That’s all I can really say at this point. That…and that I’m probably done.

Sorry to scrap the post-game from that awful Washington Wizards game on Sunday, but this is far more important. Without further ado…

Multiple sources are reporting (mostly on Twitter, though sources I have within the Raptors are also “not confirming” with a wink and a nod) that the Toronto Raptors have signed Andrea Bargnani to a three-year, $24M extension that will kick in at the end of his current deal.

The polarizing Bargnani, the 2006 No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, is currently on the shelf for the remainder of the season with elbow troubles. It’s a crazy turn for a franchise that was shopping him just weeks ago, and almost a certain sign that general manager Bryan Colangelo’s option year will be exercised by the club.

Bargnani, of course, draws the ire of Raptor fans for his inconsistent play, though he’s at least been consistently bad in 2012-13. He’s posted near career lows across the board, with a True Shooting Percentage of just 48.3% and an anemic 7.6% Rebound Rate. His defense also failed to improve on its 2011-12 improvement, making him entirely valueless (according to BRef’s Win Shares) or somehow of negative value (according to every person who watched him play this year).

Bargnani is making $10M this season and is scheduled to earn $10.75M and $11.5M the next two seasons. So, yeah, this extension averaging $8M a year is a relative discount, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks he’ll earn this amount, I’m sure. If you think maybe the security will help him settle back in after a few tumultuous seasons, here is a refresher on player’s with his closest similarity score through this point in his career: John Brown, David Benoit, Jeff Cook, Danny Vranes and Rodney Rogers. I doubt very much a declining 27 year old will somehow find a new lease on his basketball life thanks to some financial security.

Like…there aren’t words for this level of stupidity in an organization. How the board could justify this extension, or how Colangelo could sign it, or how the team could walk in the locker room today and not riot, is beyond me. Your core for the next few years is now DeRozan, Gay and Bargnani with Valanciunas fighting for touches. I’m sure an Alan Anderson extension will follow shortly.

This isn’t even securing mediocrity for the short term, this is securing a full walk-out from fans (I hope). I for one, am probably done. Yes, I’ll be called a traitor and a bad fan and blah blah blah…but I can’t support a team that would make a move like this. I’ll cheer for the Seattle Whatevers or just be a general NBA fan.

I’m shocked. Write it down folks. The day the Toronto Raptors died – April…1.

Pietrus gives the Raptors three point shooting, as well as much needed defense out on the wing; things that Casey covets.

Along with the Magloire signing, the Raptors seem to be bringing in cheap(ish), defensive oriented veterans that will come off the books at the end of the season, giving the Raps some nice cap space to try and make something happen.

The deal itself seems impressive; both Rogers and Bell jointly threw down a big chunk of cash to do this (reminiscent of the Olympic bid they had together that squeezed the CBC out of the coverage). Rogers is the big winner in all of this, owning all of Toronto’s important sports properties.

More to come as things develop and we have time to percolate on the rammifications of it all. My first thought is that the Jays have done quite well under Rogers’ stewardship, and I expect no less of the Raptors and Leafs.

Dave Feschuk, the only real reporter at the Toronto Star, has come up with a bit of a scoop here. He’s claiming that Colangelo’s extension is being blocked by one man and one man only – Glen Silvestri. Who? Glen Silvestri. Read the full article to learn more about him, but he’s apparently the only hope for Colangelo critics who want to see the ex-Suns GM out the door.

It’s unclear whether Silvestri’s opposition of Colangelo is basketball-based or rooted in finances (he manages billions of dollars for the OTPP), what is clear is that he feels strongly enough about this that he’s willing to hold up the whole process that pretty much everyone else is in favor of. Personally, I think Bryan Colangelo’s team-building philosophy is very ad-hoc, lacking any sort of founded planning, and heavily weighted towards the offensive side of the ball, His infatuation with building around Chris Bosh cost this franchise precious years and draft picks, and his forays into the free-agent market have been vastly disappointing, I can’t think of another GM who had traded away his prime acquisitions so frequently. To some that might spell dynamic and an ability to react, to me it’s plain old confusion and trying to hit a moving target that you’re not even sure exists.

Here’s the relevant excerpt:

If Tanenbaum and his fellow directors support Colangelo — “Bryan has a plan and we back his plan as a board,” Tanenbaum said — why has Colangelo’s contract, which expires June 30, not been extended?

It’s because there remains at least one anti-Colangelo voice among the power brokers. That voice, multiple club sources confirm, belongs to Glen Silvestri, a representative of the organization’s majority owner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Since the board has seven seats, three of which belong to Teachers’, and since another one of its members, CEO Richard Peddie, is essentially duty-bound to the majority owner, Colangelo isn’t likely to ink a new contract unless Silvestri comes around.

What, exactly, is behind Silvestri’s opposition to Colangelo’s continued presence in Toronto? That’s difficult to say since Silvestri, a chartered accountant who manages billions of dollars worth of the pension plan’s funds, referred all questions to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors and Maple Leafs, among many things.

Peddie, the MLSE CEO, refused comment on board matters. As for the status of Colangelo’s contract? Said Peddie: “There’s nothing to report.”

