Toronto Raptors

wouldnt diaw play the 4, and derozan wood play the 3 and weems at the 2

They will be a great team in 3 years. Right now they could still be a playoff team at best IF these trades all go through…the trades are still being worked on.

It will be fun to watch these young exciting players develop.

I’m not calling them a playoff team yet.

Who’s the number one on that team? There’s alot of number 2, 3 and 4th options on that team. Someone’s going to have to step up.

Diaw could just end up riding the bench for a while if Toronto doesnt win with him.He obviously isnt in their long term plans so if he doesnt perform well I could see them benching him or buying him out. These are just pickups justifying Bosh leaving.

The lineup will probably look more like

PG- Jack/Barbosa/Banks
SG: Derozan/Kleisa/Belinelli
SF: Weems/Diaw
PF: Bargnani/Davis
C: Chandler/Johnson

I think we have a shot at the 8th seed, although everyone REALLY has to have a good season, I think Weems has a chance to score 17-18 ppg, and Jack can probably have 14ppg and 7-8 apg with good minutes
If DD lives up to his potential he could really explode and Bargnani could score a good amount of points if he gets a lot of shots, but i dont think he’s the type of guy who can be “the man”

Chandler finally gives us a solid big man who is athletic and will help defensively.

Although we will likely end up a top 10 pick, we are a long shot for the playoffs

the raptors have a bright future i think…. does anyone still hate BC

Gotta give some pop to BC to pull off the trades to get rid of Turk and Calderon’s bad contracts. I do think those guys are better than what they showed last year, but things just didn’t seem to work out last year.

Turkoglu can be the front court ball handler/passer that Diaw used to play for the Suns, but I am not sure if it’s a good move for them to get his contract. At least, the Suns would stay competitive and likely make the playoff.

Calderon would be the PG that the Bobcats didn’t have. He can shoot, play well in a half-court offense, and pass first. Larry Brown should be able to come up with something to cover for his bad D with better defensive teammates (GWallace).

BC is really good at fixing his own mistakes.
e.g.
Signed Starbury for that 7yr max contract and dumped him to the Knicks
Signed QRich for another huge overpaid contract and also dumped him to the Knicks
Signed Kapono for that 6mil a year contract for shooting 3s and then dumped him for Reggie Evans (an even worse player on a smaller contract)
Signed Turkoglu for a bad contract and now dumping him for Barbosa’s expiring.

The Raptors additions (Diaw, Ty Chandler, Barbosa) probably wouldn’t do much more than the ones that are sent out (Turk, Calderon, Evans), but they are shorter deals that would fit well for a rebuilding process.

As much as BC claiming he’s gonna do a retool, so far, it looks more like a rebuild, which is something I like to see. Hopefully, he won’t screw this rebuilding efforts up with bad signings.

i think derozans gonna be good with weems be a good duo at the 2 and 3

DD and Weems will be one of the most athletic wing combos in the league.

And although not a true 1st option, the person who will likely score the most points on this team will either be Bargnani or Weems IMO, Bargnani will take a lot of shots, but I think Weems will be able to do it pretty efficiently.Im not sure about DD yet. This team could be a very good fast break team.

Raptors are looking good.

They dont have anyone selfish, and their solid all around.

CHandler
Bargnani
Diaw
Derozan
Jack

or maybe they go small ball

Bargnani
Diaw
Derozan
Barbosa
Jack

not sure what their lineup will.

Charlotte drops off though, i think Toronto will have a good chance to get the eight seed.

Let’s slow down on Sonny Weems now.

He’s a good player but I don’t think he will start and he’s still has alot of things to prove. He’s a good reserve IMO.

I guess im being a little too high on him, But I just dont see what Diaw does better than him to force him to the bench, he played well as a started last year, but if he develops a good outside shot he can actually be a pretty good scorer

If you take a closer look at the roster, this team is not good enough for the playoff.

Jack / Barbosa / Banks
Derozan / Weems / Belinelli
Diaw / Kleisa
Bargnani / Davis / Dorsey
Chandler / Johnson / Alabi

There is not a single star-level player. It’s probably going to the lottery and likely top 10 (I would hope to get a top 5 pick next year). The good news is that now that both Turk and Calderon are gone, the team does not have any bad contract, so it is well built for youth movement and free up cap space for the future.

Jay Triano isn’t a good enough coach to take this group of talent to playoff.

Im not saying their all that good but the east is very weak outside the top tier.

Bargnani should step up, i think hes a 20 point scorer, Derozan will improve alot, Diaw gives them versatility, Barbosa adds a scoring punch off the bench, Chandler gives them a very good low post defender, i think they have a legit chance of getting the eighth seed.

I dont know a lot about Weerms but Diaw, is a very good passer, very good defender, can play center if he needs to and do good, good slasher, and very unselfish, hes the kindve guy you want on your team.

A year ago he averaged 15 6 5.

I think Diaw is better than Weems for now.

If Diaw is on top of his game, he’s a pretty solid starter. He can score a bit, rebound a bit, and pass very well for a SF. However, it seems ever since he got his 5yr@45mil contract, he got out-of-shape and went down hill. I still think Diaw is solid enough to start for the Raptors though.

Weems and DeRozan are on the same level now, and I think they would need another year to develop into legit starter-level players. For now, they are solid on the bench, not consistent enough to be starters.

They would have their flashes, but they are not consistent enough to play over a vet like Diaw. If anyone can overtake Diaw starting spot, it would be Kleiza.

We need a legit 1st option, and we’ll be fighting for the 8th seed. If Sonny, Demar, Bargnani, or just anyone can step up and be “the man”, then the Raptors will possibly do better this year than last.

