Vince wants out of Toronto

[jayC]

Thursday, July 1, 2004


ESPN.com news services
Vince Carter apparently has asked the Toronto Raptors to trade him, ESPN's David Aldridge reported Thursday.


According to a league source, Carter is not happy with the recent appointment of Rob Babcock as the team's new general manager nor with the team's selection of Rafael Arajuo with the No. 8 pick in last month's NBA draft.


"He wants out desperately," the source said. "He doesn't like the direction of the team."


While the source told Aldridge that Carter presented four to six different trade proposals to the Raptors, the team has not granted Carter permission to seek a trade and Babcock said that the team has no plans to trade Carter.


"He's a marquee player, and he puts fans in the seats," Babcock said. "The only way we trade him is if we get something similar back."


If Carter indeed is on the market, he would join standouts such as the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, Seattle's Ray Allen and Boston's Paul Pierce as stars who could be switching teams this summer. League scoring champion Tracy McGrady already was dealt to Houston by Orlando in a seven-player deal earlier this week.