of other things failed.

That’s not to say he can’t play, it’s just to say that people in the organization I speak to regularly didn’t see a way for him to play here.

And if you look at what they’ve done with that position, doesn’t it make sense? Reggie Evans is tougher and they needed tough; Rasho’s a veteran who knows how to play and what his limitations are, Amir Johnson is younger, bigger and may hold more promise; Patrick O’Bryant is younger, longer and was the beneficiary of having a guaranteed contract for exactly the same money.

It just wasn’t going to work here. Never was. Glad there’s closure, glad he’s got a gig.

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If I knew anything about business, I’d know what this means, or at least I’d know a little bit more about what this means.

But from my quite limited knowledge, I’d suggest the empire’s doing quite well since the Teachers Pension Fund demands a certain return on its investments (someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think I read it’s somewhere around 20 per cent annually) and they wouldn’t be buying if they couldn’t get it.

The downside? Well, it seems to me that Maple Leaf Sports, because of that fiduciary demand of the Fund (you like that? Fiduciary? Pretty high falutin’, no?) pretty much exists just to make that money and if it means they ever have to cut corners to hit the number, they’ll cut corners.

I know anecdotally from people in basketball that the financial knife is being wielded – smaller, if any, raises for staff; budgets kind of frozen; corners cut where possible (Hi, RaptorsTV!). It’s not hugely serious, the basketball budget has allowed the president to spend right up to the tax level – which is exactly the same as it’s been for years and will put Toronto in the top 10 in NBA salaries once it’s all said and done.

And, I’m also told that the board would still consider – on a case-by-case basis – any thought of going over the tax threshold for the right piece, if it was available. I would guess, however, that it’d be a harder sell in these relatively tight economic times but the chance would still exist.

Okay, my head hurts from all this serious junk. On to other pursuits.

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Hey, here’s one, in response to a couple of comments yesterday. I mentioned it there but I imagine there are some who don’t look.

All this kerfuffle about Carroll being a waste at the end of the bench in 2011 may not take this into consideration:

There could be so many roster spots open by that time – the contracts of Wright, Douby, Belinelli, Evans, Rasho, O’Bryant all expire in before the 2011 season rolls around – there could very well be a need for a guy to play a ninth, 10th or 11th man role.

Me? I’d be okay with a guy making less than $4 million in that situation.

Here’s the thing: No one knows for sure what might happen in the next two seasons, you don’t and I don’t and even Bryan doesn’t know with certainty. But having a relatively low-cost asset under contract can’t be a bad thing given that one of the alternatives will be going out shopping for players with unknown price tags.

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Hey, you know I like Debi Mazar as the morning line DWTS favourite? Well, I’m told by someone more fanatical than I (Hi, Super Wife!) that she’ll be cutting the rug with that Maksim dude and that can't be a bad thing.

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All the pretend games are over for the Canadas now after they were drubbed by what looks like a very potent Brazil team down in Puerto Rico last night.

What they’ve got left is a weekend of hard work to iron out whatever kinks Leo’s seen over the past three nights.

I’m not saying this is the biggest tournament the Canadian group’s ever been in but I am saying this: Failing to qualify for next year’s world will be a setback of Biblical proportions for a program that seems to be going in the right direction.

With the under-17s headed to the worlds last year, the under-19s having had some success on the global stage, it’s imperative that the senior team get back to the worlds so that the good people in charge of finding money to support these programs have something to take to the market.

The Canadians seem to have drawn the better of the groups going against Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uruguay and Puerto Rico – the other group has Brazil, Dominican Republic and Argentina as its three powerhouses – and that has to be a boon for the first round of play to build some momentum. The schedule looks like a help, too. After a first-day bye, they get Mexico, Virgin Islands, Uruguay before Puerto Rico and it may allow them to solidify a second-round berth quickly and take some pressure off.

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Hey, thanks.

I figure there’s no time for sleep what with all the suggestions for passing time in Vancouver, Whistler, Seattle and Victoria and now I’ve got to spend the weekend working out some kind of itinerary.

