"Jay was very important for me, for my growth," Bargnani said. "He gave me the possibility to stay on the court and my minutes were not dependent on my mistakes."

The Raptors hope Bargnani's improvement can get them back to the playoffs, which they missed last season after making it two straight years.

--After just a half season with the Raptors, F Shawn Marion was shipped to Dallas July 9 in a sign-and-trade deal that ultimately involved four teams: Toronto, Dallas, Orlando and Memphis. Hedo Turkoglu also signed and was traded to Toronto, which also sent C Nathan Jawai and F Kris Humphries to Dallas and a 2016 second round draft pick to Memphis. The Raptors acquired veteran F Devean George and G Antoine Wright from Dallas in the trade.

Memphis, a minor player in the deal, took Jerry Stackhouse's contract from Dallas and sent reserve Greg Buckner to Dallas. Orlando, which was going to lose Turkoglu for nothing, came away with cash from both Dallas and Toronto.

The Raptors had looked into possibly re-signing Marion, who was acquired last February from Miami. However, those plans changed when Turkoglu agreed to a deal worth more than $50 million over five years.

Marion is expected to get a contract worth about $39 million over five years. Marion averaged 14.3 points in 27 games for the Raptors, and had an overall seasonal average of 12.9.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "At this stage we're very happy with the way things have kicked off so far." -- Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, on the start of free agency, which has seen his team acquire free agent F Hedo Turkoglu and sign big man Andrea Bargnani to a contract extension.