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TORONTO -- Dwane Casey has been carrying around a contract in his briefcase for the past few months, signed by all the Toronto Raptors and the teams staff. The contract, just two or three lines long and something that "wouldnt hold up in court," Casey said laughing, was a pledge of commitment. Its headline: "Im all in." Perhaps no one was more committed than Casey to the Raptors success this season, and on Tuesday, the 57-year-old coach was rewarded with a new three-year contract. The announcement came two days after Torontos season ended, but a couple of months after GM Masai Ujiri first approached the coach to get a new deal done. "Coach Casey was really classy because he said to me and he said to the players, Lets leave this and concentrate on the season, this is our chance to prove ourselves," Ujiri said, recounting his initial contract talks with Casey back in March. "He said, If Ive preached that to the players, then I owe it to them to continue this and well talk about (contract negotiations) after the season. I really give him credit for that." Casey led a young Raptors team to a remarkable and unexpected season that included a franchise-record 48 wins, an Atlantic Division title, and the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. Toronto pushed the vastly experienced Brooklyn Nets to seven games in the opening round of the playoffs, losing Game 7 by just a point. Casey said he drew up his "Im all in" pledge right after the February all-star break. In their next game, the Raptors recorded a big 103-93 win at Washington. "(It was about) committing to the process. Leaving their egos at the door," said Casey, who said he might have the contract framed. "Each player dedicated themselves, gave themselves to the season, and also as far as Im concerned to the future. Because this year was just a start of what we want to grow and develop with Masai as our leader and also the guys that are coming back here." Kyle Lowry was the first player to jump up and sign the pledge, said Casey. Retaining Lowry, the point guard whose teammates say was their heart and soul this season, will be one of the Raptors top priorities in the coming weeks -- the 28-year-old becomes a free agent on July 1. Lowry spoke glowingly in exit interviews a day earlier about his love for his teammates and the city, and Ujiri sounded, on Tuesday, as if the feeling was mutual. "Its very important (to re-sign Lowry) in terms of continuity," Ujiri said. "Kyle has had a phenomenal year. I thought Kyle was a huge, huge key to our season. For me, negotiating is easy if we want Kyle to be here and Kyle wants to be here. "Hes grown tremendously, to be coached and to work with," Ujiri continued. "His teammates, everybody has said that. Were proud of him. And so well go through that process, but were optimistic stuff will happen." Lowry and his teammates praised Casey in season-ending media interviews, noting the consistency of his message. For his part, Casey said he never considered testing the market. Ujiri made a commitment to the coach when the season began, and Casey said it was only fair he reciprocate. Caseys job status was uncertain when the season began. He was hired by Bryan Colangelo, and Ujiri had just replaced Colangelo as GM. "Masai could have made any decision when he first took over the job last spring." Casey said. "He was true to his word, he gave all of us a platform to go out and prove and show, even the players, what you can do. And he was true to his word. Thats all you can ask for in this business is an opportunity. "It would be so disingenuous to even go out and put your foot in the market and think that was a possibility, so I didnt even give it a second thought. My heart is here, my mind is here." The Raptors thrived after the seven-player deal last December that sent Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings. Casey, who is almost fatherly in the way he communicates with his team, worked four new players into the roster, and from that point forward Toronto had the best mark in the Eastern Conference at 41-22. Casey and Ujiri were proud of the teams performance in the playoffs. They squared off against a Nets team that was built for success right now, whereas the Raptors are very much a work in progress. Casey was named head coach in June 2011, shortly after he helped guide the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA title. When asked which season -- the championship in Dallas, or this Raptors campaign -- was more satisfying, he said this one. "Its far more gratifying watching kids grow, watching development ... watching guys go through Game 6, when our compete level in the first half was probably one of the lowest we had all year, and then turn it around and put ourselves in a position to win the game," Casey said. Casey said the biggest mistake the team can make now is be complacent, so improvement is the focus of the off-season. He pointed out how sophomore centre Jonas Valanciunas will work with NBA legend and former Raptor Hakeem Olajuwon over the summer. The coach said, for his part, hell do what he does every off-season and examine tape of every game, looking for what they did wrong, what they could have done better. Both Casey and Ujiri spoke again about the incredible fan support in Toronto, noting that support helps when theyre trying to sell the city to free agents. Casey called it easily the best in the NBA and compared it to the 1996 NBA finals. He was with the Seattle SuperSonics that year, bowing in the final series to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. "KeyArena was rocking, loud. The Finals in 96, I thought that was loud," Casey said. "That didnt compare to the Air Canada Centre on Sunday when Deron Williams was shooting his free throws (in the dying seconds). You could just hear it vibrating. The official had to lean over to me and whisper in my ear, which I felt kinda creepy ... but you couldnt hear yourself talk. Thats a home-court advantage, its second to none in the league." Ujiri mentioned his predecessor at the end of Tuesdays 45-minute news conference at Air Canada Centre. "I think Bryan Colangelo did an unbelievable job here," he said. "He hired Dwane Casey. The starting five were picked by Bryan Colangelo as young players. I think the guy did an unbelievable job. He was a boss here, my boss and a mentor. He needs to be given some credit." Casey was named NBA Eastern Conference coach of the month in December. 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Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday and is expected to be out four to six weeks. Ellis had a 20-minute operation performed by Dodgers physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache to repair the medial meniscus in his knee. Ellis is expected to rejoin his teammates on Wednesday and begin rehabilitation. The club recalled catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Albuquerque and started him against Detroits Max Scherzer in the opener of a two-game interleague series. Drew Butera was Federowiczs backup. "A.J. is the kind of guy that from a preparation standpoint has been what weve asked -- to know what hes doing when he puts the fingers down, to know why, to understand our pitchers and all the matchups and everything else," manager Don Mattingly said. "We ask a lot of our catchers, and A.J. has bought into that. So were going to miss that, no question. But hes going to be back here tomorrow, and hes the kind of guy that will be doing everything to help Fed and Drew out and still be a part of what were doing. Ellis injured his left knee Saturday while rounding third base and trying to score from second on a single by Andre Ethier. Ellis underwent the same procedure on his left knee following the 2012 season. "I know he felt a misstep the other dayy and kind of felt it right then.dddddddddddd And it was really sore after that," Mattingly said. Ellis joined Clayton Kershaw, setup man Brian Wilson and Chad Billingsley on the disabled list, and Yasiel Puig sat out his second game because of a swollen left thumb. Puig was hurt when he made a headfirst slide into first base on an infield hit during Saturdays 7-2 loss to San Francisco. Federowicz appeared in 56 games with the Dodgers last season, hitting four home runs and driving in 16 runs, and he has played in 66 big league games with Los Angeles since making his big league debut in 2011. He was optioned to Albuquerque on March 22, but remained with the big club on its extended roster for the two-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia. Los Angeles kept Butera on the active big league roster because he could be sent to the minor leagues without clearing waivers -- unlike Federowicz. "I think it just tests our depth," Mattingly said. "We feel like Fed and Drew are capable to get through this stretch with out A.J., the same as our bullpen without Brian. We cant really say its going to be good getting through this stretch without Clayton, because theres nobody quite like him. But I do think were capable of winning games and doing what we have to do." ' ' '