Toronto Raptors

2003-04 Record: 33-39/Seventh in Central Division * 2004-05 Projection: 34-48 * Coach: Sam Mitchell

WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. GM Glen Grumwald was fired in early April, and rookie head coach Kevin O'Neill joined him on the unemployment line after the season ended.

NEW FACES The whole front office. With Grunwald gone, the club cajoled Rob Babcock, a rookie GM (albeit with 17 years of basketbaal management experience) to leave the Minnesota Timberwolves. Babcock proceeded to hire a supporting cast of suits, including veteran executive Wayne Embry as his senior advisor, eight-lime NBA All-Star Alex English as director of player personnel/assistant coach, and Sam Mitchell--another former player--as Toronto's newest neophyte bench boss.

Rafer Alston was Toronto's major free-agent signing. Known as "Skip to my Lou," Alston is really a new, old face as the team previously signed him in 2002-03, then didn't keep him at season's end. One wonders why they didn't hold on to him then, when the price was cheaper.

First-round draft pick Rafael Arajuo--a 6'11", 290-pound center--brings bulk to a perennial team weakness.

ON THE COURT: The Vince Carter tradewinds swirled around the sports pages on the shores d Lake Ontario in the early summer. While the rumors were dismissed, the fact that Cartels name was even mentioned in trade talks shows just how desperate Toronto has become.

OFF THE COURT: The feud between Carter and team president Richard Peddie also played itself out through the media. It all began in June, when Vince was upset that Peddle bad broke his word and not consulted him before hiring Babcock. Most fans sided with Carter; on the day of his annual charity All-Star game, a plane circled the Air Canada Centre with a banner that read, "Fire Peddle, Keep Cater!"

WHY THEY WILL FINISH FIFTH: Toronto's depth is still as thin as the lining of a hobo's pockets. With Carter, Rose, Donyell Marshall, Peterson, Alvin Williams, and Chris Bosh all returning, the top six looks pretty good, but as the playoffs show each year, it's a team's bench that turns contenders into champions.

ON THE SPOT

FOLLOWING ANOTHER LACKLUSTER SEAson, everyone around the league is still wondering which Vince Carter--the dominant, almost-30 point-per-gamer, or the injury-plagued and inconsistent whiner--will show up.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Century Publishing Co.
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