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The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have assigned second-year forward Pape Sow (Pop SOW) to the Arkansas RimRockers of the NBA Development League. Sow will continue to be included on the Raptors’ roster and will remain on the team’s inactive list.

“We feel this is a great opportunity for Pape to get some valuable playing time,” said Raptors General Manager Rob Babcock. “This will give him game-experience that he might not have been able to get in Toronto.”

Sow is the seventh NBA player to be assigned to a D-League affiliate and the first to the RimRockers. The Milwaukee Bucks assigned Ersan Ilyasova and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets designated Sean Banks to Tulsa earlier this week. The Minnesota Timberwolves have designated center Dwayne Jones and guard Bracey Wright to the Florida Flame, while the Phoenix Suns have assigned Dijon Thompson to the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the Washington Wizards have designated Peter John Ramos to the Roanoke Dazzle.

Sow, 23, was selected by Miami in the second round (47th overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft and traded to the Raptors along with a 2005 second-round pick for the draft rights to Albert Miralles. A native of Senegal, Sow has seen action in one game this season contributing two points in one minute. He averaged 2.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 9.4 minutes in 27 games in 2004-05.

Arkansas, who is led by head coach Joe Harge, has been designated as the Raptors D-League affiliate for the 2005-06 season. In addition to the RimRockers, the eight-team NBA D-League includes the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).