The Toronto Raptors had a hugely successful season as they won the Atlantic Division and headed into the playoffs as a three seed. Unfortunately they succumbed to the Brooklyn Nets in a tough fought seven game series. The Raps definitely put it together this season as their young yet talented roster made for some exciting and fast-paced basketball.
The Raptors head into this offseason in decent shape as they have good payroll flexibility to resign Kyle Lowry and still add a couple pieces to the squad moving forward. Signing Lowry will be the obvious priority for the club and it will undoubtedly take more than the current $6.2 million per year to procure his services.
The Raptors, like so many teams in the Association, are in need of consistent shooters. They have plenty of small forwards and shooting guards on the roster; however, aside from DeMar DeRozan they don’t have a legit second option. I’d like to see the Raptors address this need through free-agency and hopefully they would get a proven commodity rather than roll the dice on a draft pick.
Biggest Draft Day Need
The Raptors are young and athletic. They have or should have if Lowry resigns, a promising point guard, they have DeRozan as a scorer, Jonas Valanciunas showed promise as their big man, Amir Johnson brings the toughness; they have a bench with Tyler Hansbrough, Steve Novak and Landry Fields but what they lack is size up front.
Adding size to the roster here is the safe play and sometimes safe is good. I’d like to see the Raptors tab Adreian Payne here with the 20th overall pick. By all accounts Payne figures to go somewhere outside of the lottery so it is possible that he would remain here for the Raptors.
If by some chance North Carolina State’s T.J. Warren is still on the board that would be a no-brainer for the Raps. Warren figures to go higher than the 20th overall slot and his stock could be on the rise once the pre-draft camp is complete.
As much sense as Payne would make here and as wonderful as it would be to grab Warren, the Raptors may not have a chance at either as both could conceivably go before the 20th pick is announced.
A pretty solid backup choice at power forward would UCLA’s Kyle Anderson who measures at 6’9” and 235 pounds. What is intriguing here though is the 7’3” wingspan of this versatile forward. This kid actually played point guard for the majority of the season at UCLA...point guard at 6’9”.
Anderson showed off his playmaking abilities as well as his shooting touch from the backcourt. He probably wouldn’t be a point guard in the Association; however, with teams drooling over the Brooklyn Nets Shaun Livingston; this kid seems to be cut from the same mold. If the Raptors see a pre-injury Livingston potential here and considering that Livingston was himself a 4rth overall pick in the draft this could be an absolute steal for the Raptors.