Steve Buffery reports that the New Jersey Nets are interested in trading for Raptors forward Donyell Marshall.

The Nets have been desperate for some frontcourt help since trading Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams to Toronto for Vince Carter.

The Toronto Raptors pulled of a 98-86 victory over the Utah Jazz Wednesday night, however, at least one Raptor is not happy.  Raptor Jalen Rose came off the bench for the first time in 78 games with the Raptors and despite his 12 point performance and the win, Mr. Rose is not happy.

"Honestly, I feel like I've been shown the door," Rose said afterwards.

This latest development only serves to add fuel to the fire, rather the whispers of a Jalen Rose trade rumors being murmured around the league.

The Rockets inched closer to .500 basketball as they defeated the Raptors by a final score of 114-102.

Yao Ming finished with 40 points and 10 rebounds, and Tracy McGrady had 34 points and 12 rebounds. Their combined point total marked the highest by a pair of Rockets since Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell teamed for 74 against Denver on April 5, 1991.

"I still had a sour taste in my mouth from the last game we played in Charlotte and just wanted to be aggressive from the start and set the tone," McGrady said. "I took over the game for a minute, and then I took a back seat to Yao and let the big man go to work."

"I tried to push my opponent into the paint, because I'm stronger than him," said Yao, who was 13-of-16 from the field. "I have to do that. The closer I am to the basket, the more field goals I can make."

Raptors GM Rob Babcock and new Raptor Alonzo Mourning met for about an hour over the possibility of the former all-star center not reporting to camp when he becomes healthy on Saturday.  The contents of the meeting are known, however, any conclusions made between both the parties are still confidential.  

"Those are internal discussions," Babcock said. I don't comment on contracts, I don't comment on trade things or those type of issues."

Vince Carter may have got his wish and escaped the NBA's Canadian franchise, but is there more to Raptor's GM Rob Babcock's decision to pull the trigger than meets the eye?

According to Tacoma News Tribune writer Frank Hughes the Carter trade came less than 48 hours after Babcock was interviewed for a story about Carter?s actions against the Seattle SuperSonics Nov. 19.

Three Sonics players have alleged that Carter intentionally tipped off a play during the final minute of the Raptors? 101-94 loss to the Sonics in Toronto.

With 29 seconds remaining in that game and the Sonics leading 97-90, the Raptors called a timeout. After returning to the court, Carter lined up along the edge of the key. He was facing the Sonics? bench with his hands on his knees.

According to a member of the Sonics, before the play began, Carter said directly to the Seattle bench, ?It?s a flare. It?s a flare.? Two other members of the Sonics confirmed that Carter told the Sonics bench that the Raptors were running the flare play.

Inbounding the ball above the Sonics bench, the Raptors then immediately ran a flare play for Carter.

According to one member of the Sonics, the bench reacted immediately to what Carter said, with Sonics players saying, ?Did you hear that? Did you see that? That?s (expletive) up.?

Another member of the Sonics said he discussed the play with a coach after the game, and the coach said, ?If you ever do that, I?ll run you out of the league.?

Allen, who was guarding Carter, said: ?I didn?t hear it, but that?s what those other guys were saying (after the game), Reggie (Evans) and those other guys. But all I said was, ?Why would he do that?? I don?t know why he would do that.?

According to Hughes, when asked to detail the incident Evans chose not to discuss specifics.

?I don?t want to get involved in that stuff, man,? Evans said. ?That stuff is deep. I ain?t scared of Vince or nothing like that, but that is between him and his conscience. I ain?t saying it did happen or it didn?t happen. I?ll leave that for Ray. I?ll let Ray do all that type of talking, man.?

?For real. I?ll let Ray open his mouth, he is the one ... who got into it with Kobe (Bryant), so I will just leave that alone. I don?t want to get into no beef with nobody.?

Carter, reached through Raptors spokesman Jim LaBumbard, responded, ?I?m not going to comment on something as ridiculous as that.?

Babcock was reached on Wednesday evening and said: ?I hadn?t heard that. I would hope that would not be the case, but I am not aware of that. If he did do that, I would be quite upset with that. But I don?t know anything about that. It is nothing I heard.?

?That?s the type of thing that, if I was aware of it, we would deal with it internally, and we certainly would deal
with it. But I am not aware of that.?

?If something comes up to me like that, and it is solid, and it is obvious that it did happen, we would take care of it internally.?

Alonzo Mourning is currently undergoing medical tests and will be through the holidays according to Toronto GM Rob Babcock.  Zo will not have to report to the Raptors or pass a physical.  "We waived that because there was no way he'd probably pass a physical," Babcock said.

According to Rob Gillies of The Associated Press, Mr. Mourning may never play for the Raptors.  Toronto might buy out his contract or trade him to his old team, the Miami Heat where he can back up Shaq.  

If the Heat do decide to take back Mourning, perhaps they can convince former center, Ronnie Seikaly to come out of retirement as well.

Vince Carter can't seem to escape Toronto, despite being traded to the New Jersey Nets, as his new team visits his old team on Sunday.

Carter will not play in the game, as he has been out of action recently due to injury.

It may be for the best, as Carter played his final games for the Raptors under great scrutiny and clear displeasure from the Toronto fans and even under the threat of physical violence.

The Miami Heat reportedly have great interest in Jalen Rose to help the perimeter game around Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade.

Toronto would like to deal Rose, and it's possible the Heat also could be interested in Mourning, who played for Miami and could be paired with longtime rival O'Neal.

The Heat believes it has a two or three-year window to win an NBA title with O'Neal and with the East at its weakest now. The Heat might not take on Mourning's contract, now worth about $17 million, but Mourning could accept a buyout, which he'd been seeking from the Nets, and then join Miami.

Following the Vince Carter trade, Jalen Rose believes he might be the next Raptor to be moved out of Toronto.

"You can't play dominoes without putting one on the table," Rose said.

The most prevalent trade rumor out there would send him to Miami for Eddie Jones and the Heat are likely a team that Rose would enjoy playing for.

"A situation where you show up for the game and say, 'Wow, we've got a great chance to win tonight,' " Rose said. "When I was here, I was loving it. I loved looking at the schedule and saying, 'We should win four of these five games.' And being mad if we lost more than one."

ESPN is reporting that the mega deal between New Jersey and Toronto involving Vince Carter and Alonzo Mourning is now official having been approved by the league, Nets GM Rod Thorn announced Friday.

The deal will see Mourning, Aaron Williams and Eric Williams become Raptors while Carter returns to the United States as a member of the Nets.  Toronto also receives two first round picks as part of the deal.

According to ESPN Jason Kidd was briefed about the potential deal and he gave his blessing.

Many believe the reason Toronto pulled the trigger on this deal is for the two first round picks they will receive. One of the draft picks is Denver's first rounder in 2005, which is a top-three protected selection. The other, is Philadelphia's first round pick, which is top-eight protected in the 2005 lottery and top-five protected in the 2006 lottery.

The trade reflects the most serious indication yet that the Nets want to keep Jason Kidd and are willing to build a championship contender around him. After the offseason trades of Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles, Kidd expressed his displeasure with the direction the Nets were taking. However, with Carter on board, the Nets have a shot at moving back into contention.

"Anytime you lose a guy like Vince, it's a big blow," Toronto forward Donyell Marshall said. "He was to Canada what Michael Jordan was to the Bulls."

"Obviously, they felt that was the best deal on the table for us," said Marshall, who spoke to Carter at his hotel room in Indianapolis. "We're going to miss Vince as a player and as a person. We wish him the best."

A backcourt of Kidd, Carter and Richard Jefferson is a highlight reel waiting to happen.