Name: Andrea Bargnani

Comment: Il Mago exceeded my expectations, and showed what he was made of when Bosh went down with an injury-carrying the load. If he was 100% going into the playoffs, the Raptors may have enjoyed a different result.

He needs to work on his defense and rebounding, but that is something that is learned on the job in the NBA for most cats. I would also like to see him work on some low post moves, so he is a threat from everywhere.

Grade: A

Name: Anthony Parker

Comment: The best $4million the Raptors have ever spent, hands down. Parker is the most important player on this team. He regularly D’s up the opposing teams best 2 and 3, hits his jumpers (dagger after dagger in fact), and made only 2 bad plays that I counted the whole season. Great pick up!

His value was evident when he went down for a couple games with an ankle injury, with the Raptors dropped them all.

I would like to see more plays ran for Parker next season. All year I contended that he would be perfect curling off a couple screens, a la Rip Hamilton, for easy jumpers…but that is for Sam Mitchell to drop the ball on.

Grade: A

Name: Chris Bosh

Comment: Mr. Double-Double. Bosh was in good company this season with his statistics, he hit big shots, made big plays, and carried this team on lanky, black Q-Tip looking ass. Two-time All-Star, Atlantic champion and a member of Team USA. Not a bad resume for a 24 year old.

His on the ball defense in the blocks is a cause for concern for me. His weak side help is spot on, but he is unable to handle the big boys in the blocks. Not just the big boys, cats like Mikki Moore gave Bosh a diploma in the first round.He will need to ad about 10lbs of muscle in the off season, to really take things up a notch, and bang in the low post.

It might heresy to say so around these parts, but I question his ability to take this team to the promise land. There is no doubt he is a talent, and will be a HUGE part of this organizations quest for the holy grail, but I see Bargnani as the offensive juggernaut, and Ford as the general on this team. That being said, Bosh has game, and has the ability to prove me wrong - which I hope he does.

Grade: A

Name: Darrick Martin

Comment: The third fiddle at the point. He played sparingly, but held his own for a 35 year old. His true value was shown in his leadership, presence and mentor ship with Ford and Calderon. Marginal player, playing marginal minutes, but did the job he was supposed to.

Grade: C

Name: Joey Graham

Comment: I really don’t see what Mitchell did in this guy. Mr. Inconsistent did nothing but cause me to wretch and weaze all season. He would tease us with a string of solid games, then totally disappear for long stretches.

All highlighted by his ‘deer in the headlights’ performance in the playoffs. He has all the tools to be a solid player in this league, except the most important one…MENTAL. Can’t learn that, it is inate.

Grade:D

Name: Jorge Garbajosa

Comment: That injury keeps playing over and over in my head. Potentially the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life (that and that football injury when the quarterback tackled that dude on the Falcons, and his leg literally snapped in two…*shudders*…can’t remember either of their names).

Garbo really grew on me. He built houses for half of Toronto with all the bricks he put up early in the season, but he did everything else right. Eventually, the shots started to fall, and he became indispensable. I love the grimey players who get knee deep in shit, and do the dirty work; crucial to success. I hope he recovers from the injury, because he was sorely missed in the playoffs.

Grade: B

Name: Jose Calderon

Comment: Trade him or keep him? That is one of the dilemmas Colangelo is facing this off-season. Calderon is a champ, no diggity. He won the world championship, without Pau Gasol, and played crucial minutes over Ford in crucial situations. There has to be something to that.

With the huge investment in Ford, and the glaring need for an athletic, aggressive, rebounding 3, Calderon is one of a couple chips Colangelo has, without dipping into Tannenbaum’s frugal pockets. His contract is up after this season, and he is in line for a big pay day. Colangelo wont let him go without getting something for him, but what to do…

What’s keeping Colangelo up is he is wondering how much better Calderon can get. He made huge strides from last season to this one. If he continues to rise going forward, Ford may be the expendable one.

Jose did a great job protecting and distributing the ball. He took it to the rack hard, and made teams pay for giving him the jumper. I suspect the only thing he needs is more playing time, but he can be a starter on a lot of teams, and everyone knows it. Next season will be huge for him.

Grade: A-

Name: Juan Dixon

Comment: Lock and load baby. Juan jacked left and right, making his fair share. Kid has heart, there is no doubt. Streak shooters are just that…streaky. More consistency is needed from Dixon for him to be really effective. I never liked the Fred Jones signing, but Colangelo cut his losses, and upgraded, while saving money. Primo move in my books.

Grade: B-

Name: Kris Humphries

Comment: The Raptors went from nothing, to something when they traded Araujo for Humphries. Kris started the season on the bench, but worked himself into the rotation with work effort, energy, and always being ready to play. True definition of a professional. He really stepped up late in the season with all the injuries. Sam should have played him more in the playoffs, but what can you do?

Grade: B

Name: Luke Jackson

Comment: Sweet lefty stroke. I love watching lefties play sports, interesting motions on movements. Jackson had a couple solid games, but mostly rode the pine. He was strictly an insurance policy, but played himself into a contract for next year.

Grade: C

Name: Morris Peterson

Comment: MoPete will be missed. There is no doubt. His production and minutes were down this season, but that was expected with all the new arrivals. I didn’t appreciated how he was used though. Mitchell did a horrible job managing MoPete, and essentially drove him out of town.

He was used sparingly - literally like a spare tire - all season, then come playoffs…BOOM, thrust into action. All the uncertainty, in the dog house, out of the dog house, led to inconsistent play, costing MoPete money on his next contract.

Grade: C

Name: Pape Sow

Comment: Bounced back from a serious spinal injury, and contributed some when called on.

Grade: NA

Name: Rasho Nesterovic

Comment: Rasho played well all season. He would start games, but rarely finish them out. I found that interesting for some reason. He did his job, with a big pay cheque.

Grade: C

Name: T.J. Ford

Comment: Kid has heart. At times, it seemed as though he was the leader, and not Bosh. He hit big shots, won a couple games on buzzer beaters, and bounced back from a serious injury to make the Charlie V trade look like a good one (I was a fan of the trade from day 1, the Raptors didn’t have a real point guard since Damon Stoudamire).

His jumper was a pleasant surprise, and he made people pay for giving him that shot. He has all the tools to really be a top 10 point guard in the league, but needs mentoring to get him there.

He needs to take this off season, and study how Tony Parker and Steve Nash play. At times he was out of control; I can’t count how many times he threw a horrible pass to Rasho, or missed open layups. He also tried to do too much at certain points in the games (probably why Calderon got all those minutes down the stretch in certain games).

He clashed with Mitchell and Bosh on more than one occasion, but I liked it. Ford will have to exert more leadership on this squad, and really carve out his steak on this team.

Grade: A

Name: Uros Slokar

Comment: Played sparingly, and had a couple good games.

Grade: NA