That kind of silence has been typical of the pension plan’s representatives, and it leaves those who care to parse hearsay. Sources say Silvestri, who took a seat on the board last year, has emerged as an atypically opinionated presence around the Air Canada Centre. Along with criticizing Colangelo’s record as GM, Silvestri, one league source said, has also been heard to deride Colangelo’s career as the product of nepotism. Colangelo’s father, Jerry, was owner of the Phoenix Suns when Bryan became that franchise’s general manager in 1995.

Bryan Colangelo, who was GM in Phoenix for 11 years before he succeeded Rob Babcock in Toronto in February 2006, has had success outside his father’s shadow. He was named the NBA’s executive of the year in Toronto in 2007 for inheriting a 27-win team and turning them into the 47-win champions of the Atlantic Division.

He has made plenty of missteps in the wake of that triumph, to be sure. The Jermaine O’Neal deal, which insiders pin on Colangelo’s wish to assuage then-coach Sam Mitchell’s constant harping for more defence and rebounding, was a miss. Ditto Hedo Turkoglu. And Colangelo’s call-out of Chris Bosh, in the wake of Bosh’s exit to Miami last summer, raised eyebrows among those concerned about the team’s ability to land and retain free agents.

Here’s A-Dub’s take on this:

Thank you Glen Silvestri. There is a god. The accusations of nepotism are gold. How much of Phoenix’s success can attributed to Daddy Colangelo? Bryan started off with tons of cap space, a budding superstar and a 1st overall pick and look where we are now. I guess this clears up the confusion as to why Cloangelo hasn’t been extended despite all of Peddie’s sound bytes stating that it’s a done deal. For those who say that Colangelo has made MLSE a lot of money, what exactly has he done? Doesn’t having a successful team usually make you more money? There are good basketball minds out there, look at at Alex Anthopolous, who knew of him a coupel of years ago? We need a fresh face that is in tune with today’s NBA that will embrace concepts like advanced stats and a defense-first philosophy.

“James Johnson is a strong, athletic and versatile small forward that we have had our eye on dating back to the 2009 NBA Draft,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo.

Hollinger:

+ Athletic player who can finish at rim and has scorer’s attack mentality.

+ Erratic performer who gets completely out of control driving to basket..

+ Inconsistent outside shooter and wildly foul-prone defender. Looked a bit heavy.

Johnson may be the most high-mistake perimeter player I’ve ever seen — he led all small forwards in both turnover ratio and fouls per minute. His whopping 17.7 turnover ratio was the worst of any perimeter player’s, except for Memphis’ Jamaal Tinsley’s. No other wing player climbed above 15.0.

On the foul side of the ledger, Johnson committed a foul every 6.0 minutes, a shockingly high rate for any position and an absoltely extraordinary one for a wing. The closest wing player to that number, Denver’s Joey Graham, was whistled once every 7.3 minutes.

Johnson did accumulated the highest rate of blocks among wings, and was able to create shots at a decent rate. His shooting percentages weren’t bad either. In other words, if he can just bring some semblance of control to his game, there’s enough ability there to be a rotation player. Nobody knows if that will happen, but glass-half-full types will note that rookies with high turnover rates tend to make stronger progress in Year 2 than their peers.

After struggling with a knee injury, the Raptors have officially shut him down for the season; sending him to surgery to repair his right knee.

While he hasn’t had the impact that many of us expected, his 11.2pts 4.5reb will be need to be replaced somehow. Julian Wright will have to pick up some of that slack, but Sonny Weems will probably be in line for the lions-share of the load.

Shouldn’t change too much though.

I have heard of this name once before. From this game:

With Jerryd Bayless hobbling around and Jose Calderon also sporting an injury, this is a signing made just to make sure we don’t ever ask Bayless to Calderon to ever risk further injury by playing hurt. This was the case against a couple times last week and it made me cringe.

Here’s what Draft Express had to say about him:

Gaines is a reasonably athletic point guard who excels in transition and sports a chiseled frame that is substantially improved since his college days. He can create his own shot going left or right and gets to the free throw line at a high rate, excelling on the pick and roll in particular where he can get to the rim and finish (61% 2P) with an array of spin and pivot moves or find open teammates spotting up on the wing. He does a good job taking care of the ball despite the incredibly fast pace his team plays at, and appears to have strong fundamentals and a nice basketball IQ to help compensate for his lack of incredible physical tools.

The biggest question mark about Gaines (besides his average size) revolves around his perimeter shooting stroke, which has never been considered a strength throughout his career. He shot just 32% from beyond the arc this season and 30% as a NCAA senior, attempting quite a few shots which may indicate some shot-selection issues. With that said, he has a very strong mid-range game, being highly adept at creating space and knocking down shots pulling up off the dribble.

Gaines is a fairly tough and scrappy guy who plays good defense for the most part and is a very good rebounder for a point guard. He’s a bit inconsistent from game to game, something he needs to address.

How much does a minimum contract pay? Well, since Gaines has one year of experience (8 games with the Jazz), the minimum salary of $762,195 applies. The 10-day contract is either 10 days or 3 games, whichever is longer. Since Gaines will play at least four games, that’s 762,195/82 * 4 = 37,180. Nice.

Hey, at least we didn’t sign Dupree again.