Just like last year going to Ottawa for camp, and just like 2007 when we had that time in Rome and Madrid, you folks answered the call and it’s much, much appreciated.

(And if it’s too personal for some, tough noogies).

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Okay, get those cards and letters rolling in, I’ve got to figure out a weekend schedule that includes a Jays game tomorrow with the Yankees, a bash after and a Sunday with nothing to do while Super Family heads west and I get ready to go Monday but it’s got to include a lot of questions and answers.

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This and that and an intellectual properties discussion

With nothing really going on – I know, it’s early in the day and things change – what else would we do but look back a day or so. And pray the day stays quiet so I can sit around and do nothing, which I do very, very well.

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Okay, let’s deconstruct this possible Banks-Carroll trade a bit more since the deconstruction process was rather spread out through the comments yesterday.

And a reminder, the deal’s not done, as we mentioned right off the bat yesterday, so if it falls apart, it falls apart. But if it doesn’t …

Point: Carroll’s contract is too long.

Counterpoint: Yes, it likely is but it’s not a killer by any means.

The short-term financial gain may not seem all that significant – it’s about $700,000 or so over the next two years – but it is since it gets Toronto that much further away from whatever the tax threshold will be. And that can never hurt.

The final two years of Carroll’s deal -- $3.9 million and $3.5 million – are hardly horrible. They're not great but it will be far below the league average which, I believe, would perhaps make him possibly tradeable. And, besides, you have to trust me that Bryan and his bean-counting henchmen have crunched every conceivable number and they can live with that salary two seasons from now without sacrificing any flexibility regarding Bosh’s future; they have the rest of the major parts of the team locked up past that anyway. It’s not like not saving less than $4 million a year will let be major players in free agency in 2011 or 2012.

Point: Why not wait and trade Banks in February or next summer?

Counterpoint: How’s your crystal ball working these days?

Why on earth people think GMs next summer, or even next winter, will be more willing to take on that number than Dallas is now boggles my mind. If there is a way to get that contract off the books to you thank your lucky stars and take it. You do not – under any circumstances to my mind – wait for lightning to strike twice.

Point: Carroll’s can’t defend

Counterpoint: Who cares?

Look, we’re talking about a specialist, a shooter who should see very, very, very limited minutes on a team with DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli, Antoine Wright and Jarrett Jack all capable of playing the same spot.

Carroll’s insurance. Deep-down-the-bench insurance.

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Point: Just let Banks sit there

Counterpoint: And do what?

Take up space? He’s an asset, and if you can turn an asset into another asset you like better, go for it.

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Point: The trade’s nothing for nothing.

Counterpoint: Sort of.

It’s not an earth-shattering deal; it’s 15th man for 12th man and that’s hardly worth getting worked up over.

But, here’s one to consider: I know that Banks has not been a real problem in the locker room but there are those in the organization who think he could be a bit of pouter if he had to sit for another season and get no action. Carroll? Well, the people in Charlotte, where he spent the majority of his career, love the kid. “Absolutely great guy. Absolutely great quote.” That’s what one e-mail I got on him said.

Now, if they can just get this deal done, the summer has to be over, right?

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Point: Why not just buy him out and re-sign Pops?

Counterpoint: Arrrrrrghhhhhh!!!!!!

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Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop has one of – no, you should probably make that the – best blogs out there and he’s always unearthing very cool stuff.

Like this gem from Arizona involving Captain Canada and Shaq.

And you wonder why sometimes team chemistry issues arise?

I can’t remember anything like this occurring around the Raptors at any time I’ve been around. I guess the closest thing was that there was talk – and that’s all it was – about business arrangements involving Butch Carter and a couple of the players on his last team that might have gone sour but certainly nothing that approaches the Nash-O’Neal thing.

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A good night for Canada in Puerto Rico.

How much it matters remains to be seen but one thing I’ve noticed paying very little attention to the runup to the world qualifier next week is that Argentina doesn’t seem like Argentina at the moment.

