By Andrew Dubowec

Just returned from a week of golfing and relaxation on Lake Winnipeg to discover the fate of the three ex-Raptors which we speculated on a short time ago.

Despite their best efforts to catch on with an NBA club, Pape Sow, Rafael Araujo and Michael Bradley all appear destined to be headed overseas to play ball in 2007-2008. The same can be said for P.J. Tucker.

                 
                         Sow and Hoffa                                               PJ at Texas

The biggest surprise would be Hoffa. Not because he has a lick of NBA talent, but because he had the backing and support of Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller who said he would like to give the much maligned ex-Raptor big man another chance to prove he belongs.

According to reports out of Salt Lake City, Jazz basketball management disagree with the owner on Hoffa's future potential. Management has suggested that Rafael Araujo and his agent begin looking abroad for employment.

Not only was the 27 year old former first round draft pick unimpressive (and then injured) in summer league play, but second round selected Ukrainian big man Kyle Fesenko showed significant potential as Hoffa’s replacement. Now it appears that the Jazz are negotiating a buyout for Fesenko and will bring him into camp instead of Hoffa.

If this transpires as it likely will, then most NBA experts were correct when they suggested that the Brazilian Beast would never see another NBA contract after his rookie deal expired. On the other hand, Araujo cashed pay checks which exceeded $6.4 million USD over the past few years.

Not a bad pay day for a guy with second round skills.

Pape Sow and Michael Bradley Headed To Europe

To no one’s surprise, Michael Bradley signed with Alba Berlin of the German League after playing well in Spain last season. The “Garbageman” did not see much court time with the Phoenix Suns summer league squad, so the writing was on the wall.

If a Suns summer league big man had a chance to stick, it was Pape Sow. Italian reports have Pape Sow joining Nuova AMG Sebastiani Basket Rieti of the Italian League in early September. Sow is playing for the Senegalese national team until August 26th.

Pape’s significant summer league minutes combined with the trade of Kurt Thomas and Sow’s cap friendly salary demands seemed to give him an inside track. Obviously, new Suns GM Steve Kerr saw it differently and Sow is now headed for the Euroleague.

P.J. Tucker Signs In Israel

P.J. Tucker has inked a deal with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli League. The team is located in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv. Of course, Maccabi Tel Aviv is the Euroleague powerhouse for which Anthony Parker and Maceo Baston played.

While effective in limited minutes, P.J. Tucker was simply too short to play the NBA power forward position. Rumor had it that P.J. Tucker had a clash or two with other Raptor team mates, including an exchange during practice with Rasho Nesterovic which did not help build team chemistry which is so important to GM Bryan Colangelo.

At the end of it all, four ex-Raptors which Raptor fans hoped would become bona fide NBA players are now looking for a second chance on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It seems ironic that many die-hard Raptor fans were so convinced that each of these four had the potential for greatness, yet in reality they were no more than journeymen whose voyages abroad have now begun.