Toronto Raptors: With the Right Offseason Moves, Playoffs Are in Sight
As almost everyone knows, the Eastern Conference starts to get weak after the first five spots, which consists of the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and most recently, the Chicago Bulls.
The last three spots in this year's playoffs were occupied by the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76'ers and Indiana Pacers.
Why would the Raptors not be in this position next season?
Philadelphia has played exceptional basketball under new head coach Doug Collins, who was runner up for Coach of the Year this season. They have a very nice young core which includes Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams and Evan Turner. Expect them to see the postseason more often than not.
New York was doing great until the arrival of Carmelo Anthony. In no way is Melo a bad player, but the trade got rid of New York's entire depth. They lost key bench players and were headed in the wrong direction.
Indiana, on the other hand, started off on a bad note to the season. They too changed their head coach, and it resulted in winning ways. They snagged the last seed from the Bobcats, put up a fight in the first four games against Chicago, but unfortunately lost.
The Raptors in this situation are kind of like the 76'ers.
The Raptors will most probably have a top three pick in the upcoming draft, and worst case scenario is they get the fifth pick. If the Raptors are able to pick someone like Derrick Williams or Enes Kanter—who can easily fill the small forward and center positions respectively—the team will already be headed in the right direction.
This will probably lead to Ed Davis playing behind Andrea Bargnani at the power forward position, but with the potential Ed Davis has shown us the past few games of the season, he can be a key contributor coming off the bench.
If the Raptors are to choose Kanter (if he is still available), the above mentioned theory of Bargnani moving to PF and Kanter playing center will happen. Ed Davis will come of the bench as a key contributor and Toronto's frontcourt will be very strong since the team has so much depth at those two positions.
Kanter has more of a center's mentality than Bargnani does, so he will be filling the void that Bargnani left. On the other hand, Bargnani is normally a PF and when he plays that position, he is much more comfortable. He seems to be in his groove and can play both offense and defense with a much stronger will than if he were to play center.
On the other hand, if the Raptors select Derrick Williams (again if he is available), the Raptors' much needed void in that position can be easily filled, as Williams is so effective on both ends of the court. He can score from virtually anywhere and can play great defense.
He comes from a LeBron mold, and we have seen what LeBron James can do.
Obviously Williams might never be as good as LeBron is (you never know though), but he can be an All-Star in this league. This draft choice also leads to the Raptors acquiring a true center via free agency or trade.
Some names that have been floating around include Tyson Chandler, Marc Gasol, and Greg Oden. Chandler is a great defensive center and would be a beast in the paint. He can grab a lot of rebounds and his offensive game might come to him playing in Toronto.
Marc Gasol is not like his brother—he is better than Pau. Marc is slowly developing into a top center in this league and with Memphis' great playoff run so far, there is no doubt that the Grizzlies will try to snap him up from other teams.
Gasol is a restricted free agent, so that will make him harder to acquire—but he's way worth the money.
Greg Oden, as everyone knows, is injury prone. But whenever this guy is healthy, he can easily outplay Dwight Howard as the top center in the NBA. He is much tougher than Dwight and much better both offensively and defensively. Oden averaged very good numbers for playing almost 20 minutes per game. If he were to play even 30 minutes per game, he can win defensive player of the year, make the All NBA Defensive team and even more.
Maybe leaving Portland, where all the injuries seem to happen, is what Greg Oden needs to do to stay healthy.
Much like Gasol, he is a restricted free agent, and Portland seems to still have interest in him just in case Oden stays healthy. It will be hard to acquire him as well and it is a HUGE risk, but if everything turns out right, it will be worth it. Oden does have a team option though, so if Portland does want to keep him, they can do so with ease.
At the small forward position, there are not many huge names in free agency. There are the likes of Andre Kirilenko, Matt Barnes and even the Raptors nation's favorite Raptor of all time, Vince Carter.
So with the right off-season moves, this team can easily outplay the likes of Indiana and Philadelphia and make the playoffs. Even if they do get swept in the first round or lose in six, it will be a huge step forward for one of, if not the youngest team in the NBA.
Projected starting five:
PG - Jerryd Bayless
SG - DeMar DeRozan
SF - Derrick Williams/Vince Carter/Andre Kirelenko
PF - Andrea Bargnani
C - Tyson Chandler/Greg Oden/Marc Gasol/Enes Kanter
Thanks for reading!
