7/03/09
by: Scott
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Since Tuesday's post about the Raptors' small forward options on the free agent market, Ariza signed with Houston, Artest signed with the Lakers and ESPN is reporting that Turkoglu just signed with Portland. (A few hours after this was posted, I learned that Hedo actually rejected Portland's offer, so this whole blog post is probably irrelevant. Anyway, carry on!) That knocks off two of Colangelo's rumored primary options (Ariza and Turkoglu), so who are we left with?
Shawn Marion remains the most likely candidate to fill the starting SF role next season, particularly since Michael Grange claims the Raptors have tendered a four-year offer to Marion in the $32-34 million range. I don't mind the financials, but the length of the contract is troubling since Marion's game is based on athleticism and he'll be 35 years old at the end of the fourth year. If Grange is correct, hopefully that last year is a team option.
If the Raptors can't come to terms with Marion, that leaves Linas Kleiza as the most likely fallback option — not exactly someone to get excited about. Sure, I know Odom is still on the market, but I maintain that there's a 98 percent chance he re-signs with L.A. There's also the wild card of the bunch, Josh Childress, who is a restricted free agent and reportedly met with the Bucks yesterday. As for Marvin Williams... I have no idea what's going on with him. Has anyone heard anything? I do know he's restricted so the Hawks can match any offer that comes his way. I assume it would take all the Raptors' cap space (around $50 million over five years) for the Hawks to consider letting him go.
Except for the entirely unsurprising report from Ken Berger that Carlos Delfino is close to returning to Toronto, that's all we have for the moment. Make sure you follow me on Twitter this weekend and all through the off-season as I'll be posting updates and opinions on all the free agent rumors and signings. 
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