It's still hard to visualize Hakeem Olajuwon in a different uniform. Somehow it just doesn't seem right that the veteran center should be wearing Toronto Raptor purple, instead of the Houston Rockets colors we're used to.

After all, can you imagine Karl Malone or John Stockton with any team besides the Utah Jazz? Or Michael Jordan ... well, let's forget that one.

But after playing all of his first 17 NBA seasons with the Rockets, Olajuwon left the city where he'd spent the previous 21 years — including college — on Aug. 2. With Olajuwon's game tailing off considerably over the last two years, Houston worked out a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto in which the Raptors gave up a first- and second-round draft pick.

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Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors

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