With a month left in yet another lottery-bound season for our Raptors, let’s evaluate where we are and where we’re headed:
- Demar Derozan has shown no signs of being an all-star level guard. The optimists may see another level in him, but the realists see a second or third option at best. He has had a pretty rough third year, and maybe another year under Dwane Caseys defence oriented system will help him turn it around.
- There are an abundance of PFs and we can’t move forward with all of them on the roster. So who does BC get rid of? Clearly Bargnani isn’t going anywhere, so it’s between Amir and Ed Davis. We could amnesty Amir and keep Ed Davis for development, or we could package Ed Davis with another player and potentially get some value in return. In my opinion, you keep Ed Davis because he still has potential to consistently drop double-doubles.
- Dwane Casey is the real deal. The team is clearly playing at a much higher level defensively and generally they’re heading in the right direction. One knock on Caseys system is the offensive execution thus far. Sometimes it seems that he’s not utilizing Derozan effectively, and the offence seems stagnant at times. But based on the progress we’ve seen from the team compared to Triano, I’m willing to give Casey ample time to prove himself as an offensive coach because I haven’t seen a Raptors coach be as effective since Butch Carter.
- Andrea Bargnani is worth keeping. I was a staunch critic of Bargnani for the past 5.5 years as he declined and got coddled by management and the media, but he has clearly proven to be a very capable scorer at the highest level. He helps stretch the floor and makes guys around him better because he takes the defensive pressure away from them. By no means is he a superstar or a franchise level talent, and I find the “All-star” calls a bit over-the-top, but he’s a unique talent and if we’re to believe that the team will improve at all other positions, he’s clearly a guy to keep around.
- This years draft will be perhaps the biggest in franchise history. Regardless of where the team finishes when the lottery balls finalise the draft order, it’s safe to say that we’ll be getting a high lottery pick in one of the deeper drafts of the past decade. Bryan Colangelo will have an abundance of cap-space available on draft night, as well as players like Jose Calderon and Ed Davis available to entice other teams for trade options. Considering Colangelo is going into the second year of his 2 year extension, I’d say its safe to say he will be making some big time moves on draft night. Historically with the Raptors, Colangelo has made a lot of high-risk transactions but since last season he has been a bit more reserved than usual. Is he waiting for the right opportunity to make significant changes to the roster? We’ll have to wait and see, but I can guarantee this draft will be one to define this franchise going forward.
- Is Jonas the real deal? We’re about to find out, and I think the collective Raptor-Nation has high expectations for our franchise big-man of the future. Will he be able to live up to the expectations, and how will he adapt to the faster, stronger NBA game? From what we’ve seen in the FIBA and EuroLeague games, his fundamentals are through the roof and people are comparing him to legendary NBA Centers. If he lives up to expectations, the Raptors will certainly move to a upward trajectory.
- Next season will be another overhaul under Colangelo. How many times has he done this now? It feels like a roster-overhaul is expected every 2 or 3 years under BC because of his terrible decisions. But perhaps this time around we’re actually building something positive? So who will be on the team next season? Who knows! We’ll have to wait and see because there are so many holes in the roster and so many ‘assets’ that can be packaged in trades that the team could look drastically different in October.
Coming into this season, Raptors fans were well aware of this season being a write off. Most of us were expecting to see Derozan and Ed Davis take it to another level, but we didn’t see that happen. However, the surprising effects of Dwane Caseys defence and overall coaching has made a positive impact that certainly helps in most fans feel positive about where this team is going. But in order for this team to take the next step, they’ll need some luck and a solid draft pick as well as Jonas Valanciunus playing up to what’s being expected.
Toronto Raptors Greatest Moments Ever
(Source: youtube.com)
It’s not that we don’t necessarily believe in your abilities to be a legitimate 5 for years to come, but you have to understand that our GM and Assistant GM have frustrated us to a tipping point with regards to Andrea Bargnani, and to a lesser extent other terrible European players…
As an international and cosmopolitan city, we will embrace and accept any player regardless of their background… but when you get a 5 year $50 million extension without proving that you’re worth it, or being selected as the teams starting PG at the expense of another equally talented PG, or getting unlimited chances and not having to earn the “franchise player” tag, you’re going to piss off a fanbase that really hasn’t recovered since the high flying days of Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady.
We just want a winner… I’m sure you (Jonas) can help us in the long run and are a very capable player that will win over the fan base with your work ethic and skill. We know that it’s not fair to group you in the same category as that Primo Pasta loving tool, but that’s how we reacted out of frustration and expectations that had been set by our GM…
and for that, I apologize on behalf of all Raptors fans.