Now, that could change once they start playing for real but a lot of the usual suspects are gone from that team and we might be in a down period for the perennial contenders.

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Oh, yeah. Mail. I could use some. Please.

(As an aside, what you get on the weekend or Monday likely has to take you through an entire week; Super Family’s heading west for a legitimate vacation next week – Vancouver, Whistler, Seattle and back to Vancouver suggestions greatly accepted – and I’m not sure I’ll be doing any typing unless something of huge significance occurs. So, get those cards and letters in, maybe we’ll get enough to do a couple mailbags that I can put up on different days while relaxing at Nat Bailey or The Kells or some other swinging hot spot.)

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Oh oh.

Time to head people off at the pass.

Desmond Mason is not going back to Oklahoma City.

No, Desmond Mason is not coming to Toronto.

Just thought I’d mention that before people asked. Because that’s what people do.

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Speaking of mail, I told Jeff S. that I’d move this over from the comments yesterday

Q: Which Raptor has the best shot at making the All-Star team next season along with Bosh?

A: I think it has to be Hedo, don’t you? Probably should have made it last year, probably should have had some major consideration the year before. I imagine he’ll be on the minds of a lot of coaches if he gets off to a good start through February and the Raptors do, too.

And, you know, is it out of the realm of possibility to think that if Shaq, for instance, gets hurt or doesn’t play well in Cleveland – and I have no idea how they’ll use him with Ilgauskas – that Bargnani might not be the second best centre in the East behind the guy in Orlando? That might be a stretch but if he’s getting 20-7 every night, I bet there’s some stumping for him.

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Another trade on the horizon?

Man, a guy goes to the dentist, gets back and it looks like work might be calling again.

According to a couple of league sources and I can't corroborate this with any of my most trusted Toronto folks, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's got another deal bubbling, one that would send guard Marcus Banks to the Dallas Mavericks for Matt Carroll, adding a little long-term salary but providing coach Jay Triano with a shooter that he could use deep on the bench.

I'm warned -- and therefore so are you -- that the proposed transaction remains in its relative infancy and if this summer's proven anything it's that nothing's done until it's done. But just as we suspected, Bryan is thinking of moving a salary for one that’s a bit longer but not that much more expensive in the long haul.

Carroll, a 6-6 guard who will be entering his seventh NBA season, has four years left on his contract, he’ll make $4.7 million this season, $4.3 million in 2010-11, $3.9 million in 2011-12 and $3.5 million in 2012-13.

It’s more money and years than Banks has left – he’ll get $4.53 million this year and $4.8 million in 2010-11 – but the way Colangelo has structured his roster financially over the next few years makes the extra cost on the Carroll deal not that large a burden.

What Carroll can bring is to be determined. He’s a good shooter – a career 40 per cent shooter from three-point range – but on a Raptors roster pretty stacked at the wing spots, he’ll be an emergency fallback for Triano.

Banks? Well, Banks never really worked out after being obtained in the Shawn Marion trade last season. He hardly played, was mediocre when he did and then got hurt and missed about the last month of the season.

He didn’t take the team’s suggestion and play in the summer league last month – although he was in Las Vegas to meet with the staff and work out – and the GM’s been trying to deal him for months.

And in another strange twist to Banks’ career, he’ll be reunited with Marion one more time.

They were traded with each other from Phoenix to Miami in the Shaquille O’Neal trade and then moved in tandem from the Heat to the Raptors for Jermaine O’Neal.

Carroll’s bounced around for his entire career. He spent time with Portland and had a cup of coffee with San Antonio after leaving Notre Dame and then spent more than four seasons in Charlotte. He was traded from the Bobcats to the Mavericks at the deadline last season.

The end of that championship season!

Oh, how I wish Bryan would make a trade or something so we’d have some hard news to digest over here but it looks like a nice, calm couple of days are ahead. Which will be quite welcome, as a matter of fact.

So, in the absence of hard news, we give you …

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Let’s get the digression out of the way right off the bat.

Yankees win! Yankees win! Yankees win!

