Toronto Raptors: Jurassic Park Edition

Last year the Toronto Raptors won 56 games, made the Eastern Conference Finals and were two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals. Will last season be the pinnacle of the franchise, or is there room for improvement and a chance for them to make the next step forward towards dethroning the NBA champion Cavaliers in the East?

Key Moves

Extensions

Masai Ujiri – five years, $15 million – Masai was the mastermind behind this Raptors roster and maintaining management continuity is essential. Grade: A+

DeMar DeRozan – five years, $139 million – DeMar is a key cog for this team. Although his shooting is questionable he provides an essential scoring punch, especially getting to the line. In the modern NBA, however, his lack of ability to spread the floor combined with mediocre defense makes his contract difficult to swallow (especially on the back end). Paying $27 million per year for three years of DeMar over the age of 30 will hinder the Raptors roster flexibility in the long term, but in the meantime he is key to their success for this season and the next. Grade: B-

Additions

Jakob Poeltl – Jakob is an extremely talented, agile, and large true center in the NBA. Aside from trading up or down in the draft,  it made sense to take the player they thought was the best talent available in the spot they took him. The fact that he essentially is a younger version of Valanciunus can be both a positive and a negative. Duplication isn’t usually desirable, but with Biyombo gone Poeltl’s development will be key for the Raptors second unit. Grade: B+

Paskal Siakam – Probably the most active prospect in the draft who was a fast-riser later in the draft process. His motor will be useful coming off the bench. As his college highlights and stats show, he has the potential to become a Kenneth Faried type tasmanian devil on the court. Grade: A-

Jared Sullinger – Jared never quite fully fit in with the Celtics defensive mindset. On the Raptors, however, his offensive versatility will be useful. The Raptors lacked guys that could spread the floor at center last year, and Lowry pick and pop plays with Sullinger will be productive. His talent has never been in question, but his fitness and dedication will need to improve. That’s why he only got a one-year, $6 million deal, which is a total steal – a low-risk, high-reward move for the Raptors. Grade: A

Subtractions

Bismack Biyombo – This one is going to hurt. He was the defensive general for the team as well as an energizer bunny that showed his worth in the playoffs playing key roles in their seven-game series wins over the Pacers and Heat – as well as their series with the Cavs. Poeltl, Siakam, and Sullinger will not magically combine to replace what he brings on the defensive end in the paint, post, or pick-and-roll. Signing a four-year $70 million deal with Orlando may leave the Raptors questing what would have happened if they’d kept him – especially if he excels in Florida while their own defense suffers. It seems like Ujiri had to make a decision between DeRozan and Biyombo and he chose the scorer over the defender. Without a worthy replacement to provide the same production that Biyombo made in the playoffs last year this decision may be regrettable in the more physical playoff series. Grade: D

James Johnson, Luis Scola, Jason Thompson – All three of these players were low minute replacement role players. Johnson was a starter at one point but was pushed out of the lineup by younger players that had developed. Luis provided veteran leadership and offensive acumen but was expendable. Thompson has not been able to reproduce the production he had earlier in his career in Sacramento. Grade: B+

Outlook

It isn’t always easy making decisions from a position of prosperity, especially for a franchise that has a long standing history of mediocrity. Masai had to decide whether to make big free agent moves, be frugal and let key players leave if they demanded big bucks, or whether to stick with the core and expect marginal improvement to get them over the last few hurdles towards the NBA title.

Based on his decisions this summer, it sounds like the decision was to maintain stability while still keeping some cap flexibility and keeping most of the core. This meant keeping DeRozan but unfortunately being too frugal to keep Biyombo. No major additions through free agency occurred, which means that both on the court and in the locker room Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, and Jonas Valanciunus will continue to be the key cogs for this team. If they stay healthy, they have the necessary ability to remain among the cream of the crop in the East. Certainly finishing as the second seed again is an attainable goal, and perhaps even first if the Cavs decide to take it as easy as they have in the past.

Kyle Lowry is the star, but can he lead them past LeBron, especially with consistency and confidence concerns in the postseason? Valanciunis is an anchor in the post and has showed progress every season, but needs to stay healthy, out of foul trouble, and impose his will on the game for all four quarters. DeMar has gained confidence and will continue to score and get to the rim, but how many mid-range shots can he take before the offense loses its flow? His lack of an outside shot and isolation scoring stops ball movement and forces the Raptors offense as a whole to stutter for large portions of games with extremely inconsistent results.

Another year of experience for Norman Powell will allow him to further develop his game – and his confidence and ability on both ends of the floor will continue to surprise. Carroll will need to stay healthy and regain the shooting confidence he had in Atlanta. He was particularly inconsistent on offense and those struggles made the path in the playoffs more strenuous than it needed to be. Cory Joseph is a starting caliber player in the league and provides depth and a steady hand behind Lowry. His play in the postseason was extremely positive and will be key once again this season. Terrence Ross is an irrational confidence player who provides a spark off the bench and can win you a game on his own when his shot is falling. Patrick Patterson will continue to be a highly productive role player within the offense. The rookies will be rookies and a team with title aspirations should not expect immediate production out of first-year players unless they were top-five picks.

All in all, however, it is hard to see what moves from this offseason will get the Raptors over the Cavaliers hump, let alone the Warriors juggernaut in the West. Jared Sullinger isn’t going to scare away LeBron, Kyrie, Love, Thompson and company. When LeBron penetrates and doesn’t see Biyombo’s body in the paint, he will be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps the opportunities the Raptors were hoping would present themselves this summer never came to fruition, or the mindset to keep the core and give it another run with gained experience and confidence was always the goal. But why not re-sign Biyombo if ownership is willing to shell out for DeRozan?

Mobb Deep says it perfectly in “Shook Ones” that there “ain’t no such things as half-way crooks”. There are no such thing as half-way champs. Sorry Drake, but in my humble Views from the 6, this Toronto Raptors team is one step closer to extinction than an NBA title.