Raptors still need to make big splash this offseason.

While it seems like the off-season has largely fallen into a state of torpor this is exactly the time the Toronto Raptors should try to shake things up.

Despite a few positive moves this off-season (the latest being the addition of Michael Curry) it is foolish to believe that the current Raptors are ready to contend for an NBA title. Since that is the ultimate goal, GM Glen Grunwald cannot be afraid of taking a step back in order to prepare a giant leap forward.

The moves are risky, but so is going forward with an injury prone line-up -- whose biggest star, Vince Carter, is anything but a sure bet.

So without further ado:

Trade: Antonio Davis, Rick Brunson, Chris Jeffries and a conditional draft pick to Orlando for Grant Hill and Drew Gooden.

Why Toronto Makes the Trade: If you are a Raptors' fan you are of one of two minds on gritty forward/center Antonio Davis. Last year was a blip, or more ominously, last year was a trend.

Davis battled his way against larger centers for another NBA season. Unlike 2001-2002 Davis was far less effective.

A.D. played just 53 games due to a series of injuries. He shot a career low .407 from the field, his 8.3 RPG was the lowest average he has posted as an NBA starter, and he set a career high for turnovers per game. At $12 mil a season, the 34 year old is entering the diminishing returns portion of his career. The window for dealing the game Davis is rapidly closing and the Raptors need to act.

Rick Brunson is depth and little else. Helpful in limited minutes because he'll do what a coach tells him to.

Chris Jeffries is a potential talent, in his first year however, he showed little, and his practice habits were found wanting. The kid with the half-lidded eyes often seemed asleep in games. With the Raptors having 17 players under contract they could use the roster spot for a different project.

So, how does adding Grant Hill help? Hill is beyond injury prone and unavailable for the majority, if not all of this season, if not his career.

Taking Hill is a gamble, but it's made to acquire Gooden and ideally cap relief.

Hill makes max money, but last season that came to exactly $72,000 more than Davis -- chicken feed. While Orlando was unable to get a break on Hill's salary from the NBA this season, that doesn't mean that Toronto won't be able to a year later. Especially if Hill's "comeback" attempt this season fails like his previous attempts.

Plus, only half facetiously, think of the number, of Grant Hill Raptor jerseys that would be sold.

If Hill comes back it's a bonus, if not the Raps at least have a shot at seeing some cap space freed up that they would not if they kept Davis.

The real prize here though is Drew Gooden.

Gooden comes with questions. Is he a real NBA power forward? If not, can he play the three night in and night out? He was having a very impressive rookie season in Memphis, but the Grizzlies didn't shy from dealing Gooden at the deadline. His play has been spotty at times and his attitude has been questioned.

Then in the post-season Gooden averaged a double-double for the Magic. At 6-10 and able to run the floor Gooden has star potential.

In Toronto, Gooden could play at the 3 and the 4 giving the Raps a versatile stable of big men. While Kevin O'Neill may be the right man to help draw Gooden's talent out on a consistent basis -- after all Gooden has only played one NBA season.

Why Orlando Makes the Trade: In Hill the Magic pay $12 million for nothing, in Davis they could pay $12 million for the player who could give the Magic the complementary set of skills they need to take advantage of the fact that they have, arguably, the best player in the NBA.

A.D. is also an excellent leader. As bad as the year became for Toronto Davis never quit, and he kept the Raptors dressing room under control. That spat he had with Alvin Williams? The result of two men who want to win as badly as they want to breathe not being able to do so. In other words, the good kind of fire you want your players to show.

Tracy McGrady has shown that despite his talent, he still needs a veteran leader to work with (think of McGrady shooting off his mouth in both playoff losses over the past two years). McGrady respects Davis from their days in Toronto and Davis presence might keep the frustrated Magic star in Orlando, a future that now looks cloudy.

Even with McGrady being just 24, there is fear that the Magic window is closing. One only has to look at the Olympic qualifying tournament to see why. McGrady played two games with limited minutes, and his back acted up -- causing him to likely miss the remainder of the tournament. Remember this happened after a period of relative rest.

What happens in December when the Magic play seven games in 11 hellish days that sees them make three separate road trips? Think all those comfy airline seats are good for T-Mac's back?

The Magic needs to surround Tracy with talent now. Juwan Howard was a first step but if they want to win before McGrady is bent over like your Aunt Maude they need to do more.

It's no secret that Orlando has had trouble rebounding the ball, playing post defense, and getting consistent inside scoring. Antonio Davis provides all these things.

Davis series of injuries are actually a positive for Orlando. A.D. is coming off his fewest minutes played since 98-99, and with no post-season Davis is as fresh as he has been in years.

Davis has quietly developed into one of the more complete interior players in the NBA. He has a 15-foot jumper he can hit consistently, a bevy of post moves, and has developed into a competent passer -- setting a career high for assists per game last season -- on a Toronto team lacking other scoring options.

With Hill announcing that, despite the Magic's wishes, he intends to try to return for the end of the NBA season the Magic may be at the point where they are willing to cut the dream of a McGrady-Hill attack loose.

Rick Brunson will give the Magic another NBA'er with experience at the point. Currently the Magic only have Tyronn Lue who's spent any length of time ion the league at the position. Brunson is a fall back, who will play energetic defense in limited minutes.

Meanwhile Jeffries is the young "could-be" to help balance out the future aspect of the transactions. At Fresno State Jeffries showed enough that pre knee injury he was being mentioned as a lottery pick. He's more than young enough to be taught how to succeed in the NBA.

