The Toronto Raptors have been dealt a blow at point guard.

Roko Ukic, the 6-5 Croatian point guard taken 41st by Toronto in last month's NBA draft, has reportedly agreed to terms on a four-year contract with Tau Ceramica of the Spanish league, leaving the Raptors to scurry after a suitable backup to Rafer Alston for the coming season.

"We knew there was an offer out there, it wouldn't surprise me if he took it," Raptor general manager Rob Babcock said in a telephone interview last night. "It's not a bad thing overall, I would have liked to see him over here this year but we were prepared for this."

This comes as a bit of a shock as Ukic told a european just last week that he would sign with the Raptors.

Now with Alvin Williams not likely to recover in time from knee surgery, the Raptors are looking elsewhere and are close to signing the player Ukic will be replacing with Tau.

Babcock says that talks between the team and Jose Manuel Calderon are "progressing" and expects them to have a deal NBA's free-agent signing moratorium is lifted later this week.

That might not be enough though and it is possible the team will look to the free agent market for another point guard.