Tim Leiweke doesn't officially begin his tenure as president of the Toronto Raptors until June 30, but he will have influence over the MLSE board's decision on whether to pick up Bryan Colangelo's contract option for the 13-14 NBA season at a mid-May meeting.

It had been assumed that the Raptors would give Colangelo and Dwane Casey one more season to produce better results, but the situation has presumably changed due to the presence of Leiweke.

Phil Jackson is one candidate to take over the Raptors' front office.

Phil Jackson is prepared to listen to a pitch from the Toronto Raptors about taking a lead role in their basketball operations, but a source says that he wants to listen to options from other teams as well.

Jackson would prefer an advisory role similar to Jerry West's current position with the Golden State Warriors rather than a more active role similar to Pat Riley with the Miami Heat.

Multiple sources doubt whether Jackson would be satisfied by a position with the Raptors. A similar position with the Charlotte Bobcats was not initially appealing to Jackson.

Jackson would seek a situation where he can hire a head coach that would implement his vision.

Speculation that Jackson could end up with the Raptors increased with the hiring of Tim Leiweke, former CEO of AEG.

"He's very well-connected in the league and he has to rebuild that franchise," a league source said of Leiweke. "... He's about championships. They didn't just bring him in there to mind the house."

Sources told ESPN that the Raptors perceived the Seattle-based ownership group that has been attempting to purchase the Kings as the Raptors' biggest threat for Jackson.

Tim Leiweke has been named president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

MLSE owns the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Leiweke was previously president of AEG, which runs Staples Center amongst many other venues.

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that he heard rumors of the Raptors having interest in hiring Phil Jackson as team president. Leiweke and Jackson are familiar with one another from their time in Los Angeles over the past decade.

Andrea Bargnani has $22.5 million remaining on his contract and sources say the Toronto Raptors would likely have to include an asset in order to trade him.

The Raptors pursued a trade of Bargnani throughout the season, something Bryan Colangelo even admitted.

Bargnani signed a $50 million extension with the Raptors in July of 2009.

Bryan Colangelo does not have a contract for the 13-14 NBA season, but sources say the MLSE board is unlikely to consider a regime change.

Colangelo had instant success with the Toronto Raptors and won Executive of the Year in 2007, but the team hasn't been back to the playoffs since 2008.

Colangelo and the Raptors were unable to successfully build around Chris Bosh and haven't been bad enough since his departure to draft a franchise player as a replacement.

The Raptors improved their winning percentage from .348 in 11-12 to .415 this season, adding Rudy Gay, Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry to their roster over the past 12 months.

The Toronto Raptors discovered that Rudy Gay has vision issues that need correction.

Gay wore goggles in practices during the season, but couldn't find a pair that were comfortable enough for him to wear in games.

Bryan Colangelo addressed the media on Monday following the fifth consecutive season in which the Toronto Raptors missed the playoffs.

"I believe where we are is a much greater place, a much more developed team much further down the path then a number of people in the media seem to think," said Colangelo. "And that's not to be defensive or take offense to to what's being said, but we are pretty much exactly where I thought we would be with respect to the roster make-up. Maybe not from a wins/loss perspective but when you talk about this process, I believe three years ago year one we won 28 percent of our games. Year two it was 35 percent and this year we won 42 percent. The next step is obviously to get to the point where you exceed 50 percent and guarantee yourself a playoff spot."

Colangelo wants the Raptors to add perimeter shooting and veterans to the roster in the offseason.

The Oklahoma City Thunder spoke to the Toronto Raptors about a trade centered on James Harden for Jonas Valanciunas.

The Raptors 'quickly rebuffed' the interest from Sam Presti in the trade.

The Thunder eventually traded Harden to the Rockets while also acquiring the Raptors' lottery guaranteed pick.

Valanciunas averaged 8.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game during his rookie season.

Bryan Colangelo's contract with the Toronto Raptors expires in July and whether or not he will continue as general manager has yet to be determined.

Colangelo has a supporter in Dwane Casey.

“I want Bryan back,” Casey said. “Bryan hired me here. I don’t want to go into another year with a new general manager. Change is part of the NBA but I’d much rather have Bryan back, a guy I’ve worked with and been with. We know each other and I know he knows what we’re looking for, what we’re trying to do.”

Casey and Colangelo have not been completely in unison this season, but generally have a good relationship.

“He’s done a good job of taking big steps, of getting assets and pieces of a core together. I’d like to finish it out, and I’d like to do it with Bryan.”

Jonas Valanciunas was taken to a Chicago hospital as a precaution following a 'whiplash-like' injury at the end of the Toronto Raptors' 101-98 win over the Bulls.

Valanciunas banged his head into Rudy Gay's shoulder while going for the ball out of a jump ball.

Play was not stopped, but Valanciunas went straight to the Raptors' bench to sit on one of the chairs.

Valanciunas was fitted with a protective collar and escorted from the court.

Valanciunas was kept overnight at the hospital for observation.