(For Small-ball.com)
Toronto Raptors
56-26
Additions: Jared Sullinger, Fred VanVleet
Departures: Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola, James Johnson
Toronto Raptors
56-26
Additions: Jared Sullinger, Fred VanVleet
Departures: Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola, James Johnson
Raptors fans must have such a sour taste in their mouths after losing the Eastern Conference Finals last year to LeBron's Cavaliers 4-2. Things started getting chippy after the Cavs went up 2-0, but the Raptors came back to tie the Series 2-2 after coming home. But the Raptors just couldn't get anything going at all in Cleveland, as they didn't manage to score 90 points in any of the 4 games they played there; while the Cavs easily eclipsed the 100 point mark each game. The goal of this season for the Raptors is to get their rematch against LeBron and the Cavs and to make that Series a little more competitive. The only problem is, they didn't get that much better this offseason. Besides resigning DeMar DeRozan to a 5 year, $146 million dollar deal, the only real other signing they made was adding Jared Sullinger to a 1 year, $5.6 million dollar deal. But with the departure of Bismack Biyombo and Luis Scola, Sully was basically just brought in to replace those two and add a little bit more scoring than Biyombo or Scola brought to the table. However, they did get somewhat better in the Draft with the additions of Center Jakob Poeltl and Foward Pascal Siakam. I'll get back to them when I get to the positions, but overall the Raptors are going to basically enter the playoffs with a pretty similar looking team they rolled out there in 2015-2016.
Returning Players: Bruno Caboclo, DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry, Lucas Nogueira, Patrick Patterson, Norman Powell, Terrance Ross, Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Jason Thompson
The Celtics are the favorites to win the Atlantic Division. How much of a push can that give this Raptors team? The Raptors (56-26) only won one less game all year than the Cavaliers (57-25) and LeBron James did last year. They had the same exact road record as the Cavs at 24-17, but only lost one more home game than they did. However, the Raptors were 14-2 in their Division last year, while the Cavs were at .500 going 8-8 in their Division. The Raptors may have played ugly in Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they played them somewhat well and managed to win two games against the NBA Champs; two more games than the Pistons or Hawks could do in their sweeps against the Cavaliers. The Celtics ended up with the same record as one of the four East teams that made the playoffs at 48-34, but ended up being a 5 seed; while they only went 10-6 in the Division. The addition of Al Horford and giving Toronto Sully on top of the new Knicks squad must have really changed things up in the Division going forward. The lack of respect Toronto has been getting may give them a charge they need to make a better run at LeBron's Cavs this year.
Returning Players: Bruno Caboclo, DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry, Lucas Nogueira, Patrick Patterson, Norman Powell, Terrance Ross, Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Jason Thompson
The Celtics are the favorites to win the Atlantic Division. How much of a push can that give this Raptors team? The Raptors (56-26) only won one less game all year than the Cavaliers (57-25) and LeBron James did last year. They had the same exact road record as the Cavs at 24-17, but only lost one more home game than they did. However, the Raptors were 14-2 in their Division last year, while the Cavs were at .500 going 8-8 in their Division. The Raptors may have played ugly in Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they played them somewhat well and managed to win two games against the NBA Champs; two more games than the Pistons or Hawks could do in their sweeps against the Cavaliers. The Celtics ended up with the same record as one of the four East teams that made the playoffs at 48-34, but ended up being a 5 seed; while they only went 10-6 in the Division. The addition of Al Horford and giving Toronto Sully on top of the new Knicks squad must have really changed things up in the Division going forward. The lack of respect Toronto has been getting may give them a charge they need to make a better run at LeBron's Cavs this year.
G- Kyle Lowry is the most underrated player in the NBA. I understand he isn't the flashy player like Lillard, or the crazy shooter like Curry, or the crazy explosive player like Westbrook. But Lowry is similar to Isaiah Thomas of the Celtics in the way they are little guards that bring so much to the table and are incredible on the offensive side of the ball. Lowry averaged 21.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last year for one of the best teams in the NBA. He's one of the better defenders on his team even though he's one of the smallest guys and should definitely be in the top voting for MVP. His value, on top of DeMar DeRozan (23.5 points, 4.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds per game) and everything he brings to the table is what seperates their Guard play from just about anyone else in the League. With the exceptions of Curry/Thompson and even them, Lowry and DeRozan can match up against just about any duo of Guards in the NBA (Thomas/Bradley, Wall/Beal, Westbrook/Oladipo, Rondo/Wade etc.). How these two play is how far the team will go in the Playoffs, because we know Valanciunas is in there to rebound for them and DeMarre Carroll is there to play defense against the LeBron, Melo, Durant etc. role. Cory Joseph (8.5/3.1/2.6) is their key role Guard off the bench, with Powell and Wright as depth guys while Terrance Ross can also play the 2 if he needs to. Another thing is, can Fred VanVleet shoot as well as he did at Wichita State? The guard play is the #1 strength on this Toronto roster.
