Sam Mitchell heads into this NBA season an older and wiser man, he says, than the rookie coach that patrolled the sidelines last season.

The Toronto Raptors open training camp Tuesday as Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., and with a year under his belt, the club's head coach says he's learned how to communicate better with his players following a season that was at times plagued by personality clashes.

"Just handling certain situations different, being more patient," Mitchell said Thursday. "How to deal with each guy, I know each guy a lot better now. Which guys you need to pat on the back more, which guy needs a hug, which guys needs you push him a little bit more.

"I just know how to deal with the players different now. You've got to learn as a coach, and especially first year with new players, which buttons to push, and how to push them, and when to push them."

Mitchell admitted he butted heads with certain players last season. He and temperamental point guard Rafer Alston had some well-publicized blowups.

"You learn," said Mitchell. "If you're not capable of learning year to year, you don't last long."

It might soon get a little easier to take the kids to Leafs and Raptors games.

In a move to mark the Air Canada Centre's 10th year in operation, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., the parent company of the Leafs and Raptors, is planning a $40 million renovation in three years that could see the arena add a children's playground and food court.

Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2008 and Maple Leaf Sports hasn't yet hired an architect to design the improvements.

In an interview with the Sports Business Journal, a sports industry trade publication that first reported the planned renovation, MLSE executive vice-president Bob Hunter said that the changes would "be similar to what Portland, Detroit and Phoenix are doing, but it will focus as much on public amenities as premium."

The Pistons' most recent upgrades of The Palace at Auburn Hills include a food court built as part of a 60,000-square-foot addition to the arena, while the Suns recently revamped America West Arena to create a children's playground in the arena's upper deck.

Phoenix also recently opened an indoor/outdoor bar that features a broadcast studio that doubles as a stage.

MLSE spokesperson Rajani Kamath said yesterday that most of the changes to the arena would be focused on its west side and would come as a result of plans to develop a new $350 million complex, to be called Maple Leaf Square.

The team has invited three players with disparate backgrounds and abilities to fight for a spot on the roster with an unguaranteed contract.

Robert Pack, a 36-year-old veteran of 13 NBA seasons, Tierre Brown, a 26-year-old who was a washout with the team's 2003 summer league team and Corey Williams, 28, who has no NBA experience at all, will join the team at training camp starting Oct. 4 in St. Catharines.

"The idea is we've got three completely different types of point guard," general manager Rob Babcock said yesterday. "There's a lot of different ways we can go."

Pack has played with Portland, Denver, Washington, New Jersey, Dallas, Minnesota and New Orleans in his well-travelled NBA career; Brown has been with four NBA teams.

Of Williams, the 6-foot-3, 28-year-old who did not play college basketball, Babcock said, "He is the unknown entity."

Brown, who played in the Los Angeles Summer League for Toronto in 2003 and did nothing to warrant an invite to training camp, has been with Houston, Cleveland, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers.

None is expected to seriously challenge incumbent Rafer Alston or rookie Jose Calderon for a spot in the rotation, although Babcock said each will get a chance to show his stuff in camp and eight exhibition games.

The three point guard invitees means an end to Toronto's dalliance with Jay Williams, the former No. 2 draft pick trying to come back after missing two seasons following a motorcycle accident.

"Jay has decided to go somewhere else," the general manager said. "We just cannot get in a situation where we can guarantee him anything."

The hunt for a backup point guard continues with former Chicago Bulls rookie star Jay Williams the one player the Raptors most covet.

Williams, whose NBA career nearly ended as a result of a motorcycle accident after his rookie season (2002-03), is said to be about 85% healthy. He has worked out for the Raptors, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets.

Miami has said that it is unlikely that Williams would end up with them.

After being shipped north from New Jersey in the Vince Carter swap last season, Eric Williams watched his game and his minutes go south with the the Raptors and continually expressed his unhappiness and his desire to be traded.

It seems, however, that Williams has had a change of heart. Raptors general manager Rob Babcock said yesterday he had a positive and constructive talk with the hard-nosed forward over the summer and, in a surprising development, added that Williams wouldn't mind remaining with the Raptors, who are embarking on a youth kick.

"It was a tough situation for him," Babcock said of the trade.

"But what he told me (this summer) was that after finishing off the season (with the Raptors) and getting to know the young guys and getting to understand what we're trying to do, he really liked the direction this team is going and thinks he can be a positive part of that.

"He said 'I know I asked to be traded, and I could be traded at any time and if it happens, it happens, but I'm completely positive about returning here and helping this team get back into the playoffs,' " the GM said.

The sun has set on the Raptors plans to sign a point guard from the Land of the Rising Sun.

GM Rob Babcock had expressed interest in inviting Japanese point guard Yuta Tabuse to training camp, which begins Oct. 4 at Brock University in St. Catharines.

The Raptors felt that the quick Tabuse, the first Japanese-born player to play in the NBA, had a chance of becoming the club's third string point guard, behind Rafer Alston and Jose Calderon.

However, the Raps will have to look elsewhere for their third-string point guard needs.

"I talked to Tabuse's representative and it seems he's already committed to the L.A. Clippers," Babcock said yesterday.

However, former Duke University star Jay Williams is still in the picture.

The Raps have offered Williams a non-guaranteed contract for about $640,000, which is close to their salary cap limit.

Williams has been travelling to various NBA cities the past week, working out for teams such as the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and the Raptors.

Despite the fact that he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in 2003, which resulted in a fractured pelvis and torn knee ligaments, Babcock was impressed with the 2002 U.S. college player of the year.

Free-agent guard Jay Williams, the second pick of the 2002 NBA Draft whose career was derailed by a motorcycle accident, worked out for the Rockets on Wednesday, though no contract offer was made or is immediately expected.

Williams, 24, has been working his way back toward the NBA since the 2003 accident that tore three of the primary ligaments in his left knee and fractured his pelvis.

He has been working out for several teams, including the Heat and Raptors, to demonstrate his progress after six surgeries.

Money won't be the determining factor when it comes time for Jay Williams to sign with a new NBA team and that's good for the Raptors because they don't have much money to pay him.

However, Williams's agent said yesterday a couple of teams with much more on-court power are interested in the one-time Chicago Bull.

Williams, who missed the last two seasons recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident, is working out today with the Houston Rockets and has already auditioned for the Miami Heat.

"We're looking for the right situation where a team can be patient," Billy Duffy said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I think he's probably 80 per cent there. We think he'll be all the way back by Christmas, maybe the all-star break."

Williams, 24, was injured in a motorcycle accident in June 2003 and hasn't played since. Raptor general manager Rob Babcock has been watching his rehabilitation for the last 18 months, Duffy said, and saw the 6-foot-2, 188-pound guard work out last week.

But, because the Raptors have 14 players with guaranteed contracts that push the team's payroll perilously close to the NBA luxury tax level of $61.7 million (all figures U.S.), Toronto isn't able to offer more than the league-minimum salary, which for a player with Williams's experience wouldn't top $500,000 per season.

Duffy, however, said finding the right fit for his client is more important than salary.

The Raptors appear to be trying to corner the market on NBA players named Williams.

General manager Rob Babcock said yesterday he is pursuing former Duke point guard Jay Williams, who did not play the past two seasons after suffering severe nerve damage to his foot following a motorcycle accident on June 19, 2003.

Babcock watched the explosive point guard work out last week in Chicago and also had lunch with the 2002-2003 Second Team NBA All-Rookie.

"We hit it off pretty good," Babcock said.