Jack / Barbosa / Banks
Derozan / Weems / Belinelli
Diaw / Kleisa
Bargnani / Davis / Dorsey
Chandler / Johnson / Alabi

Other than Bargnani, none of the raptors have any shot of being an all-star in the coming season.

Jack is a solid PG that is good enough to start but better if coming off the bench.

Barbosa is a sparkplug. Decent 6th man off the bench, but he isn’t exactly an ironman, missing games here and there and haven’t really been on top of his game for 2 years.

DeRozan and Weems are pretty much on the same level and still too inconsistent to be relied on. It’s good to get them play time to develop them for the future though, so one of them should start at SG.

Diaw is a solid veteran that can score a bit, rebound a bit, and pass very well. He’s a good role player to have.

Kleiza is tough, can score, and work hard. He can rebound a bit too. Another good role player.

Bargnani is the only player that would have a shot of being the star. However, when Bosh was out last year, Bargnani didn’t do well when facing double-team. Now that he’s the 1st option, he would really need to improve and adjust to do better against double-team in order for the Raptors to win games.

Davis looks very promising, but he’s still a rookie.

Dorsey is a backup at best.

Chandler is a solid defensive big man if he can stay healthy. Being his contract year, he maybe surprisingly good. I think he can be traded to a contender by trade deadline for young players or picks.

Amir Johnson can be a pretty solid starter. If he keeps working hard, he can develop into a good big man in 2 years. He gotta work on playing D without fouling though.

Alabi looks solid, but he’s still a rookie.

When I first looked at the Raptors new lineup, I thought it’s pretty solid. A bunch of decent players that can potentially play well together with good chemistry. However, there is not a single star with Bargnani being the closest.

If you look at other teams in the East, it’s tough to see which one would be worse than the Raptors on paper.

MIA, ORL, BOS, ATL, CHI, MIL are almost locked for playoff

NYK – Amare, Galli, Felton, Randolph, Mozgov
PHI – Holiday, Turner, Iggy, Brand, Thad
CHA – Calderon, Capt Jack, Wallace, and LARRY BROWN
IND – Granger, Murphy, Hibbert, Dunleavy, Rush, Stephenson, George

CLE – MoWill, Parker, Jamison, Hickson, Varejao (2 former stars)
NJN – Harris, TWill, Outlaw, ???, Lopez – Favors (dark horse for the playoff)
DET – Stuckey, Rip, Prince, Monroe, Gordon, CharlieV, Jerebko, Daye, Summers (a bunch of talent that can’t play together last year)
WAS – Wall, Yi, McGee, Blatch, Arenas

Almost every team has a star level player. Can we really say Raptors would make the playoff?

Yes, I’m still hating on Colangelo (or whoever demanded the Turkoglu signing).

If this was a true rebuild, then we wouldn’t have signed Amir Johnson and Kleiza to a combined 12M per year for 4 years.

I like them both, but it’s simply too much for players we don’t need at this point.

Raptors need to shed all the payroll possible (Turkoglu and Calderon are a good start).

Overall, any strategy that doesn’t involve tanking for top 3 picks for the next 2 years is a failure. We need to try and get a true franchise player. Bargnani or DeRozan might be that player, but as of right now, they are not.

The wizards are already in a much better position because they got John Wall.

Besides BOS, MIA, ORL, ATL, CHI which team do you really like better the the raptors in the east? I think they will be an improved team this much improved team this year with the development of DD and Weems and better ball movement with Bosh gone.

I read the whole thing, you said maybe make a run at the playoff and I asked you besides the big 5 which team you like better then the raptors because to me on paper they are the 6th best team in the east easily

Personally, I think the Raps are a better TEAM going into this season then they were last season… even without Bosh. The Raps are going to be Alot more athletic and fast. Chandler allows Bargs to shift over to his natural 4 spot which is important… and his contract is expiring if it doesn’t workout. Kleiza is an excellant pickup if Denver doesn’t match… but I think they do. Tor lacked breakdown scorers last season and Kleiza + Barbosa can provide that at their positions by getting to the rim for easy points or and ones. Diaw is a tremendously versatile pickup. If Tor embraces the team concept I’m pretty sure they make the playoffs. They are too deep with above average players to not make it happen this year. They should get alot more easy buckets via rebounding and transission points which will be nice to see for a change. Defense will be vastly improved and offense should be pretty decent even without that one late shot clock go to guy.

Tor dumped Turk and Calderon which were 2 terrible long term contracts… however B.C. knows if you don’t spend your cap threshold you lose it. You have to spend the money to win. All these teams who are currently under the cap won’t even get their midlevel next season if they don’t spend it all up to the limit this year. It makes it very hard to compete with the big spenders in the league… like LA Bos Orl etc… and nearly impossible to make good trades in the future. As an example… How are the heat going to pull off ANY trades the next few seasons? Bosh, Lebron, Wade, Miller and likely Haslem eat up all their cap space.. so who does MIA have to trade to take on another 5-10mil player? They would have to trade almost every minimum salary guy they got to make it work. MIA also has virtually no picks coming down the line and will have to wait till next offseason to use their Midlevel and Bi at which time they can start to slowly increase their cap. Tor’s contracts and assets are now all Very tradeable which is incredibly important towards future flexiblity.

Keep in mind that being the only Canadian team, it is near impossible to get star FA’s to sign with Tor in the offseason. Even if Tor had been a sixty win team last year do you honestly believe Lebron, Wade, Amare, Boozer or any of the other top guys gives Tor the time of day? Canada’s taxes kill contracts and the canadian lifestyle takes some getting used too if you’ve only lived in the US your whole life. Players love T.O. when they play here on their road trips because the nightlife is fantastic but it must feel wierd not needing a bodyguard all the time. Canada might aswell be Sweden for the rep it has around the league.