The whole thing went down like the plot of some terrible Hugh Grant romantic comedy. It was on. Then it was almost off. But now it is back on again.

We will see if Ed Stefanski and the Toronto Raptors can live happily ever after.

The two sides are close to a deal to make Stefanski the team’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, a deal that should be finalized in the coming days, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo on twitter.

Stefanski was the GM of the Philadelphia 76ers but was pushed aside as part of the new ownership change. In Toronto he will work with Bryan Colangelo, the GM and the guy still ultimately calling the player/personnel shots.

Toronto is in a rebuilding mode right now and Stefanski had mixed success with that process in Philly. He did draft or bring in Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams and Marreese Speights, plus he kept Andre Iguodala as a cornerstone. All good moves. Except he overpaid Iggy and the Elton Brand deal has not worked out well (despite a bounce-back season last year Brand is remains overpaid, although that doesn’t mean you should throw him out).

Toronto, which has a history of overpaying underproducing big men, should be a good fit for Stefanski that way.

We’ll see if he and Colangelo can have a happy marriage in Canada.

After making progress on an agreement to become the Toronto Raptors’ general manager, talks with Philadelphia 76ers GM Ed Stefanski have stalled, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Friday.

Two sources with knowledge of the talks used the term “hit a snag” to describe the state of the discussions.

In the past several days, sources said, this development has caused former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower to re-emerge at the forefront of the search.

It’s unclear what caused the talks between Toronto president Bryan Colangelo and Stefanski to come undone, but several sources said what seemed inevitable a week ago – the hiring of Stefanski – has been derailed. Stefanski is trying to become more engaged in the Trail Blazers’ search, sources said.

Stefanski is working under Sixers president Rod Thorn and has one season left on his contract. But Stefanski knows the Sixers’ new owners want to make their own imprint on the franchise, and that he needs to find his next job sooner than later.

Once San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey pulled out of the Raptors’ search earlier this month, Stefanski and Bower became the two finalists for the job.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:

• NBA rank-and-file fine with missing games?

• NBA TV forced to repeatedly air ‘Teen Wolf’ with lockout ongoing

• Tony Romo vows the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl. Someday.

The Toronto Raptors are still looking for a new front office guy to have a fancy title and explain his decisions to Bryan Colangelo, who is shifting roles in the organization.

The Raptors are through their first round of interviews and have brought in some name people, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo.

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski, San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey, Indiana Pacers pro personnel director Kevin Prichard and former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower traveled to Toronto in recent weeks to meet with Colangelo, sources said.

There’s no clear frontrunner, but several sources have reason to believe Lindsey could hold an edge over the other three candidates. Lindsey is also on the short list for the Portland Trail Blazers’ GM job.

Lindsey may have his choice of gigs, and he already has a pretty damn good one so he can afford to take his time and be choosy. The other guys need a job — Bower is without one, Stefanski is in the final year of his deal with a team undergoing an ownership change, and Pritchard has a one-year scouting deal in Indiana that may or may not grow into something more.

We’d discuss the timetable for this decision if the Raptors felt any pressure to make this decision. But they don’t. So it could be a while.

Toronto Raptors president Bryan Colangelo has completed interviews with four candidates for a high-ranking executive job, leagues sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski, San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey, Indiana Pacers pro personnel director Kevin Prichard and former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower traveled to Toronto in recent weeks to meet with Colangelo, sources said.

There’s no clear frontrunner, but several sources have reason to believe Lindsey could hold an edge over the other three candidates. Lindsey is also on the short list for the Portland Trail Blazers’ GM job.

Among the four executives, Lindsey is also the candidate most likely to turn down an offer. He has a top executive’s job under Spurs GM R.C. Buford in one of the NBA’s preeminent and respected front offices. He’d have to be willing to leave that for Toronto, where Colangelo and coach Dwane Casey are on two-year contracts with an ownership mandate to get things turned around sooner than later.

Even if Colangelo cedes the GM title to get Lindsey – something he’ll almost assuredly have to do – it’s hard to imagine that Colangelo, an NBA two-time executive of the year, won’t still wield significant clout on every basketball decision.

Stefanski is in the final year of his contract, with new ownership waiting for approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors to take over. Pritchard lost his job as the Trail Blazers GM, and took a one-year scouting assignment with the Pacers that allows him to interview for higher-profile positions. Bower was fired as Hornets GM a year ago.

There’s no clear timetable on when the Raptors will extend a formal offer on the job.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• Video: Dennis Rodman still partying hard at age 50
• Strasburg showing control, velocity in return to mound
• Chiefs All-Pro RB out with serious knee injury