It's a weekly conversation that covers any number of topics when Kevin O'Neill and Antonio Davis hook up on the telephone; they chat about conditioning and strategy and perhaps even the weather.

But one taboo topic, it seems, is Davis' future, or lack thereof, with the Toronto Raptors.

The team's new coach, chomping at the bit to get training camp started in less than a week, says he's loath to bring up the trade rumours that continue to swirl around the veteran power forward and Davis' level of contentment with Toronto, the Raptors and the future of the franchise.

"Let me put it this way: Antonio Davis wants to play in the NBA," O'Neill said yesterday, answering another flurry of questions about suggestions that Davis may want his tenure in Toronto to be over. "Do I think he wants to live in Toronto the rest of his life? I don't know. I haven't asked about that."

O'Neill's rather cryptic comments will further exacerbate a rather ticklish situation around the Raptors, who will convene camp for rookies on Monday, with veterans due in on Oct.2.

It is no secret that Davis is being shopped around the league as well as asked about in various conversations general manager Glen Grunwald is having. A three-way trade that would have sent Davis to Portland and landed New Jersey's Dikembe Mutombo in Toronto was all but consummated a couple of weeks ago before the suddenly cost-conscious Blazers scuttled the deal.

At that time, Grunwald told the Star that Davis "will, in all likelihood, be with our team" to start camp, another less than emphatic denial that the 34-year-old was on his way out.