Just remember that it’s not YOU we’re pissed at… it’s actually Andrea, Jose, Hedo, Maurizio and a culture of entitlement that Colangelo has fostered for his European projects.
:)
Here we are again, Raptors fans, with another lottery bound off-season and more uncertainty… seems like that’s been the case every summer since Colangelo has been GM.
Every summer seems the most critical with Colangelo and he certainly knows how to keep the fans intrigued and interested in the developments with the team. Here’s a list of things I’d like to see happen… highly optimistically:
- Raptors get the first overall pick in the May lottery
- Draft Kyrie Irving
- Sign Marc Gasol
- Trade Bargnani for Danny Granger
- Hire Rick Adelman as the head coach
This would make our rotation:
PG: Kyrie Irving/Jerryd Bayless
SG: Demar Derozan/Leandro Barbosa
SF: Danny Granger/James Johnson
PF: Ed Davis/Amir Johnson
C: Marc Gasol/Soloman Alabi
Looks like a solid team to move forward with, and with a defensive-minded coach thats proven to get the most out of his teams, the Raptors could seriously make a push for the playoffs.
In all likelihood, these scenarios won’t happen, but we can hope at least one or two of the things I’ve listed do come to fruition. All we can do, as usual, is to keep checking twitter and the Raptors media on the regular to see what the GM is thinking.
Moving forward, if there’s one move I’d like to see happen, it’s trading Bargnani- or changing his role to that of a 6th man. As Colangelo has admitted recently, Bargnani is naturally a PF and struggles against C’s in the NBA… so rather than being foolish and cutting into Ed Davis’ development (who has already demonstrated a pretty big upside as a rookie), it only makes sense to either trade him to upgrade a position like SF (or C), or to bring him off the bench as an instant offense and matchup nightmare.
(Source: dudeperfect)
Can’t say I expected the Raptors to do any better than they did, so is it really a failed season by my standards? Probably not, especially when you factor in the likelihood of landing a very high quality draft pick this summer.
Having said that, there are still a lot of issues with this team from top to bottom that have me less-than excited about the future, unless things seriously change. Here are my end-of-season random thoughts:
- The best case scenario for Andrea Bargnani is as a sixth man; he has no business being a starting centre in the NBA
- Ed Davis and Demar Derozan are a good foundation for a rebuild
- A lack of veteran leadership from players that have experienced winning seasons and/or playoffs will ultimately hurt the Raptors youth-development moving forward
- Demar Derozan has surpassed Bargnani as the most valuable player on the team
- PJ Carlisemo had absolutely no impact on improving the Raps terrible D
- Jay Triano talked so much about ball movement and up tempo in the off season, and yet the team has no real offensive flow
- I forgot Linas Kleiza and his 4-year contract existed! Kinda sucks because I don’t want to see him starting next season… or playing more than 8 minutes.
- Jerryd Bayless was very effective as a starter
- Jose Calderon has plateaued and basically sucks
- Amir Johnson justified his contract to me this season… him and Demar were the best on the team
- Will Bryan Colangelo grow some balls and actually trade Bargnani this summer?
- Triano isn’t exactly a coaching guru, but unless the Raptors can get Jeff Van Gundy, they might as well keep him.
- James Johnson can become a solid rotation player moving forward, especially if we can get either Barnes or Derrick Williams in the draft to play the 3
- Will the Raptors keep trying to brand themselves as an international/european team next season? I hope not v_v
- Unless Kevin Pritchard is interested, MLSE should re-sign Colangelo
- The last time there was a lockout, the Raptors got Vince Carter. Will history repeat itself?
This is a crucial off-season for the Raptors… it seems we say that pretty much every year, but there’s a lot of pressure on BC to not mess up this high draft pick (like he did with Bargs)… so lets see what happens in the off-season!
At first you had your fingers crossed that he’d do something crazy…
Then Derozan stepped on the court and did his dunk…
And you were all like…
Then you looked at the final results and noticed that he didn’t make the finals, and you were like…
And you just wanted to go up to the judges and…
- 12 game losing streak is longest since 02-03, which led to the drafting of chris bosh
- finishing in the bottom 4 likely means a pretty high pick
- there are no soft jump shooting big men from europe in this years draft class
- andrea bargnani is not an nba capable starting nba center
- ed davis reminds me of a young jermaine o’neal
- there is really no justification to the amount of minutes jose calderon is getting, other than showcasing him to potential trade partners
- jay triano will not be the head coach of the raptors at the end of this season
- demar derozan is showing positive signs and looks to surpass bargnani as ‘best raptor’, sooner than later
- do colangelo and gherardini realize how mediocre bargnani really is?
- ed davis, demar derozan, amir johnson and jerryd bayless are the only raptors i’m really interested in watching
