4 Toronto Raptors

Seated in a folding chair a half hour after his fifth practice as a Raptor, center Hakeem Olajuwon spied a trainer walking by with bags of ice. After flagging him down as eagerly as a five-year-old would the Good Humor Man, Olajuwon applied the frozen booty to his aching 38-year-old knees. "My first few years in the league I'd see guys using ice and think, Wow, that guy is finished," he says. "Or if I saw a guy going to the trainer's room, I'd think, What's this? Now I've learned these treatments make it easier for you to perform."

Another explanation for Olajuwon's new fondness for ice, of course, is that older men feel sore more than younger men. If the Raptors were counting on Olajuwon to carry them to a title, as he did the Rockets in 1994 and '95, his age would be a major concern. But they're not, and on this deep team that boasts a superstar ( Vince Carter) and an All-Star at center ( Antonio Davis), his age is not an issue. General manager Glen Grunwald surprised the league by re-signing free agent Davis, as well as rapidly blossoming guard Alvin Williams and forward Jerome Williams, then agreeing with Carter on a six-year contract extension worth as much as $94 million.

That means Lenny Wilkens, the NBA's winningest coach, welcomes back almost intact the team that lost to the 76ers in seven games in the conference semifinals. To it he adds a rejuvenated Olajuwon, the only player in the top 10 alltime in points, rebounds, blocks and steals; though he battled a cyst in his right knee and later a blood condition, he averaged 16.0 points and 10.6 rebounds during his healthiest stretch last season, a 13-game span in February and March. "I was always curious about playing somewhere else at the end of my career, but I thought it would be Vancouver," the Dream says. "I've spent a few summers there, and it's beautiful. At least this is still Canada."

With Olajuwon's arrival Davis will move to his natural position at power forward, while the feisty Jerome Williams, shot-blocker Keon Clark and Brian Skinner (acquired in the deal that sent Charles Oakley to the Bulls) give Wilkens a wealth of options in the paint. All that help has Olajuwon believing that his new team can live up to his name, which translates from a Nigerian dialect as "always being on top." "Coming here gives him new life," says Carter. "We get a chance to utilize his talent, and we give him a chance to win another championship."

Carter's evolution from a high-flying dunker into a complete offensive player is the biggest reason for that optimism. Even against the new zone defenses his explosiveness will allow him to get to the basket, and his sharpened shooting from beyond the arc (40.8% last season) should prove more important this year. He might have helped the Raptors even more as a recruiter this off-season, phoning the team's three free agents as well as Olajuwon before signing on himself. "If I'm going to cast my lot with the Raptors," says the 24-year-old Carter, "I'm going to try to make them as good as possible any way I can."

How good that will be depends on the continued development of Mo Peterson and Alvin Williams. Peterson had an up-and-down rookie campaign at small forward, but the former Michigan State star appeared to find his way near the end. Now in his fifth season, the 27-year-old Williams ranked second in the league to the Clippers' Jeff McInnis in assists-to-turnovers ratio (3.95) and increased his regular-season scoring average by 4.0 points in the playoffs, to 13.8. "Alvin knows now he can compete with any guard in this league," Wilkens says, "and he's come back more confident."

"This team is definitely going somewhere good," says Olajuwon. "Everybody can hold his own." Which means that Olajuwon can reasonably dream about ice of another type: the kind that sparkles in a championship ring.

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