Yes, folks, finally a championship comes to Super Son and his buddies, the Complete

Mechanical (Hi, Randy!) Yankees are the playoff winners in the Mississauga North Baseball Association peewee house league.

A 9-5 win over the Dodgers did the deed last night and there was all kinds of celebrating going on. And justifiably so.

I don’t know how many of you are involved in kids house league sports – we’ve got 11- to 13-year-olds with widely varying degrees of skill and interest – but watching kids have fun playing a game for nothing more than the sport of it is really cool.

They were better ball players at the end of the season than they were at the start, they had fun all season, they made new friends and watching a gaggle of urchins become buddies and teammates over the summer was as much a hoot as watching them dog pile on each other at the mound when the game ended.

(Not to mention the coaches got to hang with a cool bunch of parents and new friends in various backyards and saloons).

Anyway, just wanted to catch you up now that it’s over.

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Canada got off to a less-than-stellar start to the Marchand Cup down in Puerto Rico but, remember, it’s not that big a deal.

The key is to get see some improvement over these three games – they go again tonight and tomorrow – before the kick off the worlds qualifier on the 26th.

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While we’ve been taking it easy and then dealing with another transaction, I guess nothing of substance has been happening around the league.

Thankfully, now that these guys have 15 men on the roster we’re not going to field any more zany suggestions on how great a fit Allen Iverson would be and judging by the utter lack of buzz about him around the league, there’s a huge suspicion that his career may be over.

Not sure how I feel about that, I really liked watching the guy play but I can see why GMs would be reluctant to extend his career for another year or two. There are a lot of miles on that body and you can never be sure it won’t break down rapidly and his inability – and then refusal – to deal with a backup role did nothing to enhance his chances of sticking around.

Maybe there’s a desperate team out there that takes a shot but it’s looking less and less likely.

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This is absolutely hilarious.

Two comments and three e-mails overnight from people wondering if Mo Pete was coming back simply because of one of those inane tweets people send out, this one saying something like, ‘No. 24 is back.’

Forget for a minute that these guys have no interest in repatriating Mo, who is a great guy with declining skills and a hefty contract.

Do people think he was speaking only – and directly, personally -- to those people in Toronto who read that stuff?

Seriously.

That’s a pretty high opinion of your place in Mo’s world to think he speaks only to those folks in his former adopted home town.

Classic.

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Speaking of guys without gigs, remember when free agency started and there was all kinds of buzz about the future of New York’s Nate Robinson and David Lee, a couple of restricted free agents people thought would get rich?

Not so much.

Neither has a deal here in the middle of August, and it looks entirely like both will play on one-year qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents along with about a zillion other, better, players next summer.

Why?

Well, it goes to the heart of what the Knicks are trying to do, and the financial restraint being shown by teams around the league.

No way New York is taking on money past this year – even for two of their own – because they want to spend it chasing big-name free agents in the summer of 2010, although another 33-win season or something like that is hardly going to make the Knicks a destination of choice.

But it also goes to the heart of what every team in the league is doing, too.

That no one would even give one of those guys an offer sheet for a two-year contract is, to me, kind of surprising. I don’t know if general managers are all saving money for some big spending explosion next summer or if they’re saving money because their owners are looking at the balance sheet and demanding it but the sense I get is there’s some kind of sea change going on around here.

And with a new collective bargaining agreement on the horizon – this one expires in 2011, they’re already holding preliminary talks on a new one – I can see teams doing very spending so they don’t box themselves in.

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Oh yeah, one more thing.

There always seems to be an inordinate amount of interest in whether or not the Raptors will hold full-on news conferences for every new guy they get in some kind of transaction.

Well, I don’t think there’s going to be anything formal for Amir Johnson, although they may get him on a conference call with some of us in the next day or two, and the first time we’ll see Sonny Weems, or hear from him, is when he arrives in town for some informal workouts sometime next month.

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A whole lot of stuff, and a pick for a favourite dancer

As I sit here wondering when the phone will ring or the e-mail will arrive to signal another transaction, this stuff comes to mind:

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What do we all make of this trade, which certainly gave a boost to a rather boring day, didn’t it?

