Toronto Raptors Buy Out Peja Stojakovic, Complete Trade with Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have made a quick verbal commitment to Peja Stojakovic shortly after the Raptors reported they bought out the sharpshooting veteran.

Sources say the Mavs are shipping young center Alexis Ajinca to the Raptors to free up the roster spot, rather than just releasing the youngster.

Peja was never really expected to play in a Raptors uniform; Colangelo started pursuing trades as soon as he was acquired from the Hornets in November. It will end up being a buyout, and the Raptors will shed a ton of cap this offseason and Peja gets to play for a contender. Win-win.

The Raptors receive Ajinca and a future second-round pick that Toronto originally shipped to Dallas for Solomon Alabi. In return, Dallas receives the rights to Georgios Printezes and TPE equivalent to Ajinca's salary.

For the Mavs, they get a quick fix for Caron Butler, who will be out for the majority of the season.

Peja was pursued by many teams, but Colangelo chose to keep the expiring contract for the Raptors, which is a good move because the Raps could use the cap space.

For the Raptors, they get a 22-year-old former first-round pick who has upside, but ultimately this move was just to free up cap space.

This offseason, you can bet Colangelo will try and fill the Raptors' needs by going after marquee free agents. He's shown the ability to bring them in, let's just hope it's not another Hedo.