In Chicago they might tell you that Jalen Rose is a hugely paid, selfish, one-dimensional NBA shooter who can score but not win games, who thinks there is no such thing as a bad shot, who was dispatched with such glee out of the Windy City that there was a police escort helping him out of town.

By the end of his parts of four seasons in Chicago, Rose was about as popular as Bob Pulford, and no more effective. Or about as popular as Antonio Davis in his final Raptors days.

The Raptors, though, were smiling a lot yesterday. Like they had pulled a fast one. Not only did they find somebody willing to pay Davis for most of the next century, but they got some real bodies in return.

And Kevin O'Neill, who didn't have a centre yesterday and has less of one today, has to make all of this work. At least, in getting to this place, he did some homework, which never has been a strength of the Raptors.

He talked to Rick Carlisle, which he does two or three times daily, and asked him about Rose. He talked to other players and other coaches and other scouts until he came away satisfied that all the talk in Chicago about Rose being another NBA loser was just that.

"I want to dispel something right now," O'Neill said firmly. "I think everybody hears that Jalen is this problem child or Jalen is this or Jalen is that. From everything I've heard, I've seen no evidence or heard any evidence of him being a real problem anywhere.

"I've talked to people who coached him or been around him ... I just want to make it clear, I'm going to judge him or (any of the new players) on what they do when they're with me."