FanPost

The Future is Bright for the Toronto Raptors

The future of the Toronto Raptors is as bright as it’s ever been. The team is fresh off their best season in franchise history and their second Atlantic Division Title.

The Raptors have a nice nucleus of players with DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Amir Johnson and Terrence Ross. Plus the team resigned all of their key free agents, giving new deals to Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez.

Toronto acquires a few interesting prospects, the two Brazilians in Bruno Caboclo and Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira, along with DeAndre Daniels. None of these players are expected to contribute this upcoming season. Daniels just signed a one year contract to play basketball in Australia. Caboclo and Nogueira are both very rare and will likely spend long stretches in the D-League.

However, both Caboclo and Daniels looked like legitimate NBA prospects during summer league in Las Vegas. Caboclo was an unknown on draft night. His most memorable moment likely being Fran Fraschilla’s quote that he is "two years away from being two years away". Caboclo will not be a meaningful contributor to next year’s squad, but he is 6’8", athletic and has a 7’7" wingspan. These are some of the things that make him such an intriguing prospect and possibly the team’s long term answer at small forward.

The Raptors don’t have any bad contracts. The team is about $10 million over next year’s salary cap, projected to be $63.1 million. But there are a number of contracts which expire after next season. The team has about $48 million in guaranteed contracts after next season, assuming they pick up the options for Valanciunas and Ross.

There are only 3 players under contract going in to the much hyped summer of 2016, when players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James are set to become free agents. Of course, Valanciunas and Ross will likely receive contract extensions next summer. Plus barring something unexpected the team will also pick up the team options on Caboclo and Nogueira, thereby drastically reducing any projected cap space.

On top of that, rumours that Durant may sign with the Raptors because of his friendship with Vasquez are likely blown out of proportion. Oklahoma City remains one of the best teams in the league and the Washington Wizards are also rumoured to have interest in Durant. After all, he is a DC area native.

There are a number of key players that must continue to improve in order to allow the Raptors to take the next step forward.

First of all, Lowry must prove that last year’s production was not an aberration and simply a product of being in a contract year. Lowry’s problems with his former teams have been widely reported, from coming into training camp out of shape, to fighting with his coaches. He averaged 17.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season. Lowry was shockingly left off the Eastern Conference All Star Team. He just inked a new 4 year, $48 million contract and must show that he is truly an elite point guard.

DeRozan is also coming off a career year, averaging 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last season. He was named to the All Star Team. The team’s first All Star selection since Chris Bosh left town. Furthermore, DeRozan was invited to training camp with Team USA this summer to compete for a spot on the World Championship team. With an injury to Paul George and Durant withdrawing due to fatigue, DeRozan has a solid chance to make the squad. He has improved every year in the league and must continue to expand his game.

Finally, we come to Valanciunas. Big men develop slower than guards, but Valanciunas is coming along nicely. Valanciunas averaged 11.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game last season. However, he only played 28 minutes per game. The numbers should go up across the board for the third year centre. He has shown flashes of becoming one of the league’s few all around centres. There is a strong possibility Valanciunas will be named an All Star when Toronto hosts the game in 2016.

Ross and Johnson will likely round out the team’s starting five. Ross must continue to develop and Johnson is entering a contract year. If possible, that might make him play even harder than usual.

Off the bench, Toronto will be looking at Vasquez, Patterson, Lou Williams, James Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough to fill out the team’s rotation. This collection of players should be good enough for Toronto to win the Atlantic once again, which will likely be the weakest division in basketball.

The Philadelphia has already phoned in the season and may not hit the salary cap floor when the season tips off. Boston has some intriguing young pieces, but is still a few years away.

New York just brought in Phil Jackson and resigned Carmelo Anthony. However, until Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani and their combined $35 million comes off the books, the Knicks won’t be doing anything relevant.

That leaves Brooklyn who eliminated the Raptors from the playoffs last year. This team looks considerably weaker than last year. Jason Kidd is in Milwaukee. Paul Pierce joined the Wizards. Kevin Garnett is one year older. And Brook Lopez’s health is always in question.

Once you put all these factors together, Toronto has to be the favourite to get the division crown.

The road back to the playoffs will be tougher though. The East is considerably stronger. Assuming Derek Rose is healthy and Kevin Love is traded, the Bulls and the Cavs have to be the favourites to come out of the east. Charlotte and Washington will be better this year. The Heat rebounded well after losing Lebron and will still be a playoff team. No one knows what to expect from Indiana or Atlanta.

The 2014-15 Season should be a good one for Toronto Raptor fans. The Raptors will field a competitive team and have a number of intriguing prospects for the future. My projection is they take a slight step backwards and finish 47-35.