The Toronto Raptors are on the brink of swinging another trade in perhaps the most active offseason in franchise history.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Monday that the Raptors have agreed in principle to a sign-and-trade deal that will send swingman Carlos Delfino and guard Roko Ukic to the Milwaukee Bucks for power forward Amir Johnson and guard Sonny Weems.

ESPN.com reported earlier Monday that the Raptors and Bucks were in talks on a deal headlined by Delfino and Johnson. One source said the deal could not be finalized before Tuesday because Delfino must fly from Argentina to formally sign the contract, which is expected to be a three-year deal with the Bucks holding a team option in Year 3.

The Raptors retained Delfino's rights while he played in Russia last season, giving them the ability to sign-and-trade him. Delfino prefers to return to the NBA as opposed to staying in Europe, but Toronto has acquired three other players this summer who play at shooting guard or small forward: Marco Belinelli, Antoine Wright and lottery pick DeMar DeRozan.

Johnson was acquired by Milwaukee in late June as part of the three-team swap with San Antonio and Detroit that routed Richard Jefferson to the Spurs, and he was briefly projected as the Bucks' new starter at power forward after Charlie Villanueva left in free agency to sign with Detroit.

But Milwaukee was able to sign Hakim Warrick to a one-year, $3 million deal earlier this month after the Grizzlies unexpectedly withdrew their qualifying offer to Warrick, turning the restricted free agent into an unrestricted free agent.

The deal signals that the Bucks consider fortifying their depth at shooting guard and small forward -- which Delfino would address -- as more vital than keeping Johnson.

Striking a Delfino deal would enable Toronto to add to a large contingent of newcomers that already features Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack and Reggie Evans in addition to Belinelli, Wright and DeRozan.

Turkoglu arrived via sign-and-trade, Evans and Belinelli joined Toronto in separate trades and the Raptors signed former No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani to a five-year, $50 million contract extension early in free agency.

Johnson, 22, was drafted by Detroit out of high school with the 56th overall pick in 2005, when Bucks general manager John Hammond was still working with the Pistons as Joe Dumars' top front-office aide.

The power forward is entering the final season ($3.9 million) of a three-year, $11 million contract extension he received from the Pistons in the summer of 2007 despite barely playing in his first two seasons as a pro on a veteran-laden team.

Johnson started 24 games last season and averaged 3.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 14.7 minutes per game. In summer league play in Las Vegas with the Bucks, Johnson averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks as Milwaukee posted a 4-1 record.

Delfino, 26, has averaged 5.8 points and 17.1 minutes per game in four NBA seasons. His only season in Toronto in 2007-08 was Delfino's best season in the NBA, as he averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game.

In speaking to Toronto-based reporters last week, Raptors president Bryan Colangelo conceded that the likelihood of re-signing Delfino had diminished after the drafting of DeRozan and the trade for Belinelli, and acknowledged that a sign-and-trade was a possibility.

"The likelihood that he's going to sign here is less," Colangelo said then of Delfino. "Not only is he going to be leaving some money on the table in Europe, but one of the things that was attractive about coming here was that he'd have ample opportunity to play and maybe start. And that doesn't appear to be as open now."

After a disappointing 33-49 season in 2008-09 that included the February trade of Jermaine O'Neal -- its marquee offseason acquisition a year ago -- to the Miami Heat, Toronto has reshaped its roster aggressively this summer partly in hopes of persuading 2010 free agent-to-be Chris Bosh to re-sign with the Raptors.

Posted by Caseloads:

Why risk not having max capspace for sessions?

Posted by TheGame:

Ukic is an interesting pickup. He is young but supposedly can play. Are the Buck's signaling that they don't plan to match an offer for Sessions? Or, are they pulling a Magic manuever to make it appear like they don't plan to match so they can keep Sessions on the cheap? If I were the Bucks, I would match any reasonable offer for Sessions because he is no worse than their second best PG. At worst, they can trade him later for another player. THat is why I think Walsh should just pay Sessions $5 million to give the Buck's second thoughts about matching.

Posted by tkf:

Posted by orangeblobman:

Roko Ukic is Croatian and so is Andrew Bogut, so this is a boost for Bogut, as he has expressed disgust with our culture.

I thought bogut was australian.


[Edited by - tkf on 18-08-2009 09:32 AM]

Posted by orangeblobman:

Posted by tkf:

Posted by orangeblobman:

Roko Ukic is Croatian and so is Andrew Bogut, so this is a boost for Bogut, as he has expressed disgust with our culture.

I thought bogut was australian.


[Edited by - tkf on 18-08-2009 09:32 AM]

His parents were born in Croatia but he was born in Australia. He is fluent in his native tongue so he can talk with Roko.

Posted by cuieee:

Orangeblobman:

Your point about the Bucks getting a potential new buddy for Bogut is a good one (see last sentence in quote).

As for the "disgust with our culture" part, are you refering to this...

"The Sydney Morning Herald's David Sygall quotes the former top overall pick on life in the NBA. It's not pretty. One of the more memorable passages:

"The public's got it right, a lot of NBA stars are arrogant and like to spend lots of money and have lots of girlfriends and all that."

"The smarter guys don't do that. They like to live a regular life and want to retire and be set up. About 80 per cent of them go broke by the time they retire or come close to it."

"If you want to keep living that lifestyle when you're 40, but the millions have stopped coming in, you suddenly find your friends are gone and you've got nothing. It's a tough situation for some of those guys, especially the ones who come from the ghettos or tough upbringings."

"The funny thing is that we have compulsory tutoring each week where they teach you to manage your money and they tell you about all the things that can happen to you, people trying to take advantage of you, but it's amazing how many of the guys totally ignore it."

"I guess if you're a normal person and all of a sudden you're getting $10 million a year, it can go to your head. But I really think it's just the culture over there. I would never want my child to be brought up in an environment like that, where if you have money, you're supposed to flaunt it and make everyone jealous. The American attitude is 'We're the best'. That's why the NBA guys who come from other countries, the Europeans, all sort of stick together away from the game."

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-25-71/Andrew-Bogut--NBA-Culture-on-the-Skids.html



... because most of what he said above is valid. Too many guys from the NBA are broke only a couple of years after retirement bc they dont budget well and live within their means (see: Walker, Antoine). Granted he was a little inartful in talking about "ghettos and tough upbringings", but his basic point that if someone runs out of money and ends up moving back to around where they grew up, if they came from a disadvantaged area, they will be returning to a disadvantaged kind of life.

You have to remember that he is an American outsider explaining to another non-American what he sees in America. More so, his exposure to American culture is heavily influenced by hanging around the NBA. We all know this isnt representative of US society at large. So when he decries the American attitude as being too materialistic with people prone to flaunt their wealth, you have to remember this isn't necesarily an afront to you.

Also, generally speaking, the US mindset is 'We're the best'. Don't even lie. It is. I grew up in Jersey and for some reason and for some time I had the impression that living in Jersey was 'the best'. Also generally speaking, people from other countries are less caught up in thinking their country as the best. Instead, they think that their way of life is good for them and how other people live might be best for them. And if anybody whom is reading this reacts to the previous sentence by thinking that this is bc the US is better than all the other countries, dont bother responding you already proved my point.

- end rant -