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Firing head coach Sam Mitchell has provided no relief — the Raptors are 3-7 under replacement Jay Triano — but the move did shift the focus squarely on Toronto Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo.

Twice named NBA executive of the year, Colangelo said before the season that the roster was the best of the three that he's assembled in Toronto. Now, he is looking to fix things, and fast. The Raptors had lost five successive games, for a 11-17 record, before last night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"[The team's struggles] haven't altered my opinion on the quality of the talent we have," Colangelo said in an interview. "But the chemistry we have and the production we've gotten is the part that has me open to changes. It can be minor tweaks or something more dramatic."

Colangelo wouldn't specify the moves under consideration — "If I'm playing poker, why would I show my cards?" — but it's believed he's considering all options, except trading star forward Chris Bosh. At this point, frustrated Raptors fans might look at Bosh's dismal December performance and ask: Why stop there?

"There are all kinds of scenarios," said Colangelo, who flew to Los Angeles to meet the Raptors. "And maybe there's more urgency because of where we are right now. Maybe it can be righted by playing through it, and if we can, there's a lot of time left this season. If there's a trade that can right things, maybe it happens sooner because there would still be a lot of time to adjust after the trade."

Colangelo issued a note of caution. "This is not a fantasy league," he said. "Trades can only happen when and if they present themselves."

Colangelo has made drastic midseason moves before. Most recently, in 2003-04, he disassembled a talented but underachieving Phoenix Suns team, giving up one season to reload for the next. It set the stage for the acquisition of Steve Nash and 62 victories the next season.

"This is a different situation," he said. "We're farther along here, we have a bona fide star in the middle [Bosh] that wants to win a championship and is dedicated to the cause. … I don't anticipate this will be is a season that we just throw away."

He also reiterated a willingness to make moves that would make the Raptors a player in the free-agent market next summer. Most NBA clubs are otherwise jockeying to have room available for 2010, when a slew of high-profile free agents, including Bosh, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Nash, are expected to be available.

"Bryan has been a shrewd trader over the years. I wouldn't sleep on him," said Memphis Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace. "The final story hasn't been written. They're not out of opportunities yet."

Another Eastern Conference general manager said: "They've got some good pieces there. I'd like them on my team."

But the roster is thin at point guard and the small forward-shooting guard rotation is quite possibly the least productive in the NBA. What upgrades could a roster of underachievers net in return?

Andrea Bargnani is still a player teams might look at, but dealing him could be seen as an admission that the former No. 1 draft pick has been a failure. That would represent a significant reversal by Colangelo.

Anthony Parker and Joey Graham have expiring contracts, which are always attractive in trades, but they amount to a combined $7-million (U.S.), a figure that doesn't usually yield top-flight talent.

Could Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle be interested in reuniting with Jermaine O'Neal, who played his best basketball for Carlisle in Indiana? There's no doubt the Raptors would take back either DeSagana Diop or Erick Dampier, the Mavericks' limited and expensive big men, if they could somehow pry loose Josh Howard — just the kind of scoring, athletic wing the Raptors desperately need.

Short of that kind of master stroke, the Raptors seem caught in limbo.

For now, Bosh says he's still a believer. "It's going to be a scrap [to make the playoffs] and the playoffs are a scrap," he said recently. "But fresh on my mind, two years ago, we were rolling, February, March, April. The positive is, there is a whole lot of basketball to play."

But how things shake out this season and next will doubtless matter to Bosh and his agent, Henry Thomas, as they take measure of the all-star forward's long-term plans.

Thomas's take? "I'm monitoring the situation," he said.