After the signing of Jason Kapono last week, Bryan Colangelo’s next move is going to have to involve a big man with mad rebounding skills. The problem is that there isn’t too much money to work with for UFA’s, which leaves a very small talent pool to choose from. This off-season is different from off seasons of the past for one main reason: the Raptors are winners and considered contenders. This means that the UFA talent pool could be a little bigger than we thought. I composed a list of big men that could temporarily fill the Raptors rebounding needs and at the same time, not cost too much money:

BIG MEN (in no particular order)

• Jake Voskuhl-recently opted out of his contract with the Bobcats and became an UFA, hoping to find a home with a winning team
• PJ Brown-had a nice season with the Bulls last year, but he has accustom to making a lot of money and may cost too much
• Mike Sweetney-a young guy who is built like a Mac truck. He isn’t a true centre, but he can get rebounds.
• Dikembe Mutumbo-he’s an old man, but proved last year with Yao’s injury that he can still play in the NBA. The Raps could throw a 1 year deal, but he’ll probably sign somewhere else.
• Jake Tsakalidis-has never really excelled in the west and maybe a change of scenery could help his career.
• Chris Mihm-a former first rounder who missed last season due to injury, Mihm’r has skills and finish around the basket.
• Brian Skinner-probably the best rebounder out of this group, but will demand a lot of attention from contenders like Detroit, Dallas and Miami.
• Joe Smith-the former first pick overall hasn’t done much in the past decade, but you never know what could happen.
• Corliss Williamson-Big Nasty and former Raptor plays hard each play and brings a lot of grit to any team. He’s not a true centre, but he can guard big men.
• Melvin Ely-the Spurs have been quick to sign players such as Bonner, Vaughn, and Oberto, but Ely has yet to sign. Maybe the 7 footer could find a home north of the border.
• Honourable Mention: Jamaal Magloire-the home town boy has been thrown around in trades over the past 5 years because of his huge contract, but now that he’s a free agent maybe he’ll come back to motherland and play in front of his home fans.

If the Raps don’t get their man via bargain free agency then they are going to have to trade up some talent. Guys like Bosh, Bargnani, Parker are all off limits, but (as it has been mentioned in many rumours) the Raps are skilled at the point and if they were to trade away Calderon and Rasho they could find a big man that would make the Raptors front court problems a thing of the past. Also, if they did decide to trade away one of their point guards there are a few players that could fill the role of back up. Earl Boykins, Daniel Ewing, Steve Blake, and Brevin Knight are all free agents. Boykins will be a little pricey, Ewing was a great college player but was third on the dept chart with the Clippers, Blake proved that he could start in the NBA after his trade to the Nuggets, and Knight is a skilled play maker that has too many injuries.

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