F- What will they get out of 27th Overall Pick Pascal Siakam? The 6'8 Forward from Camroon averaged 20.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game at New Mexico State last year. He's a very versatile player and he can shoot, as he averaged a 53.6% shooting percentage at NMSU. He definitely needs work on the defensive side of the ball and needs to add some weight as he's a really tall and lanky guy. His addition to DeMarre Carroll (11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists per game), Patrick Patterson (6.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game) and Terrance Ross (9.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game) will tremendously boost the Forward spot this year if he can prove to be a star in this League. Siakam was a scorer at New Mexico State and will have to learn the game at this level and let Lowry and DeRozan do the scoring. Another big addition to the 4 if he plays it will be Jared Sullinger (10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.6 blocks per game), and what he can bring to the table as another versatile big man. Having so many versatile Forwards will definitely help this team going forward now because that was definitely their weak spot of their team. Caboclo and Thompson are just depth guys.
F- What will they get out of 27th Overall Pick Pascal Siakam? The 6'8 Forward from Camroon averaged 20.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game at New Mexico State last year. He's a very versatile player and he can shoot, as he averaged a 53.6% shooting percentage at NMSU. He definitely needs work on the defensive side of the ball and needs to add some weight as he's a really tall and lanky guy. His addition to DeMarre Carroll (11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists per game), Patrick Patterson (6.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game) and Terrance Ross (9.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game) will tremendously boost the Forward spot this year if he can prove to be a star in this League. Siakam was a scorer at New Mexico State and will have to learn the game at this level and let Lowry and DeRozan do the scoring. Another big addition to the 4 if he plays it will be Jared Sullinger (10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.6 blocks per game), and what he can bring to the table as another versatile big man. Having so many versatile Forwards will definitely help this team going forward now because that was definitely their weak spot of their team. Caboclo and Thompson are just depth guys.
C- Jakob Poeltl was an absolute beast at Utah last year. The #9 Overall Pick averaged 17.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 blocks and 0.6 steals per game last year in 30.6 minutes. He was huge for Utah in making their Sweet Sixteen run in the NCAA Tournament. The seven-footer matched up well against other Star Big Men like Kaleb Tarczewski and showed he can play with just about anyone at that level. Now it's time to show he can matchup against guys like Brook Lopez and other Big Men like him. Valanciunas will be the starting Center |
because he's the Vet and is a monster in his own right (12.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game); but Poeltl was taken that high to be a presence in the NBA (especially this year). A duo between these two can force Sully to move to the 4 most of the time and they an make bigger lineups with Carroll or Paterson or Siakam at the 3. Even moving Terrance Ross to the 2 at 6'6 can make their lineup bigger too if Sullinger moves to the 4 and any of those three move to the 3. The height won't be a problem with Toronto this year (besides Lowry) and they should have a plethora of guys to rebound the ball for their formidable Guard duo.
Overall
The Raptors will be a Playoff team this year. There's no doubt about that. It's a matter of how far they can go and if they can get a rematch against LeBron and the Cavs or not. The teams in their Division, apart from the Nets, all got extremely better this offseason; and they really didn't. Luckily in the Draft they got two really solid young players that can help them this year. Jared Sullinger was the only real addition they had this offseason apart from their Draft, and like I said he was brought in to replace Biyombo and Scola. Siakam and Poeltl will have to try and be the difference that the Raptors were missing last year on top of Sully. They need to make a statement against the Celtics and Knicks this year and show them that this is still their Division. Where Lowry and DeRozan takes them, nobody knows; but expect the Raptors to be a top team in the East this year again.
Prediction: 53-29
Overall
The Raptors will be a Playoff team this year. There's no doubt about that. It's a matter of how far they can go and if they can get a rematch against LeBron and the Cavs or not. The teams in their Division, apart from the Nets, all got extremely better this offseason; and they really didn't. Luckily in the Draft they got two really solid young players that can help them this year. Jared Sullinger was the only real addition they had this offseason apart from their Draft, and like I said he was brought in to replace Biyombo and Scola. Siakam and Poeltl will have to try and be the difference that the Raptors were missing last year on top of Sully. They need to make a statement against the Celtics and Knicks this year and show them that this is still their Division. Where Lowry and DeRozan takes them, nobody knows; but expect the Raptors to be a top team in the East this year again.
Prediction: 53-29