Andrew Kasmarek, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler are getting you ready for the NBA season. The previews feature all sorts of information to get you ready for the start of the season.
What I know…
- Drake will have access to the locker room. Given his position with the team, this is all but a guarantee. I am not 100% sure however if this move will be as cool as Brooklyn and Jay-Z[1], but I do think Toronto made a solid power play[2]. He should breathe some life into the fan base.
- They have not made the playoffs since ’07-’08. Coach Dwane Casey, who is entering his third season with the team, has logged a record 57-91. He will need to reverse this downward trend or he will never enter his fourth season with the team.
- After the Rudy Gay trade, the Raptors finished 18-18. In Eastern Conference terms, that is good for the 8 seed.
Additions/Subtractions…
They are bringing in DJ Augustin, Tyler Hansborough[3], Austin Daye and Steve Novak. A bone-chilling list to say the least. To be quite honest, I am not sure any of them will do much of anything. They have a solid starting five, but in today’s NBA you need depth. Lack of depth last year absolutely killed a talented starting five for the Portland Trail Blazers last year. The Raptors are hoping that these four players will all prove formidable off the bench.
They lost Andrea Bargnani, who, I think will now break out in New York, so that will undoubtedly burn Raptor diehards[4]. They also lost John Lucas III, who is only verified on Twitter because he got jumped over by LeBron. They also lost Sebastian Telfair, which probably improves their chances because I am pretty sure Bassy has never made the playoffs[5]. And Linas Kleiza… yeah I do not know either.
What I have been pondering…
I know what you are thinking, “Yeah, the Biebs is a fair weather fan, but the Raptors suck so what are you saying?” What I am saying is that the Raptors are going to compete, and the Biebs will be spending more courtside time in Canada than previously expected.
Looking at their personnel, they are going to be able to score. We covered the improvement the team made after Gay’s arrival. They re-signed DeMar DeRozen to an extension, and are hoping he improves on the 18 ppg he scored last year. They also will have production out of a healthy Kyle Lowry. Lowry is a bulldog rebounder (4.7 per game at the point guard position, which is outstanding), and a solid 3-point shooter (40% a season ago). What Lowry struggles with is staying on the floor. Last year he failed to reach 70 games played. This now his eighth year in the NBA, he has missed a third of the games (he has played in 421 of the possible 640 games). I am starting to think he should not be labeled “injury-prone” but more or less just “will be injured”. I do not know if it is going to be a groin, a broke hand, a years worth of ankle problems or what, but Kyle Lowry will be hurt.
On a more positive note Terrence Ross is making preseason noise. He can stroke, he can fly, and he will be the Raptors X-factor off the bench. I mentioned what happened to the Blazers last year because of their inept second unit, but with Ross, Toronto will have a guy raring to go at all times. He has the athleticism to score at will.
The biggest question for me comes in Toronto’s frontcourt. They finally folded on the “Bargnani for a better Toronto” campaign[6], leaving them with Amir Johnson, Aaron Gray, Hansborough and Jonas Valanciunas.
Gray is nothing special but has an enormous frame. Hanborough can piss off anyone, which is a skill he can utilize positively and negatively. But the real intrigue comes between the widely unknown Johnson, and (for non-NBA diehards) the positively unknown Valanciunas.
Johnson has been steadily gaining more playing time throughout his eight year grind through the NBA ranks, and this year, he will look to exploit all the extra minutes he will get this year to build on the 10 points and seven rebounds per game he contributed last year. I could not believe it but Johnson’s career PER rating is at 16.5. That number is still wild to me. I am excited to see some of the strides he makes this year. He is long, strong athlete. Keep your eyes peeled for him.
Valanciunas might be the real deal. He only averaged 23 mpg last year but put up averages of eight points and six rebounds per game. Not terrible for a back-up center. I think he will also improve his numbers, but nothing too drastic because he will not demand the ball nearly as much as guys like DeRozen and Gay.
Prediction…
In my opinion, once they were awarded next year’s All-Star game aka “Black Super Bowl Weekend”, they knew they needed to upgrade their basketball fan base in the greater Toronto area. With Drake, my assumption of JB hopping on the bandwagon, and a talented team I think there is buzz is Toronto. Does that mean they are in the playoffs? I am not sure, but they will be one of the final teams slugging out for their city.
I just did this whole post without calling Drake soft once.
[1]Actually, I’m disagreeing with myself, there is no fucking chance this ends up as cool as Brooklyn.
[2]Hockey puns for a Canadian basketball team? Hell yes.
[4]All 17.
[5]After typing that I stat checked AAANNNNDDDD NO HE HAS NOT! In nine years, the former Lincoln High standout has yet to make the playoffs once! I’m betting a few years at Louisville with Slick Rick Pitino would have done him well.
[6]Arguably not a real campaign but I cannot say for sure.
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