Let’s just say this: It clears up a glut at point guard, address a minor need for a fourth or maybe fifth big and saves a bit of money starting next summer.

I’d have preferred it not include Ukic, who I still think is going to be a pretty good NBA point guard, but he was a distant third here, Douby’s cheaper and his contract expires next summer (Roko has a player option at $1.45 million in 2010). So, as much as it’s sad to see the kid leave, it makes entire sense.

Johnson? Well, he’s relatively raw, never quite panned out after the Pistons gave him that three year deal but he’ll push Patrick O’Bryant to be fifth behind Bosh, Bargnani, Rasho and Reggie Evans and that can’t be a bad thing.

Weems? Well, if they get anything from him, it’ll be a bonus but the fact they don’t need to get anything from him, really, makes his addition at a minimum salary a no-brainer. Can’t hurt, even if he can’t help.

Milwaukee does all right, except in the money part.

Carlos likely starts at the three and Roko will be insurance behind Brandon Jennings and Luke Ridnour, plugging a couple of holes in that roster, too.

This isn’t a deal that’s going to change the balance of power in the East but it does give each team something it needs, which is always the best kind of transaction.

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Here’s one thing when dissecting this deal that everyone should keep in mind:

The thing Carlos wanted more than anything was playing time. And, with the additions of all the swingmen, he simply wasn’t going to get it here.

It’s not as simple as saying, “why didn’t the Raptors just sign him?” when they couldn’t guarantee him the one thing he wanted.

Why would he come? To back up Hedo and maybe Wright and perhaps DeRozan and have to split two-guard time with Belinelli? It wasn’t going to happen and the fact they were able to sign-and-trade him for any piece that will fit a wee bit better is significant.

They have now invested less money on a shorter deal on Johnson, whose trade kicker takes his one-year salary just over $4 million; and have a minimum contract guy in Weems who, even if he can’t play, becomes pretty good cap ballast in some February transaction.

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I notice with great envy that my man T. Enlund is suspiciously absent from the pages of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, but here’s how Charlie played the deal today.

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Oh, and for all the concern about this trade not being able to be done as a 2-for-2 deal until Aug. 23 because Johnson was traded on June 23, here’s how it actually went down:

There are two separate transactions: Delfino and Ukic for Johnson and Weems for no one since minimum-contract players can be dealt with no repercussions.

Just another wrinkle to that zany CBA.

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Yankees! Yankees!

Yes, the lads came up with a big one last night, squishing bugs and hammering hits and rolling to some unfathomably comfortable win.

It sets us up to go for the whole shebang tonight in a one-game, winner-take-all championship final.

That’s if these dopey thunderstorms get in and out of the area this morning.

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Here’s an interesting angle I read from more than a few people yesterday: “Yeah, Amir Johnson’s only 22 and you know that young big men blossom late.”

I hope these are not the same people who have spent most of the summer telling me how horrible Patrick O’Bryant is and how he’s a bust.

O’Bryant’s less than a year older, taller, longer and probably as – if not more – athletic.

Yet people want to run him out of town and yet are willing to see how Johnson develops?

Odd.

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Here’s one for you:

I know for a fact Bryan’s trying to trade Marcus Banks and is working all his GM buddies to see if he can get something done.

What he’s going to have to do, I would surmise knowing how money-conscious GMs think – is find some team that is willing to take on two years of Banks to get rid of three or four years of someone else.

And if you’re Bryan, unless the guy coming back makes less annually than Banks in the next two years, I think you have to resist the urge to pull of a deal.

But – and this is a big ‘but’ – the fact that a handful of the current contracts expire after this season or next may allow Bryan to do just that.

If he can find a team willing to take two years and about $9.4 million of Banks, and take back, say, three years and $12 million of someone else, that’s the kind of trade he has to swing.

Can he do it? I wonder. But in these economic times, being able – because of other transactions – to add payroll two or three years out from now makes it a lot easier than not having that flexibility.

