DeMarre Carroll hopes to return before postseason

The light might finally be at the end of the tunnel for Toronto Raptors small forward DeMarre Carroll.

Carroll, who's been out since early-January after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, met with reporters Wednesday to dispel rumors of his season being over.

"I see the reports that say I'm out. That's just speculation," he said.

Carroll was originally tabbed to miss six-to-eight weeks, but as he revealed Wednesday, he experienced swelling in his knee. Fortunately, doctors confirmed his knee is fine.

The plan is for Carroll to ramp up his activity in the coming days and to get some minutes under his belt to scrub away the rust.

"Hopefully I'm going to try and play a couple games before the end of the season. That's the goal," Carroll said.

The Raptors made Carroll their highest-paid player last summer after inking him to a four-year, $58-million deal. The 3-and-D specialist put up a solid line of 11.7 points. 4.8 rebounds, and 1.7 steals on 37.8 percent shooting from deep in 23 games before bowing out due to injury.

Including Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, nine games remain to finish out the Raptors' season. Carroll hopes that will be enough of a runway before the Raptors embark upon their third straight playoff run.