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It appears clearer than ever that Jose Calderon will be back with the Toronto Raptors. It's increasingly certain his friend Jorge Garbajosa will not.

According to Spanish media reports, the NBA club is negotiating a buyout of the final year of Garbajosa's contract, worth $4.25-million (U.S.), which would officially end a relationship that started with considerable promise but effectively ended with a severe leg injury suffered in March of 2006.

Raptors president Bryan Colangelo acknowledged yesterday he's in negotiations with the Spanish basketball federation over settling a dispute arising from the 6-foot-9 forward's injury, but refused to provide specifics. "It's too early to talk about," he said.

The organizing body of Spanish basketball took out a $1-million insurance policy to cover the Raptors if Garbajosa further injured his leg while playing for Spain at the European championships last summer.

The Raptors were reluctant to grant permission to Garbajosa to play. Team doctors recommended Garbajosa have further surgery when examinations last summer showed his leg was still broken.

But with Garbajosa determined to play and the insurance policy in place, permission was given. Last October, Garbajosa participated in training camp, but wasn't able to crack the Raptors' front-court rotation.

By late November, it was obvious his role was going to be greatly diminished, whether his health was an issue or not, and Garbajosa finally agreed to have a second operation.

But the Raptors' dispute with the Spanish federation dragged on until the NBA club filed a lawsuit in March, arguing the insurance coverage should cover Garbajosa's NBA salary because playing for Spain had set him back physically.

The suit was dropped and negotiations continued more amicably.

The decision to offer Garbajosa a buyout as part of an overall settlement reflected a couple of realities.

The first is Garbajosa wouldn't be likely to pass an NBA physical in his current condition, meaning playing for the Raptors or elsewhere in the NBA wasn't an option.

The second is Spain wants Garbajosa to play at the Beijing Olympics in August — as does Garbajosa — and Colangelo said after the NBA season had ended that the Raptors wouldn't grant him permission as long as he was under contract with the club, holding on to one additional bargaining chip.

A buyout would likely save the Raptors some money and earn them additional space under the NBA's luxury-tax threshold.

Presuming Garbajosa is healthy enough to play for Spain in the summer, it's likely a Spanish league club would be willing to bring one of the country's most popular players back from the NBA.

"The buyout would be part of an all-inclusive resolution," a Raptors source said. "The amount would be enough that, combined with whatever he might be able to sign for in Spain, would leave Garbajosa whole."

The attraction for the Raptors is easing their front-court logjam and gaining a little financial flexibility. If, for example, Garbajosa settled for half of the $4.25-million owed him, Toronto's salary obligation would decrease by more than $2-million — money they could apply to other contracts.

Meanwhile, another strong indication Calderon will return as the Raptors' starting point guard came last week, when he fired his U.S.-based agent. "I received the termination letter last Thursday," George Bass, who had represented Calderon for eight years, said in an interview.

Calderon will now be represented solely by Spanish-based agent Paco Lopez Costell.

Speculation in NBA circles is Calderon, confident he was going to re-sign with the Raptors, felt he didn't need an NBA agent to stir up competing offers from rival clubs. Presuming his two agents were splitting the standard 4-per-cent fee most players pay their representatives, firing Bass could theoretically save Calderon $800,000 on a $40-million contract.