One thing about Banks, though, that you should now: It’s not that he’s a bad guy who disrupts the locker room or the chemistry on the team. In fact, he was a relative non-entity during his short tenure here and there’s been no suggestion from other places he’s been that he’ll cause issues.

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Who do we like among the latest DWTS roster?

Tough to handicap until we actually see them twist and twirl (although it will be absolutely killer if Donny Osmond were to, oh, let’s say, faint during a performance) so I guess it’ll be sentimental selections at the moment.

Can’t, in all good conscience, pick one of the athletes and I have no idea who a couple of those contestants are.

So …

Let’s all back Debbie Mazar just because she’s on Entourage, which is one of the top handful of shows on the tube these days.

Besides, she was in GoodFellas, one of the all-time great flicks, too.

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So long, Carlos and Roko

PAUL SANCYA/AP

Amir Johnson was a 2nd round pick by the Pistons in 2005.

Just when you thought it was safe to think the Raptors were done, they’re not.

They are on the verge of finalizing a two-for-two deal with Milwaukee that sends swingman Carlos Delfino and point guard Roko Ukic to the Bucks.

Young big man Amir Johnson is headed to Toronto and ESPN reported Monday afternoon the other player is raw swingman Sonny Weems.

It's unclear when the deal will be official but it could be done as early as today or tomorrow.

The financial aspect of the deal will be felt at the end of next season.

If the deal is two-for-two and Weems is not waived, it will fill out Toronto's 15-man roster and spell the end of player movement unless Colagnelo has one more deal up his sleeve.

The Raptors would go into the season with Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, Quincy Douby, DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli, Antoine Wright, Marcus Banks, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Reggie Evans, Rasho Nesterovic, Patrick O'Bryant, Johnson and Weems.

Johnson has just one year and $3,666,667 left on his contract while Ukic had an option for $1,450,000 in the 2010-11 season. Weems is due to make $736,420 this year with none of his 2010-11 salary ($854,389) guranteed.

And with the expectations that the salary cap and luxury tax thresholds will drop next season, any long-term savings will help keep some kind of financial flexibility for president and general manager Bryan Colangelo.

But giving up on Ukic is a gamble, even for a Toronto team with a surfeit of point guards.

The 24-year-old struggled at times in his rookie season but at 6-foot-5 and with the ability to break down defences, his skillset could see him eventually thrive in the NBA.

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

Roki Ukic and all his potential are off to Milwaukee.

However, with Jose Calderon and the recently-acquired Jarrett Jack cemented as the top two point guards on the roster and Quincy Douby seemingly able to handle third string duties if necessary, Ukic did become expendable.

Delfino spent last season with Khimki in the Russian league after a year with Toronto and three with the Detroit Pistons.

The Raptors originally had major interest in bringing him back but the acquisition of free agent Hedo Turkoglu, the drafting of DeMar DeRozan, the acquisition of Marco Belinelli and the arrival of Jack made Delfino redundant.

Johnson? Well, he’s big, 6-9 and 210 pounds; raw and really hasn’t done much in the four years he’s kicked around the league. But with some playing time available on a front court rotation that will be dominated by Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Rasho Nesterovic and Reggie Evans, he might get a chance to contribute – or at least push Patrick O’Bryant for those five-big minutes.

What else does it mean?

Well, with the roster looking full,it's a virtual certainty that Toronto will let Pops Mensah-Bonsu find alternate employment.

And another quiet week unfolds

Boring, isn’t it?

Well, I’m hearing that some people in positions of power are starting to float back into Toronto so maybe something of mild interest will happen later in the week. Or not.

But until then, we’ll try to scare up something to at least chat about.

Like …

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So now it begins in earnest for the men’s national senior team.

Or does it?

The men left Sunday for Puerto Rico, where they’ll play this week against Puerto Rico, Argentina and Brazil in the Tutu Marchand Cup, an exhibition tournament that rolls into the world qualifier down there starting Aug. 26.

