Euro Basket era done... For now at least...

There is and will be plenty of things to talk about in the next day or so including Chris Bosh, Lebron James, Collusion, trade exceptions and legacies but for now lets get to the news of the day.

After being locked up like a coiled spring during the Chris Bosh '3 Kings' fiasco, all of general manager Bryan Colangelo's thoughts, permutations and internal science experiments have been released.

The result? Essentially Turkoglu and Calderon gone. Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and Tyson Chandler in, dramatically reshaping the roster and philosophy of the team once again.

All the details still need to be finalized due to the complexity of the trades but they breakdown somewhere in this neighbourhood:

Toronto trades Turkoglu to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa and a small portion of Poenix's trade exception ($2 million roughly) or Dwayne Jones.

Toronto Trades Jose Calderon and either the trade exception acquired for Chris Bosh or the combination of Marcus Banks, Reggie Evans and Dwayne Jones/small trade exception from Phoenix to Charlotte for Boris Diaw and Tyson Chandler.

Obviously these moves all have to be ironed out and approved by the league but a quick analysis:

Barbosa

A scoring combo guard that will likely come off the bench for Jarrett Jack or spot start at either guard positions. Barbosa would fit in well with the 'young gunz' because of his willingness to run the floor and incredible quickness. He also gives the Raptors the change of pace point guard they have been looking for now for a few years.

The downfall is that he has suffered through injuries that may limit his strengths.

Boris Diaw

A versatile forward that will most likely fill the void Turkoglu left at the starting small forward position. Diaw can play multiple positions and despite superficial differences is a very similar player to Turkoglu. He can shoot with range, pass the ball, rebound and score. He is not as good as Turkoglu at any of these things, and is more of a post player but has some similar skill sets.

Diaw, much like Turkoglu has had a problem staying in shape and in turn has lead to some consistency issues.

Tyson Chandler

The type of legitimate starting center the Raptors have never had. His rebounding and shot blocking ability combined with his proficiency at the pick and roll and athleticism make him a perfect compliment to Andrea Bargnani.

Injuries have always been Chandlers downfall, he has limited offensive game which may hurt Toronto now that they only have a few offensive threats.

The Outlook

The Raptors have essentially traded 1 1/2 starters for 2 1/2 which when you get down brass tacks is never bad. Let's look at the projected depth chart:

Jack/Barbosa
DeRozen/Weems
Diaw/Kleiza
Bargnani/Davis
Chandler/Johnson

A lot will depend on what type of system they use offensively but there is no doubt that at this point Toronto has a glut of big men. Four man big rotations rarely work and when considering Diaw is more of a power forward then a small forward, coach Jay Triano will have to be very creative with his sets. Using Diaw as a point forward at the 3 spot would open up playing time for all parties.

Offensively the Raptors have diminished since losing Bosh, Calderon and Turkoglu, while some of the offense can be made up from Barbosa and Diaw there is no doubt that the offence could sputter at times this coming year.

Defensively Toronto has the potential to improve exponentially especially on the back end. Chandler, Davis, Alabi and Johnson are all capable shot-blockers and compliment Bargnani well who better excels as a one-on-one defender. While Diaw and Barbosa are not the best defenders either it will be an addition by subtraction by nixing the deficiencies of Calderon and Turkoglu.

The financial implications are the key however. Chandlers deal expires this year, which makes him easily movable at the deadline and should spark a great on-court performance from him in a contract year.

Both Diaw and Barbosa have two years left on their deals as opposed to 3 and 4 years for Calderon and Turkoglu respectively. This gives Colangelo the financial flexibility he covets.

If it turns out that the deal includes Evans and Banks, and does not include our trade exception, this could be a home run for Colangelo.

More to come.

- J.Moore