26-year old F/C Andrea Bargnani re-injured his calf, which caused him to miss six games earlier this year, and he is out indefinitely this time around. Bargnani has played in 13 games (all starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 36.1 minutes, 23.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Raptors are only averaging 87.2 points per game so far this year and they are a terrible offensive team when he’s out of action. That being said, the Raptors need to be careful with Bargnani, because he is by far the best player on the team.

The Raptors have signed 26-year old small forward Gary Forbes to a 3-year deal. Forbes played in 63 games (11 starts) as a rookie for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Raptors are paying Forbes triple of what the Nuggets offered, so they must have big plans for him. Look for Forbes to battle James Johnson for the starting small forward job in training camp.

25-year old small forward Sonny Weems has signed a 1-year deal with a team in Lithuania that does not have an opt out clause for when the lockout ends. Weems played in 59 games (28 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 23.9 minutes, 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He played in 128 games (47 starts) in his two years with the Raptors and he averaged 21.7 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. The Raptors will likely miss Weems in 2011-12 as he gave them a lot of solid minutes the last couple of years.

28-year old SG/SF Leandro Barbosa has picked up his player option for the 2011-12 season to return to the Raptors and he will earn $7.6 million bucks. Barbosa played in 58 games (0 starts) for the Raptors last year and he averaged 24.1 minutes, 13.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He has now played in 524 games (109 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Barbosa will provide the Raptors with instant offense off the bench, but they were probably hoping that he wouldn’t pick up the option.

The Toronto Raptors picked 19-year old, 7′0″, 231 pound center Jonas Valanciunas out of Lithuania with the 5th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. Valanciunas played in 59 games with 4 different teams last year and he averaged 18.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots in Europe. He played in 123 games in his three years in Europe and he is averaging 10.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. The Raptors are going to have to at least wait at least one year and maybe two for Valanciunas. That isn’t going to help the Raptors at all for now, but Valanciunas is often compared to Pau Gasol, so he might be worth the wait.

UPDATE: (6/25/2011) - The Raptors have reached a buyout agreement with Jonas Valanciunas’ current basketball team (Lietuvos) which will allow him to start playing for them in the 2012-13 season. I really like this pick for the Raptors now.