There is little doubt that Vince Carter was recently-removed GM Glen Grunwald's prize pupil.  

As Carter produced highlight after highlight it was Grunwald who was made to look like a genius, firstly trading Antawn Jamieson for Carter on draft night then being able to keep Vince in Canada when he had a chance to bolt.

Carter quickly became the face for basketball in Canada.  He was considered a saviour for the NBA in a hockey-infested country, and now not even Vince can fill out the Air Canada Center.

Grunwald is now gone and coach Kevin O'Neill seems most likely to follow suit, but that will be a decision for the next GM.  The shakeup to follow seems likely to go through the entire organization. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. is expected to not only put an experienced, qualified general manager in charge, but the next GM will likely be given authority Grunwald never had.  Chief executive officer Richard Peddie promised that the next GM would be able to hire or fire anyone he wants on the basketball side, including bringing back O'Neill for a second season.

"It has to be a basketball guy," Peddie said, seeming to have realized the error of the Raptors' traditional ways. "We have enough suits."

Going through the whole organization would mean the Raptors would have to look at their most tradeable asset, and that is Carter.  As Jonathan Feigan of the Houston Chronicle suggests Carter could be as tradeable right now is Allen Iverson of the Sixers.  Vincanity or AI?  Wierder things have happened.

The Raptors are a shockingly soft team, last in the NBA in rebounding differential and points in the paint. Carter has been labeled the embodiment of soft, willing to take fadeaway jumpers all game to avoid contact inside. His spectacular dunks these days are usually uncontested. And as with Steve Francis with the Rockets or Chris Webber in Sacramento, local frustration has focused on the face of the franchise.

A sign held at a recent Raptors game at Air Canada Centre captured the mood of the customers: "VC = 1/2 man + 1/2 season."

"The ball's in their court on that one. I'm just trying to finish the season and go from there," said Carter, 27. "To move me -- should I move on? -- is in their court if they want me or not. I've already said (he wants to stay).

"I'm tired of saying it, I'm tired of answering that question. I think it's understood by now."

There is little doubt that Carter does care about Toronto, as evidenced by his recent suggestions on the type of person the Raptors need at the helm.

"A go-getter," Carter said when asked what the Raptors need for the next general manager. "You have to be aggressive and you have go get the guys. That's probably the biggest thing more than anything else.

"I just like the mentality that Isiah (Thomas, the Knicks' general mananger) has taken. He made it happen. He tore that team up yet he tore it up and got a lot of talent."

Do these sound like the words of a man ready to move on?  Maybe not, but just like with O'Neill his future lies in the hands of the currently unknown.