But if history has shown us anything, it’s that it’s quite unwise to put a lot of stock in any results from any exhibition tournament or tour just days before the most significant event of the summer.

It’s sort of like the age of disinformation leading up to the NBA draft, when teams lie or hide the truth lest others find out what they’re really thinking.

Teams in tournaments like this never go all out, they never run their real stuff and the results are often entirely meaningless.

Remember two years ago? Canada when to the same tournament before the Olympic qualifier in Vegas and had some great success; I believe they went 2-1 and looked quite sharp.

Then they showed up in Vegas, finished fifth overall and had to go through a secondary qualifier in Greece where they didn’t get to Beijing.

So when you’re paying attention to the results this week – they play Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night – remember that the outcomes may not be real and the only games that truly count begin Aug. 27 when they get Mexico to open the event.

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You know me and track, right? Hardly a diehard fan, certainly not an aficionado and someone who, it turns out, pays close attention to the sport on the world stage about once a year.

Like Aug. 16.

Yeah, yesterday it was time to take time out from the golf and the nap to check out the world championships and seeing Usain Bolt go 9.58 was, quite frankly, rather incredible.

Just as incredible as sitting – as I recall – at a women’s softball game in Beijing exactly one year earlier watching him go 9.69 at the Olympics.

I wondered then, and was chastised a bit for it, when he played to the crowd for the last 15 metres how fast he could have ultimately gone. Guess we got our answer yesterday.

That was among the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.

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Know what I find truly amazing? That there’s a suggestion out there in the ether that the Raptors and Houston Rockets are in a “bidding war” for our old friend Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

If by “bidding war” they mean the Raptors have offered a one-year contract at the minimum-value, likely not fully guaranteed then, yes, indeed, there is a “bidding war” going on.

And judging from everyone I’ve ever talked to around the Raptors, that’s the top “bid” they are ever going to make.

Not sure what Houston will counter with, but if it’s more money, he should take it.

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Right, the Yankees.

I know you were all sitting and waiting anxiously for the television highlights of the big game on Saturday but the lads cruised to glorious victory over the plucky Tigers and we’re now in the championship.

It’s a double-knockout format which means we have to beat the dastardly Dodgers twice but if we get them in Game 1 tonight, I like our chances in Game 2 tomorrow evening.

And then we can all go about the rest of the summer being pretty dang happy.

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What ends first: The sorry NHL saga in bankruptcy court or the attempts by the Minnesota Timberwolves to resolve the equally boring Ricky Rubio fiasco?

And when they both do end, someone wake me up; it’ll be the next time I really care about either.

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A few days ago – not sure how many since they all seem to meld together at this time of the year – I suggested the Dominican Republic team at the world qualifier that starts next week was going to be stack and include Trevor Ariza.

Well, I’ve since found out that Ariza is not going to play, leaving the Dominicans with only Charlie Villanueva, Al Horford and Francisco Garcia as their NBA component.

Still a pretty good team and you have to figure they’re one of the favourites to grab one of the four spots available for next summer’s world championships in Turkey.

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This dropped in the mail from someone using a bad pseudonym but it goes to the obsession around these parts with that open roster spot.

Q: Just wondering if you have heard anything about the Raptors having interest in Sun Yue. It was posted online at that we were one of four teams interested. I can see it being a viable option considering paying him the minimum and marketing him to the Chinese would be a good move. Maybe waiving Marcus Banks and bringing in Yue to play Point Forward as a third string Small Forward similar to what Turk does? Also any news on good/bad Joey?

A: Viable? A guy who cannot play in the league at all at the moment and coming off a lost season spent mainly on the inactive roster with the Lakers is viable? I’ll dispute that.

I’ll also dispute the idea of pandering to the Chinese basketball fans here; it didn’t do a whole lot when they signed Menke Bateer and he, at least, had a modicum of ability and could contribute. There is no suggestion that Sun Yue has even that.

So, no, I don’t believe they should, and I don’t believe they will.

Joey? No news. Just like there hasn’t been news in weeks and weeks.

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