The Raptors expect new acquisition Reggie Evans to make Andrea Bargnani a better and tougher player.

?They went at it pretty hard,? said Raptors president Bryan Colangelo, who acquired Evans from the Philadelphia 76ers for Jason Kapono in June. ?The first day . . . by the end of it [Bargnani] was like a punch-drunk prize fighter. He looked like he was exhausted. It was fighting on the glass; it was trying to exert more energy on the offensive end because he had someone defending him ? whether it was at the three-point line or inside ? with physical force.

?I saw him come back the next day with a little different approach and he was more prepared for it. I said wow, if that?s any indication of how Reggie is going to make others on the floor better, it happened in 24 hours.?

?I?m happy Reggie?s here. I think he?s going to make me better,? said Bargnani. ?He?s a good rebounder. He can get me used to boxing out my man every time. He always goes to rebound every time so you have to box out, you have to stay focused.?

Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo sees the team as a fourth or fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Colangelo expects Toronto to not just qualify for the postseason, but advance deep into it.

"And that means probably putting yourself in a position (to be) the fourth or fifth seed (in the Eastern Conference)," he told the Toronto Sun. "Are (we) shooting for a target of 50 games? Yeah, I think that's what we should be realistically looking at."

Colangelo managed to keep his top three players (Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani), while still overhauling his roster this offseason.

Chris Bosh plans to become a free agent next summer, but doesn't think it will hang over Toronto's efforts during the 2009-10 season.

"It's all about the feeling and being happy," said Bosh.

"I want to see what happens at the end of 82 games and (if we) put ourselves in a position to make some noise.

"You take a team like Orlando last year. No one expected them...to make the run that they did but they were playing for a championship when it was all said and done."

"I don't think it's a distraction, it's something that can be looked at maybe as a positive," said president and general manager Bryan Colangelo. "He's coming into a situation where he's got to perform and if he performs, this team's probably going to perform and that means we're going to have a helluva year and a number of things are going to go right and he's probably going to look at this as a good situation to be in.

"If all the things that we've done addressing the areas of concern work out, then obviously it's going to play a factor. If we get off to slow start or there's a period of time in the year where we're struggling, that's going to be the first question that everybody asks and I can understand that."

The Raptors have nine new players in training camp this season after Bryan Colangelo had a very busy offseason.

"The scope of the makeover definitely changed from what we originally thought but it wasn't because we didn't feel like we should do some of those things," Colangelo explained. "It was because we were limited in what we thought we had available to us."

The headline move was when the Raptors acquired Hedo Turkoglu in a sign-and-trade.

"We're much better off for it," said Colangelo. "With all the new faces it's going to be a challenge ... but we really did want to make some changes.

"We've accomplished it on paper and now we have to put it all together."

Chris Bosh's teammates don't think the star forward will be leaving the Raptors when free agency comes calling.

Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani expressed optimism on Friday regarding Bosh's future in Toronto.

"I'm not worried about (Bosh leaving)," Bargnani told the Toronto Sun. "He loves Toronto."

Bosh's current contract expires at the end of the 2009-10 season.

"He said to me, and he's a good friend," added Calderon, "that he's happy in Toronto."

Raptors forward Chris Bosh will be limited in training camp because of a strained left hamstring.

There were rumors that Bosh may enter camp with an injury, and the Toronto Star confirmed that he hurt the hamstring during workouts recently.

Bosh will join the team in Ottawa next week when training camp begins, but isn't expected to take part in workouts with his teammates until the injury has healed.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Raptors forward Chris Bosh may be suffering from a tweaked hamstring.

If reports are true, Bosh could sit out the start of training camp next week.

The injury, which the Star is trying to confirm, isn't believed to be serious.

The Raptors plan to rest Hedo Turkoglu during the preseason as he comes off a busy summer of basketball.

In addition to making it all the way to the NBA Finals with the Magic, Turkoglu played for the Turkish national team at the EuroBasket 2009 tournament in Poland.

Turkoglu disappointed in the tournament, prompting many to believe that he's either tired or hurt.

Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo doesn't believe his new acquisition played poorly, but does think he might need some rest.

"International play has always been more of a team game, less individual, so statistics are less of an indication than what he actually contributed," Colangelo told the Toronto Sun. "I watched him play, and would say he effectively deferred to others on his team, as he was often the target of defensive schemes.

"Having said that," Colangelo added, "he did appear physically and emotionally tired when I saw him last week, which is understandable given his late June NBA final appearance and mid-July training for the Euro championship."

Colangelo said that Turkoglu will be given "some strategic rest" during the preseason.

Marco Belinelli says that Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo has assured him that the team is a good fit.

"I talked with (Raptors president and general manager Bryan) Colangelo and he told me that this is a good spot for me because I can have a lot of opportunity to play," Belinelli told the Toronto Star on Friday.

"Now is my time to see what I can do and I want to be ready for that."

Belinelli spent the last two seasons mostly on the bench in Golden State. The Raptors acquired him via trade and he could backup DeMar DeRozan at shooting guard if coach Jay Triano opts to start the rookie.

"I come to a nice city like Toronto, a good team like that, a young team, European team, so it's a really great opportunity for me," the Italian added.

Raptors coach Jay Triano knows he has his work cut for him with the team's overhauled roster.

"Building a team is going to be one of the biggest things that I do with so many new players," Triano told the National Post. "A lot of it is going to be teamwork, a lot of meetings, so they all understand what's expected of each and every guy and what I expect of them. And then there's got to become a familiarity between each other."

Triano, who was named the team's permanent coach this offseason, will be trying to work Hedo Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan, Reggie Evans, Rasho Nesterovic, Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli and Antoine Wright into the lineup.

"We might start [DeRozan] off in games, let him play with a real good bunch of players because if we don't start him, maybe we have a hard time getting him in," Triano admitted.

"You can't let a No. 9 pick rot on the bench and not develop him."