In college Jeffries possessed an attacking mentality, that if cultivated properly, could help the Magic, who have bemoaned the lack of players willing to get the ball in the crunch when McGrady is double teamed.

The conditional pick would be tied into Grant Hill's future performance as a Raptor.

So, now the way is cleared for the second part of the makeover.

Trade: Morris Peterson and Michael Bradley to Washington for Kwame Brown.

Why Toronto Makes the Trade: Kwame Brown -- Jermaine O'Neal. Kwame Brown- Jermaine O'Neal. The similarities are numerous. The two players have almost equal stature (6-11, 240 for Kwame 6-11, 242 for O'Neal) both players struggled at the beginning of their careers, and both high-school phenoms showed enormous promise.

So, is Kwame the next Jermaine?

The stats are remarkable similar. O'Neal was a better shooter than Brown out of the gate, but far worse from the line. Kwame, a better passer, but also more likely to turn the ball over.

In 14.3 minutes as a rookie Brown averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG In 13.5 minutes as a sophomore O'Neal averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.3 RPG.

Brown dramatically improved his shooting from .386 as a rookie to .446 as a sophomore. Still short of what either the Wizards or the Raptors would like to see, but a positive move nonetheless.

Brown is a big, mobile, athletic, near seven footer who showed excellent offensive ability as a high school player. With the NBA being particularly cruel to young post players it's natural to expect a young forward to struggle to adjust.

After all it took O'Neal four years.

Brown would give the Raps real beef up front and could hold down minutes at both center and power forward. The pressure would be on coach O'Neill to develop Brown, but the hard-nosed coach wouldn't have it any other way.

Why the Wizards Make The Trade: When Ernie Grunfield became GM of the Wiz he said Kwame Brown was not going to be moved. Then August 19th happened. Brown was picked up for DUI. For a player whose franchise has been hammering on the importance of maturity, it was a damaging blow.

Grunfield isn't going to give Brown away, but the Raptors offer is intriguing. First of all the Wizards have Etan Thomas, Brendan Haywood, and Jahidi White, several young athletic big bodies. Secondly, the Wizards are not deep with perimeter scoring.

Morris Peterson had a rough 2002-2003, but the versatile swingman from Michigan State has talent. He scored 20 or more points, 19 times for Toronto, and Washington can sorely use the offense.

In many ways Peterson is similar to Brown. A talented, but young player who became a target at home. When either Brown or Peterson struggled fans vented, not taking into account the youth of either, or the situation the players found themselves in (Brown stuck in a turf war in Washington, Peterson thrust into a primary scoring role he was ill-suited for). Both players are probably under-valued. Brown has big time potential, and Peterson has the ability to become a key contributor on a good team.

At least one Wizard would welcome Peterson: Jerry Stackhouse who encouraged Michael Jordan to try to acquire the swingman after Peterson (unfairly considered a below average defensive player in Toronto) harassed Stackhouse into several of the worst performances of his career in the Toronto-Detroit playoff match-up two seasons ago.

With first and second year players Jared Jeffries and Jarvis Hayes currently the main options at small forward the Wizards could use a player with NBA experience, as Larry Hughes (who is probably undersized anyway) has never shown the ability to shoot the ball consistently in the NBA.

Michael Bradley is the sort of player every team can use impeccable fundamentals, excellent effort night in and night out, and enough raw talent to be a real contributor. In Toronto, the former first round pick became a fan favorite for his rebounding on both sides of the floor, and penchant for big garbage buckets.

Bradley was a scorer in his senior year in Villanova, both inside and out; in Toronto there were flashes of a 15-18 foot jumper. If Bradley can add that to his arsenal on a regular basis he becomes a very useful piece of a puzzle.

Bradley would fit well into the Wizards rotation, and if he develops enough the ill-mannered and overpaid Christian Laettner could become expendable, allowing the Wizards to free up more cap space and improve team chemistry.

With a chance to get two young contributing talents to add to a growing stable Grunfield may be willing to reconsider his stance on Brown - especially given the team's frustration over Brown's off-season mistake.

These two moves would give the Raptors the following look:

C Kwame Brown

PF Jerome Williams (undersized but a great rebounder

SF Drew Gooden

SG Vince Carter

PG Alvin Williams

The Raps would then have an impressive stable of young big-men in Gooden, Brown, Chris Bosh, and Jerome Moiso, who can also play some center. The Raps also have 6-10 rookie Matt Bonner out of Florida (a potential contributor at the power forward position with solid fundamentals and shooting ability) and wildcard 6-11 C Mengke Bateer.

Michael Curry would provide the Raptors a versatile defender and added veteran experience at the two-guard or three-guard position, and Milt Palacio does the same at the point or in a pinch at the two-guard position. Lamond Murray could start at the small forward position if Gooden or Bosh is not prepared for minutes. Though this would start to leave the Raps a little thin in the backcourt.

If Hill does play -- then things look even brighter. If not, and the former Duke star hangs them up, the Raps could gain an injury exception for next season's free agent market to upgrade the back-court.

This direction offers far more upside than Toronto's current situation, as well as a shot at greater on court and financial flexibility.

With Kevin O'Neill committed to getting the best out of his young players, Bosh, Gooden and Brown could all flourish, creating a Raptors team that is younger, more athletic and with the potential to be very dangerous.

These new Raptors might not have the same up-side this season that the current roster has, but really, how high was that upside?